Mi Lu stayed here for a day and became very familiar with Lai Wei’s home. After lunch, she started to introduce the place to Jian Dan and Zhao Linlin.
Opening the closet, Mi Lu excitedly told Jian Dan, "Look, look, Little Jian Dan, I slept here last night. This is Lai Wei’s room."
It was really only the size of a wardrobe with a lamp and some hooks on the wall. Besides that, it could only accommodate one person lying down, showing the difficult living conditions.
Zhao Linlin had never seen such a wardrobe bed and was amazed, "I want to try it."
Lai Wei was helping her mom clean up in the tiny kitchen, which was shared space. Each household had chosen a small counter as their cooking area, which was quite crowded.
Lai Wei snatched the bowls and chopsticks from her mom’s hands, "Mom, you go rest. I’ve got this."
The two, mother and daughter, each occupied a closet bed, one above the other. Lai Wei, however, slept on a makeshift bed conjured from stools in the living room the previous night.
It was a makeshift arrangement for one night.
Lai Wei’s mother coughed a few times, looking at her daughter with concern, "Weiwei, Mom knows you are excellent, but your few friends, they have such good family backgrounds. Mom worries that being with them will make you feel inferior."
This was the last thing she wanted to see.
Lai Wei couldn’t help but laugh as she ushered her mother out, "Mom, don’t worry. If they were the kind of people you’re thinking of, I wouldn’t even bring them home."
Lai Wei’s mom didn’t want to say more, worried about upsetting her daughter, and changed the subject with a heavy heart, "You didn’t sleep well last night. You should rest, I can handle this."
Lai Wei almost never let her mom do anything when she was at home. She didn’t agree to rest and refused.
When Lai Wei’s mom came back, she saw Zhao Linlin lying flat in Lai Wei’s closet. Upon seeing Lai Wei’s mom, Zhao Linlin wore an embarrassed smile with a touch of sheepishness, "Auntie, I’m sorry, I just wanted to try it."
She felt it wasn’t very good to make herself at home without permission.
Lai Wei’s mom looked at the young girl, her eyes softening much, "It’s alright. You’ve never seen one. It’s normal to be curious. Enjoy yourself since there’s not much else for you kids to entertain yourselves with at our place."
Zhao Linlin finally breathed a sigh of relief, smiling at Mi Lu, "It looked small, but lying in it seems pretty nice."
Mi Lu felt she found a soulmate, "Right? Right? I slept here last night and didn’t feel uncomfortable at all, haha... But I took over Weiwei’s room, and she stayed in the living room last night."
Jian Dan, seeing the living conditions of Lai Wei and yet her self-reliant character, was surprised and admiring.
After washing the dishes, Lai Wei came back and Lai Wei’s mom was not at home. She guessed her mom might have left to give the visitors space and went outside to call her. Lai Wei’s mom said she had gone to play at Auntie’s place who collected recyclables on the inner street. Lai Wei sighed.
"Mom, they are all my friends. They won’t think our home is in any way inadequate. You don’t need to..."
"I know, I don’t think so either. Weiwei, you enjoy your time with your classmates, I will be back soon," her mother replied.
"Then come back early."
Inner street, recycling station.
Watching Lai Wei’s mother hang up the phone, Li Juan at the recycling station on the inner street smiled at her, "Weiwei’s friends coming over to your place has spread all over the alley, everyone is saying how impressive Weiwei is."
Lai Wei’s mom sighed, "It’s all because of me dragging Weiwei down. I’m not worried that her friends look down on our home. It’s rather not feeling right deep down, somewhat complicated. Weiwei has never had the right to make friends since she was little."
"As a child, she was busy coming home to cook for me. As she got older, she had to work part-time to support herself. Later, when our factory laid people off, Weiwei got even busier. I have tuberculosis, as you know. I worry I won’t get to spend many years with her;
"Now seeing Weiwei with friends, having a smile, makes me quite happy. At least she’s like a young girl now."
Li Juan sighed, "You can’t blame yourself. It’s for everyone in the alley. Who is better off than whom? Look, recently, Auntie Wu’s daughter got married off, and the guy had a decent job, right? They showed off like nobody’s business."
The alley’s witch was only so big, with news and gossip spreading fast.
This morning, friends of Lai Wei who came to look for her drove a Bentley into the alley. As soon as it parked at the entrance, the news spread quickly, with all kinds of sour comments.
It was said that being educated really makes a difference. Look at Lai Wei’s friends who came to visit, all of them rich, in a Bentley, a car worth over four million. Could an ordinary person afford that?