Chapter 96: Changing Life ⑥
Surprise was no longer enough to describe Nie Qiu’s current mood. She even wondered if this was a dream. Everyone has a love for beauty, and Nie Qiu was no exception. Every day, seeing the acne popping up on her forehead, she would comfort herself while combing her hair, saying, “It’s just acne, just acne. It’ll be gone in a couple of years.”
But when others looked at her face, the first thing they saw was that glaring acne, which made Nie Qiu a little self-conscious, even though she was thirty-eight years old. Women, whether they are one or two years old, or seventy or eighty years old, want to look good at all times, right?
Nie Qiu washed her face a few more times. The marks on her face didn’t change much, but Nie Qiu was already very satisfied. She lay in the water spray, feeling a little excited. Just as she was about to close her eyes, Nie Qiu heard the faint sound of a door closing and deliberately light footsteps. It seemed Nie Aifang had returned after setting up her stall. Nie Qiu quickly swam on the surface of the water in a swimming posture. It looked quite comical, but it was the only way to get back to the shore.
After returning to the shore, Nie Qiu smiled and said to the person in the water, “Dao, I’m going out first. Today… thank you.” If Nie Aifang entered her room at this moment and found her missing, she didn’t know how worried she would be.
But… it was a surprise, a real surprise. The effect of this pool was so much better than any ointment.
Dao lay on the water and smiled, “You didn’t actually need to return to the shore. As long as you think of the necklace and think of going out, you can return to your room.”
Nie Qiu smiled a little shyly, “Okay, I understand. Then I’ll leave first. Dao, you should rest early.” After speaking, Nie Qiu closed her eyes, thinking of the necklace, and returned to her room.
Drip, drip, drip…
Nie Qiu looked speechlessly at herself standing on the cabinet, water dripping from her body onto the cabinet, then flowing along the cabinet to the bed and the floor.
The first time, Nie Qiu remembered coming out of the necklace, she was also standing on the cabinet. Later, when she entered the necklace, she always lay on the bed to enter, and tried to avoid standing on the cabinet when she came out. She didn’t expect to end up on the cabinet even from the bed this time.
How to accurately return to the place you want to return to is a problem.
Nie Qiu got down from the cabinet, took off her clothes and pants, and changed into dry clothes. She wrung out the wet clothes and pants, wiped the cabinet and the bedside dry, then put the clothes and pants in a basin in the room, and climbed into bed to sleep.
Nie Aifang placed the tables and chairs behind the door, then gently put down the honeycomb briquette stove she was carrying on her back, closed the door, and carried the honeycomb briquette stove to the kitchen to put it away. She then took out a bowl of cold pugaimian noodles from the barbecue pot on the honeycomb briquette stove. The pugaimian noodles were in a disposable bowl. Nie Aifang looked at it, smelled it, then poured it into the stir-fry pot, turned on the gas stove, heated the pugaimian noodles, and then served them into a disposable food container bought for pugaimian noodles. She took out disposable chopsticks and squatted in the kitchen, which was built from corridors, to eat.
The noodles, which had already gone cold and were reheated, had turned into a paste, which was very unappetizing. However, Nie Aifang ate it all in big mouthfuls. After finishing, she threw the bowl and chopsticks into the trash can, then went to the side to wash her face and feet with cold water in the bathroom, which was built from bricks. Wearing slippers, she tiptoed to Nie Qiu’s room doorway, lifted the curtain, saw Nie Qiu sleeping soundly, smiled, lowered the curtain, and returned to her own room to rest.
Nie Qiu heard Nie Aifang’s footsteps receding. After letting out a sigh of relief, tears began to flow.
Noodle paste.
For many people in the seventies and eighties, this might be a memorable thing. They were poor back then and couldn’t afford to eat, let alone noodles. Being able to eat something oily during the New Year, or having lard to grease the pot and cook a bowl of noodles, was considered being well-off. At that time, there was no family planning, and people had many children. When there were many people in a large family, the noodles couldn’t be cooked firm; they had to be cooked soft, even into a paste, so that everyone could have some, and no one would have too much or too little.
Nie Aifang ate dinner with her around five in the afternoon. After working for several hours, she came back and reheated a bowl of noodle paste to eat.
Thinking of this, Nie Qiu felt a pang of heartache as if her heart was being squeezed. Nie Aifang was so frugal, all for money, for this family.
She looked at the shoes by her bedside. Even though she was reluctant, she had to sell these shoes! After selling them, she could rent a vegetable stand. After selling them, Nie Aifang wouldn’t have to set up a stall anymore. After selling them, the family’s situation would improve a lot.
When they have money, Nie Aifang will be a little more willing to spend, right? Nie Qiu moved the shoe box from the bedside to under the bed. Seeing it, she… would be reluctant.
“Xiao Kai, come and see the stock market on the university forum,” Li Mingxue said, holding her computer and walking towards Li Kai. “Look at this brand new, unopened Bisha mascara. It’s only two thousand two hundred yuan. So cheap.”
Li Kai was playing with his mobile phone and said without looking up, “If you think it’s cheap, buy it!”
Seeing Li Kai’s lack of interest, Li Mingxue pouted and refreshed the forum by herself, her mind wandering as she browsed. Suddenly, a pair of Ballerina princess shoes caught her eye. Today, she had gone with her boss to pick out shoes for his niece as a gift, and the shoes they chose were exactly the same as these, so she had a strong impression.
Her eyes lit up, and she clicked on the post. Looking at the details, they were brand new Ballerina princess shoes! Only two thousand yuan! She remembered that when she and her boss bought them at the store, they cost over three thousand yuan! But from the look of it, they should be genuine.
She thought they were very cheap and wanted to buy them, but at her age, she was no longer suitable to wear princess shoes. However, she was reluctant to give up such a good deal for nothing. She thought for a moment, then slyly leaned closer to Li Kai and asked with a smile, “Xiao Kai, do you have a girl you like right now?”
A girl I like? Li Kai was stunned. Nie Qiu’s face flashed through his mind. Thinking of that absurd dream, Li Kai’s face couldn’t help but turn red. “No!”
Seeing Li Kai like this, Li Mingxue knew he was lying. She smiled slyly, placed the laptop on the coffee table, and shook Li Kai’s arm. “Do you or don’t you? You’re so old, you must! Xiao Kai, just tell your sister… tell me! Do you have a girl you like? Tell me, and I won’t tell Mom and Dad… okay, okay?”
Li Kai was dizzy from Li Mingxue’s shaking and said with exasperated helplessness, “Alright, alright! Yes, yes!”
“Really? Is she beautiful? Pretty? Good-looking?” Li Mingxue asked in surprise, like a rapid-fire barrage.
“Not beautiful, not pretty, and not good-looking. Sis, don’t you think all the questions you’re asking are pointless?” Li Kai rolled his eyes. The three questions were essentially just one question, yet she could still ask them.
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