My Taoist nun girlfriend is from the Republic of China era, 1942.

Chapter 187 Buying a Cell Phone

As the year draws to a close, the weather has been sunny every day, and it seems that Wuhan is about to welcome a warm winter.

In Zheng Qingtong's home, shards of a crystal vase were scattered all over the floor, water soaked the expensive handmade carpet, and rose petals were strewn everywhere.

Gao Rong locked herself in her bedroom, the door shutting out her suppressed sobs.

Zheng Zhifeng stood at the door, his face showing utter exhaustion and dejection.

Turning around, I saw my daughter standing silently at the door, staring blankly at everything, and a pang of pain shot through my heart.

He walked over, pulled a wad of crisp new banknotes from his wallet, and awkwardly stuffed them into his daughter's hand.

"Qingtong... Mom and Dad... have something to do and can't cook. Take this money and go out to buy something you like and have something nice to eat."

The man's voice was hoarse, filled with ingratiation and guilt.

Zheng Qingtong lowered her eyes, looking at the thick, brand-new banknotes in her hand, which smelled of ink. She said nothing, but silently clenched them tighter.

She turned around, put on her coat, and like an emotionless doll, gently closed the door.

The moment the door closed, I seemed to hear my father's long sigh.

……

10:00 AM, KFC in the mall.

The three children occupied a corner by the window, with a New Year's family meal set on their plates.

"Yangyang, will you be spending the Spring Festival in Jiangcheng this year?"

While stuffing French fries into her mouth, Zhao Moli asked indistinctly.

Lu Yang slowly tore open a packet of ketchup for her, squeezed it into the corner of the plate, and nodded as he did so.

Having spent the past two years in the capital, Lu Yuan had too many trivial matters and social obligations, so this year he wanted to stay in Jiangcheng and have a comfortable New Year.

"great!"

Zhao Moli clapped her hands happily, her eyes curving into crescents: "We can set off fireworks together again!"

Upon hearing Lu Yang's words, Zheng Qingtong paused slightly in her eating, a hint of secret delight creeping into her heart.

Lu Yang's family stayed in Jiangcheng for the Spring Festival, and perhaps he could get a little bit of warmth from that lively atmosphere.

The three of them ate their hamburgers while discussing where to go next.

Zhao Moli was the first to suggest, "Let's go to the supermarket and buy some snacks!"

Lu Yang extended his index finger and lightly poked Zhao Moli's temple: "Your storage room is almost full of New Year's goods, and you're still buying more!? Be careful you don't get so fat after the New Year that you can't even roll around."

Zhao Moli didn't dare to refute Lu Yang, but she still couldn't help but grab the last French fry and stuff it into her mouth, chewing with her cheeks bulging.

Zheng Qingtong then said, "Yangyang, I want to buy a cell phone, can you help me choose one?"

Lu Yang was slightly surprised: "Qing Tong, why did you buy a cell phone?"

"So it's convenient for me to contact you."

Zheng Qingtong's answer was simple and direct.

Of the three children, the youngest, Lu Yang, is the only one who owns a cell phone.

Lu Yuan and Chen Xiaomiao had almost absolute trust in him.

Lu Yang continued, "How much money do you have?"

Zheng Qingtong took out the wad of banknotes from her coat pocket and handed them to Lu Yang without the slightest hesitation.

"That's all, count them."

Lu Yuan began counting the bills one by one, and Zhao Moli curiously came over, muttering to herself.

"...ten, eleven, twelve..."

Two thousand eight.

Lu Yang read out the amount, neatly arranged the money, and pushed it back in front of Zheng Qingtong, confirming one last time: "Are you really sure? Cell phones are addictive and waste a lot of time."

"Don't worry," Zheng Qingtong said resolutely, assuring him, "I will control myself."

What she didn't say was that with a cell phone, she could create a small window for herself in that cold home, a place where she could breathe in the outside world.

Furthermore, they can hear Lu Yang's voice at any time, without having to wait anxiously for him to appear.

Lu Yang stopped trying to persuade him and instead took out his phone, skillfully opened the shopping app, and filtered for the "local store, order and pick up" option.

Zhao Moli looked on with envy, munching on a chicken leg while muttering, "Yangyang, I want a phone too!"

"No."

Lu Yang didn't even look up, and refused decisively.

Zhao Moli stopped eating half of her chicken leg, her face full of grievance: "Why? Qing Tong can buy it, why can't I?"

