TL: Etude
"Jianghai, it's me, Fu Qiang!"
A familiar voice came from outside the door.
Chen Jianghai opened the door and saw Fu Qiang standing outside. With a puzzled expression, he asked, "What is it? Is there something wrong?"
"Yo! Are you having dinner?" Fu Qiang glanced inside and then said with a beaming smile, "I made some cured meat at home today and thought I'd bring some over for you to try."
Having said that, Fu Qiang presented a plate from behind him, which had several pieces of cured meat with a mix of fat and lean.
Chen Jianghai was somewhat confused.
What was going on?
Had the sun risen from the west?
In his memory, the man before him was not known to be so generous!
"Jianghai, let the man come in first!" Lin Wanqiu followed up.
When the lady of the house has spoken, and considering it's rude to turn away a smiling face, especially when someone has taken the initiative to bring something over, there was no reason to keep him standing at the door.
Thus, Chen Jianghai quickly stepped aside to let him in.
Fu Qiang, understanding the etiquette, placed the plate on the table and with a smile still broad on his face said, "I hope my timing is just right? Go on and try it, don't mind me."
As he said this, Fu Qiang's gaze involuntarily lingered on the television in the living room.
Seeing this, Chen Jianghai realized that Fu Qiang had come over to watch TV.
In the early nineties, in the small county town of Linghai, not many families could afford a television.
Moreover, at that time, there were extremely few entertainment options, and television was arguably the only post-dinner amusement.
Hence, watching someone else's TV had become a feature of that era.
After dinner, people would head to a home with a television, bringing some sunflower seeds or peanuts, and they would chat while watching TV. That was the post-dinner entertainment.
In the area where Chen Jianghai lived, only Qiu Jinfeng's family had a television.
However, Qiu Jinfeng was stingy, and if you went to watch TV at her place without bringing something, she would nag endlessly, making it incredibly awkward.
Chen Jianghai had never been interested in watching TV.
In later years, he owned a television, but he rarely turned it on even once a year.
After the advent of smartphones, the TV became almost mythical to him; he barely watched it at all.
Chen Jianghai leisurely continued his meal while most of Lin Wanqiu's attention was on the TV.
Fu Qiang was even less likely to look away, as if missing a moment was a tremendous loss.
"Fu Qiang, you don't need to bring anything the next time you come over," Chen Jianghai then said.
It was just watching TV; among neighbors, it really didn't matter.
Accepting gifts for this made him somewhat uncomfortable.
Whether Fu Qiang heard him or not, he simply nodded and replied, "Alright, I got it."
Except for what was on the TV, it seemed he could hardly hear anything else.
Seeing his engrossed expression, Chen Jianghai could only smile and say no more.
The scarcity of entertainment options could leave one feeling empty.
Chen Jianghai glanced at his wife, Lin Wanqiu, who was also deeply captivated by the plot, and felt that this saying wasn't wrong.
After dinner, Chen Jianghai did not call Lin Wanqiu but went into the kitchen with his bowl.
When he had finished cleaning up and returned to the living room, the two were still fixated on the TV, completely ignoring him.
Chen Jianghai shook his head helplessly and started tinkering with the radio.
He was busy until almost nine o'clock.
Chen Jianghai glanced at Fu Qiang and noticed that he showed no sign of leaving.
"Wanqiu, it's about time to sleep, you still have work tomorrow," Chen Jianghai said loudly after boiling some water.
Fu Qiang then seemed to realize the time, and with a look of reluctance at the television screen, he said awkwardly, "It is a bit late, I should be going back."
"Uh-huh, no need to see you out," Chen Jianghai replied indifferently.
Lin Wanqiu seemed somewhat reluctant to stop, staring intently at the screen as she said, "Jianghai, I want to watch it a little longer..."
"You can only watch until nine every day from now on, otherwise forget about watching the TV," Chen Jianghai pretended to be angry.
Lin Wanqiu was momentarily stunned, then quickly shifted her gaze away from the television screen and nodded, "Okay, let's settle on that."
Watching Lin Wanqiu hop and skip off to wash up, Chen Jianghai couldn't help but smile.
This girl, why does she still act like a child?
But then Chen Jianghai thought to himself, Lin Wanqiu was just in her early twenties, it was normal for her to be a bit capricious.
It was only after Lin Wanqiu had washed up and come back that she noticed the items Chen Jianghai had placed under the bed.
"Eh, Jianghai, what's this?" Lin Wanqiu asked, towel in hand, wiping her face.
Chen Jianghai said with a smile, "Aren't we going to your parents' house this weekend? I can't go empty-handed, can I?"
"What did you buy?"
Lin Wanqiu was clearly taken aback, then quickly put down the towel and started rummaging through the bag.
"Oh my! Why did you buy so much stuff? How much money did this all cost?" Lin Wanqiu felt a bit distressed.
Chen Jianghai said nonchalantly, "Hey, your parents are my parents, what's wrong with spending a bit of money?"
Lin Wanqiu smiled at this but didn't let Chen Jianghai off easily.
"There's no need to buy such nice things; we shouldn't indulge my dad's bad habits. Besides, we're all family; it's the thought that counts."
Chen Jianghai nodded with a smile. "Alright, alright, I'll listen to the wife from now on."
"Just your sweet talk!"
Lin Wanqiu giggled.
...
The weekend was approaching, and there was still no news from the shop. Fang Aiguo was still selling radios, so Chen Jianghai started running around again, looking for repair work to do.
After a busy day, Chen Jianghai and Lin Wanqiu sat at the dining table, with most of Lin Wanqiu's attention on the television.
Chen Jianghai now truly regretted it; his wife had become completely addicted to the television and couldn't be budged once she was home.
Well, as long as she's happy, he thought.
Just as Chen Jianghai was muttering to himself, there was a knock at the door.
Chen Jianghai raised an eyebrow, wondering if it was Fu Qiang again.
Upon opening the door, huh, it wasn't just Fu Qiang this time.
"Jianghai, can we come in for a sit?" Fu Qiang asked with a smile.
The other one was Mo Xinmei, who had greeted Chen Jianghai yesterday.
At this moment, she was smiling at Chen Jianghai with an obviously ingratiating expression.
Chen Jianghai could only let the two in, but he didn't close the door completely.
"Wanqiu, still eating?"
As soon as she entered, Mo Xinmei greeted her warmly.
Lin Wanqiu, holding her bowl, also had a smile on her face: "Sister Mei, you're here! Have you eaten?"
"I have, I have. I heard your house has a closed-circuit TV, so I came to have a look!"
With that, Mo Xinmei sat down next to Lin Wanqiu.
Talking about the TV, Lin Wanqiu became very excited: "Sister Mei, have you seen 'Snow Mountain Flying Fox'? Hu Fei is so pitiful!"
"Yes, I've seen a bit. The poor child lost his parents at birth, so tragic!" Mo Xinmei quickly responded.
Fu Qiang sat by himself at the side of the wall, too embarrassed to interject into the women's conversation, looking somewhat awkward.
Chen Jianghai didn't bother with him and picked up his tools to start his assembly work.
This was the pressing matter at hand.
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