Starting a new chapter in life

Chapter 158 Zhizhi Dominates the Kindergarten

She even talked to Zhizhi about it, but Zhizhi was quite at ease: "They can only hide when they make a mistake and dare not fight back, otherwise I would ask my brother to teach them a lesson."

"Zhizhi, have you thought about the fact that your brother can only stay with you in kindergarten for two years, and you will stay in kindergarten for four years? When your brother goes to elementary school, there will be no one to protect you in kindergarten. What will you do then?" Jingyan asked her.

Zhizhi nodded firmly: "I have thought about it, so now I exercise with my brothers every morning, trying to be able to protect myself before my brothers start elementary school."

"Who told you that?" Jing Yan was convinced that her daughter could not have said such a thing.

"Brother Ci'en, he's really strict with me now. He spars with me every day. Mom, look, I still have bruises on my forearm." Zhizhi stretched out her chubby arm for Jingyan to see, feeling wronged.

Jingyan didn't think the bruises were serious, but she was wondering if she should control Zhizhi's snacks, since she was so chubby. But she continued, "You can choose not to practice. As long as you behave yourself and grow up safely, Mom can still guarantee that you will be fine."

Zhizhi stared wide-eyed at her: "Mom, am I really your biological child? Why am I so righteous while you're such a coward?"

Zhang Jingyan… pinched her slightly itchy fingers, but ultimately didn’t raise her arm to confront the adult. Suppressing the anger in her heart, she gritted her teeth and said, “Because my sense of justice isn’t about fighting. I also feel that you don’t really seem like my child. It’s possible that you were switched at birth in the hospital. You should be with your uncle and his family. You’re all about using your hands instead of your brain. Ci’en should be my child.”

Zhizhi pouted, looking a little aggrieved: "I am your child. Great-Grandma said that she has been holding me since I was born until I was discharged from the hospital. There was no chance for me to be switched with someone else. So Mom, you can't abandon me, even if I cause trouble."

Jingyan seriously suspected that Zhizhi might also be a time traveler or a reincarnated person. How could a child who is only three years old sometimes speak so clearly and logically? When Xiaoyue was three years old, she was still being tricked by her two older brothers from her third sister's family into exchanging five cents for one cent. Unlike this little girl, who is so clever and shrewd.

She sighed helplessly, "Okay, but remember, be careful not to cause trouble. If you beat someone up and they end up in the hospital, Mom will have to pay them a lot of money. You know how hard it is for me to earn money; it's not for you to clean up my messes."

Zhizhi nodded seriously: "Mom, don't worry. Brother Ci'en taught me, so I will only hit people's buttocks and backs, not the parts above their necks. Brother Ci'en said that any part of the head is very precious and cannot be hit."

"Then why did that chubby kid from last time have a black eye?" Jing Yan asked, her eyes gleaming with curiosity.

Zhizhi pouted: "It was because I hit too hard that time that Brother Ci'en taught me. When I was practicing before, Grandpa said that when you hit someone, you should hit their weak points. But I didn't expect that fat guy was all fat and not resistant to beatings."

“You are the youngest child in the whole kindergarten. You shouldn’t have gone this year, but I was afraid that you would be lonely at home. That’s why I let you start school early so you can have playmates. But you can’t be reckless just because you are young. Otherwise, if the oldest child hits you, you will suffer. A wise person knows when to yield. If you don’t understand this saying, go ask your brother Ci’en.”

Jingyan lost interest halfway through her lesson, abruptly ending the conversation and turning to attend to her own business, leaving Zhizhi alone in the living room to reflect on her actions. However, the child seemed unaware of the concept of reflection; upon seeing her mother leave, she happily sat down and grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds to eat.

He Ci'en was actually quite conflicted. She brought her younger siblings to practice boxing to improve their health and protect themselves, but not for any heroic act of reckless action. Unfortunately, her brothers taught them the wrong things.

His only younger sister turned into a grumpy little girl who would start a fight at the slightest provocation. To prevent her from getting beaten up when she lost her temper in the future, he had to increase her sparring training. At the very least, she needed to be quick to dodge so she would take fewer hits.

Under her brother's influence, Zhizhi increased her daily training volume to more than double that of her brothers. It has to be said that among all the children in the family, Zhizhi has the best physical fitness. No matter how exhausted she was the day before, she would wake up full of energy and vitality after a good night's sleep.