I...I'll be good and promise not to get addicted!

Lu Yang sighed, both helpless and indulgent: "You promised me the night before last that you wouldn't sneak any more sweets before the New Year."

Zhao Moli immediately felt guilty and asked curiously, "Yangyang, how did you know?"

She clearly took the chocolate from the storage room by herself while her parents were out, and afterwards buried the wrapper at the bottom of the trash can.

Lu Yang didn't speak, but gently wiped away a trace of chocolate sauce from Jasmine's nose with his thumb. ...

The digital section on the third floor of the mall.

Lu Yang led the two girls to the self-pickup store where they had pre-ordered their items.

The shop assistant, a young man, saw three adorable little children walk in and kindly reminded them, "Kids, you can't just play with the demo machines in the store."

"Brother, we're here to pick up our phones."

Lu Yang calmly gave out the pickup code.

"is it?"

The shop assistant acknowledged the order but didn't ask any further questions. He then turned around, took out the stock, and handed it to the three people.

Lu Yuan took the phone from the shop assistant, unpacked it, turned it on, activated it, and skipped a series of tedious settings.

"I'll save my number first."

Lu Yang entered his own number and wrote "Lu Yang" as the note.

Zhao Moli eagerly leaned closer, squeezing her little head between the two of them: "What about me? Yangyang, what about me! I want to deposit it too!"

"You don't have a cell phone."

Lu Yang gently tapped her forehead.

"You can write down my mom's number!"

Zhao Moli was very unconvinced and fluently recited a string of numbers.

Helpless, Lu Yang had no choice but to save Qi Lili's number as well, noting "Mom of Jasmine" in the contact information.

Zhao Moli was satisfied when she saw her name appear in Zheng Qingtong's phone, and nodded with a shy smile.

……

At nine o'clock at night, Lu Yang finished washing up and was about to read a book when a WeChat friend request popped up on his phone screen.

The profile picture is a sunflower growing towards the light, the ID is "青涩梧桐" (Qingse Wutong), and the nickname is "郑青桐" (Zheng Qingtong).

Lu Yang clicked "Accept".

Almost instantly, the other party invited me to a video call.

After the call connected, Zheng Qingtong's fair and delicate face appeared on the screen.

She also seemed to have just taken a shower; her hair was still damp, and she was wearing light blue children's pajamas.

Lu Yang asked curiously, "Where did you get your number?"

“I asked my grandpa for it. He got me a supplementary card and promised to keep it a secret from my parents.”

"Aren't your grandparents in the countryside?"

"Dad brought them to the city for the Chinese New Year."

Zheng Qingtong's eyes suddenly dimmed, and her voice became low: "These past few days... there have been a lot of arguments at home because of this."

Lu Yang asked, puzzled, "Why are you arguing? Wouldn't it be better for the whole family to celebrate the New Year together?"

In his mind, the Chinese New Year should be a time for family reunion and celebration, just like his mother said, the more people there are, the more blessings there will be.

"I don't understand either."

Zheng Qingtong lowered her eyebrows slightly.

She didn't want to repeat her mother's complaints about "bad habits of country folk" and "inconvenience of living together," as that would only make her feel more embarrassed.

Lu Yang wisely refrained from pressing the matter further; he could sense the girl's low spirits on the other end of the screen.

Zheng Qingtong quickly composed herself and changed the subject: "Yangyang, what do you usually do with your phone? Play games?"

"I use it a lot in daily life, to look up things, and also to learn English."

"Learn English?" Zheng Qingtong asked nervously. "Is your family... going to send you abroad?"

She always heard her mother talking about whose child had been sent abroad, or which friend was preparing to immigrate through investment. It seemed that the ultimate goal for all the rich was to leave this place.

"No," Lu Yang denied. "I just want to learn another language; I might need it in the future."

Upon hearing the negative answer, Zheng Qingtong on the other side of the screen breathed a sigh of relief.

“Then send me the English learning software, and I’ll learn with you.”

"it is good."

Lu Yang nodded.

As soon as he finished speaking, a muffled sound came from the video, as if something outside the room had been knocked over, followed by a suppressed, sharp female voice.

Zheng Qingtong's expression changed drastically.

"I'm done talking now." She moved quickly, her voice soft and urgent: "Goodnight."

"Good night."

The video call was disconnected, revealing Lu Yang's calm face.

(End of this chapter)