Chapter 99: Journey to Beijing

  Qiu's mother and son had a dinner with Fang's family to celebrate this stage victory.

  "What does your younger brother's family do every day, how can they make a living?" Zhao Shuyan asked curiously. She was very interested in Qiu Nainai's extreme behavior, so she paid close attention to the people and things around her.

  "I don't know, Old Qiu found him a job, he went once and then didn't go again because it was too tiring, so he stayed at home. Later, Old Lady came to our house and poured all of our rice, flour, and oil into their house, I guess that's enough for them to eat for a while. But there wasn't much, less than 100 kg of millet, with so many people, it would be gone in a month or two. Qiu's mother really didn't know how Old Three's family made a living."

  "Dry mother, I know that a few days ago, Jia Qing's brother came home and gave more than 200 yuan to Third Uncle and Third Aunt. He also said that he would bring money back every month." Qiu Feng said after hearing the conversation between the two mothers.

  "Huh, how did you know?" Qiu's mother was quite surprised. She hadn't even heard about this herself, so how did her son know? He had never been to that place before.

  "Heh heh, it was that little brat Jia Bao who told me." Qiu Feng said with a pleased smile.

  "Oh? When did you become so close with your cousin?" Qiu's mother was even more curious, after all her son had beaten that family treasure half to death back then.

  Qiu Feng just smiled and didn't answer.

  Qiu Ye knew about this situation, and it was all because of her.

  It's said that Qiu Jiabao was also a stubborn kid, and when his mom and grandma couldn't help him save face last time, he didn't give up or admit defeat. So the next day, he went to the cafeteria entrance again to bother Qiu Ye.

  Qiu Ye's basin was overturned again by him, and after Qiu Feng arrived, he saw a mess of pills on the ground. He knew what had happened, and without needing Qiu Ye to explain, he rode his bike away quickly, beating Qiu Jia Bao severely once more.

  Then it was a tug of war, Qiu Jiabao came to stir up trouble and lift the basin, Qiu Feng went to beat him. Qiu Jiabao was not convinced and came again to lift, Qiu Feng was very angry and went to beat again, those days were good for the security department's big dog, every day there were meatballs to eat, in a few days it had a good relationship with Qiu Ye again.

  Qiu Jiabao didn't last a few days and was finally defeated by Qiu Feng. This feeling is strange, originally two people who disliked each other. After these days of close contact, they actually developed revolutionary feelings. Qiu Jiabao's attitude towards Qiu Feng changed from initial hatred to later fear, and finally to submission, he had already admired Qiu Feng for a long time. He thought this older cousin was too capable, every time he beat him it hurt so much, but when he went home to tattle, he couldn't find any injuries, and his mom couldn't get justice for him either.

  Qiu Feng's attitude towards Qiu Jiabao changed from disgust to numbness, and finally to admiration. He was really impressed by Qiu Jiabao. Qiu Feng told his sister that Qiu Jiabao was different from the others in their family, he had a clear mind, too clear-minded, he knew what he was doing, it was as if he had learned some real skills, knowing which spot to hit to cause pain, and unexpectedly, this six-year-old kid could endure being beaten for so long before crying out loud, and afterwards, he didn't even tell on them, just gritted his teeth and bore it.

  So the two of them finally got along. Now Qiu Feng is very good to his younger cousin, and whenever there's something delicious, he'll think of saving a portion for him. Qiu Jia Bao has also become close with Qiu Feng, and every day he goes to the cafeteria entrance to help Qiu Ye sell meatballs, of course also taking the opportunity to eat meatballs, and finally learned that you need to dip sauce on those meatballs.

  The rights and wrongs of this matter don't need to be explained to others, as long as the three of them understand it themselves.

  "Mom, Jiabao's younger brother is okay, he doesn't think about Third Uncle and Third Aunt at all. If we educate him well, he will definitely become a good kid in the future. Now he helps me sell glutinous rice balls at the cafeteria entrance every day."

  Qiu's mother looked at the two children and smiled: "Well, since you're good kids, you should get closer to each other. You're cousins after all. When you have time, let Jia Bao come over and play more often, I'll make some delicious food for you."

  Qiu Feng and Qiu Ye nodded in unison.

  Then Qiu's mother and Zhao Shuyan started discussing the affairs of Qiu San's family again. Alas, Qiu Ye sighed, wherever there are women, there is gossip!

  Another purpose of this gathering is to discuss the trip to Beijing during the winter vacation.

  The personnel have been initially determined, with Fang Haibo and his wife bringing along Qiu Feng and his siblings. Qiu's parents do not have a holiday, so they cannot go together, especially Qiu's mother, who is too busy to take time off.

  As for the travel time, Fang Haibo initially set it after the teacher's holiday, at that time, they two had time. Qiu Ye also agreed, although she wanted to go to Beijing, but she didn't want to miss the peak sales period of tea eggs twice a year, you know, when she just came back in October, she remitted 10,000 yuan to Chen Jianjun, and this year she spent a lot of money, so she urgently needed time to earn back the money she spent.

