Chapter 64 Going Home, Gifts for Mom and Dad!

Early in the morning, Jiang Hong crawled out of bed and simply packed two changes of clothes. After all, he would be heading back to school in a few days, so there was no need to bring a mountain of things.

After grabbing his tennis racket and a few balls, he boarded the shuttle bus home. His family lived in a small, underdeveloped county town on the outskirts of Chang'an, and the road back was rather bumpy. Looking at the three- and four-story buildings along the street, Jiang Hong felt a sense of both unfamiliarity and nostalgia! In the future, these storefronts along the street would practically all be demolished.

An elderly man selling vegetables by the roadside held a traditional tobacco pipe in his mouth, occasionally shouting out to peddle his goods.

"I have prayed bitterly before the Buddha for thousands of years..."

A familiar tune drifted from a clothing store. Although many people considered it cheesy, it could indeed be heard on every street and alley!

Hongtu Supermarket!

That's right, the "Hong" in the name came from Jiang Hong!

Though called a supermarket, it was essentially just a slightly oversized mom-and-pop grocery store. Jiang Hong walked in, picked up a bottle of cola from the shelf, unscrewed the cap, and chugged it.

"That cola is three yuan!"

Suddenly, a middle-aged woman sitting by the entrance reminded him.

"Mom, I'm just drinking a bottle of cola. You're going to charge me for that?!" Jiang Hong turned around and said with a cheeky grin.

"Even if you call me mom, you still have to pay..." Although Zheng Ping felt the voice sounded somewhat familiar, she didn't think much of it. She muttered to herself, whose child is this, randomly认爹妈 (claiming parents) just for a bottle of cola!

Lifting her head, Zheng Ping suddenly felt that the figure looked increasingly familiar.

"Xiao Hong, when did you get back?!"

Her mother immediately put down the melon seeds in her hand with a look of surprise and stood up! She walked over to Jiang Hong, looked him up and down, nodded, and said, "University food really must be good. You've grown taller and a bit tanner; I didn't even recognize you at first glance!"

Jiang Hong felt that his mother's praise for the university cafeteria's food was practically an insult to the culinary dark arts practiced by the school's chefs! However, he didn't argue the point. Jiang Hong tilted his head and asked curiously, "Mom, where did Dad go?"

"Isn't your uncle's family building a new house? He went to help out!"

"Can his body handle that kind of work?"

When Jiang Hong was young, his family actually lived in the countryside, and his mother and father worked as construction laborers. Due to the intense physical strain, his father suffered a chronic lower back injury that prevented him from continuing construction work. Later, they took out a loan to open this small shop in the county town and occasionally set up street stalls, managing to scrape together a decent living.

His mother waved a hand dismissively. "He knows what he's doing!"

"By the way, what do you want to eat? Mom will go buy some groceries. You never know how to give a heads-up in advance!" she complained affectionately.

"Mom, just make whatever, anything is fine!" Jiang Hong chuckled and said.

"How can that do? Oh well, you won't give me a straight answer anyway. Watch the store, I'm going to buy groceries!" With that, she hurried out the door in a flurry of activity!

Jiang Hong laughed softly as he watched his mother's retreating back; her temperament had always been rather hasty. He had inherited quite a bit of her impatience—for instance, eating quickly and not talking during meals. So whenever he went out to eat with friends, he was always the first one finished!

Jiang Hong played sous-chef and helped his mother prepare dinner.

By evening, his father finally hurried back. Seeing Jiang Hong, he paused in surprise. "You're back."

His father's personality was just like that; when the two of them were together, they never quite knew what to say, and silence usually filled the space.

"Yeah, dinner is ready. Let's eat!" Jiang Hong nodded and said with a smile.

"I'll go wash my hands."

The family of three sat around the dining table, which was laden with dishes, looking as lavish as a New Year's feast. Jiang Hong was already used to this. During previous winter breaks when he returned home, the table would be piled high with food, and he would be showered with endless inquiries and warmth. Yet after just two days, he would be met with total annoyance! Perhaps this was the beauty of distance!

His father rubbed his small liquor glass, looked up at his mother, and flashed a flattering smile. Clearly, he was asking whether he was allowed to drink alcohol today!

