Having received the village chief’s approval, the Jiang family members put down their farming tools and sprinted towards home.
The villagers who were working alongside the Jiang family heard the news and wanted to join in on the excitement, but they had work to finish in the fields, and the team leader was watchfully standing by.
Resigned to their fate, they continued working, knowing that soon enough, when the Jiang family members returned, they too would find out.
Zhiwen and Zhiwu ran home alongside Jiang Changhai. When Jiang Changhai parked the bicycle in the yard, the two boys clustered around it, eyes filled with envy as they looked and touched it.
Before long, the rest of the Jiang family arrived one after the other.
"Mom, this is for you," Jiang Changhai handed the meat and pastries he had bought at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to Zhang Guihua.
Zhang Guihua ignored the items in his hands, her eyes fixated on Jiang Changhai, she eagerly asked, "Eldest, Xiao Zhuzi just said that your wife is now working at the town government? Is it true or false?"
The other Jiang family members also stared intently at Jiang Changhai, waiting for his answer.
"Mom, of course it’s true, why would I lie to you? Come on, let’s go inside. I’ll tell you all about it," Jiang Changhai, beaming, put his arm around his mother’s shoulder, attempting to lead her into the house.
Seeing his uncle about to go inside, Zhiwen hurriedly ran over and tugged at his uncle’s sleeve, pleading, "Uncle, I want to ride the bicycle."
"Uncle, I want to ride too—let us try. We promise we won’t damage it," Zhiwu assured.
Zhiwen and Zhiwu had long wanted to ride a bicycle; the first time Jiang Changhai rode a bicycle home, the two had already expressed their desire to ride it for a while.
But back then, the bicycle wasn’t Jiang Changhai’s—it was borrowed, and the old lady, fearing the kids might be reckless and damage someone else’s property, potentially leading to compensation, had always firmly refused them permission.
Jiang Changhai looked at his two nephews, with pitiable, pleading eyes, and teased, "Do you two even know how to ride?"
"Uncle, we don’t, but we can learn, and we learn fast," Zhiwen said hurriedly.
There were no bicycles in their village; Jiang Changhai’s was the first, so Zhiwen and Zhiwu had never had the chance to get acquainted with bicycles before.
Though some classmates with better-off families at their school had bicycles, they were treasured like precious belongings and weren’t casually lent out for others to ride.
Now that their uncle finally had a bicycle, they naturally wanted to seize the opportunity to learn to ride it, so they could borrow it and ride it should the opportunity arise in the future.
Jiang Changhai was not stingy; with a grand wave of his hand, he agreed generously, "Alright, go ahead and play."
"Oh, Uncle, you’re the best!" The two boys jumped with joy.
Seeing her son gave the green light, the old lady didn’t stand in their way anymore, but she couldn’t help worrying and instructed, "Zhiwen, Zhiwu, you can ride, but don’t take it out too far. Just ride around in our yard, and don’t damage it, okay? Your uncle just bought it."
"We know, Granny, don’t worry. We’ll just play in the yard; we definitely won’t damage it," Zhiwen assured her as he happily steadied the bike, making a solemn promise.
"Alright, ride slowly; don’t crash the bike," Zhang Guihua advised with lingering concern.
The bicycle was so expensive, a single scratch could break her heart.
The brothers, having been granted permission, rushed over to push the bike eagerly.
Zhiwen, the elder of the two, got to ride first, letting Zhiwu hold onto the rear seat.
Zhang Guihua was still anxious and said to Jiang Changtao, who was standing by watching, "Changtao, keep an eye on Zhiwen and Zhiwu for me. Don’t let them ride out too far and ruin your elder brother’s new bike."