  The days that followed passed quickly, and with the eldest son providing living expenses for Qiu's family, they didn't like to bother Qiu's father as much anymore. However, Qiu's mother had found her own pleasure in the bungalow area, chatting and gossiping with a group of old ladies every day, often speaking ill of Qiu's wife. Although Qiu's wife knew about it, she pretended not to see, otherwise, she would have gone to argue with her mother-in-law, which would only give others more fodder for gossip.

  By January 13, 1988, after the teachers and students of Normal University had officially started their winter vacation, Fang Haibo and his group packed up and boarded a train bound for Beijing, the capital of the motherland.

  Qiu Ye has experience now, and with the cooler weather, she can store things at home, so when she's at home, her godmother makes a lot of delicious food for her to take on the train. So this time, Qiu Feng and Qiu Ye bought two sleeper tickets, and Qiu Ye can sleep by herself.

  The train had been on the road for two days and finally arrived at Beijing Station. As soon as they came out of the platform, Fang Haibo saw the person who was picking them up.

  "Hai Bo, we meet again." The speaker was a man about the same age as Fang Hai Bo, dressed in a suit and tie, looking very dignified with a serious expression, clearly not an ordinary person.

  "Yu Tao, you haven't changed a bit." Fang Haibo put down the luggage in his hand and gave Yu Tao a hug.

  "Yes, we haven't changed. Little Yan must be tired from the trip, let's head home first and then chat." Yu Tao also nodded slightly when he saw Zhao Shuyan behind him, as he and Fang Haibo were childhood friends.

  "Let's go, I'm getting old, just these few days of train travel and my bones already ache." Fang Haibo said as he picked up the luggage on the ground again.

  Yu Tao didn't take the luggage from his hand, but instead took a backpack from Zhao Shuyan's hand. "Let's go, the car is just ahead."

  Qiu Feng and Qiu Ye quietly followed along. On the way, Fang Haibo introduced the two children to the person they were meeting.

  This man is called Jiang Yutao, one of Fang Haibo's childhood friends and also the son of their teacher Pei, who is currently the deputy director of the Beijing Education Bureau.

  Jiang Yutao came to pick them up in his own car. Qiu Ye didn't know much about cars, and even if she saw one, she wouldn't know what brand it was. But she knew that this little car was pretty good, and sitting in it was much more comfortable than the Jeep Chen Jianjun used to pick them up in Xinjiang.

  On the bus, three adults were chatting about their recent situations. Qiu Ye and Qiu Feng were leaning against the window, looking outside. Qiu Ye had never been to Beijing in her past life, all she knew about Beijing was from TV shows. She heard that Peking roast duck is delicious, Dong Lai Shun's boiled mutton is also good, Wangfujing is very prosperous and Tiananmen Square is also famous...

  Qiu Ye has been thinking about the places she wants to visit and the delicious food she wants to eat all along the way.

  Although Beijing's roads are still not very spacious nowadays, there aren't many cars on the road either, and the traffic congestion phenomenon often seen on TV hasn't appeared.

  The car had been driving for half an hour and stopped in front of a courtyard, Qiu Ye didn't know which part of Beijing this was, she wasn't familiar with it, it definitely wasn't a hostel or hotel, it must be a residential house.

  Jiang Yutao stopped the car and helped take out the luggage before pushing open the courtyard gate.

  Qiu Ye followed everyone in, only to discover that it was a traditional Beijing courtyard house. The structure was relatively simple, and she could see the entire yard clearly at a glance. Facing the direction of the gate should be north, with three tile-roofed houses, which should be the main house of this courtyard house. On either side of the main house were two wing rooms, and in the direction where she stood, there were also three houses. The yard was surrounded by houses on all four sides.

  Qiu Ye's eyes widened as she stared hard, this was the legendary Beijing quadrangle courtyard house, a valuable property that would be worth a lot of money in the future. Her little brain started working again, thinking that if she had the chance, it would be great to sell a few quadrangle courtyard houses too.

  Just as Qiu Ye was observing the courtyard, an old lady with a head full of white hair and a kind face walked out from the main house. Seeing everyone in the courtyard, she exclaimed: "Haitao, Shuyan, you've finally arrived."

  "Aunt Xü, how are you?" Fang Haibo and Zhao Shuyan said in unison.

  The person who came was Jiang Yutao's mother, Jiang Xushi.

  "Alright, alright, seeing you both are fine, I'm fine too." Grandma Xu looked at the two children she had seen grow up, and her heart was also filled with sadness. Alas, the two children have been suffering outside for so many years without returning home.

  "Oh dear, who are these two little ones?" asked Grandma Xu, seeing a pair of children behind the two adults.

  "Aunt Xü, this is my godson Qiu Feng, and this is my goddaughter Qiu Ye. This time I brought them to take a look at the capital, and also to let you two elders take a look." Fang Haibo introduced.

  Mrs. Xue was stunned, she learned from the children that Fang Haibo and his wife had no children for so many years, but unexpectedly they adopted two such big kids.

  "Good, good, good! You can tell you're a good kid. Come on, hurry up and rest inside, you must be tired. I've already prepared the room for you. After you wash up, we'll have dinner. Your Uncle Jiang said that you're honored guests and must be treated well, haha!" It's clear that the old lady is in a great mood today.