Chapter 5.1 “Your Grandma”

On the third day of the National Day celebrations, Zhuang Jie took her younger siblings to Beijing for fun. On the high-speed train back in the evening, her sister fell asleep on her shoulder, and her brother chatted with her in a low voice, about life, studies, and his thoughts.

    Liao Tao was very worried about Zhuang Yan, thinking that he has no masculinity at all, he is weak and sentimental all day long, hides in the room to draw pictures when he has nothing to do, and never takes the initiative to go out to enjoy. And he has always wanted to enter the Academy of Fine Arts, which made Liao Tao even more worried.

    She didn’t expect her son to be very successful, but she hoped that he could apply for a practical major so that he will be able to support himself in the future. But he wanted to study in the Academy of Fine Arts, and even used his own food allowances to buy materials, and saved his pocket money to apply at professional institutions. Liao Tao cut off his money, so he had asked Zhuang Jie to borrow it in private.

    Liao Tao earnestly said that as the only man in the family, he should take care of his elder and younger sister, and should not let his elder sister take care of him instead. Moreover, Zhuang Jie had a disability.

    Zhuang Yan also felt that this should be the case. He should take on the burden of the family, but he studied hard for half a year, and his whole body was in a daze. He had no business, and his poor grades plummeted.

    Zhuang Jie deliberately came back to chat with him, and after discussing it with Liao Tao, she planned to let him try to could enroll in the High School connected with the Academy of Fine Arts. It just so happened that Zhuang Yan was lucky that year and was admitted by a happenstance.

    Zhuang Yan asked: “Sister, have you looked in the mirror at nighttime?”

    “Take a picture, take a picture when wash up.”

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    Seeing his actions, Zhuang Jie could not help but laugh at his cowardice.

    Zhuang Yan is handsome, speaks well, and is a very attractive young man.

    After getting off of the high-speed rail station, Zhuang Jie answered the phone. Wang Xixia called, saying that she was meeting at her cousin’s homestay at night, and asked her if she wanted to come over.

    Zhuang Jie had no interest. She wanted to help Liao Tao seal the vacuum roast chickens this evening. He Zhangyue had to go take some people over to sort out the factory and equipment purchase details. The factory contract was signed, and they wanted to hurry up and move everything over to the factory.

    Wang Xixia said that the person introduced by her brother also came, and asked Zhuang Jie to help her check him out. Zhuang Jie joked, “Then what should I do if I end up liking him?”

    “Does it really matter? If you like him, you like him.” Wang Xixia said.

    “Alright, wait for me.” Zhuang Jie responded.

    Wang Xixia and Zhuang Jie are in the same company. One is in the Shanghai branch and the other is in the Beijing branch. The company is one of the top ten medical device producers in the world. They have different departments and are responsible for different businesses, but they both belong to advanced technical sales.

    That evening, Zhuang Jie went to look for her. In the courtyard of the homestay, men and women gather around in a group at the barbecue. Wang Xixia gestured to the man next to the barbecue grill. 

Zhuang Jie took a glance, pulled a stool and sat down and said: “Someone contacted me last month and said that my basic salary can be reduced to 18,000, and the rest depends on personal ability.”

    “Which company?” Wang Xixia asked.

    “Pu Li.”

    “Coincidentally, someone contacted me last month. The basic salary would start at 20,000, it was also Pu Li.”

    Zhuang Jie refused to accept, “Why should I be offered 2,000 less than you?”

    Wang Xixia let out a laugh.

    At that time, a man came over, handed them some grilled kebabs. After saying a few words, he went back to continue grilling. Zhuang Jie ate the kebabs and asked, “Are you considering accepting with Pu Li?”

    Wang Xixia shook his head, “Not at all.”

    “Me either.”

    Zhuang Jie sized the man up and said to her, “He’s very sweet.” The man put a layer of paper towels on their skewers, and poured them lemonade.

    “He’s okay.” Wang Xixia said.

    “What does he do for a living?”

    “He used to be the National Flag Bearer…”

    “What?” Zhuang Jie was surprised and couldn’t help but take a few more glances. Then, she turned around and said, “Forgive the ignorance of the people in my village, I have never seen such person like you in my life, I can take a photo with you later…”

    “Stop talking nonsense, he used to be a flag bearer, and now he is just an ordinary retired veteran.” Wang Xixia said.

