Zhang Chiling's house is not big, with three rooms and a yard of only 80 square meters. Moreover, half of the earthen courtyard wall at the back has collapsed, so there is no security against thieves. In other words, the residents in this alley are quite simple.
, there is no bachelor street kid, otherwise with Zhang Chiling’s appearance and being a widow, the news would have been spread all over the world.
Fortunately, Ma Xiaolong's grandfather, grandmother and parents protect her, and no one dares to be disrespectful to Zhang Chiling.
But her husband is gone, and Zhang Chiling’s financial resources have become a problem.
Although she is a music teacher, teachers in these days do not make any money at all, and their wages are less than ordinary factory workers. Ma Xiaolong remembers that when she was in the fifth grade of elementary school, elementary school teachers could not even get a salary, so they had to earn money through
Make extra money to make ends meet.
Some teachers went to change gas tanks for people, some teachers went to deliver briquettes to people, and some teachers set up a breakfast stall in front of the school, selling barley porridge and sesame cakes.
Very pitiful.
Teachers in that era were real gardeners. They would rather not make money but teach students well. Therefore, they were particularly respected by students and parents. On Teacher's Day, I sincerely wanted to give something to the teacher.
Ma Xiaolong remembers that his father gave his elementary school teacher a bag of noodles on Teachers' Day one year because he heard that the teacher's house was running out of food.
Fortunately, after Teachers' Day that year, the teacher relied on "receiving gifts" to survive the most difficult time, and helped Ma Xiaolong and his students on their horses for the final ride.
Later... about ten years later, Chadian Primary School disappeared due to demolition, and all the teachers were either dispersed to other schools, retired, or had no jobs and had no choice but to be laid off.
Around 2008, Ma Xiaolong wanted to eat hot pot, so he went to a small meat shop to buy meat. The owner of the shop was old and haggard, and he was his elementary school history teacher.
It makes me sad just thinking about it.
Zhang Zhiling definitely couldn't support the family with her salary, but I heard that she found a part-time training job at the Workers' Cultural Palace, teaching accordion and electronic keyboard to children one day every Sunday, and she could barely make ends meet.
But it will definitely not work in the long run. In the future, prices will become more expensive year by year, and the increase in wages will never catch up with prices.
"Auntie, aren't you going to the Cultural Palace today?" Ma Xiaolong ate some dumplings made with cabbage and eggs dipped in vinegar. They tasted ordinary but tasted like home.
"It's snowy and the roads are slippery, so I won't go today." Zhang Chiling smiled slightly and gave him a dumpling in a vinegar bowl: "Eat more."
"I'll do it myself, and you can eat it too, auntie." Ma Xiaolong took two dumplings for her with his backhand.
"Okay, we'll do it ourselves." Zhang Chiling smiled particularly gently.
Ma Xiaolong was stunned, his heart beating rapidly: "Auntie, your smile is so beautiful, like a spring flower."
Zhang Chiling covered her mouth and chuckled after hearing this: "You are really good at talking, but I am very happy, thank you."
"You're welcome." Ma Xiaolong scratched his head with chopsticks and said, "It's just a few lyrics that suddenly popped into my head. Auntie, I'll sing them to you."
"Okay!" Zhang Zhiling's smile became more gentle: "It's been a long time since anyone sang for my aunt. My aunt is listening!"
"Then I'll sing. Ahem, um~~" Ma Xiaolong cleared his throat and started singing.
"Your smile is so beautiful, like spring flowers, blowing away all worries and sorrows. Your smile is so beautiful, like the summer sunshine, the whole time in the world, as beautiful as a picture scroll."
As he started singing, Zhang Chiling's expression gradually changed, from being relaxed and happy at the beginning, to listening carefully, and then closing her eyes and gently tapping the beat, humming along softly.
"..."
Zhang Chiling opened her eyes and asked: "Why don't you sing?"
"It's finished." Ma Xiaolong said.
