Chapter 123

Su Simei knew her cousin was coming today, so she got up early to wait for him.

Today was Saturday. She had wanted to ask for leave, but the person who had been covering her shift had something going on today, so she had to help out and keep working. Saturdays were a little more relaxed though, so she could slip away for a bit if needed.

Xiao Qi's family got off the car. Normally they would take the bus to go visit Auntie at the hospital.

But Xiao Qi's mother very rarely took the bus. By the time they got to Huanghe Town her face was as white as paper, and by the time they arrived in Lvshan City and got off, she had thrown up so much even her legs were weak, having emptied out not just that morning's breakfast, but probably last night's dinner too. It was quite a sorry sight.

The driver Da Yong was used to sights like this. Villagers rarely came into the city, and the few times they did, something like this usually happened. He pulled over by those few trees, which were more lush than trees elsewhere, fertilized by too many incidents like this.

And so the family of three had to walk the rest of the way to Auntie's hospital.

Luckily Xiao Qi was used to walking now, and didn't find it tiring. She even took some of the things her mother was carrying.

She wanted to take some of the things her father was carrying too, but Su Youfu quickly refused. It wouldn't look right for the child to be carrying things while the parents walked empty handed.

After walking for a while, Sheng Juanhua's complexion gradually regained some color, though her feet still felt a little unsteady.

She rarely came into the city, and looking at the high rises and big buildings, she found it all dazzling.

"Lvshan City has changed so much. I remember there weren't any tall buildings here that year I came."

"It's changed even more over that way, with a new movie theater and shopping mall built." Su Youfu said.

"We can go watch a movie together." Xiao Qi suggested. Her parents probably hadn't seen a big screen before.

She thought to herself, they really were from two different worlds. Teacher Zhou had taken her to see a concert, with a bunch of foreigners playing and singing.

Meanwhile her parents had barely even seen a movie on a screen this size.

Sure enough, her dad said, "I heard a ticket costs several dozen yuan. Let's not waste money, watching on TV is the same." "You're right, it's probably about the same as TV, a waste of money." Sheng Juanhua chimed in agreement.

The family of three walked quickly, and it felt like no time at all before they arrived at the hospital.

Su Youfu and his wife had come together, also wanting to thank Su Simei in person. After all, their daughter had been trouble for her auntie for so long.

Seeing her aunt and uncle come laden with so many things, Su Simei smiled warmly, "You don't have to bring so much every time, I can't finish it all."

Seeing her niece, Sheng Juanhua was surprised and said, "Simei, you've lost so much weight, I almost didn't recognize you!"

Hearing this, Su Simei's smile grew even bigger.

"I've been working out and losing weight recently."

"No wonder, you look even more spirited and pretty." Sheng Juanhua said sincerely.

She really was like two different people from Simei's impression. She remembered her cousin had such a tough life, getting fat after her divorce, to the point of being unrecognizable. But she had a good temper, and Xiao Qi never complained after eating with her auntie for so long, which was hard to come by. Her own daughter was difficult, she knew that. The fact that her niece hadn't said anything despite it all, that took effort.

Su Simei was very happy to be praised by her family.

Su Youfu was a man, a bit coarser, and hadn't noticed his cousin's changed figure. But she did seem livelier in spirit.

After chatting for a bit, Su Simei had to go to work. Sheng Juanhua helped her daughter tidy up her luggage. She noticed her daughter hadn't brought much to school, just some clothes and books, and a pair of shoes.

She hadn't brought winter clothes yet, but Meng City was a seaside town with higher temperatures. Besides, if she needed anything later, it would probably be easier to buy clothes in Meng City than Lvshan City. Sheng Juanhua felt emboldened now that they had money in their account.

Even so, after packing, the family still went out to see if there was anything they needed to buy, like toothpaste, toothbrushes, towels and the like that should be newly bought for the start of school and a fresh term.

Sheng Juanhua felt like they were pressed for time. Xiao Qi's bus left in the evening, and they would arrive in Meng City at night.

Xiao Qi still wanted to pull her family to watch a movie, since opportunities like this were so rare.

Although Sheng Juanhua and Su Youfu begrudged spending the money, their daughter was about to leave for school, so they agreed.

Xiao Qi looked through the options, and there were no good movies playing. But thinking of the big screen theater, she still opted for a foreign action blockbuster, to better showcase the theater.

Turns out the one she picked was actually about zombies, with English dialogue and Chinese subtitles.

It didn't seem like the most suitable choice for a family watch. There weren't many people at the matinee showing, so they practically had the theater to themselves.

The family of three walked in, and Sheng Juanhua looked around curiously.

Su Youfu wasn't much better, just a bit less obvious about it. When he was little, the village had set up movie screenings, but this was different. There was just the huge screen in front, and the movie started playing directly, the projector equipment hidden away somewhere. The theater seats were red and very soft. Xiao Qi didn't get snacks like cola and popcorn to better fit in. She just bought a bottle of water outside for each of them.

The combo meal of cola and popcorn cost over seventy yuan. If she had bought it her parents probably wouldn't have said anything, but she knew their hearts would ache, and her dad would be up late weaving bamboo ware again.

Sheng Juanhua and Su Youfu sat together, with Xiao Qi next to her mother.

The seats were very soft, sinking down as you sat. There was air conditioning inside too, nice and cool.

After the ads, the theater lights suddenly switched off, pitch black.

Xiao Qi reminded her parents to put on their glasses, and put on her own pair too.

The movie started, and a zombie suddenly lunged straight at them, seeming to run right up to their seats. Even Xiao Qi jumped in fright.

Sheng Juanhua was even more terrified, one hand clutching her husband and the other grabbing her daughter's arm.

Then the zombie's head abruptly exploded from a gunshot.

The bullet seemed to be flying straight at them too.

Xiao Qi tried her best to seem worldly, but was also badly startled.

She instinctively clutched her mother's arm tightly too.

Once the movie properly began, whether they had adapted to the 3D effects, or the 3D wasn't as intense after the start, in any case it wasn't as thrilling as the beginning. But watching the big screen was still very different than watching TV.

Xiao Qi had crammed to brush up her English over the holidays, so she was very familiar with the English dialogue and watched with great interest.

Meanwhile Sheng Juanhua and Su Youfu couldn't understand a word, only able to read the Chinese subtitles. But even reading the subtitles was tiring, so they just watched the visuals.

The couple was practically trying foreign food for the first time. Although they didn't really understand it, they watched very attentively, thinking they could talk about the experience of watching a movie when they got back to the village.

The pacing of the movie was decent, but the plot was muddled, never making clear by the end whether the zombies were all dead or not, if humanity was victorious or faced destruction.

The credits rolled on screen as the theater lights turned back on. Only then did Sheng Juanhua and Su Youfu take off their glasses, still a bit dizzy.

Xiao Qi wasn't much better off, just slightly more so. Seeing her parents walking unsteadily, she regretted not picking a better movie herself. She should have chosen a Chinese film, even if it was terribly bad. At least her parents could have understood it more clearly. She hadn't even really understood this one herself.

But when she saw her parents walking out hand in hand, so intimate, as Xiao Qi stood waiting at the theater entrance, she felt truly happy in that moment.

The family of three together, all was well.