Chapter 77: Chapter 77: A stroll in the park
On campus, Gao Zhiyi was taking a walk on the boulevard to digest his food. Li Jia, who hadn't finished eating the chestnuts, followed him.
'This little brother is not bad, he has some ideas. How did you meet?' he asked Li Jia.
Girls and boys don't see things the same way. 'What do you mean "not bad"? His parents pull a cart with a small stall selling breakfast near the school. They work hard, selling fried chestnuts with sugar. Look at how he spends money in the cafeteria at lunchtime, so wasteful. He's already in the second year of junior high, not young anymore, and still so ignorant. And you say he's not bad?'
'Oh, so he's not even from the provincial city?' Sometimes the thinking of boys and girls really isn't on the same channel.
'He's not even from the town, a genuine country boy, and yet he's so ignorant of hardship and doesn't know how to be thrifty.' Li Jia said that she didn't know why she was a little annoyed, she had no relationship with him, why should she worry about these things.
Gao Zhiyi was even more interested. An authentic rural child, only in the second year of junior high school, and he cares about these things. Haha, interesting!
Feng Yiping didn't know that after he left, there was still such a debate. He gave his parents the rice, and naturally received a few words of scolding from Mei Qiuping, 'Why is it all meat? It's good to have some meat, you brat!'
However, when Feng Yiping mentioned the price, they also felt that it was a good deal.
Feng Yiping found a place to sit down, opened up 'Monetary and Financial Economics', skipped the preface and table of contents, and went straight to Chapter one. He then understood why Gao Zhiyi had looked so troubled when he said he didn't understand advanced mathematics or English.
There were several formulas in this first Chapter, all of which required advanced mathematics, and even more English terms. There was nothing he could do about it. We had very few original theories in this area, and basically everything had been translated and borrowed from the West.
Over the past year, Feng Yiping, who had always been comfortable with textbooks in all subjects, felt very hard-pressed and struggled for the first time when faced with this book.
But challenges make things interesting! Feng Yiping is not one to give up easily, and he studied paragraph by paragraph, referring to his notes with the sloppy handwriting.
It was really difficult! But whenever was anything easy if it was about making money? He cheered himself up like this.
Feng Zhenchang saw how serious he was and said to him, 'Why don't you go back to where you live? You can't help here, and now you know the way, right?'
So, next, Feng Yiping stayed at home during the day, struggling to read the two books. He delivered lunch to his parents at noon and cooked dinner for them in the evening.
Until one day at noon, he ran into Li Jia again in front of the University of Finance and Economics. Li Jia seemed to be waiting for him, and when he saw him carrying two lunch boxes, he greeted him.
Mei Qiuping took the lunch boxes and said, 'You go ahead, there's not much business right now, so you don't need to keep an eye on things.' Feng Yiping dealing with college students was something Feng Zhenchang and he both approved of, as it was always good to learn more.
Feng Yiping walked aside with Li Jia, who patted him on the shoulder and said, 'You're something, I only heard today that you're already making money, better than me, I'm still relying on my parents.'
Without asking, it must be Feng Zhenchang and the others bragging about his little achievements in front of Li Jia again.
Feng Yiping said a little embarrassed, 'Did my parents show off again?'
'No, no, it was me who took the initiative to ask about your grades, and they told me,' Li Jia waved her hand. She ran into Feng Zhenchang and the others today, and for some reason, she blabbered and asked a question.
Mei Qiuping was worried about not being able to take the initiative to speak, but when she heard her ask, she immediately bragged about her son's achievements again.
'I may be a bit biased, I'm very interested in the humanities, I like to write things down, and as you can see, there is also an urgent practical need to find ways to earn writing fees.' Feng Yiping pointed at his parents. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
'I understand, hehe, you're quite sensible.'
'No choice. A child of the poor learns to take responsibility early. If I had your good conditions, I would be carefree and happy playing at this time.'
'What good conditions do I have? If I only buy the expensive things like you did in the cafeteria the other day, I would only have enough money for half a month's living expenses.'
Haha, she really is a bit slow, Feng Yiping's little teasing in her words seems to have gone unnoticed.
'That was an occasional thing. Okay, sister, I haven't seen you eat like that every day. Besides, you're at school, so even if you're poor, you can always eat fresh food, but me, since I was ten years old, for at least eight months out of the year, I have to eat pickled vegetables. It's not too much to find a chance to eat like this, is it?' Feng Yiping complained.
'How come?' Li Jia didn't believe him at all. Yes, she was a city girl, how would she know the hardships of a child in the countryside.
'Why wouldn't I?' Feng Yiping told her everything. After Li Jia heard this, the way she looked at Feng Yiping changed.
I don't know why, maybe it's because Li Jia was the youngest child in her family and wanted a younger brother or sister, or maybe Feng Yiping portrayed his image as a young teenager so well that it made people feel close to him.
Li Jia now looked at this somewhat dark and skinny little brother in front of her and really wanted to treat him to a good meal. 'Have you eaten enough for lunch? If not, let's go to the school cafeteria and I'll treat you to whatever you want.'
