Orange Storm chapter 95

Extra 5

Jiang Zhijin first time meeting Fang Xing was actually not in Shaojiang.

At that time, he had just started junior high school. The middle school in the town was 10 kilometers away from home. Because it was inconvenient, he stayed at school from Monday to Friday, only returning home after the last class on Friday.

The 10-kilometer road, taking that kind of black van that picked up people along the way, cost three yuan per person. Jiang Zhijin couldn’t bear to spend those three yuan, so he walked all the way back every time. Anyway, he walked pretty fast, taking a stretch of the main road, then circling through several field paths and alleys. In the summer, when it was still light out, usually before the sun went down, he would almost be home.

This time was no exception. As soon as he turned the corner of the alley, he could already hear the barking of his grandmother’s dog, one bark after another, mixed with intermittent cries of children.

Jiang Zhijin’s heart skipped a beat, afraid that his family’s dog had bitten someone. He quickened his pace, running a few steps, and when he reached the door, he finally saw the scene in front of him.

The gate to his own house was open, and the dog was tied up in the yard, behaving well. Seeing Jiang Zhijin, it stopped barking and happily wagged its tail at him. There was a child squatting at the door, who looked to be only two or three years old, wearing denim overalls and looking quite cute. When he saw Jiang Zhijin, probably finding it novel, the child stopped crying, turned his head, and stared at him. His eyes were quite large, with tears on the verge of falling, making him look extremely sad.

Jiang Zhijin was taken aback for a moment, then he saw his smiling grandmother and Zhou Ling, who still looked somewhat angry, not far away.

“Sister Zhou Ling,” Jiang Zhijin stepped forward and greeted, “You’re back?”

“Xiao Zhijin, school’s over?” Seeing him, Zhou Ling’s anger on her face subsided a bit, and her tone softened slightly. “Yeah, I have a few days off, so I came back to visit your grandmother.”

After saying that, she turned to look at the child on the ground, raising her voice a bit. “Fang Xing, let me say it one last time, get up right now!”

“I told you I’m busy today. You insist on being taken to the temple fair. Do you want to be punished? Hurry up and go home!”

Jiang Zhijin turned to look at the child. There was nothing but tears in his eyes, looking particularly pitiful. Yet he seemed quite stubborn. Even after being given a final ultimatum, he didn’t budge.

“Not going back.”

Zhou Ling seemed really angry now, and Jiang Zhijin somehow felt that this child was a bit pitiful and amusing. He quickly spoke up, “How about letting him come to my house to play?”

Jiang Zhijin bent down to look at the child named Fang Xing, meeting his gaze, and only smiled when their eyes met. “I have a puppy at my house. Do you want to come and see?”

Fang Xing thought for a moment, then reached out and slowly grabbed one of Jiang Zhijin’s fingers.

Zhou Ling was probably quite busy and still angry. She waved her hand at Fang Xing. “Not going home, huh? Then go, go, go! Go with this big brother!”

Seeing that Fang Xing was about to cry again, Jiang Zhijin quickly picked him up and brought him into the house.

The child was crying with tears all over his face. His hands were hooked around Jiang Zhijin’s neck, not daring to let go. Jiang Zhijin put down his school bag, used his towel to wipe the child’s face clean, then fetched a bucket of water from the well and slowly helped him wash his hands.

Fang Xing stopped crying at this point, his eyes clean and bright as he stared at Jiang Zhijin, slowly saying, “My mommy doesn’t want me anymore.”

With such a pitiful statement, the child frowned, speaking slowly, as if he had come to this conclusion after careful consideration.

Jiang Zhijin found it amusing. “That’s not true. Your mommy will come to pick you up soon.”

Fang Xing stubbornly said, “Mommy told me to go with you.”

This child was quite interesting. Jiang Zhijin hadn’t felt this happy in a long time, and he rarely had a mischievous thought. He smiled and teased, “Then what should we do? Do you want to stay with me?”

Fang Xing didn’t say whether it was good or bad, just stared at Jiang Zhijin blankly. Jiang Zhijin helped him wash his hands before saying, “Your mommy won’t abandon you. She’s just too busy, so she asked you to stay with me for a while.”

He squatted down and looked at Fang Xing. “Do you want to play with me for a while?”

This time, Fang Xing seemed to consider for a moment, then nodded solemnly.

This was many, many years ago, and later Fang Xing returned to Chaocheng, slowly forgetting about it. Jiang Zhijin remembered, but didn’t think much of it.

Neither of them expected to meet again many years later.

THE END.