Zhang Chiling was stunned for a moment, then chuckled: "The singing is really good, the melody is good, and the lyrics are also good."
"Hey, this part suddenly popped up in my mind. If I don't sing it, I will forget it after a while." Ma Xiaolong said with a smile.
"Yeah!" Zhang Zhiling hurriedly put down her chopsticks, took out a piece of letter paper and a ballpoint pen from the drawer under the TV cabinet, and said eagerly: "Xiaolong, please sing it again, and Auntie will take note of it."
"Well……"
Ma Xiaolong sang again.
Zhang Chiling wrote the lyrics line by line and proofread them with him immediately after finishing.
The lyrics are very simple, without any uncommon words, and you can tell right from wrong at a glance.
Seeing that the lyrics were correct, Zhang Chiling hummed while composing the lyrics.
Ma Xiaolong took a look and saw that they were all musical symbols, but he didn't understand them.
Not long after, Zhang Chiling stopped writing, looked at the lyrics and score on the letter paper, and sang a cappella again.
The voice was gentle, like the warm sun, and it reminded Ma Xiaolong of the scene when he was lying on the bed on a spring afternoon, with the sun shining on him through the window.
Comfortable.
When the singing stopped, Ma Xiaolong opened his eyes and clapped his hands vigorously: "It sounds good, it sounds so good."
Zhang Chiling smiled slightly, touched his head and said, "It's Xiaolong's lyrics and melody that are good."
"No, it's because my aunt sings well." Ma Xiaolong sighed: "My singing is just average."
Zhang Chiling chuckled, gradually fell silent, and finally looked into his eyes and asked: "Xiaolong, do you want to learn music?"
"I just want to study hard." Ma Xiaolong shook his head repeatedly: "I have gotten perfect scores in every exam since I went to school. I want to keep it and don't want to be distracted by other things."
"That's it..." Zhang Zhiling was a little disappointed, but she quickly adjusted her mood and smiled: "It's right to study hard. What does Xiaolong want to do when he grows up?"
"Inventor!"
"Good ambition." Zhang Zhiling tangled her hair and said with a smile: "Good inventions can change the world. Auntie supports you."
"I didn't think that far ahead." Ma Xiaolong scratched his head and told the truth: "I just want to get mobile phones and the Internet as soon as possible. It's too painful to live without a mobile phone and access the Internet."
"Mobile phone?" Zhang Chiling was confused: "What is the Internet?"
"Well..." Ma Xiaolong thought for a while and felt that it wasn't a big deal to say it out loud, just polish it.
"The mobile phone is an improved version of the future of Big Brother in my imagination, and the network is an improved version of the future phone signal..."
After spending a few minutes, Ma Xiaolong gave an overview of his "imagined" future mobile phones and networks.
Zhang Chiling was shocked when she heard this: "Will the world really become like this in the future? If it is true, then people's lives will be too convenient."
"I think so." Ma Xiaolong said: "RB has a comic called "Doraemon", which says that in the future, people have developed a time machine that can travel to the past and the future. The Doraemon in it is an intelligent person who takes a time machine from the future to go back to the past.
Regarding robots, I think as long as scientists work hard to study them, sooner or later the world will become a world like Doraemon."
"..." The shock in Zhang Chiling's eyes was slowly replaced by admiration: "Children like you have rich imaginations, and aunties don't even dare to think about it."
"No, no, my aunt is busy with work every day. She is under too much pressure and has no time to think about things. I am different. I just have nothing to do and think nonsense. I am far worse than my aunt."
This comfort made Zhang Zhiling feel warm in her heart. She rubbed his hair and said with a smile: "Xiaolong is really smart and sensible. It would be great if my aunt has a child like you."
"That's what I said." Ma Xiaolong said: "I am my aunt's child. From now on, you will treat me as your son, and I will treat you as my mother. Xiaojun is my sister, and we are a family."