Chapter 98: Family (1/2)

Tonight, the foreman treated him a bit more kindly than before. Before he could do it for a while, he beckoned him to come over and said, ”Xiao Ji, there is no need to move materials today. These are enough, and the road is almost tidy.”

Ji Yuanjie stood there at a loss. He thought he had lost his job.

The foreman said to him: ”In this way, you go and tidy up the flower beds on both sides. Someone was lazy before and threw some broken bricks. It isn’t necessary to check the municipal greening, but you have to be careful. I'll give you two or three days to fix it a little bit, don’t be greedy.”

Ji Yuanjie nodded when he heard this, ”Okay, I'll do it now.”

The construction section was not big, that is, it was just a side road outside a residential area. There were some scattered broken bricks in the flower beds on both sides and the cement trucks were mixing the piles of cement left in the corners. They were all in a semi-dry state and were easy to shovel down.

Ji Yuanjie had it very easy, which was much easier than when he moved materials and carried cement before.

The foreman said he had to be careful, so he did it seriously. He ran through it that night. The next day, taking advantage of the early delivery of the courier in the afternoon, he went to the construction section and cleaned it again. There was more sunlight during the day, and was able to see more clearly, and on the way, he also cleaned the dead branches and garbage in the flower bed.

By the time Guo Xiaohu and the others arrived in the middle of the afternoon, Xiaoji understood what was going on.

Guo Xiaohu’s father made his fortune in the building materials business here, and he knows many people. The boss of the company who contracted this section of the municipal road is a little brother who used to follow his father. He came out for two years and worked on his own. The relationship with the Guo family was very warm. Guo Xiaohu was inspired by Tang Jinyu, and seeing that Xiaoyu could use Chen Suling’s secretary to find a job at the Su Zhai Restaurant, he also asked his family about it. He asked for the uncle’s phone number and made a call, and he immediately arranged Xiaoji for a lighter job.

Not only did Guo Xiaohu beg for him, he also personally brought a group of boys over to help.

Five or six-and-a-half guys moved very fast, helping Xiaoji ,clean up half in a short while.

Another boy happily said, ”Hey, do you think this looks like cleaning the sanitary area of ​​the school? The flower bed in our class was the second most important thing, and I was the best at doing this.”

Guo Xiaohu didn't dare to meet Ji Yuanjie's eyes, looked at the front and said: ”Everyone split up, move faster, I heard that there is a bonus for completing ahead of time.”

Several people agreed loudly on purpose, and went to work.

The acting skills of these people were so bad, Ji Yuanjie could see what was going on at a glance. He had been working in this construction site, but he had never heard of bonuses.

But he didn't say anything bad, thanked them, and worked hard.

While working, Guo Xiaohu tried to encourage him and asked him if he wanted to go back to school.

Ji Yuanjie shook his head: ”I'm not going anymore…”

”Why?”

”It's expensive.”

”Xiao Ji, let me tell you that there is a work-study department in the school I transferred to. It helps the cafeteria and the political education office to earn living expenses in one semester. Really, there was a classmate in our class whose home conditions were very average, and his mother was sick all year round, this was when he was middle school and he was working half the day and only coming to school for the exams, when school started in September…” Guo Xiaohu takled for a while, his lips were dry, and he said: ”Xiaoji, go to school, look how good your test score was last time. It was even higher than mine. It's just that you didn't play well in the exams, a year of studying is sure to make you into a big hit.”

Guo Xiaohu said a lot, but Xiao Ji never said a word. Guo Xiaohu finally couldn't hold back his breath: ”Why don’t you want to go?”

”I can't leave my mother alone.”

Xiaoji said plainly, but these few words really made him feel uncomfortable. Guo Xiaohu scolded himself, turned his head to wipe his eyes as casually as he could, and turned his head back: ”We will help you.”

Xiaoji smiled and said: ”You have helped me a lot. Really, I am very grateful to you. My mother actually discussed school with me. She wants me to go, but I plan to wait for two years. If I have a chance, I will…”

”Wait later!” Guo Xiaohu pointed to a few helpers over there, ”If you don't go, you have to ask if we agree or not. We all agreed that we should work together in the summer vacation to collect your tuition. Xiaoyu asked his brother to help find a lawyer. Don't worry, brother Xiaye is very powerful. He will help your family solve the problem!”

