Xie Shi'an got up early and used the little money he had left to buy some light bulbs from the hardware store in town, as well as some milk powder and supplements for the elderly, and brought them all back.
Jian Changnian turned off the power and placed a chair on her feet.
"Will you change it?"
Xie Shi'an held a light bulb in his hand and smiled contemptuously.
"What a joke! I got a perfect score in high school physics, okay? I even changed all the light bulbs in my house by myself."
As soon as she finished speaking, she screwed the light bulb into place perfectly with her bare hands.
Xie Shi'an clapped his hands and jumped down.
"Turn on the lights."
Jian Changnian pushed the switch back up.
The light from the incandescent bulb was dazzling, and the whole room was no longer as dark as it used to be, even in broad daylight.
With this, Grandma's eyes should feel much more comfortable when she does needlework.
Xie Shi'an was very satisfied and replaced all the light bulbs in the other rooms with new ones.
The two of them worked all morning, and also repaired the leaky doors and windows. Grandma looked at her and felt a little guilty.
"We invited you here to have fun, why are you doing work now?"
Xie Shi'an wiped the sweat from his forehead; he had been smiling more than usual these past few days.
"It's alright, I can't just eat and drink here for free."
"How can you say you're just eating and drinking for free? You've bought so many things for the family in the few days you've been here. Come on, stop working, take a break, it's time for lunch."
After lunch, they should return to the training base.
Grandma came out with the sweater she had knitted all night and stuffed it into her schoolbag.
"You came at a bad time this time. All the grain and vegetables at home have been sold out. Otherwise, I could have brought you some local specialties to try. Grandma saw that your sweater was torn, so she knitted you a new one. It should fit you well. Try it on when you get back and don't mind it."
Xie Shi'an hasn't had any new clothes bought for her in many years, let alone a hand-knitted sweater.
The gift may be small, but the sentiment is profound.
The boy felt a lump in his throat and nodded emphatically.
"If you don't mind, I'll wear it when I get back."
"Okay, sure." Grandma waved goodbye to them from the gate of the courtyard.
"Chang Nian, Shi An, go back and take good care of yourselves. Good luck in the competition, and remember to come back and visit when you have time."
Jian Changnian turned around and waved, seeing that she was still standing at the door and refused to leave, and shouted.
"Okay, Grandma, you should go back now."
The two men were on their way to town to catch a long-distance bus. As they passed the big banyan tree at the entrance of the village in their oxcart, it was evening, the sun was setting, and several children were playing under the tree.
Jian Changnian looked at them, a hint of nostalgia in her eyes, and pointed.
"Did you see that badminton shuttlecock hanging in the tree?"
A lonely, worn-out badminton shuttlecock, suspended by a nylon rope, sways back and forth in the wind, without any foundation.
“Before Zhou Mu was around, no one in the village would play ball with me, so I would practice alone.”
Xie Shi'an looked over.
I don't know when or who hung it up, but another badminton shuttlecock has appeared on the tree. It was blown by the wind and became entangled with the old one, swaying slightly in the twilight.
The boy said softly.
"It seems she has a partner now."
***
The two returned to the city and asked Qiao Yuchu to go see Wangfu first. Qiao Yuchu looked at the tiny puppy in the incubator and sighed.
"So cute! Where did you find it?"
“We found it on a field ridge in the countryside. It was the only one left alive in its litter, so we brought it back,” Xie Shi’an said.
Qiao Yuchu gently poked the incubator with her finger. Wangfu heard the noise, got up, but being too young to walk, it fell face down with a thud, making all three of them laugh.
"Wang Fu looks much better."
As soon as Jian Changnian finished speaking, the nurse came over to urge him to pay the hospital fees.
The two of them blinked and looked at Qiao Yuchu.
Alarm bells rang in Qiao Yuchu's mind, and she quickly clutched her wallet.
"What? What?"
"Sister Yu Chu~~~" Jian Changnian pounced on her in a coquettish manner.
