Jian Fei lived in the suburbs, and on her way back, she had to pass through the county's only park.
Outside the park, many hand-pulled tricycles were parked. The tricycles had been simply modified so that the cargo box could be spread open, forming a rectangular board.
On the board were displayed various seasonal fruits, thus forming fruit stalls.
Many elderly people without social security and with limited working ability made a living from these fruit stalls.
Two young people who had just fallen in love were in a good mood and found everything beautiful.
As the car drove along, Ke Teng was attracted by the fruit stalls by the roadside.
He decided to have Jian Fei take some oranges back for his grandmother to try.
Jian Fei subconsciously wanted to refuse, but seeing Ke Teng's gaze and thinking that buying oranges wouldn't cost much, she let him go.
The car stopped by the roadside, and Jian Fei sat in the car while Ke Teng went to an aunt.
Seeing a customer approaching, a young and handsome man, the aunt directly pulled down a plastic bag, spat on her finger, and skillfully opened it.
"Here you go. Fresh oranges, just delivered, big and sweet. How many do you want, young man?"
Ke Teng rarely bought things himself, let alone on the roadside.
He didn't know if this was the standard practice, but before he even said he wanted to buy, she had already opened the bag for him.
And with a spit-covered hand?
"How much are the oranges per pound?"
"Four yuan. They're just transported from elsewhere, very fresh and very sweet."
As she spoke, the aunt pointed to an orange that had been broken open and offered as a sample at the top of the pile.
"Try it. If it's not good, it's free. I promise I won't cheat you."
Then she lowered her head and started filling the bag with oranges for him.
There was no need to describe how withered her hands were from years of exposure to wind and sun. The key was that her nails were hard and black, with the yellow juice of orange peels seeped into them...
It wasn't that Ke Teng was being fussy, but it was genuinely unpleasant to look at.
In fact, given the poor hygiene, he didn't want them anymore.
But the aunt had already started packing, and it felt a bit unconscionable to back out now.
"Please give me five pounds."
"Okay, okay. It's good for young people to eat more fruit. It's also good to buy them for the elderly."
"Auntie has other things too, apples, bananas, and dragon fruit. Do you want to take some of those as well?"
Ke Teng thought to himself: I should go to a proper fruit store in the future. This hygiene...
"No, thank you."
As someone who rarely dealt with such things, he had no concept of how much five pounds was. He watched as the aunt packed a plastic bag with a flurry of activity and placed it on an electronic scale that only she could see the numbers on.
"Six pounds and four ounces."
Ke Teng was mentally calculating how much he should pay her, but the aunt turned back and added a few more oranges to the bag.
"It's hard to calculate the odd change, so let me round it up. How about we make it seven pounds?"
Alright, it wasn't much money anyway, so seven pounds it was.
Ke Teng took out his phone to pay, but the aunt added two more to the bag.
"Seven pounds for 28 yuan isn't good. Let's just round it up to 30 yuan."
Carrying the bag, which was almost bursting, back, Jian Fei saw him like this and, fearing the oranges would roll off, stepped forward to take a few in her hands.
"Why are you so honest? It's not like you'll never eat again. Why buy so much at once? The bag is about to burst."
Thinking of the sales genius he had just encountered, Ke Teng shook his head repeatedly.
"Your hometown has such a fierce local custom. I asked for five pounds, but they ended up rounding it up to seven pounds, and they said it so convincingly that I couldn't refute it. I'm impressed."
"It truly is your hometown."
Jian Fei knew the ways of small vendors in small towns. She laughed when she heard that Ke Teng had been outsmarted.
"Of course. If I weren't fierce, how could I control you?"
"I always heard people say that small towns have simple folk. Today, I've truly opened my eyes."
"Simple folk refers to places with favorable environments. There's also a saying that poor mountains and bad waters breed difficult people. Haven't you heard of it?"
The two looked at each other and couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Happy times always pass quickly, and soon, four days went by.
Ke Teng had finished his business, and they needed to return to Tongcheng.
The evening before their departure, Ke Teng had dinner at Jian Fei's house.
He helped with the fire, and his grandmother was in charge of cooking. Jian Fei felt a bit unwell and moved a small stool to sit by the door eating oranges.
Grandma said to her, "Fei Fei hasn't been looking right these past couple of days. It's rare for her to be back, but she doesn't eat properly, just eats oranges all day, and isn't as diligent as before."
"She's just started working and hasn't achieved anything yet, and she's already gotten carried away. If this habit of laziness continues, let's see which man can stand you."
Actually, she was concerned about Jian Fei and said it deliberately for Ke Teng to hear.
Ke Teng understood perfectly.
"No, Grandma, she's usually quite diligent."
"It's a rare holiday, and you should relax properly. Don't be so strict."
Grandma was very pleased. "You child, you look fair and tender, like a delicate person, but you're actually quite diligent."
"Your parents taught you very well."
Ke Teng smiled and said nothing.
Dinner was ready, but Jian Fei refused to eat.
Her father scolded her, "You're a medical student, yet you have no common sense and don't know how to control yourself when eating."
"It's a long evening. How can you not eat? Eat a little. You're leaving tomorrow, and we don't know when the family will be together like this again. Don't spoil the mood."
Jian Fei had no choice but to force herself to eat.
The fish soup, which she usually loved, tasted incredibly fishy today. After taking just one sip, she rushed out the door.
Ke Teng followed her out and saw her retching under the yard faucet.
"How many oranges did you eat to get yourself like this? Do you want to go to the hospital?"
"It's nothing, I just ate too much out of greed. I'll be fine after a few hours of an empty stomach. You go eat, don't worry about me."
The next morning, Jian Fei's symptoms hadn't improved. Grandma forced her to drink half a bowl of porridge.
Before the assistant driving the car even reached the highway entrance, she exclaimed that she felt like vomiting.
Ke Teng helped her to the roadside and held out a plastic bag for her to vomit into.
"Why don't we postpone the return today and go to the hospital? Could it be that those oranges had too many bacteria, and you got poisoned?"
Jian Fei found his words amusing; she had never heard of getting poisoned by eating oranges.
"It's nothing. Even if I went to the hospital, they'd just prescribe some digestive medicine. I'll be fine after a good sleep."
Ke Teng held her hand and let her lean on his shoulder to sleep.
Jian Fei closed her eyes, caressed his fingers, and recalled their time together.
Thinking of their intimate moments, she suddenly sat up with a jolt.
"What's wrong?"
As if possessed, Ke Teng was startled by her.
Jian Fei's eyes were vacant. She looked at his face, recalled the time they first got together, and then thought about her own condition, her face turning pale.
It couldn't be, it couldn't be that she was already pregnant this quickly.