Chapter 79: Summer and Such ①
“Brother, Nie Qiu, do you know each other?” Zhang Qidi asked in surprise.
“I’ve been to your family’s stall to buy vegetables,” Nie Qiu said with a laugh.
“You know each other too?” Zhang Qitian asked with a smile.
“Of course we know each other! We’re classmates at the same school! She’s the girl I told you about before who has made so much progress! Eighth in the whole grade, one spot ahead of me,” Zhang Qidi said.
Zhang Qitian ignored Zhang Qidi and asked Nie Qiu with a smile, “By the way, what are you doing at the flower and bird market? Buying pets?”
Nie Qiu shook her head, “No, I’m just looking around. What about you? Not setting up your stall today?”
“I’m checking the market for indoor potted plants. Recently, a lot of office workers and bosses like to put some oxygen-producing, evergreen plants in their offices. I’ve also bought a lot of small potted plants. Small potted plants don’t have much of a big effect, but after looking at so much metal, electronics, and documents, seeing a plant should be pleasing to the eye, right? It should also improve one’s mood a lot. By the way, are you heading back now? Do you want to come with us? I drove my family’s minivan over,” Zhang Qitian asked with a smile.
“Can I?” Nie Qiu’s eyes lit up. She was being frugal with her money now. Although she wasn’t very frugal when it came to buying small animals at the flower and bird market, the money she had was from selling vegetables she grew in her space. Therefore, she should satisfy some of her own desires. In her heart, she didn’t want him to be lonely in the space alone, so she wasn’t being frugal. However, given her current financial situation, she would save even two yuan if she could.
Zhang Qitian smiled, picked up the potted plant Zhang Qidi had placed down, and said with a smile, “Of course you can! Let’s go! We’ll head back together.” With that, he led Nie Qiu and Zhang Qidi towards what could be considered a slightly old minivan.
Zhang Qidi and Nie Qiu followed with smiles. As soon as they opened the minivan, Nie Qiu was stunned. The minivan was filled with potted plants. To fit more plants, the back seats had been removed, leaving only the driver’s seat and the front passenger seat.
After Zhang Qidi helped Zhang Qitian organize the back of the car, he smiled at Nie Qiu, “Nie Qiu, you take the front passenger seat, and I’ll squat in the back cargo area.”
Zhang Qitian got into the driver’s seat and said with a smile, “Hurry up and get in! If we don’t hurry, it’ll be dark by the time we get home.”
Nie Qiu glanced at Zhang Qidi, who was squatting in the green-filled cargo area, and smiled as she got into the minivan, accepting the good intentions of these two brothers.
About half an hour later, Zhang Qitian stopped the car at the vegetable market doorway. He got out and said to Nie Qiu with a smile, “Wait a moment, I’ll unload the potted plants and then take you back.”
Nie Qiu smiled and got out of the car, “No need, no need. It’s fine to get off here. The vegetable market is very close to my home, I can walk back.”
Zhang Qidi walked over holding a colorful ball cactus and handed it to Nie Qiu with a smile, “Congratulations, you did better than me on this monthly exam, hahaha, this ball cactus is for you.”
Nie Qiu smiled and took it, raising an eyebrow, “Oh? What did you get?”
“I did better than you in other subjects, only Chinese was a bit worse,” Zhang Qidi said with a smile, “Next time, I will definitely surpass you.”
“Alright, I’ll be waiting,” Nie Qiu said with a smile, “Then I’ll be going now. Thank you for the ball cactus, and… thank you for giving me a ride back.”
“Don’t mention it! My younger brother told me you attended a class in their class. That’s impressive! You actually taught a class in Class 1!” Zhang Qitian said, after unloading several tall potted plants, he looked up and smiled at Nie Qiu, “My brother here, apart from their class monitor, has never really admired anyone in terms of studies. After he came home from school that day, he even wrote several compositions! His classmates said his compositions improved by more than ten points on average in this monthly exam!”
“I didn’t really do much,” Nie Qiu said a little shyly, “Then I’ll be going now, I still have homework to do at home!”
“You can go, but Nie Qiu, you should promise Brother Zhang to send more goods to Brother Zhang, right? How about I increase the price to retail price for you?” Zhang Qitian stood up and walked closer to Nie Qiu, “I specifically saved some of your vegetables to eat at home. My son originally didn’t like long beans much, but he ate three big bowls of the long bean rice we made that day.”
Zhang Qitian smiled and rubbed Zhang Qidi’s head, “Even this kid ate quite a lot. He’s been saying he wants to eat it again for the past two days.”
Zhang Qidi looked at Nie Qiu a little shyly but also excitedly, “So those vegetables were sold to my brother by you? I was wondering why my brother kept fresh vegetables to eat when our family had too many to sell. I didn’t expect them to be so delicious. Aren’t you guys selling barbecue? How come you’re also farming? How many acres are you farming?” He felt that his own family…
Nie Qiu smiled, a little shyly, “I don’t know how many acres I’ve planted, it’s planted by my relatives.”
“Then if your relatives still want to sell vegetables, remember to have them come to my stall to sell. I’ll give you the retail price,” Zhang Qitian said with a smile, taking a fluffy ear flower from the minivan and handing it to Nie Qiu, “This is a gift for you.”
“This… I already received one…” Nie Qiu looked at the fluffy green plant hesitantly.
“There’s no reason for you to accept from Qidi but not from me, your elder brother,” Zhang Qitian said with a smile, “Don’t worry, Brother Zhang is already married and has children, I won’t lie to a young girl like you. Take it! This thing is good for girls.”
Nie Qiu couldn’t refuse the kind offer and hesitantly took it. So this person was already married. It seemed the fat administrator at the vegetable market would be disappointed. For some reason, she felt a little happy, finding it very amusing.
After bidding farewell to the two brothers, Nie Qiu returned home holding two small potted plants. Nie Aifang had just finished wrapping dumplings and looked up to see Nie Qiu return. She smiled and said, “Your classmates gave you gifts. I’ve put them in your room. I didn’t make dinner today, can we eat dumplings?”
Nie Qiu placed her schoolbag on the sofa she bought from the second-hand furniture store and took out her notebook from her schoolbag, smiling at Nie Aifang, “Yes.”
Nie Aifang smiled, picked out a few dozen dumplings with more meat from the ones she had wrapped and put them into a colander, then went into the kitchen.
Nie Qiu sat on the worn-out sofa, moved the dining table in front of the sofa, and began to do her homework. Nie Aifang came out and asked with a smile, “Do you want green onions and cilantro? Do you want it spicy?”
Nie Qiu smiled and said, “Both.”
Nie Aifang looked at the two small potted plants on the table and asked with a smile, “Did your classmates give you these too?”
Nie Qiu looked up, nodded, “Yes! Mom, where do you think I should put these two things?” On the balcony were a simple toilet and shower room, on the other side was the makeshift kitchen, and clothes were hung on wires wrapped around the ceiling in the middle.
The living room in the house only had a black and white television, a wooden table for dining, and a worn-out sofa. There were two small partitioned rooms, and the rooms didn’t have desks or dressing tables, so they were difficult to place things in.
