country bumpkin

Chapter 319 Back to School for a Photo

"Hiss..." Nie Dayong cried out in pain.

He sat on the stool, looked up at his wife standing beside him, and asked, puzzled, "Why did you hit me, you woman?"

Li Chunmei: "Why did I hit you? Why did I hit you? I'm so angry, and you're still praising that cunning Kong Xiangwei."

Nie Dayong: "I didn't praise him. I was just telling the truth."

Li Chunmei said, "He's not honest or reliable at all. I think he's just a cunning scoundrel. Otherwise, how could he have tricked our daughter into going out to work with him and making her so devoted to him?"

"You're such a carefree dad. What are you going to do when they bring the kids back tomorrow?"

His wife's words made Nie Dayong worried. But he couldn't just go to Yicheng and bring the person back.

They went to a far place, and he didn't know the exact location, so there was no way he could find his daughter.

He sighed and said, "Let them be! Anyway, Xiang Hong chose her own path, and we can't control her forever. When children grow up, they have their own ideas, and there's nothing we can do about it."

The whole family is in a bad mood today, and we can't go to our in-laws' house to make a scene about this.

Their daughter went to find someone else's son, what could the other party say? They couldn't just tie their daughter up!

Besides, all the women in the village are laughing at the two families! They can't let anyone know that their daughter went out to find Kong Xiangwei.

They could only pretend that their daughter had gone out to work, and they didn't know exactly where she went.

…………

In City B.

Kong Xiufen introduced Zhang Haiying to a job, which was to help out in a middle school cafeteria.

They offered her 300 yuan a month, saying they'd give her a raise if she did well. Zhang Haiying was too young to find suitable work, so she had to make do with what she had for now.

The owner of this canteen is a regular customer who buys whole chickens from Kong Xiufen.

They were already quite familiar with each other. Because the store was short-staffed, they told Kong Xiufen about it, hoping to find a capable young woman to help out.

As luck would have it, Kong Xiufen thought of Zhang Haiying and asked Yunya to inform her. The next afternoon, Zhang Haiying rode her bicycle to the place where Yunya was working.

The canteen owner arrived at Kong Xiufen's shop on time. Seeing that the young girl was quite capable, the owner immediately agreed to the arrangement, and Zhang Haiying went directly to the school with her to familiarize herself with the work environment.

With the job secured, Zhang Haiying went to Yunya's house that evening to thank her.

Yun Ya said nonchalantly, "No need, no need, don't be so polite. We're still classmates! We used to play together all the time when we were little, don't you remember?"

Zhang Haiying: "I remember, how could I not remember? We were classmates and friends before, and we'll be good friends in the future."

Yunya smiled and said, "Great! I love making friends, and now I have another good friend. That's wonderful!"

Zhang Haiying was also very happy. Later, whenever she had time after get off work, she would come to play with Yunya. Sometimes she would also go to her second aunt's house to chat with Zhang Haiyan.

The three girls formed a drama together, and whenever they met, they always had endless things to talk about.

Time passed by as they gossiped and chatted, and before they knew it, it was time to graduate from junior high.

Sun Fei told Yun Ya to bring money to the school to take photos, including a group photo of all the students and a graduation photo.

Yun Ya called Huang Qingqing and they went together to their alma mater, Yicheng No. 3 Middle School.

The two were a little reserved as they entered the school. Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar environment, they felt as if they were in another world.

The students and teachers coming and going were all strangers. Yunya searched everywhere for a teacher she knew, and finally saw Jia Zhengjing, whose hair was combed neatly and who had a smug look on his face.

She nervously approached Jia Zhengjing and greeted him. Then she asked him about taking the photos.

Jia Zhengjing taught them for two years, so he must remember their faces. Even if he couldn't recall their names, he would still know they were students in his class.

After all, it was he who persuaded him to drop out of school; how could he not remember?

Jia Zhengjing told Yunya to go to the queue to have her two-inch photos taken, and then he took the money.

Huang Qingqing followed behind Yun Ya the whole time, only calling out "Teacher!" without saying anything else.

Jia Zhengjing raised his eyelids to look at Huang Qingqing, gave a soft "hmm," and said nothing more.

