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This year, Zhao Meirong and Hu Qihua seemed to have aged backward by a decade! On the third day of the Lunar New Year, in addition to the usual festive gifts, they brought two bottles of wine in colorful paper boxes for the children's grandmother and Grandfather's family, along with a chicken, a fish, and five pounds of lamb.
Grandfather remarked that this wine was truly exceptional—fragrant, smooth, and without any aftereffects. It was the best wine he had ever tasted in his life. The old man had hardly ever seen a straight cucumber in his lifetime.
On the fifth day, Zhao Meirong couldn't wait to return to her maternal family. Not only her brother's wife but even her own mother was puzzled: "Didn’t you just come two days ago? Why are you back again? Is something wrong at home?"
Zhao Meirong hurriedly entered, pulling her sister-in-law with one hand and her mother with the other. "Let me tell you, yesterday Hu Ruoyun's wife came over! She’s quite tall and fair-skinned, speaks softly, and always has a smile on her face..."
Her sister-in-law's curiosity ignited. "Sister, when did this start? You never mentioned it before!"
Their grandmother cut to the chase: "How much 'meeting gift' did you give her? You can't be stingy!"
Zhao Meirong proudly replied, "In our area, the 'meeting gift' is usually 600, but I gave her 800! At first, she refused it, but when I said I wouldn't feel right if she didn't accept it, she took it."
Xiao Hu and Xiao Feng didn’t understand the situation; they only told her after Hu Ruoyun left that 'that sister' had given each of them 50 yuan. They heard she worked in some oil and electricity company—quite a respectable job!
Hu Ruoyun's aunt was also pleased. "Sister, for the past two years, I've only heard you mention who is about the same age as Hu Ruoyun—those who are getting engaged or married. Now you can finally relax!"
But then she worriedly added, "You say she's a formal employee? What about our Hu Ruoyun... in the future..."
Her words made Zhao Meirong feel uncertain. Their grandmother chimed in again: "It's impressive how thoughtful she is; she brought so much money for your younger siblings on her first visit!"
Zhao Meirong seemed to have made up her mind. "When I get back, I'll discuss building a new house with her father; we can't delay any longer!"
The aunt quickly agreed. "Yes, once we have a new house, we can talk about marriage. Sister, if you need more money for building, we still have over two thousand saved up; you can use it first!" Then she turned to Hu Ruoyun's grandmother: "Mom, could you let my sister use your money for now?"
After dealing with their third sister borrowing money and causing chaos among several families, Zhao Meirong didn’t want to repeat that mistake with her own family.
After struggling internally for a while, she finally stammered out, "We have enough money... Hu Ruoyun seems to have earned some from writing again; neither her father nor I can read, but Mei Feng looked at the bankbook and said there’s over ten thousand in there..."
Originally, Hu Ruoyun was supposed to return to school on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year since classes would start on the sixteenth day of the first month. He told his parents: "I’ll be graduating this year; the school is strict about attendance and I need to catch up during the break."
This year had been both uplifting and smooth for Hu Qihua and Zhao Meirong. Let things unfold as they may; it wouldn’t stop them from showing off and reveling in their happiness...
While packing up, there were several bags filled with fried snacks, meatballs, sweet cakes, and twisted dough sticks. Zhao Meirong asked, "Can you finish all this? It would be such a waste if it goes bad."
Xiao Feng chimed in, "My sister Mona can still eat."
Zhao Meirong immediately brightened up, saying, "Great! Great! Pack more, pack more..."
Although it was the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, some students had already returned to school early. More than ten college hopefuls had come back voluntarily to start their six-month sprint before the college entrance examination. Hu Ruoyun's classmate, Tong Caiying, was among them.
Hu Ruoyun arrived at noon. After settling into her dormitory and grabbing a quick bite to eat, she headed to the Gaoqiao Town Post Office in the afternoon.
Mao Na had to keep regular office hours; even if no one was there for business, she couldn't leave Hu Ruoyun waiting for too long.
Upon entering the service hall, they found someone making a long-distance call. The two exchanged glances, and Mao Na couldn't hide her joy as she handed over a set of keys and gestured towards the backyard.
Understanding the cue, Hu Ruoyun took the keys and headed to the backyard. She first tried the key on the iron gate and locked it behind her before using another key to open Mao Na's dorm room door.
Even though she had only spent one night there before, it felt so familiar and welcoming. Hu Ruoyun flopped onto Mao Na's small bed and inhaled deeply, savoring the faint scent of hair on the pillow.
After biking over twenty miles in the cold wind of the Lunar New Year morning, she felt a bit tired and soon fell into a deep sleep as soon as she lay down.
She didn't know how long she had been asleep when she suddenly felt a tickling sensation on her face. Drowsily opening her eyes, she saw a handsome face leaning down to look at her, with strands of hair falling onto her face.
It was Mao Na. Just as her shift ended, she hurriedly locked the door and rushed to the backyard. Finding her room unlocked, she tiptoed inside and saw Hu Ruoyun sleeping on her small bed.
Not wanting to disturb her, Mao Na leaned closer to observe this younger brother who was three years her junior. If it came to looks, he was leagues behind Qiu; if it came to family background, he was even further away. Yet why was she so captivated by him? He looked so pleasing that it almost bordered on obsession.
Before returning from the county town before the New Year, she had laid everything out for her parents. Her father remained neutral as always: "As long as you're willing and don't regret or feel wronged, I have no objections."
Her mother was much more cautious. The incident with Xiao Qiu had hurt her daughter’s feelings; although she had complaints, she couldn’t express them directly. Carefully choosing her words, she raised several concerns: "Xiao Hu is a good person and quite smart. But you are a formal employee in the postal system; what if he doesn't get into college? Whether he works in agriculture or goes out for labor, as long as he can't enter the system, there will always be a qualitative gap between you two! Even if you really end up together in the future, what kind of life will you have? Have you thought about it long-term?"
She admitted that these were considerations she hadn’t thought about either and couldn’t argue back with her mother but remained silent in response, holding firm to her own wishes.
Interestingly enough, her younger brother Mao Jie—whom she always regarded as a child—said something: "Mom, I don't know if my sister will be happy with Hu Ruoyun, but if she ends up with Qiu for sure she won't be!"
Thus, their mother temporarily compromised and agreed for her daughter to date Hu Ruoyun for now but privately warned: "Until it's absolutely necessary, maintain some distance... Girls shouldn’t mislead themselves!"
Mao Na felt both embarrassed and sweetly thrilled by this advice.
At least now their relationship could proceed openly without any issues.
In this moment, having this boy sprawled across her bed didn’t feel inappropriate at all.
When Hu Ruoyun woke up, Mao Na suddenly found herself staring at his not-so-handsome face as his eyes opened. They were just inches apart from each other.
It was unclear who initiated it first; they shared their first kiss together.
She placed her hands on his shoulders, and he cradled her face.
"This is my first kiss!" she exclaimed.
"It's my first time too!" he replied.
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