After some time, when He Zhijun was on leave and taking the children for morning exercises, he suddenly discovered that his little girl could keep up with the training intensity of the other children. During sparring, if she was distracted, she would get hit a couple of times. With this discovery, He Zhijun quietly told Jingyan that Zhizhi might be able to become a female soldier in the future, but Jingyan didn't want her child to do such a dangerous thing.

“I don’t want her to join the army. It’s tiring and dangerous. What are we working so hard for now? Isn’t it so that our children can live a carefree life in the future? We don’t ask for great wealth and status. As long as we have enough to eat and wear, we’ll be content with a modest life. As for defending the country and serving the people, Zhijun, I don’t have such high ideals. I don’t want my children to take risks. Can you understand me?”

He Zhijun understood her, but three generations of his family had military backgrounds, and their love for soldiers was ingrained in their bones. However, since his wife was unwilling and his daughter was still young, he put the topic aside for the time being, thinking that he could make the decision himself when the child grew up and had her own ideas.

If, by then, his daughter wants to join the army, he'll support her even if his wife tries to stop her. At most, he'll get a couple of beatings from her; he's tough as nails, and even if she's tall and strong, she probably won't be very strong—at least not crippled.

But he forgot that his daughter's strength, which was no less than An'an's at such a young age, was not due to a genetic mutation. So where did the inheritance come from?

When summer vacation arrived, the children began their break. He Ci'en continued studying, and He Chaoli also worked hard in the study room, all in order to pass the fifth-grade knowledge test when school started and be able to directly enter the sixth grade. For this goal, he spent almost the entire summer immersed in books.

Compared to He Chaoli, who was about to skip a grade, He Ci'en's studies were much easier. He spent more time reading extracurricular books. In addition to the ones Jingyan bought for him at the beginning of the year, there were also books from the family's original collection. He was interested in reading any book he hadn't read before. Even Zhizhi became much more attentive when looking at picture books. The learning atmosphere was excellent, and Jingyan was very satisfied.

The overall conditions are getting better and better. Many families on the island have bought televisions one after another. Although they are black and white televisions, many people still gather at the homes with televisions every night to watch them, and they even enjoy watching the news broadcast.

A while ago, Zhizhi went with Sister Wang to visit someone's family who lived two streets away. They watched a bit of the animated film "Nezha Conquers the Dragon King," and afterwards, Zhizhi talked about it endlessly, over and over again, until Jingyan got tired of it.

She had considered buying a television before, but the price and the fact that it was black and white made her lose interest. She still wasn't interested, but seeing Zhizhi's enthusiastic expression and the interested looks of the other children who hadn't seen it before, Jingyan finally gave in to her love for her child after three days of hesitation and took a boat to Haishi.

She went to the same store where she bought the refrigerator. When she entered, the shopkeeper's expression was full of joy. He remembered Jing Yan vividly; she was someone who dared to spend money. In an era where only men could spend money freely and women were thrifty, Jing Yan was not only an oddball but also quite unique. It's not hard to understand why she was remembered.

"Sister, what do you need for your trip off the island? As long as it's home appliances, I can find you anything you want. Besides, we're old acquaintances. Even if you don't have a ticket, I can find connections to get one for you, as you know." The shopkeeper's tone was warm. If Jing Yan didn't know that she had only dealt with him once, someone who didn't know them might have thought they were relatives.

Jing Yan smiled and said, "I wanted to ask about televisions. It's summer vacation now, and a few of the neighbors have bought one. The other day, my child saw it while visiting other people's houses and has been wanting to go over to their TVs ever since. I was thinking that it's not good to keep watching TVs, so why don't we just buy one for ourselves? What's the price of a television now?"

The shopkeeper's eyes lit up: "Do you want a black and white TV or a color TV?"

Jing Yan was taken aback: "Color TV? My neighbors all have black and white TVs. What, now there are color TVs?"

The shopkeeper nodded: "Yes, the color TV is twice as expensive as the black and white one. But to be honest, the color TV looks really good, the colors are very bright, and it's also a size bigger than the black and white TV. The black and white one is 12 inches, and the color one is 14 inches."