Seeing this, Yun Ya felt a wave of nausea and chills. If Huang Qingqing's parents were capable and could provide him with assistance, he certainly wouldn't have acted this way.

Even when they spoke to him, Jia Zhengjing barely acknowledged them. He simply told them to line up, collected the money, and left.

I don't know what he was so busy with, but the class monitor was organizing everyone to line up. There were also a few familiar classmates taking a group photo together.

After the graduation photos were taken, Jia Zhengjing gathered all the classmates together, arranged them in their positions, and took a group photo of the whole class as a memento.

Huang Qingqing, Yun Ya, Qi Feiyun, and a few other classmates that Yun Ya didn't know well were all students who dropped out of school early.

None of the students who stayed at school to finish the third year of junior high school spoke to them or greeted them.

Perhaps in their eyes, these people who dropped out of school early are no longer their classmates and have no relation to them.

Yun Ya's gaze swept over Tan Lina, the English class representative, a classmate with whom she used to have a good relationship.

Tan Lina met her eyes, merely grinned, and that was it; she didn't seem to intend to come over and speak to her at all.

Yunya was sensible enough not to disturb them as they chatted and laughed with their classmates.

Music class representative Fang Qiaohui and class monitor Yao Jing used to have a good attitude towards Yun Ya, but this time when they saw Yun Ya, they just smiled and didn't say anything.

Yunya suddenly felt like she understood the true meaning of the phrase "when people leave, the tea grows cold."

Whether in school or in society, if you have no value to others, no solid backing, and no real skills of your own, who will take you seriously?

Yun Ya looked forlornly at Huang Qingqing beside her. It seemed that only people of equal status could truly live a normal life.

No wonder people often say "birds of a feather flock together"—that's the reason.

After taking the photos, Yun Ya and Huang Qingqing quietly left the school.

Walking down the street, Huang Qingqing suddenly said, "Sun Yunya, we have to work harder from now on, so that people won't look down on us."

Yun Ya nodded, a determined look flashing in her eyes.

When she got home, Yunya told her second aunt, Kong Xiuzhen, about the photos.

Kong Xiuzhen patted her head and said, "Don't take it to heart. As long as you're doing well, that's all that matters. What do they care? If they don't want to talk to us, so be it. We don't care anyway!"

Yun Ya hummed in agreement, still feeling a little uncomfortable, but much better than before.

At this time, Zhang Haiying gradually got the hang of her job in the school cafeteria and learned how to cook many new dishes.

She was quick and accurate at accounting, and worked efficiently, which earned her the boss's appreciation. He gave her a raise, increasing her monthly salary to 400 yuan.

Zhang Haiying's monthly salary was equivalent to Yunya's two months' salary. Zhang Haiying was very content and worked with great enthusiasm.

She thought that if she could save enough money, she could open her own small restaurant in the future.

Meanwhile, Nie Xianghong and Kong Xiangwei, who were far away, were also working hard. Although it was tough, they supported each other and their lives were quite fulfilling.

However, Kong Xiangwei was worried that Nie Xianghong might get pregnant, so he took precautions. He didn't want the person he loved so much to suffer the pain of childbirth so early.

We still need to take good care of her for a few years, and talk about having children when she's almost an adult. Nie Xianghong still clung to him like that, waiting for him at the factory gate after get off work.

Kong Xiangwei gets off work relatively late, always about ten minutes later than the female workers. Nie Xianghong is afraid to go back to her rented room in the alley by herself, so she can only wait for Kong Xiangwei.

During the weekend, the two went to the beach. Nie Xianghong ate hairy crabs, crayfish, and many other seafood delicacies she had never even heard of.

Nie Xianghong felt that going out to work with Kong Xiangwei was the right decision. She felt very happy and blessed to be with him.

This was a feeling she had never experienced with her family. Perhaps familial love and romantic love are indeed different.

One is a simple longing and years of companionship. The other is an inseparable, unwavering affection, and also a fleeting flutter in the heart…

Life is like a rushing river, and everyone is striving forward in their own course.

No one can predict what will happen tomorrow, but they all hold onto hope and bravely face the future.