Three or Two Things about Rebirth

After Qiu Luming washed his second brother's shirt, he also washed his father's white shirt. He took two hangers to the yard to dry them. He heard his mother whispering in worry, "When is that little Xie getting married? Do you think she will dress up beautifully and disrupt the wedding?"

Qiu Jiashu said without confidence, "No, Yoyo is not that naughty kid."

Qiu Luming hung the clothes hanger on the clothesline in the yard, buttoned up the shirts one by one, and stretched the shirts flat with both hands. The fabric made a slight popping sound and gave off a pleasant soapy smell.

On May 18th, when Qiu Luming got home from get off work, she saw her third brother sitting in the living room. She was so happy that she wanted to jump up. Qiu Moshi held her down and introduced her to his friend and partner he brought back from Beijing. When she heard that the man's name was Zhang Weijing, Qiu Luming burst out laughing.

The man said self-deprecatingly: "Do you think it's better to call me Zhang Weisu?"

Qiu Luming was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly.

"Luming!" He Manshu called her daughter warningly in the kitchen.

Zhang Weijing waved his hand nonchalantly, "My nickname when I was a kid was MSG!"

This time even He Manshu laughed.

Zhang Weijing was Qiu Moshi's senior. He was handsome and had an extraordinary demeanor, giving Qiu Luming a feeling of having seen the world.

He told Qiu Luming, "My father is an old revolutionary. He named my eldest brother Weiguo, my second brother Weidong, and me Weijing, which means defending Beijing. Later, I changed my name to Weijing."

Qiu Luming nodded, "Some of my classmates are named Weidong, Baoguo, and Jianguo. This is a characteristic of the times."

"My father is a rough man and doesn't know how to name people. Your family's names are all very good. They mean silent recognition, and silent recognition. Luming is also good. Yoyo Luming, eating wild artemisia. I have a special guest, Deyin Kongzhao. Uncle Qiu probably hopes that you will have talents that are not inferior to men, and friends with noble character."

Qiu Moshi gave Zhang Weijing a thumbs up, and said to his mother who was busy in the kitchen, "Mom, we won't eat at home. Xie Zhi is waiting over there. Let's have fun in the new house tonight and spend Xie Zhi's last single night together, haha. Weijing is coming with me. He said he has never seen a wedding in Northeast China. I will take him to meet some friends and see the whole thing!"

"Please sit for a while. I haven't talked to Weijing yet." He Mansu looked at Zhang Weijing with a smile, looking him up and down.

"Mom, you don't know, this guy is too talkative. Once he starts talking, he won't stop. I think I should take him away quickly!"

Zhang Weijing smiled and made a zipper gesture on his mouth, which made Qiu Luming laugh again.

After seeing them off, He Manshu looked at her daughter and said, "Yes. Although there are young talents everywhere, there are more of them in big cities."

Qiu Jiashu heard this and said with a smile, "You have found a perfect husband, but I didn't expect that it would be difficult for your daughter to find a suitable partner after you went to the border area."

He Manshu naturally refused to admit it, "Nonsense!"

"Mom, you don't look like an intellectual at all now." Qiu Jiashu followed his mother and complained, "Every day when you see me, you look disgusted and think I'm redundant. You wish you could send me to someone else's house to marry into their family! When you see other people's sons, you immediately look them up and down, looking through their hearts and minds, studying whether they are qualified to be your son-in-law!"

"Am I that obvious?"

"You have."

***

Sunday the 19th is Xie Zhi’s wedding day.

On this day, Qiu Luming was the only one in the world who did not rest.

Qiu Luming put the lunch box in the basket, pushed the bicycle out of the door, and went to work as usual.

The weather is surprisingly good, it seems the bride is lucky.

Qiu Luming looked at his watch. It was about time that the couple should be taken to the new house. They should be sitting on the bed, or a little boy should be rolling in the bed.

After leaving Binjiang Road and turning a corner, she saw a white Lada sedan with a red silk hanging slowly approaching from afar, and she squinted her eyes.

Because this car symbolizes living together until old age, it is used to pick up and drop off brides all year round. Whenever people in Jiayang see it, they know that someone is getting married again.

Qiu Luming just happened to pass by the car at the intersection in front of the department store.

She saw her third brother sitting in the passenger seat, wearing a light blue shirt and a red tie. He smiled and waved at her, but didn't say anything.

The car turned left at the intersection, and I could vaguely see three or four people squeezed in the back seat. Behind the driver was a beautifully dressed bridesmaid, in the middle was Huang Yali in a red dress, and sitting on her was a little boy of about four or five years old with red cheeks.

Although the car was driving slowly, it turned a corner and Qiu Luming couldn't see anything.

She subconsciously got off the bicycle and looked in the direction where the car was going away.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw her second brother parked on his bike not far behind her, staring at her warily. She laughed at herself, got back on her bike, pedaled faster, and went to work.

May 21st, Tuesday, is the day Huang Yali returns home.

Qiu Luming heard his mother whispering to his second brother early in the morning, and the main idea was how to prevent her from suddenly rushing to the restaurant and disrupting things.

She pretended not to know anything, but she was dressed very beautifully, wearing a newly bought red long skirt, a thin black sweater with a waist, and a pair of black half-high heels.

She noticed that her second brother looked at her several times, as if he wanted to say something, but she ignored him, put on some lipstick, took her lunch box and went to work.

Unexpectedly, before eleven o'clock, the third brother and Zhang Weijing came to the library reading room. They brought four or five boxes of food and said that it was a rare opportunity for them to come back and they came to have lunch with her.

Qiu Luming pretended to be embarrassed, "You guys go home and eat, I..."

Qiu Moshi opened a lunch box and said, "Look, these four-happiness meatballs, your favorite! Third brother misses you the most in Beijing. I've been busy drinking these past two days. I must have a good chat with you at noon today!"

Two old men who were reading newspapers in the reading room were so greedy for the four-happiness meatballs that they started drooling. They put away their reading glasses and went home to eat early while mumbling.

Without readers, Qiu Moshi opened the lunch boxes one by one. Crispy white meat, fried liver tips, and braised pork elbow filled each aluminum lunch box. Qiu Luming recognized that these were dishes for a restaurant banquet. He touched the lunch box and it was still hot.

"Third brother, you are so good to me!" Qiu Luming stretched out his spoon to scoop out a piece of four-happiness meatballs, shook his head and hummed with enjoyment, "The chef of Linjiang Hotel can be called the God of Cooking!"

"If it tastes good, eat more!" Qiu Moshi picked up another piece of pork liver for her.

"Delicious! Third brother, where did you get so many lunch boxes?"

"Oh, I borrowed it."

Qiu Luming casually picked up the lunch box of Four Happiness Meatballs, raised it high and tilted his head to take a look. There was a piece of adhesive tape on the bottom of the lunch box. "Thank you, Guang."

She pointed at the other lunch box with her spoon, "This one isn't Xie Zhi's, is this one Huang Yali's?"

"Ahem." Qiu Moshi pushed the lunch box, "You eat, you eat."