The little girl was formally greeted for the first time, her face turned red as she lowered her head. She casually pointed and said, "The basin is over there."
After Shen Yue spoke, she stepped aside, nervously staring at the ground.
Jiang Cheng looked at the seven-year-old Shen Yue in front of her, around 1.2 meters tall, with clean clothes and pants, two braided pigtails, pretty fox-like eyes, long eyelashes, and plump cheeks, making her look round and particularly cute.
"Thank you."
Jiang Cheng thanked her and used the Shen Family's washbasin to wash her face.
Shen Yue unknowingly stood beside Jiang Cheng, holding a white towel in her hand.
She stood obediently, and after seeing Jiang Cheng finish washing, she quickly handed over the white towel, speaking rapidly to avoid misunderstanding:
"It's new, my brother mailed it back."
"Okay, thank you."
Jiang Cheng's expression of gratitude made the little girl feel embarrassed again.
In Shen Yue's little head, she thought: Sister Jiang Cheng is so polite, so gentle!
Jiang Cheng wiped the water from her face.
As she wiped, the thick fringe of hair on her face was brushed aside.
Shen Yue's small mouth gradually became round, her eyes sparkling with little stars.
Sister Jiang Cheng is so pretty!
Even more than...
Shen Yue's chubby face tried hard, but still couldn't think of what was prettier, she just felt Jiang Cheng was the prettiest sister she had ever seen.
"Are you wondering how I can be so beautiful, right?"
Jiang Cheng boasted without embarrassment, taking the opportunity to tease little Xiao Shen Yue in front of her.
Shen Yue's face remained red, but she nodded seriously and said, "Beautiful! The most beautiful! The most most most most beautiful!"
Not knowing many adjectives, Shen Yue used five "mosts" to express her agreement.
Jiang Cheng smiled brightly, bending down with a radiant and generous smile to look at Shen Yue and said, "Thank you for the compliment, Shen Yue is also the most most most most most polite, most most most most most adorable little girl I've ever seen!"
Shen Yue's face instantly turned crimson.
Jiang Cheng's smile widened, unable to resist pinching Shen Yue's little face and said, "How can you be so cute."
Jiang Cheng didn't realize that her straightforward compliment directly won her a devoted little fan.
After washing up, Jiang Cheng sat at the dining table with Shen Yue.
The Shen Family lived in a small three-room area on the east side, with two bedrooms and a central room serving as the living room, dining room, and kitchen.
The four of them sat in a circle, with a bowl of cornmeal cakes on the table, a small bowl of tomato soup with fewer eggs, and a side of homemade pickled long beans.
Granny Shen said, "Let's eat," and took a cake first.
Next, Shen Xing, the nine-year-old brother, took a corn cake and placed it in Shen Yue's bowl.
"Eat up! After we're full, we can write a letter to our brother. Later, it will get dark. If we don't write quickly, we'll waste electricity."
"Yue Yue, have you thought about what to write?"
"Be sure to think it through, so it's less likely to make mistakes while writing. If you erase it, the paper will easily tear."
"And make sure to write on both sides, it saves a lot of money!"
"I already thought about what to write last night —— ooh ooh"
Shen Xing, who was speaking, had his mouth stuffed with a corn cake.
Granny Shen put down her hand without giving Shen Xing a look, instead looking at Jiang Cheng and said, "If I don't stop him, he can talk for an hour."
"No way!"
Holding the corn cake, Shen Xing looked at Jiang Cheng with a serious expression and explained, "I have to write a letter to my brother today, I won't talk for an hour."
Jiang Cheng understood, smiled lightly without replying.
As they ate, the unique youthful voice of Shen Xing could be heard from time to time.
After dinner, Jiang Cheng volunteered to wash the dishes, and Granny Shen didn't argue.
Afterward, Granny Shen helped Jiang Cheng trim her hair.
Looking at Jiang Cheng's exquisite features, Granny Shen reminded, "Don't stay out too late, come back early."
"Hmm, you're right."
Jiang Cheng didn't argue and agreed cheerfully.
Granny Shen smiled without saying more, knowing that Jiang Cheng, who could get money from the Lin Family and plan for renting a house early, wasn't foolish.
As night fell, when Jiang Cheng returned to her room to rest, Shen Xing stuffed five fully written pages of letter paper into an envelope.
The letter began with: Brother, a beautiful sister moved into our house, her name is Jiang Cheng...
*********
The next morning, Jiang Cheng got up early and quietly followed Du Yun out, one after the other, when no one was paying attention.
The courtyard's morning began with the clinking and clanking sounds.
Each household was busy making breakfast, hurrying to work or school, and some just returning from the night shift.
They greeted each other, asking, "Have you eaten?"
The children paired up in twos and threes, carrying single-strap green backpacks, holding aluminum lunch boxes. As they ran, their bags flapped around.
Giggling and laughing, they were scolded by their mothers from behind, uncaringly running out of the courtyard gates.
The women in the courtyard who didn't have to work gathered around the well to draw water, wash clothes, and scrub dishes. With each sentence, a stream of information naturally unfolded.
Of course, the current hot topic was still Jiang Cheng and the Lin Family.
"Do you think the neighborhood committee would allow Jiang Cheng to stay with the Shen Family? She doesn't have a job."
"Exactly, the Lin Family was always talking about a visit, but the Shen Family aren't relatives."
"Let the committee worry about it, why bother? This morning, the Lin Family was hilarious. They added water to stew the cabbage, but ended up pushing it out due to excessive force!"
"Hahaha! Truly, not working for three years, treating themselves with too much importance."
With a bang, the Lin Family's door swung open, Lin Jiaojiao angrily glared at the people by the well.
Standing beside Lin Jiaojiao, He Dan tugged at her, and Lin Jiaojiao withdrew her gaze and left with He Dan.
The few by the well pursed their lips and continued talking, even louder than before.
At the same time, Jiang Cheng followed Du Yun to the city's recycling station.
A sign with white background and red characters hung on the red brick door wall. After entering, there were indeed old men, but not the chaos or random picking described in novels.
Following Du Yun, Jiang Cheng went directly to the recycling station leader's office.
After Du Yun explained the situation, the seated leader didn't make things difficult. He asked for Jiang Cheng's letter of introduction and identification, then processed their temporary work permits.
"Du Yun, make sure to explain the tasks clearly."
"Rest assured, sir, I'll make sure everything is explained clearly."
Du Yun left with Jiang Cheng, who hadn't spoken or tried to stand out, following him.
"I handle the registration, there are four people responsible for categorizing the items that are delivered, and Sister Wang and I handle the registration."
Jiang Cheng listened attentively, following Du Yun into the back courtyard of the recycling station where she met the four brothers responsible for categorization, as well as Sister Wang, who also handled registration.
After greeting them, Jiang Cheng followed Du Yun to get familiar with the work.
The recycling station in front of them was well-organized, with smooth processes and orderly allocation.
Compared to this, waste sorting in later generations was nothing.
The range of recyclable items was incredibly detailed!
Chicken feathers, duck feathers, toothpaste tubes, meat bones, turtle shells, orange peels, broken glass, torn cotton, hair, etc., anything you could think of, they would collect.
And that's not all, even chicken feathers and duck feathers had further subdivisions!
Things like fine white chicken feathers, large duck down, small duck down, and so on.
Seeing this, Jiang Cheng had only one thought: it's as difficult as climbing to pick up a treasure in this place described in novels!