Salad Days Chapter 2 part2

When Qing Ling zi arrived, Jiang Shen and the rest had each gotten several savory poached eggs. The young girl of seven or eight years old was more sensible and mature than the boys of around the same age, and upon seeing her own brother wolfing down his food, her expression was not unlike giving the cold shoulder.

Everyone doted on her much more than her brother, Gou Mao. The girl sported a new jacket and skirt as she entered, hugging a drawing board to her chest, and called out in a coquettish tone, "Shen zi".

Jiang Shen pulled his face out of his eggs, "Oh."

Qing Ling zi squeezed herself into a spot next to him, and Shu Bao had no choice but to resign his small plate to her. The girl didn't forget to arrange and fold her skirt down neatly, holding her chin up prim and proper, "I painted an entire piece today."

Jiang Shen wiped his mouth, "Let me see."

Qing Ling zi was waiting for him to say those words, and gingerly took out the drawing board hidden behind her. She cast a sideways glance at Gou Mao, biting into her egg with disdain, "Look at you getting all nervous, It's not like it matters to you."

Typically, Qing Ling zi wasn't on the friendliest terms with her brother. Gou Mao wasn't the type likely to bully people like the other children, so not having the nerve to throw her paints and tear her canvas, all he could do was curse.

Qing Ling zi couldn't stand how her brother worked in fits on the farm and would start climbing the trees. His clothes could never stay clean throughout the day, and after one week she couldn't bear to look at his shoes. His heart was never into study, so his grades were at the very bottom of his class. Plus, when he recited a text during lessons, his voice carried a thick country accent. Before class would start, Qing Ling zi wished she could ditch Gou Mao when they walked to school together. She was mortified to have an older brother like him.

Among several countryside friends she knew, Jiang Shen was the only one who she thought was easy on the eyes.

Since the young girl's artwork was truly precious to her, Jiang Shen picked it up and set it down with the greatest care. Qing Ling zi said the painting she'd made today was called, "Spring Rush". Jiang Shen didn't fully understand the artistic concept behind the oil painting. When he said he'd look at it, that's pretty much only what he did.

Qing Lingzi asked him, “Does it look good?”

Jiang Shen nodded, "It's great."

Qing Ling zi was delighted. Her brother also wanted to move closer and take a look, but his head was shoved away by the girl's palm.

Gou Mao fumed, "You bought that paint with my allowance last month!"

Qing Ling zi hit him with her fists, "That's because your old shoes had worn out and I secretly bought you a new pair. You paid me the money for the paint!"

Gou Mao grumbled to himself, "You're so stingy."

 Qing Ling zi put her painting away, stuck her tongue out at Gou Mao, and flashed by leisurely on her way out the Jiang family's courtyard.

Shu Bao watched the young girl's receding figure and laughed, "Silly little girl, why do you love him so much?"

"How can she love me?" Gou Mao said with egg still stuffed in his mouth. His voice was blustering, "She's the only daughter in the family, and if she wants to learn something then she gets to learn it. You didn't know this, Shen zi, but that paint was super expensive. When I went to buy it, I felt like I had to kill five-hundred more chickens just to make enough money."

It would have been fine if he hadn't mentioned chickens, but because he did, the pheasant in Jiang Shen's yard awoke and didn't know what time it was. It soared off its toes and from the fence, struck the air with a loud screech.

"Holy crap, that scared me to death." Gou Mao's hands gripped his chest, terror in his voice, "Does he recognize me? Is he gonna peck at me as soon as he sees me?"

Shu Bao mocked him, "You're stupider than a chicken. Eat your eggs."

Compared to other families who were well off, the Jiang family had just a basic seeder. It was smaller in appearance and had a slower speed. Other people's seeders could finish off one acre of land in a single run, while it took their old grandpa machine three tries to do the job.

Every year when planting, Jiang Shen was away from the city, facing the fields and guarding them with the head of a branch. He carried an iron spade in his hands, but it wasn't to play with. The machine at home was too old, and the land was occasionally poor, so he had to manually sow the seeds. 

Racing around the circumference of the field, his soles were covered in mud. Jiang LuoShan pulled the machine over and greeted Jiang Shen.

"Tired?" Jiang LuoShan picked his son up and set him down on the big tire, taking out a brush and clearing off the dirt. 

A smile broke out on Jiang Shen's lips, "I'm not."

Jiang LuoShan grinned back. In reality, he wasn't that old. Not even having reached forty yet, he was able to have his face to the ground and back to the sky all day, working hard. Somehow, when looking at his face, it conveyed a variety of emotions.

"I'm sending you to school in September," Jiang LuoShan suddenly said. "I connected to some people I found who'll let you transfer into the third grade class in the middle of the semester."

Although Jiang Shen was young, he still had kind of an idea on his family's socio-economic status. He said nothing, frowning as he twisted the belt holding the spade around his waist.

Jiang LuoShan asked him, "Your mom said you wanted to learn dance?"

Jiang Shen didn't dare say "yes", going silent for a long time, his flimsy "mhm" sounded like a mosquito.

Jiang LuoShan let out a sigh. As his father, his son's temperament was clear to him. Even though Jiang Shen's "mhm" was said lightly, it sounded heavy in Jiang LuoShan's ears.

"If you learn dance, there won't be any more picture book-reading." Jiang LuoShan lured him in with a half-joke, half-threat. "You'll need to save your entire allowance for the tuition."

Once Jiang LuoShan said that, Jiang Shen remembered something. He anxiously felt in his pocket for the deposit he'd received from renting the books before, and stuffed it in his father's hands. After doing all this, Jiang Shen finally seemed to have a bit of confidence, "I won't read them. I'll never read picture books again."

"……" Jiang LuoShan looked down at the heap of coins and notes in his hands, opened his mouth to speak several times, but choked on the words in his throat, not reaching his mouth. He quietly raised his arms and took Jiang Shen off of the tire, hugging him. He stroked his son's head, the boy a little heavy in his arms, "Your mom will take a trip to the city tomorrow to buy shoes for you."

Chapter end