Chapter 19

The next day, early in the morning, our family took the things needed to sweep the tomb and went to sweep LiLi's grandmother's tomb. LiLi said a lot of words at her grandmother's tomb, including her recent situation in the past few years, our college entrance, and so on. LiLi cried and said she missed her grandmother very much and hoped her grandmother would be well, and in her next life, she hoped her grandmother would be born into a good family, and so on. Ming did not expect that LiLi was so smooth with the old people's talk, because LiLi said she still wanted to stay for a while. So he went to his parents and grandmother and said, "Mom and Dad, grandmother, you should go back first. I will accompany LiLi here. Maybe we will go to other places later." Then they instructed me to take good care of LiLi and went back first. I stayed with LiLi all the time. Ming wanted to comfort her, but he also felt that LiLi should release herself, so he just stood silently on the side, waiting for LiLi to be okay before leaving together.

We weren't in a hurry to go home, Ming accompanied Li and walked around. Suddenly, Li said, "I want to go to my grandmother's place and take a look." Ming's grandmother gave the key to Ming and Li's mother, knowing that Li might want to see her grandmother's place, so we went there directly. When we arrived, Ming took out the key, and Li hesitated but still took it, ready to open the door. Ming said from behind, "It's okay, I'll go in with you." Li opened the door and we went in. It had been a long time since anyone lived there, so there was a lot of thick dust. Ming and Li looked at the things in the room, and not long after, we came out.

After we came out, I said, "Do you want to go to my grandmother's house and see? After you left, my grandmother and I also moved to live with my parents. We only come back a few times. Maybe it's the same over there, everywhere is covered in dust." Ming saw that Li didn't say anything and didn't refuse, so he went to open the door, and then the two of us went in. The furnishings in the house were the same as before, but covered in dust. It's an old house here, and some people have moved away, and some people still live nearby. We just looked around and then locked the door and went out. Li didn't say much, so we walked around the neighborhood where we used to play when we were kids, and then we ran into the old neighbors. They looked at us and said, "Is this Ming and Li? I can't recognize you anymore. You've grown into young men and women now. Did you just come out from your grandmother's house?" We politely replied, saying that we had something to do and needed to hurry back, and we'll visit next time. They even mentioned their children and our university entrance exam, and we chatted for a while before we left. I said, "Do you still remember how we used to be teased by them about having parents or not having parents?"

Li Li said, "Remember, whenever we have a fight, we always stick together. Even though they have more people, their hearts are not united, so we easily defeated them. Then they ran to our house to complain, and even though Grandma only asked us to apologize, they were still not happy. They told their kids not to play with us, and even said that we were poorly raised by our parents. Later, their kids came out and said things about us."

Clearly said, "I remember at that time we really disliked them, even their kids. Looking back, we were really childish. Do you remember how our grades were always good, while their kids only knew how to play and didn't like to study, and would get beaten by their parents? We were always the first ones to go over and add fuel to the fire, weren't we?" Li Li kept nodding and smiling.

Li Li said, "Remember, after being teased, we would go back to our grandmother and cry. Our grandmother said many comforting words to us. I remember one of them was that they were jealous of us because we had good grades in school, that's why they came to tease us. Later, we encouraged each other and ranked first and second in the whole grade every year. The ones with the worst grades among them were also the most mischievous. The teacher knew that we lived together and often compared us to their kids, so they often disciplined their own kids."

In the future, there is a aunt, her child works in the power supply bureau, and one works in the post office, and several others work at home, some work nearby, and some work outside. Grandma knows that we have been admitted to the university, and she also tells everyone that they told us that there is no longer a division of labor in universities now. I heard that now going to university does not worry about me, etc.

Lili said, "What's there to worry about? Are you worried about not finding a job in the future?"

I said, "I'm not worried. I study law, so my future job will be in legal affairs or as a lawyer. I don't have anything to worry about. What about you? Do you want to be a journalist or work in the news industry in the future?"

Li said, "I guess so, I am just studying this." Ming said, "When did you start wanting to be a journalist? I remember you used to want to be a writer. I thought you would choose Chinese literature."

Lili looked at me and said, "So tell me first, why do you want to study law? You didn't seem to want this before. I remember you wanted to be a teacher, an educator."

Be frank and say, "Yes, in high school, there was a period of time when I was considering what major to choose. My parents couldn't help me much with it, so I asked my homeroom teacher what major I should choose if I wanted to be a teacher in the future. However, he analyzed it and thought that I was very suitable for a law major, so he recommended that I choose this major in college, and I did."

Lili said, "I was wavering between majoring in journalism and Chinese language at the beginning. I liked both of them. Now I am majoring in journalism and taking Chinese language as an elective. I will sign up for it next semester. Actually, there is no conflict in studying both of them."

It's explicit "Hearing you say that, I should also choose an elective course." After that, we chatted a lot, and suddenly Ming and Li returned to the way they used to be, with many common topics.

Li Li stayed here for three days. The day before yesterday, Mingfu was not here, so he went to buy a bag for Li Li. He bought a slightly different one, but you couldn't tell if you didn't look closely. The three of them have been together these days, going to places they used to play before, having a great time. They also opened up and talked about themselves; it made them feel like they were back to their second year of junior high, which was a very happy time for them, even though it was only for a year. Li Li is very grateful to the two of them for making her so happy. The days passed quickly, and it was time for Li Li to go back. Originally, the whole family wanted to send Li Li off, but Grandma saw that we, a group of young people, had a good relationship, so she had us send Li Li to the train station. Early in the morning, Mingfu came and brought a gift, saying "Don't open this gift until you're on the train."

明说“这么大，不会是包吧”，明傅用手撞了一下明的胸口，看来是被明猜中了，明傅说“既然明说出来了，你就打开吧”。理说谢谢，打开之后里面还有卡片，明傅和理理对视，理知道就没有拿出来，然后就出发去火车站。他们一直送到火车站，理理就说“你们回去吧，我一个人进去吧”，但是两个人不同意，一定要送理理进站，才肯回去，在火车到来的时候理理和他们道别，理理依依不舍的样子就进入通道。

Ming said, "What did you write on the card in the bag?" Mingfu said, "I didn't write anything, it's our secret."

Ming said, "It's okay, I'll call Li in a few days, and Li will tell me."

Ming Fu said, "Why do you always want to inquire about everything? I wrote to Li Li explicitly not to tell you."

I said, "Alright, you couldn't have seen how pretty Li Li is and wanted to pursue the love letter she wrote, could you?"

Mingfu said, "It's not a love letter, where did you get that idea? She's just like a sister to me."

Ming said, "If it's not a love letter, it's fine. If you don't want to say anything else, it's up to you," and then the two of them went back together like that.

After getting settled in the car, I finally had time to look at what Mingfu had written. I took it out and opened it, (even though our time together is always short, in my heart, you and Ming are my best friends. I see that you like the backpack that Ming and I have, so even though this one is slightly different in style, I hope you will like it too. Next time we are together, I hope you will also use this backpack. Mingfu also left a note with his phone number, and I hope we can keep in touch in the future.) After reading Mingfu's card, Lili smiled happily while holding the bag. Originally, Lili's family was supposed to come back here for the New Year, but in the end, they didn't. We can only meet again next year when school starts.