Chapter 7

"Boss!" Zhou Andong asked: "How much for the calendar?"

The boss was a young man in his thirties: "Anything from a few yuan to over ten."

Zhou Andong asked: "Why is the price so different?"

The young man said: "Landscape ones are cheap and don't sell well; celebrity bikini ones sell well, so of course they are expensive. In addition, the paper and printing quality of the calendar also vary."

While talking, the young man sold a calendar, and the small calendar stall next to him was also surrounded by many people; the business looked really hot.

Zhou Andong said to Jiang Yuyue: "I'm going to make a lot of money."

Jiang Yuyue blinked: "You want to sell calendars?"

Zhou Andong shook his head. Sell a fart calendar; he had less than 20 yuan in his pocket, where would he get the money to stock up? Printing it himself was even more impossible.

Jiang Yuyue asked curiously: "Then how are you going to make a lot of money?"

Zhou Andong smiled mysteriously: "You'll know when the time comes, but it might also need you to do me a small favor."

Jiang Yuyue said righteously: "As long as I can do it, it's absolutely no problem. But, if you make money, you have to treat me to a big meal at Donglai Building."

"It's a deal!"

"It's a deal!"

"Clap!" The two high-fived.

"Hey... today is a good day, everything I think about can come true. Today is a good day, opening the door to our home, we welcome the spring breeze..." Zhou Andong couldn't help but sing loudly again.

"Brother-in-law, ah, no, Dongzi." Jiang Yuyue asked: "Who sang this song? It's quite nice."

Zhou Andong said shamelessly: "This is my original."

"Yo, why didn't I notice before that you had this special function?" Jiang Yuyue teased.

"That's right!" Zhou Andong pointed at the old men and women holding pot lids: "See that? They hold pot lids to connect to the universe; if I hold a pot lid, I can communicate with the future."

"You're really blowing your own horn." Jiang Yuyue chuckled: "What kind of qigong, it only fools old men and women."

Zhou Andong pursed his lips: "Look, there are quite a few young people inside."

Jiang Yuyue looked over and curled her lips: "Those are all fools."

Zhou Andong laughed loudly and walked forward.

"Hey!" Jiang Yuyue chased after him quickly: "I haven't been to the Children's Park for a long time, accompany me for a stroll."

Zhou Andong said: "In the middle of winter, except for a group of old men and women and a group of fools, the trees are all bare, what's there to see? Better to go eat; filling your stomach is the most important thing."

Qin family water-filling steamed buns were not far from the Children's Park, a ten-minute walk. The shop wasn't big, about a hundred square meters, with only seven small tables, but the business was very hot. When Zhou Andong and Jiang Yuyue came in, there were no seats left.

"What to do?" Jiang Yuyue asked.

Zhou Andong said: "Cold mix (deal with it), if you want to eat, wait a while; if you don't want to wait, change places."

Just as his voice fell, a table of guests greeted the landlady to settle the bill. Zhou Andong smiled: "Good luck."

One *jin* of water-filling steamed buns had twenty, Jiang Yuyue ate four, and the rest were all eaten by Zhou Andong.

"Brother-in-law!" Jiang Yuyue covered her mouth, then smiled and said: "Used to calling you that. That song you sang just now is really nice, I like it very much. Tell me who sang it; our school is holding a campus singer competition next year, I want to sing this song."

Zhou Andong took a toothpick from the toothpick box: "Give me another two *jin*, and I'll tell you."

Jiang Yuyue widened her eyes: "I only ate four of the one *jin* of buns, you ate sixteen, and you're still not full?"

Zhou Andong said: "I'm full, I want to pack it."

Jiang Yuyue opened her little mouth and gave a thumbs up: "I don't admire anyone, I only admire you. Especially the thickness of your face, just like the prices in these years, rising every year."

"Stop dawdling!" Zhou Andong was picking his teeth without any image: "I still have things to do. Yes or no? If not, I'm leaving."

Jiang Yuyue pointed at Zhou Andong and said through gritted teeth: "Zhou Andong, don't go too far."

Zhou Andong got up and left. Jiang Yuyue slammed the table with a *bang* and shouted angrily: "Boss, two *jin* of water-filling steamed buns, pack it."

"Divide into four portions, half a *jin* per portion." Zhou Andong had a smile on his face and pulled back the leg he had stepped out. This girl was a little rich woman; it would be a waste not to knock on her bamboo pole.

Soon, the packed buns were sent over. Zhou Andong also borrowed the landlady's account book and pen, wrote down the lyrics and simplified notation of "Good Day," and handed it to Jiang Yuyue.

Jiang Yuyue took it and looked at it, then kept sizing up Zhou Andong, full of suspicion: "Is this song really written by you?"

Zhou Andong ignored her, carried the buns, carried his hands behind his back, and walked out of the door, humming a little tune. He didn't know that because of this song, Jiang Yuyue completely deviated from her original life trajectory.

"Wait for me!" Jiang Yuyue finished settling the bill and ran out: "Where are we going to play?"

"Play what!" Zhou Andong said angrily: "I didn't go to work all morning; if I don't go in the afternoon, I'll never have to go to work again."

Jiang Yuyue sighed: "Boring!"

"By the way!" Zhou Andong asked: "How many days of leave did you ask for?"

"Why ask this?" Jiang Yuyue learned from Zhou Andong, carrying her hands behind her back, jumping and walking.

Zhou Andong said: "I'm not asking you for help? If you're at school, don't I have to find someone else?"

Jiang Yuyue said: "I asked for two weeks of leave."

Zhou Andong pondered for a while: "Two weeks, isn't that winter break?"

"Yeah!" Jiang Yuyue shook her head proudly: "So, before school starts, it's no problem to find me any day."

Zhou Andong stopped at the bus stop: "Come to the distillery to find me at nine o'clock the day after tomorrow."

"No problem!" Jiang Yuyue nodded.

The bus came, Zhou Andong got on, and Jiang Yuyue followed.

Zhou Andong asked suspiciously: "Why did you get on too?"

Jiang Yuyue said: "I'm going to the library."

Zhou Andong said: "Going to the library is also wrong; you should take Route 22."

"I want to, can you manage it?" Jiang Yuyue found a seat, sat down, opened her bag, took out a book, and stopped paying attention to Zhou Andong.

The bus was driving on Xiguan Road. Because the weather was good, there were many pedestrians, and the road was narrow, so the bus wasn't driving fast.

Zhou Andong looked out the bus window. More than ten years later, this road was replaced by a wide road called Dongliu Street. At that time, the road was wider, but traffic jams were more serious. The fast-paced life made many people feel exhausted, rarely strolling on the road as leisurely as now.

On the old balconies on both sides, the scenery on the clothes drying poles could only be savored slowly.

"The distillery is here." The conductor shouted.

Zhou Andong came back to his senses, greeted Jiang Yuyue, and got off the bus.

Jiang Yuyue tilted her head and looked at Zhou Andong walking toward the distillery gate. I don't know what she thought of, but she burst into laughter, then continued to look down at her book, the smile on her face not fading for a long time.