His mother rolled her eyes in exasperation, but ultimately compromised. "Fine, you're only allowed a little bit today!"

Jiang Hong suddenly stood up and said, "Mom, Dad, wait a moment, I'll go get something!"

With that, Jiang Hong ran upstairs!

This was a two-story storefront building, but it didn't belong to their family; they rented it, though rent wasn't that expensive yet at this time. Jiang Hong pulled two items out of his backpack and placed them in front of his parents.

His father opened the item placed before him and discovered it was a bottle of liquor and a jewelry box.

"Moutai?"

To be honest, his father probably wasn't used to drinking liquor of this caliber, but its reputation was massive, which naturally piqued his curiosity! Though pleasantly surprised, his face suddenly straightened the next second.

"Where did you get the money for this?"

His mother also looked at Jiang Hong; after all, they certainly didn't want their child straying down the wrong path.

"Dad, Mom, don't worry, I earned all of this myself!" Jiang Hong said with a smile.

"You're just a student, where would you earn this much money?" Although he had never drunk it, he knew that this collector's edition easily cost over a thousand yuan. Usually, he only treated himself to cheap eight-yuan Taibai liquor to satisfy his cravings.

"Here's the deal: after entering university, I took up tennis and turned out to be pretty decent at it, so I tried entering some competitions. So far, I've played in two tournaments. The prize money for the first tournament was 1,500 US dollars, and the second was 3,600 US dollars. So everything I bought for you was purchased using my tournament winnings!"

Coming home, Jiang Hong had intended to confess everything to his parents from the start. On one hand, he couldn't keep it hidden forever; on the other hand, he hoped to make his parents' lives a little easier.

His father turned to look at his mother. "Pingping, calculate how much that is."

"5,100!" His mother instantly blurted out the answer.

"Converted into our currency, it's roughly 36,000 yuan!" Jiang Hong smiled and provided the final sum.

"All of this is yours?" His mother's voice trembled slightly, because when they added up all their various odd jobs and expenses over a whole year, they couldn't even save that much money, yet their son had suddenly produced it out of thin air!

"Not quite all of it, I still had to pay a 20% personal income tax!" Jiang Hong explained with a smile. After all, he had no intention of evading taxes; he paid his taxes right after each tournament concluded. If he were part of the state sports system, he would have to turn a portion over to the team, give a cut to the coach, and after deductions, there wouldn't be much left in hand anyway.

After a brief moment of quiet, his father, who had been silent, asked, "This competition... it's not some kind of scam, is it?"

Understanding his parents' anxiety, Jiang Hong smiled and explained, "It's co-organized by domestic government authorities and international sports organizations, so you can rest completely easy!"

Hearing this, the two of them finally relaxed!

"You make some money and just throw it around, you don't even know how to save!" Though his mother's face was wreathed in smiles, she still scolded Jiang Hong a little. "Right, go return this jewelry and the wine. Your father and I don't need such expensive things!" she said after casting a glance at the gold bracelet and the bottle of Moutai.

His mother glared at his father, who instantly withdrew his lingering, reluctant gaze from the Moutai bottle and put on a stern expression. "That's right, I don't need it!"

Jiang Hong gave a bitter laugh and said, "Mom, if we return it now, we'll lose half its value. Just keep the gold bracelet—it might even appreciate in value later on!"

In the end, Jiang Hong successfully persuaded the two of them to keep the Moutai.

His father quickly put the Moutai away and took out his usual eight-yuan Taibai liquor instead! Catching the puzzled look on Jiang Hong's face, his father smiled and said, "What's the fun in drinking this Moutai in front of you two? Next time, I'll drink it in front of Uncle Gao and Uncle Zhang and make them green with envy."

"You and your vanity!" His mother shot a smiling, playful glare at him!

The family happily and cheerfully began their meal!

"I'll clean up the table later, I'm heading out for a bit!" With that, his mother slipped the bracelet onto her wrist and headed out the door.

Jiang Hong vaguely heard her voice outside:

"Hey, Zhang's wife! Let me tell you about this bracelet—Xiao Hong earned the money to buy it for me by entering some sports competition. He just spends money so carelessly..."