1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 25 I’ll take you home

After coming out of the ice house, the three of them walked into a shop called Jingyi Optical Shop.

Zhai Yuan took Zhou Haimei to have her eyes checked, and then they selected, cut and polished the lenses. The whole process took about an hour.

Her myopia has indeed worsened, but not that exaggerated. It is now over 300 degrees.

"What style of glasses frames do you want to learn?"

After the lenses were fixed, the optician pointed to the rows of frames in the glass counter and asked.

Zhou Haimei looked at Zhai Yuan with some confusion.

"This one, black."

Zhai Yuan signaled the master to take out a pair of black glasses frames.

Zhou Haimei took the frame, put it gently on her nose, and looked at Zhai Yuan and his sister in a silly way.

"Huh? They do seem to look better than the previous pair of glasses."

Zhai Yao leaned in closer to take a closer look and felt that although Zhou Haimei had only changed a pair of glasses, her style and image seemed to have changed. She had an indescribable feeling.

Black-framed glasses are a timeless color among all eyeglass frames. Combined with Zhou Haimei's short hair at that time, they add a bit of well-behaved and intellectual temperament, making her look gentle and restrained.

"Cousin Yuan..."

Zhou Haimei didn’t care whether she looked good or not. She didn’t even look in the mirror. She just subconsciously wanted to ask Zhai Yuan’s opinion.

When I turned around, I saw Zhai Yuan was already paying at the counter, with his back to the girl saying:

"Hai Mei, remember to come here for an eye exam every six months. If your cousin is not at home, go find your aunt Zhen and ask her to bring you here."

He really didn't say this intentionally to flirt with Zhou Haimei. He just felt that it would be a pity for such a beautiful girl to have the flaw of bulging eyes.

However, Zhai Yuan obviously forgot a saying: I'm not afraid of straight men doing it, I'm just afraid of straight men not knowing it.

He had his back to Zhou Haimei and hadn't noticed yet that there was a hint of complexity in the girl's eyes.

The optician uses a hot air blower to blow the frame until it softens and expands, then installs the polished lenses into it. After the frame cools down, a pair of brand new glasses is complete.

“It’s much clearer!”

Zhou Haimei put on her glasses again, and her vision became clear, which made her unable to help but reveal a look of excitement on her face.

"Sister Haimei, let me try."

Zhai Yao took the glasses from Zhou Haimei like a child asking for a toy and couldn't wait to put them on her nose.

Suddenly I felt dizzy and staggered: "Ugh~ I feel dizzy!"

……

The three of them spent too much time in the street market and the optician's shop.

Zhou Haimei was worried that Luo Huiling would be worried if she went back too late, so the plan to watch a movie together was put on hold.

Take a taxi and head straight to Sau Mau Ping Estate.

After returning to the housing estate, Zhai Yao was too lazy to go upstairs, so she shouted a few times at the top of her lungs, and the figures of Zhao Meizhen and Luo Huiling appeared on the balcony.

"Sister Zhen, I'm sorry to have caused you trouble today."

Standing downstairs of the housing estate, Luo Huiling was holding the new clothes that Zhai Yuan bought for Zhou Haimei, with a smile on her face.

But she still complained to Zhai Yuan, "Ah Yuan, you too. Hai Mei has more clothes than she can wear at home, and you keep spending money on her. She's spoiled her like a nobody!"

Not having enough to wear means that she wore the clothes left over by her sister. Occasionally, Luo Huiling would alter her own old clothes and put them on Zhou Haimei.

"Auntie Ling, these are cheap discounted clothes. They are not worth much."

Zhai Yuan smiled and said, "Next time you go out with us, I'll pick out some nice clothes for you."

Luo Huiling laughed even more happily, and couldn't stop smiling.

"Yes, my Ayuan has good taste." Zhao Meizhen stood beside Zhai Yuan, her smile seemed to be squeezed out from between her teeth. She patted Zhai Yuan's back and then squeezed it hard.

Zhai Yuan took a breath, turned his head to look at her, grinned and said, "Of course, you are indispensable, Mom. Let's go to the department store tomorrow, okay?"

Zhao Meizhen smiled wryly: "Alas, I don't have that kind of luck."

A scene of loving mother and filial piety is being played out here.

