Chapter Ten: Mother's Gift

  After lunch, their mother called them into the house to see the gifts.

  Mom went on a business trip this time and stayed in Shanghai for a week. Perhaps feeling guilty towards her daughters, Mom bought a whole travel bag full of things for them.

  There's Zhang Yue's favorite plum blossom, butter broad beans, Zhang Qing's favorite beef jerky, waffle cookies, and also bought a coat for each of the two sisters.

  Zhang Yue's was a light blue thin cotton-padded jacket, with yellow silk thread embroidered with scattered and symmetrical small flowers. The zipper head was actually a small butterfly. Zhang Yue happily picked it up to try it on, coincidentally she wore a pair of black straight-leg pants today, a light yellow sweater, paired with this coat, making her look even more like a painting, with skin as white as snow.

  "Sister is so pretty, Mom, you're being unfair, what about mine?" Zhang Qing pouted beside her.

  "Mom smiled, "I knew you'd argue! Can't you have less of your stuff?" She said while taking out a big red down jacket from the travel bag."

  In that era, winter clothes were mainly for warmth, and people were used to wearing thick layers. Down jackets were also the thick and puffy kind, like sacks. As soon as her mother took out the down jacket, Zhang Qing became unhappy: "Mom, you're so biased! Look at my sister's clothes, they're so nice, why are mine like this?!"

  Listening to her daughter's complaints, the mother glanced at Zhang Qing and said: "Every day, you're biased towards one side, hanging on your lips, who are you biased towards?! The whole family knows that your sister is letting you have it, even if it's biased, it's still biased towards you! You little heartless thing. Your sister's down jacket from last year can still be worn, but yours has already become small. In such a large classroom with only one stove, sitting all day, aren't you cold?" The mother said while opening the down jacket: "Try it on and see if you like it."

  At this time, Zhang Yue and Zhang Qing saw that the down jacket was not the common type that just covered the buttocks and had a bloated style. It was an extended version of the slim fit, perhaps their mother had deliberately bought a larger size, hoping that Zhang Qing could still wear it for another year next year. So after Little Zhang Qing put it on, she basically had to cover her ankles. Even so, she didn't feel very fat, but rather looked slender and thin.

  On the front of the duck down jacket, a shy and timid Minnie Mouse is embroidered on the chest, and a Mickey Mouse stepping on a ball is embroidered at the hem. The most eye-catching thing is that there is actually a proud and triumphant Donald Duck on the back of the clothes, laughing with satisfaction. At that time, "Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck" was still the favorite of children, although CCTV had broadcast many well-known cartoons at that time, but none of them could shake the shock of "Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck" to children.

  Looking at the down jacket, Zhang Qing was so surprised that she didn't know what to say, and wished she could wear it to school in the afternoon. After a while, she came up with a sentence: "Mom, why isn't it snowing today?" Instantly, everyone burst out laughing.

  Zhang Qing doesn't understand, but Zhang Yue does. The two clothes Mom bought are definitely not cheap. I believe that even the whole school can't find the same ones. It seems that Mom's work has entered the right track and our family's conditions have started to improve.

  Looking at Zhang Yue touching the new clothes without speaking, her mother thought she was worried about the price. She walked over and helped Zhang Yue tidy up the hem of her dress, saying: "Yueyue, sometimes I think you don't look like an eleven-year-old child. In the future, don't read so many books, it makes your thoughts too heavy. Children should be happy and carefree. Family matters are taken care of by me and your father, as well as your grandparents and great-grandparents, there's no need for you to worry about them. Just focus on living a good life and doing well in school, that's more important than anything."

  Here is the translation:

  "Speaking of which, my mom's face showed a proud expression: "This time in Shanghai, we got the exclusive dealership rights for Feiyue TV and Shanglian refrigerator. Do you know what that means? The whole city can only buy from our department store! So the company gave us a few bonuses, I won't tell you the amount, but it's enough to buy my daughter a dress." After finishing speaking, my mom thought of something again, rummaged through her travel bag, and pulled out a pink plastic bag, handing it to Zhang Yue: "Take a look, do you like it?"

  Zhang Yue opened it and was surprised to see the hair clip that Xia Jingjing had brought in the morning, but this time it was pink blue. Maybe her mother bought it to match her new clothes.

  Next to her, Zhang Qing looked at her sister's hair clip and said enviously: "Mom, I think your bag is a treasure box! Can you also change something for me?" After finishing, she blinked her eyes and pitifully looked at her mom.

  "Pfft." Zhang Yue couldn't help but laugh, pouncing onto the bed and pinning down her little sister, rubbing her chubby little face all over with her hands. She just can't help it, Zhang Yue was getting more and more fond of rubbing her little sister's face, so soft and squishy, it felt great!

  Sister was fighting with Zhang Yue on one hand and shouting to her mother on the other, "Mom, mom, save me! Look at your big girl bullying me!"

  Mother reluctantly separated the two daughters and handed a hairpin inlaid with white pearls to her younger sister: "Yours!"

  "How beautiful!" Zhang Qing exclaimed, holding it in her hand. The white pearls were fake, but they looked very realistic. On one side of the hair clip, a small pearl flower of the same color was attached, matching Zhang Qing's curly yellow hair, making her look like a mainland version of Shirley Temple. (Zhang Qing's hair was too curly and couldn't be braided, so she always had short hair.)

  "Grandma, Grandma, look at the new hair clip my mom bought for me!" Zhang Qing hugged her mom tightly and gave her a big kiss before running off to show it to her grandma.

  Digression

  This article is a slow-burning one, and it may seem a bit dull at the beginning because there's a lot to explain. I hope you can be patient with me, and it will get better as we go along. Thank you!