"The black and white TV costs 450 yuan, but you can get it for 500 yuan without a receipt. The color TV costs 1,000 yuan, but it will cost 1,100 yuan without a receipt. Which one would you like, ma'am?"

Jing Yan didn't even need to think: "I want a color TV. Is there a discount if I buy two?"

Shopkeeper… “Two? Both are color TVs?”

Seeing Jingyan nod, the shopkeeper pondered for a moment: "The price of the TV set is fixed, but I can offer a discount on the ticket price. Since you're a regular customer of mine, how about this: two sets for 2,150 yuan. I'll deliver it to your door and set up the antenna and tune the channels for you, all free of charge. How about that?"

Jing Yan wrinkled her nose: "It's only fifty yuan cheaper."

The shopkeeper looked at her with a somewhat indescribable expression: "Ma'am, it's fifty yuan. Many people don't even earn fifty yuan a month, and you still think it's too little?"

Jing Yan shrugged: "When can you deliver it? I'll put one at home and one in the shop, which will attract some customers."

The shopkeeper flipped through his ledger: "Delivery within three days."

Jingyan took out a wad of cash from her bag, counted it, and handed it to the shopkeeper: "Here, I'll give you a deposit of five hundred yuan. Give me a receipt, and I'll pay the remaining one thousand six hundred and fifty yuan after you've installed the TV for me."

The shopkeeper glanced at her empty bag and chuckled, "You didn't just bring five hundred yuan with you this time, did you?"

Jing Yan nodded calmly: "Anyway, you're going to deliver it to my home. I won't renege on the bill. It's not safe to carry too much money on me. This is enough as a deposit, don't you think?"

The shopkeeper smiled and nodded, "Okay, whatever you say is enough." After taking the money and counting it, he wrote Jingyan a receipt. Jingyan took the receipt, checked the contents, and put it in her bag. As she turned to leave, the shopkeeper called her back, "Sister, how's that refrigerator?"

Jingyan stopped and nodded. "It's alright, but the freezer isn't big enough. I don't dare to stock up on food now because there's no room. The refrigerator is enough for now. Sigh, I wonder when we'll have a refrigerator that only freezes." Jingyan sighed casually after she finished speaking.

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper exclaimed, "Oh, you have a need to buy something?" He quickly replied, "Yes, we do have freezers. If you need one, I can help you find one. The price should be around 1300 yuan. It should be able to hold more than a refrigerator. If you really want one, I'll go find it."

Jingyan nodded quickly: "Okay, go and help me find one. If you find one, bring it back to me first. It'll be perfect for storing meat skewers."

The shop owner was happy to receive the promise and didn't ask for a deposit this time. He knew Jing Yan didn't have any money, but after two collaborations, there was still some trust between them. Besides, even if she didn't want it in the end, he could still show it to others in the shop. What if someone else needed it? Anyway, it wouldn't expire or get damaged. At most, it would just tie up some payment, which he could afford.

After Jing Yan returned to the store, she wandered around the empty spaces on the first floor, which puzzled Dou Zhixiao. He couldn't help but come up to her and ask, "Sister Yan, what are you looking at?"

"I'm looking for a good place to put a TV, somewhere in the lobby on the first floor where all the guests can see it. Hmm, and a freezer too. I was thinking, how about putting it in the room where they make cold dishes? That way we can store meat skewers there," Jingyan explained.

Dou Zhixiao's voice suddenly rose: "Sister Yan, you're buying a TV for the store? That's quite a big spender."

In an instant, everyone in the kitchen and the preparation area rushed out, chattering and asking questions: "Really? When are we going to buy a TV? Can we skewer meat in the living room from now on? We can watch it while we work, it won't interfere with our work."

Jing Yan smiled and nodded: "TVs are too expensive now, so I'll just get one for the living room. When we earn more money in the future, and TVs aren't as expensive as they are now, we'll install one in the second-floor lounge area as well."

After the pie in the sky was painted, the employees excitedly discussed it as they returned to their respective posts. Jing Yan smiled and said, "Actually, the really good TV shows are after 8 p.m., when most of the staff in our store are preparing to close. Only Xiao Dou has a chance to watch them."

Dou Zhixiao shook his head: "Sister Yan, believe it or not, once we buy the TV, the customers in the store will definitely stay late, even if it's just to watch TV. At that time, the first floor may not be enough."