Seeing her like this, Xie Shi'an felt a chill run down her spine and got goosebumps all over her body. She wasn't as exaggerated as Qiao Yuchu, but she looked at Qiao Yuchu with her expressive eyes, which made people's hearts melt.
"To redeem Grandpa's jade, Bean Sprout and I really don't have a single penny left. Could you please lend us some money first? I'll pay you back when I get my salary."
Qiao Yuchu: "..."
Since she's my adopted sister, what can I do but spoil her?
"Fine, fine, I'll pay. I really can't do anything with you guys."
After I paid, the doctor gave me a couple more instructions.
"The little guy is very resilient. His lung infection is under control now. If things go well, he can be discharged next week. I'll call you then."
Xie Shi'an nodded.
"That's good, thank you for your help, doctor."
After leaving the pet hospital, Qiao Yuchu put her arms around their shoulders, one on each side, still indignant about the matter of redeeming the jade.
“Let me tell you, when dealing with this kind of wicked person, don’t try to reason with him, and don’t give him so much money…”
“After all, the jade is in his hands. I’m just worried that he might not only refuse to return it, but also deliberately damage it,” Jian Changnian said.
Xie Shi'an: "Fortunately, we got it back."
Qiao Yuchu thought for a moment and changed the subject.
"Hey, are you two hungry? Want to grab something to eat?"
Jian Changnian's eyes lit up.
"Would you mind, Sister Yu Chu?"
Helpless, Qiao Yuchu put her arm around their shoulders and walked forward.
"I'll treat them then, since those two are broke right now."
After returning to the dormitory.
Xie Shi'an put the jade pendant she had lost and found, along with her grandmother's bracelet, into a box. She gazed at them for a long time, then put them into the storage cabinet, gently closed the door, and removed the key.
***
A week passed in a flash.
The veterinarian called on time.
After hearing this, Xie Shi'an smiled slightly.
"Okay, I'll go pick it up tonight."
By evening, the day's training had ended.
Xie Shi'an didn't go to the cafeteria for lunch. Instead, he quietly crept to the wall, stepped on the bricks, and climbed up.
Jian Changnian watched her from below.
"Come down quickly, we don't have a holiday, Coach Yan won't let us go out, can we pick you up another day?"
Xie Shi'an turned around and glanced at her.
"If you're not going, I'll go by myself."
After saying that, the boy jumped down and disappeared on the other side of the wall.
Jian Changnian gritted her teeth, looked left and right to make sure no one was there, and then climbed up as well. Oh well, if she went and came back quickly, Coach Yan probably wouldn't notice.
Coincidentally, not long after they left, Yan Xinyuan suddenly had a whistle and blew the assembly whistle to start night training.
He stood in the training room counting the number of people, and after counting and counting, he found that two were missing. Everyone fell silent, not daring to breathe.
Yan Xinyuan pointed.
"Yu Chu, tell me, where did they go?"
Qiao Yuchu stammered, unable to utter a coherent sentence for a long time.
Yan Xinyuan angrily swung his teaching stick.
"Even now you're still covering for them! Don't you know the selection competition is about to start?! You're full of confidence when you're talking big, but if you can't even make it into the selection competition, that'll be truly shameful!"
Qiao Yuchu closed her eyes and laid everything out in her heart.
I'm sorry, Shi'an, Changnian.
Yan Xinyuan threw the pointer to Coach Liang.
"The rest of you continue training. Lao Liang, you keep an eye on them."
"Hey, where are you going?"
"What are you doing? I'm going to catch someone."
***
The two left the pet hospital, and Jian Changnian hugged her schoolbag tightly.
"Shi'an, where should we put Wangfu? Coach Yan definitely won't approve of us keeping a puppy."
Xie Shi'an thought about it. It was too cold at her house and no one would take care of her, so it wasn't suitable. But leaving her at Qiao Yuchu's house would definitely not work; she'd probably get beaten to death.
"How about we hide it in the dorm for a few days and then take it back to grandma's house during the holidays?"