On the other side, Zhou Haimei and Zhai Yao, who had just met for less than a day, were saying goodbye as sisters.

"Sister Haimei, you must remember to come back next time. We haven't watched a movie today, and there are many snack stalls in Kwun Tong Night Market. Next time you come, I will take you to try them one by one."

"Okay, Yaoyao. If you and cousin Yuan are free, you are welcome to come to Tuen Mun anytime. There are many fun places there."

As the two little girls talked, their eyes turned slightly red.

If you don’t know, you would think they are going to go their separate ways.

But in fact, Sau Mau Ping is only about thirty kilometers away from Tuen Mun, which is about twenty stops away by minibus, or even faster by taxi.

Among the group of people, Zhai Yuan is the most indifferent one.

Hong Kong is a place the size of a palm, and there is no reason for him to feel sad.

Zhou Haimei and Zhai Yao leaned against each other, stroking the obsidian bracelet on their hands. A pair of bright eyes behind black-framed glasses stared quietly at Zhai Yuan who was chatting and laughing with his mother and Aunt Zhen.

She felt that although they were both middle school students, her cousin was much more mature and stable than the other boys in school.

But he was not as strict as her father at home, which made her feel inexplicably safe.

"Sister Haimei, your eyes are red, but why are your ears so red too?" Zhai Yao pinched Zhou Haimei's delicate earlobe curiously and asked in surprise, "It's so hot, are you having a fever?"

As it grew darker, the group chatted for a while downstairs before sending Luo Huiling and Zhou Haimei out of the housing estate.

After watching the mother and daughter get on a minibus, Zhai Yuan and his family of three returned home.

"Did you steal the money I hid under my pillow again?"

After returning to the downstairs of the housing estate, Zhao Meizhen suddenly looked at Zhai Yuan and asked with a serious expression.

Zhai Yuan was startled for a moment, then smiled.

Zhao Meizhen always hides money under her pillow. This is an open secret between the two siblings. However, Zhai Yao has never thought of taking the money. On the contrary, Zhai Yuan in the past would steal dozens of dollars from under the pillow from time to time when he was blackmailed by Fei Zaijun.

It's a pity that your trifles are no longer in my eyes.
Zhai Yuan smiled and said, "Why don't you go upstairs and check it out quickly?"

Zhao Meizhen's face became darker and she cursed, "You bastard! No wonder you were so generous today, buying things for Hai Mei. Damn you! I actually believed what the TV said about you being a homosexual. Is there any homosexual who cares so much about a woman?"

While cursing Zhai Yuan, Zhao Meizhen ran upstairs without stopping.

She wanted to check how much of the several hundred dollars under her pillow and in the bottom of the box had been stolen.

Zhai Yuan walked upstairs slowly with a smile on his face and Zhai Yao, who also had a smirk on his face.

"What did you and Haimei talk about in private just now?"

"No, but she said she envied me for having a big boss like you."

Zhai Yuan smiled and rubbed his sister's hair: "You are lucky to have me~"

"But I never told her." Zhai Yao suddenly stopped and looked at Zhai Yuan steadily. "My good boss was planning to sell me to a nightclub as a hostess some time ago. He never told her that the money he spent on studying and the protection fees he paid in the past few years had to be earned little by little by me, his sister, giving up the opportunity to study and doing handicrafts and washing dishes."

Zhai Yuan raised his eyebrows, not expecting that this carefree sister would suddenly say such a thing.

"I've thought about this before. If I become a hostess and get fucked or become addicted to drugs, I will kill you with a knife and then jump off the building."

Zhai Yao's tone was very calm, and she couldn't help laughing at the end.

Then there was another moment of silence, and she asked, "Will our family be okay in the future? Will you suddenly become the same person you were before?"

Zhai Yuan took a deep breath and pulled Zhai Yao into his arms: "Let's go~ I'll take you home."

PS: I just learned how to insert pictures into the book, and I am now adding old photos that match the background of the era. However, some pictures will cause a large space in the layout. I am currently working on a solution. Please forgive me. If you have any comments, please feel free to correct me. Thank you~
Also, I heard that my son Canghai has published a new book called "Back to 1978". Please support it. Who doesn't love their sons and daughters?
(End of this chapter)