    Speaking of this, Zhuang Jie answered, “Yesterday your cousin went to my stall to buy roast chicken. So who, who exactly is his wife?” Her name was too strange, and she couldn’t think of the full name for a long while.

    “Wang Baozhen?”

    “That’s right. That’s her, the one I want to talk to. Can you send her WeChat to me at the party. I have something to ask her.” Zhuang Jie said.

    “Okay.”

    “By the way, the town leaders invited us to a dinner on the 7th. Why did they invite us to dinner out of the blue?” Zhuang Jie asked, gnawing on a kebab.

    “I don’t know. They didn’t ask me to come,” Wang Xixia said flatly, “My cousin came to the homestay after me. I haven’t been to this place before.”

    Zhuang Jie nodded and didn’t speak any more. The incident between Wang Xixia and Chen Zhengdong was too tragic. This was the first time Wang Xixia came back in over a year.

    The two chatted for a while, and then Wang Xixia’s blind date seemed to ask her out for a walk. Her cousin asked her, “Do you want to go with Qinghe?

    “Okay.” After Wang Xixia finished speaking, a jade rabbit lantern was shoved into Wang Xixia’s hand and her cousin said: “Go on, go on. The oranges on the slope are turning red, pick two and bring them back.”

    Wang Xixia  left with the man. Zhuang Jie also left, she took two steps and looked back. Wang Xixia, carrying a pale paper lantern, followed the man slowly.

    The white paper lanterns are not that good, they look like mourning lanterns at first glance. When thinking of mourning lanterns, she thought about Chen Maidong. 

She might as well have been trying to kick the ground, because at that moment, even though she didn’t fall, she tripped and almost fell. There was a slight tingling in her stump that followed the abrupt movement of catching herself from falling.

    She only changed this socket half a year ago, and it was perfect when she tried it on, but these last two days she always felt uncomfortable and did not fit right.

    She sat down against a big tree, took off the prosthetic and then took out the silicone lining. There was a layer of sticky sweat in the lining, and she couldn’t just wipe it off, so she simply waved it to dry in the wind. Then she looked at the stump itself, thankfully there was no injury.

    She slid the silicone sleeve up little by little to wrap around the stump, then put the prosthetic back on, got up and took a couple of steps, and crap—the socket.

    She called the socket technician right away. It was the same technician who had recommended the socket to her. Even though it was made of a new material, now it was worn out and deformed and had only been used by her for about six months. Normally, it would take her a year and a half to need a new socket. 

The socket acts as a link between the top and bottom, and is directly placed under the stump to connect the joint and the foot plate. The best joints and feet are useless if the socket is uncomfortable.

The technician asked her how comfortable it was. She couldn’t deny that this experience had been the best out of all the previous ones. The technician was glad to hear that. Since the experience was still among the best he suggested that she just replace the socket with a new one once it wears out. A socket costs a few thousand Yuan.     

Zhuang Jie thought that since she didn’t feel pain in her back when she stood and talked, like had happened in the past, a few thousand dollars was just money, no big deal. The technician simply said that the lifespan of this material should last at least one or two years, but her pace is too fast, so it made the material wear down quicker. Others can use a single socket for three years, but for her it only seemed to last for a year and a half at most.     

Zhuang Jie felt that he was just talking nonsense. According to his logic, wouldn’t people who run a lot need to change theirs out every two months? The technician said a few more flippant things and then hung up the phone with some other excuse. Afterwards, he sent her a WeChat message, saying that she could continue to wear the socket for two more days. When she returned to Shanghai, she could just go ahead and change it out.     

He knew that Zhuang Jie was picky and could not tolerate any discomfort. The socket is slightly worn and definitely still had some time before it would be completely worn out, but she wouldn’t handle it for too long. She can easily exaggerate the slightest discomfort exponentially. The technician lamented that it was just money, and if it were a poor person, they would use the same thing three to five years, easily.     

He and Zhuang Jie are actually pretty close, and the WeChat name he edited for her is: Country Girl Got Rich. She would always say: The Cream of the Crop. If he didn’t have such a good relationship with her, he could probably kill her. She just has a pitiful face.