For White Gourd, it was very familiar with this area.
It was very familiar. Before Xu Qing picked it up, the few large trash cans at the corner of the wall were its canteen …
"Does it think that we are going to throw it back?" Xu Qing asked thoughtfully as he saw White Gourd hiding behind Jiang He's leg.
"Where?"
"Over there. We picked it up from there."
Jiang He followed his gaze and walked in the opposite direction. "Then let's not go there."
The winter sun wasn't very hot, and it was very warm when it shone on their bodies. Both of them had eaten their fill, and the winter melon had just been fed. The two of them held hands as they walked, and they seemed to be very idle.
After a while, she could not help but ask, "Do you like to pick up things?"
"No, I only pick up things that I like."
Xu Qing replied. He looked up at the little flags flying everywhere in the neighborhood and said, "It's the New Year. You guys also celebrate the New Year, right?"
Without waiting for Jiang He's reply, he answered his own question. "Anyway, there is no such thing. We can eat and drink as we like … In the early years, we would set off fireworks and firecrackers, but now they are not allowed. We can only play secretly."
"New Year?"
"It's a day for family reunions. Usually, people who are away from home have to go home no matter how far they are. That's why there is the Spring Festival. Just like what I showed you before, there were so many people squeezing together on the train."
Jiang He did not say anything. He looked at the sky through the withered trees in the neighborhood and sighed.
"My home is your home. Next time, I will bring you over to put up the Spring Festival couplets … We also need to put them up here."
"Okay."
"It's the first year … It's worth commemorating. Tomorrow, I will bring you to buy some new clothes for the first day."
Bang!
As the two of them were talking, the sound of a firecracker came from afar. Xu Qing looked at the children and laughed. "Those are firecrackers. They will go off when you light them."
"Is it fun?"
"It should be fun … White Gourd is not afraid of that. Next time, I will buy you some fireworks to play with."
During the winter holidays, the neighborhood was much livelier than before.
Not only were the children who originally lived here freed from their studies, but the young people who had already married and moved out would also bring their children over to stay for a few days, or leave their children with their grandparents and run off to have fun.
Jiang He looked at the group of children playing on the empty ground. Occasionally, he would feel like he was in a trance.
Everything was so peaceful and cozy.
"Xiaoyan!"
Xu Qing sees Xiaoyan standing not far away with her hands folded, watching the boys set off firecrackers, and raises her hand to greet her.
"Brother Xu!"
Xiaoyan was about to cover her ears when she was distracted by Xu Qing's shout. Her hands slowed down, and then the sound of firecrackers exploded, causing her shoulders to shrink. She curled her lips and glanced at the boys, covering her ears with one hand as she ran towards Xu Qing.
"You're already so old, and you're still afraid of firecrackers?" Xu Qing found her actions funny.
"No!" Xiaoyan shook his head vigorously. "It's just very, very noisy!"
"Then why are you still looking … This is Big Sister Jiang He."
"Hello, Big Sister!"
"Hello."
Jiang He squeezed Xu Qing's hand tightly, blinking at the little girl in front of her, who only reached her waist.
Her ponytails swayed back and forth, making her look very lively.
"She's Auntie Cheng's granddaughter, the Auntie Cheng who always carries a basket."
Xu Qing explained, and Jiang He nodded imperceptibly. As long as Xu Qing took the initiative to introduce her to people, most of them had a purpose — although it was just a little girl, she still had to treat it seriously.
In the past six months, she had long discovered that Xu Qing had always been very purposeful. Unless it was very interesting, he rarely did something useless for no reason.
"Is this White Gourd?"
When Xiaoyan greeted Jiang He, her eyes were already attracted by White Gourd. She carefully looked at it and then exclaimed.
The last time she saw it, it was a small and thin boy, but now it had become a big fat boy.
"Yes, it grows much faster than you, so it needs to eat more."
"I don't want to become a little fat boy!"
Xu Qing joked with her, took Jiang He to sit down on a bench to rest and bask in the sun. He handed the rope to Xiaoyan and let her play with White Gourd.
"The neighbors here are very good, like Auntie Cheng. She is a little gossipy, but she is very nice and warm-hearted. When I was a child, I was locked outside my house and couldn't get in. When my parents came back, she would see me and let me go to her house to watch TV and do my homework."
Looking at Xiaoyan happily holding White Gourd and showing off to her friends, he casually talked about the past with Jiang He.
This community was his childhood. He moved to a new house with Xu Wenbin and his wife for a period of time, and then moved back to college.
"Why do you want to introduce me to her?" Jiang He was curious about this question.
"Don't you think she's very cute?" Xu Qing was surprised.
"Very cute …" Jiang He looked at Xiaoyan, who was jumping not far away, and wondered, "Is it because she's cute?"
"Why else?"
Xu Qing asked. He paused for a moment and said, "I also want you to get to know a few more people. Otherwise, life will be too monotonous … I think you have some misunderstanding about me."
"Maybe …"
Jiang He looked up and thought about it. He didn't know where his inexplicable idea came from.
Anyway, he just felt that he always connected a lot of things to do together.
For example, when he held her hand …
Jiang He looked down at Xu Qing's pig trotters. He was playing with her fingers again.
"She comes to stay with Aunt Cheng for a few days every winter and summer vacation. Sometimes, she comes to me with winter vacation homework and plays with White Gourd … Winter vacation homework is a student's job. She does exercises at home."
Xu Qing used his index finger to trace her palm lines, as if he was reading her palm. He suddenly said, "I think I'm going to have a hand fetish."
"What?" Jiang He heard a new word.
"It means that she likes hands very much."
Jiang He was silent for a moment and looked away. "You like it."
"Maybe."
Xu Qing didn't explain that he could only like hands because he didn't have enough authority …
If he had enough authority, he would definitely let her know what a real lecher was.
"Jiang …"
Xiaoyan ran over with the cat in her arms. She was stuck. Xu Qing helped to recognize her. "Sister Jiang He."
"Sister Jiang He!" Xiaoyan called out sweetly. She looked at the two of them holding hands. "Are you Brother Xu's girlfriend?"
Before Jiang He could answer, Xu Qing asked with a smile, "Do you know what a girlfriend is?"
"Of course I know!"
"What?"
"It's … it's …" Xiaoyan opened her eyes wide and couldn't say a word. She didn't know how to explain.
She held her breath until her face turned red. Then, she said loudly, "It's a girl's friend!"
"So cute." Xu Qing smiled at Jiang He and didn't say much about this matter.
Children shouldn't know too much.
It would be bad if they were led astray.
"If you like White Gourd, you can come and play with it." He touched Xiaoyan's head and said gently, "You can also play with Sister Jiang He."
"Okay!"
Xiaoyan nodded vigorously.
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