Guo Xiaohu's chest fluctuated a few times, and he said in a dumb voice: ”At that time, you will repeat your studies for a year, and the key points will also be listed. After finishing high school with us, you, me, Xingxing, and Xiaoyu will be admitted to a city’s University, when school starts, we can still ride the train together, and during the holidays we can come back together.”

He said a lot, his tone was very firm, as if that was the future they had agreed upon.

It was probably the hot summer heat and the sun that was dazzling. Xiaoji wore a pair of thick-line gloves and held a shovel in his hand, leaving a cement mark on the edge of the flower bed. The sweat on his forehead rolled down a few times, and fell down on the corner of his eyes. It was irritating and painful, and the corner of his eyes turned red, he didn’t know whether it was sweat or tears.

A few of them were doing a lot of work, and someone came by the side of the road. This time it was a little girl who was pushing an electric station and beckoning to them at the intersection.

Guo Xiaohu saw her, and he subconsciously wanted to go over with a cry, but he stopped and deliberately said: ”Xiaoji, you go, we haven't finished here yet. He has to move this marble slab with me. You can go on ahead, it's too heavy for one person to carry.”

Ji Yuanjie agreed, put down the shovel in his hand and passed by. He wiped his sweat on the road and stood there watching the little girl with a smile: ”Stars, why are you here?”

Han Yixing came to bring them water. She brought a lot of cold drinks she made at home, and she also carried a small bucket of ice cubes. She prepared very well. ”My dad's unit has distributed a lot of watermelons. I can't carry them all, so I thought about squeezing them into drinks for you guys. Look, Xiaoji, I also brought ice cubes. Here is a paper cup. I will take it for you after you finish drinking…”

She wanted to come down, but was quickly stopped by Ji Yuanjie. There was a barrier in front of the construction section. It was still on the asphalt road for one or two steps. Han Yixing’s electric bike had a little trouble parking. Ji Yuanjie was standing on the leveled dirt road, with lime and cinder, drawing a clear black and white boundary. He looked at the little girl's clean sandals and smiled: ”Don't come down the star, it's dirty here, just pass it to me, I'll carry it.”

Han Yixing gave him the cold drinks, and said, ”Wait a minute, I bought you a cup, it’s very big, you can take it with you to drink water. It's too hot in summer. You must be careful not to get heatstroke, and drink plenty of water…”

Ji Yuanjie stood there holding a cold drink. The little girl moved very slowly. She glanced at him and wanted to talk to him.

Xiaoji opened his mouth first, and said to her after thinking about it: ”Xingxing, you don't have to give me anything more in the future.”

Han Yixing was anxious, ”Why?”

Xiaoji looked at her, his eyes looked at her softly, and said: ”I can't rely on you for the rest of my life.”

Han Yixing said: ”Why can't you rely on me forever?”

Xiao Ji smiled. He stood at the road section and looked at the clean girl on the road. The construction divided the place into two worlds. One side was shaded with green willows, clean and beautiful, while his feet were stepping on soil, his gloves were broken and tattered, and underneath was a pair of hands covered with blisters. His voice was as clear as before, and he was always patient with her, ”Stars, I have had a very happy summer vacation.”

”You are so kind to me.”

”I will remember you all my life.”

Han Yixing was a little panicked. She felt as if Xiao Ji was pushing her away. The little girl was afraid of this but didn't know what to do. She looked at the boy in front of her, even if her feet were standing in the dirt, she felt like she was about to cry, ”Don’t say that, Xiao Ji, why can’t I help you? Let me help you, and it will definitely get better. Ah… And, didn't you say, wait for the end of the senior high school entrance examination to tell me a little secret!”

Xiaoji stood there scratching his head, a little embarrassed, but still smiled and decided. This was the first time he missed an appointment with a little girl, and he whispered sorry to her.

Han Yixing was very sad, lowered her head and asked, ”Don't you want to tell me?”

Xiaoji stood there and whispered: ”Stars, forget me, the years to come will be so long, you will meet other friends, and he will treat you well, just like I was to you before.”

Han Yixing cried: ”But, can someone be as hard and serious as you… still be kind to me?”