'I really don't need to today, I ate a lot at home. But since you said it, of course I can't let you go without a meal. Just mark it down, and let me get hungry for a couple of days before I let you know. I'll definitely impress you, so just get ready to pay.'
'Haha,' Li Jia laughed as she watched Feng Yiping run back to help his parents with their business. It would be nice to have such a sensible and clever younger brother.
The next day at noon, his brother-in-law Mei Yiliang found them at the entrance to the conservatory of music. This time, he didn't ride a bike either, saying that he was taking Feng Yiping out to play and wouldn't be back in the evening, and that he would be staying with him at the factory.
After Feng Zhenchang and the others arrived in the provincial capital, they never said that they would go out for a walk one day when they were not doing business. If they didn't do business for a day, they would earn tens of dollars less, and they would have to spend money on going out and having fun, so they definitely wouldn't do such a foolish thing.
When Feng Yiping arrived, they did want to watch the stall by themselves and take him out to play by themselves, but Feng Yiping didn't want to, so they didn't insist.
Now that they heard that Mei Yiliang wanted to take him out to play, of course they agreed.
So Feng Yiping followed his brother-in-law on two bus transfers and a dozen stops, finally arriving at Zhongshan Park in the city centre.
Seeing the girl who met him at the park entrance, Feng Yiping knew that this was no fun outing. He was just an excuse, and it seemed that his task today was to be a third wheel.
In the past, his uncles had done the same thing many times, saying that they were taking him out to play, but in the end they were all meeting his future aunts. So Feng Yiping had later stopped bothering with them, and he never thought that he would fall for the same trick again today.
'Hello, Cai Hong! I've heard my younger brother praise you a lot,' he said, greeting her.
'Oh, so you're Yiping, the amazing young writer! I've heard your younger brother praise you a lot too,' said Cai Hong, as she came over and handed Mei Yiliang the camera bag she was carrying.
She was dressed in a youthful manner today, with a short-sleeved casual shirt, a denim skirt, and a pair of flat sandals on her feet.
'Cai Hong, you're so pretty. I wish I had an aunt like you. Isn't that right, my uncle?'
Mei Yiliang gave him a slap on the head. 'What do you mean, "sister"? Call her "aunt"!'
'What do you mean, "aunt"? Do I look that old? I'll just call her "sister"!'
'In that case, just call her "aunt",' Feng Yiping said, grinning as he stepped in between them.
Mei Yiliang giggled when he heard this, and Cai Hong blushed a little, but she didn't object, and led them towards the park entrance, 'Let's go, I've already bought the tickets.'
Zhongshan Park is similar in every city in China, generally located in the city centre in a good location, and built at an early time. The pavilions, towers and corridors are all a bit old, so they have a lot more ancient charm than the various antique buildings in some of the later parks.
These ancient buildings will make you feel calm. So, although they are just separated by a wall, the state of the people inside and outside the wall is completely different.
Zhongshan Park may have another thing in common, and that is that the trees in the park are also old, most of them are older than Feng Yiping.
So, when walking in the park, the ancient trees on both sides of the road, the road in the middle, all shrouded in the shade, coupled with the large area of water not far away, the wind blowing is cool.
In the dog days of summer, this is a great place to cool off. Many retired elderly people who should have bought monthly tickets bring stools, large water bottles, and unfold a folding table, and just play cards by the roadside, which is so refreshing.
The wind blows the lotuses, the fragrance is in the air. After Feng Yiping sat down in the lakeside cloister, he really didn't want to move again—nobody wanted to be the third wheel.
But Mei Yiliang was afraid of being left out, so after helping Cai Hong take a few photos on the arch bridge, he called him over. Feng Yiping had never been a fan of having his picture taken, and really didn't want to be in the middle of them.
Reluctantly, he walked onto the arch bridge, took a pose as instructed by Mei Yiliang, and put on a fake smile. After trying hard for a while, Mei Yiliang said that the pose was not good and asked him to start again.
Nowadays, cameras use film, which is expensive, and a roll of film can only take about 30 photos, unlike digital cameras, which can take continuous shots. Nowadays, you have to look for a long time before you can press the shutter.
After a long time, they finally managed to take a photo as Mei Yiliang had requested, and when he was done, Feng Yiping discussed with him, 'Brother-in-law, you guys go and have fun, I'm fine here alone in the shade.'
Before Mei Yiliang could say anything, Cai Hong preemptively took over, 'How can that be? Our main purpose today is to take you out and have fun, what, don't you like the park? Then let's go to the zoo?'
So you see, woman, your name is pretentious! Do you think it's interesting for two adults to be so obvious? Why do you have to drag me along as a hostage?
It seems that there is no way to avoid it, so okay, let's toss and turn together.
Feng Yiping asked his brother-in-law to give him the camera, 'Here, this is good, I'll take a group photo of you guys.'
'Are you any good?' Mei Yiliang asked doubtfully. As far as he knew, Feng Yiping had never taken a photo, let alone been photographed, even a few times.
'Don't worry,' Feng Yiping took the camera from him without permission and forced it over to him. 'I have been learning to draw for more than a year with the teacher, and my composition is definitely better than yours. You'll see!'