Chapter 38 Bad Taste

Chapter 38 Bad Taste

Zheng Qiaoling realized she had put her foot in her mouth and covered her mouth, "Oh, I'm almost late. You two chat, I need to hurry back to work. Lan Lan, don't worry, I'll cover for you."

After saying that, she turned around and ran off quickly.

Song Xilan cursed the traitorous girl in her heart, then turned to Jiang Chengxiao, "Well, don't be too upset. Jiang Jingru's attempt to sell the national treasure was despicable, but she didn't succeed. And now that her situation has escalated like this, she’s definitely out of the song and dance troupe. She's already being punished, so let bygones be bygones and not think about it anymore."

Jiang Chengxiao smiled, "Don't worry, I’m not that delicate."

"Then... I should get back to work too."

"Mm, I’ll be out of town for a few days."

"Where to?" Song Xilan blurted out, then immediately realized she might be prying too much, blushing and lowering her head, "Uh, I was just curious, you don't have to tell me."

"Mm," Jiang Chengxiao said softly, "I plan to visit Guang Shan's parents."

Lin Guangshan’s personal effects and compensation had already been sent to them, but Jiang Chengxiao still wanted to see for himself the elderly couple who had lost their only child.

Lin Guangshan was an outstanding person. Jiang Chengxiao and he had got off on the wrong foot, from mutual dislike to becoming close friends who would go to the ends of the earth for each other.

Everything that had happened over the past two years was still vivid in his mind, but now they were separated by death.

Jiang Chengxiao had already made it his responsibility to take care of the elderly couple in the future.

"Oh, okay, then take care on your trip."

"These couple of days... don’t go on any more dates," Jiang Chengxiao suddenly said.

"Huh? Why?" The topic jumped too quickly, and she couldn't react immediately.

"Because... your taste isn’t great. What if you meet some sleek, powdered-up pretty boy and accidentally fall for him!"

Song Xilan's face turned red, and she hurriedly said, "That won't happen! Back then, I was just... just..." Well, she had been blind.

At that moment, a flood of thoughts suddenly rushed into her mind.

"We can't let Xiao Jiang go to the countryside alone, something terrible will happen."

"What do you mean?"

"In the original plot, the big villain had a wife, and that wife was foisted upon him during this trip to the countryside."

"Damn, I was so caught up in the sweet moments between Xiao Jiang and Xilan that I forgot about this."

Song Xilan's heart was racing, "Uh, your comrade... Comrade Lin's hometown, where is it?"

"Not far, Yangsong Pit, have you heard of it?"

"Yangsong Pit? I, I know it. Well, I’d better get back to work, bye!"

Song Xilan left in a fluster.

Jiang Chengxiao watched her retreating figure, shook his head helplessly with a smile, and felt his pocket as he headed towards the downtown department store.

That watch was definitely going to Guang Shan's parents. As for the 360 yuan, he had already given up on getting it from Jiang Jingru.

But he still planned to cover the money out of his own pocket for the elderly couple.

But they certainly wouldn’t take his money without a good reason, so he opted to buy them practical items instead, which would be better than them holding onto the money and being reluctant to spend it.

At the department store, he bought mostly practical items: plain, sturdy, and long-lasting clothes, Liberation shoes (a type of durable footwear popular in rural China), as well as woolen sweaters and down jackets that the elderly would certainly not buy for themselves but were very warm.

There were also items that needed industrial coupons, such as thermos flasks and aluminum lunch boxes—things that rural people couldn’t buy even if they had money. He picked out whatever could be useful.

After picking up a variety of items, he finally bought two tin pails to put everything in. Later, he’d find a pole to carry them, and if he wore his tattered military coat, he’d look just like a farmer in the city for the first time.

Lastly, he headed to the bus station and bought a ticket for the early morning bus to the county where Yangsongkeng was located, then went back to the hotel to rest.

Song Xilan spent the afternoon mulling over the barrage comments in her mind and finally came to a bold decision.

That evening, after dinner, she cleared her throat and declared, “Mom, Dad, I want to take two days off to visit my grandma’s house.”

As it happened, Song Xilan’s grandma lived in Yangsongkeng.

Tan Aizhi gave her a puzzled look, “Why the sudden urge to visit your grandma’s?”

“I want to eat Haihong fruit.”

Haihong fruit was a unique type of fruit found in the mountains near Yangsongkeng, and it happened to be the ripening season. The ripe fruit blanketed the mountains in a sea of red, looking like apples but much smaller. They tasted like apples too, with a soft, sweet-and-tart flavor.

When Song Xilan was a kid and visited her mother’s hometown, she saw the Haihong fruit and mistook it for the hawthorn used in candied haws that she had seen on TV. She insisted on eating candied haws.

Her grandfather, who doted on her, went so far as to boil the little sugar they had at home into syrup and coat the Haihong fruit to make candied haws for her.

This made her cousin, her uncle’s daughter, cry out of jealousy.

The incident became a topic of gossip in the village for over a decade. Even now, when their family returns to the village, people would tease her, “Why don’t you ask your grandfather to make you some candied haws?”

Tan Aizhi said, “It’s almost New Year, let them save some for you to eat when we go back for the holiday.”

“But I want to eat them now.”

“Then I’ll call your uncle and ask him to send some to the county town for you tomorrow.”

Tan Aizhi had two siblings. Her eldest brother and she had both moved out, while her younger brother stayed in the countryside but was quite capable. He was now the Brigade Party Secretary in the village.

“No, if they send it, it’ll get spoiled and won’t be fresh. I want to eat them freshly picked from the tree.”

Tan Aizhi couldn’t do anything about her, “Then wait a couple of days. I have some accounts to settle these days and can’t leave. I’ll take time off in a couple of days and go back with you.”

“No need, I’m a grown-up now. How could I get lost going to grandma’s house? I’ll go by myself, early tomorrow morning.”

Tan Aizhi was both annoyed and amused. She said to Song Baili, “Look at your daughter, she’s grown wings and become capable. She insists on going right away and won’t listen to any advice.”

Song Baili said, “If she wants to go, let her go. It’s been a long time since we’ve been back. It’s good for her to visit the elders. I still have two bottles of Wuliangye here. Take them back for your grandpa.”

Tan Aizhi said, “My dad isn’t used to that kind of liquor. It would be a waste on him. He prefers the bulk baijiu from the county town’s distillery. When she gets to the county town, she can bring a bucket back for him.”

“Do we still have any sugar at home? I’ll take some back so my grandpa can make candied haws for me. That way, Xianglan won’t say I finished all her sugar.”