foreigner's journey

Chapter 312 Four Months

It was late at night when Heather returned to the slums on Seventh Street.

Most of the houses in the Qifanjie slum have turned off their lights, only the cheap neon lights piled up with waste materials on the street are still shining with colorful lights.

Heather walked through the dark streets shrouded in shadows, scaring away several stray cats who were rummaging through trash cans.

Stepping up the metal stairs of Tianwangzhuang quietly, Heather walked to the door of room 202 and took out the key to open the door.Just as he was about to enter, the door of room 201 next to him creaked open.

Tifa stood in front of the door, clasped her hands in front of her belly, and looked at Heather timidly.

"Senior brother, Granny Marle has already told me about the Walled Commercial Street." Tifa mustered up her courage and said to Heather, "I will never work there."

"..."

Heather just looked at her quietly for a few seconds, then walked into Room 202 and closed the door, leaving a light sentence:

"Come and see me at six tomorrow morning."

Looking at the closed door, Tifa suddenly became more relaxed. She said good night to 202 and then tiptoedly closed the door.

The relationship between the brothers and sisters has returned to normal, which is gratifying.

......................................................

For the first month, Tifa's life was not easy.

Her body has just recovered from a serious illness, and there are still metal brackets in her body, and her physical strength is much weaker than before she was admitted to the hospital.But she still insists on exercising with Heather every day and never slacks off.

Heather made a rehabilitation training plan for Tifa's physical function, and constantly monitored her physical progress to make adjustments to the exercise plan.

And the repertoire after training every morning is breakfast time.

The two of them ate all the breakfast stalls on the station square in the Qifan Street slum, and would happily make their own evaluations of the food taste of each stall.On this point, Heather is obviously much stricter, criticizing most of the earlier comments to nothing.Tifa, on the other hand, felt that most of the breakfast dishes were delicious, except for Tang Xinzi noodles.She is really not used to this thing.

For a month, Tifa also got to know some residents of Qifan Street slums under the introduction of Granny Marle.But there is no one who can be called a "friend".

On the fourth day of staying at Tianwangzhuang, Tifa found a job——as a helper for the Dimo ​​restaurant in the slum of Qifan Street.Washing dishes, cleaning, and being a guest waiter, it didn't take her too much time to gradually become proficient from the rush at the beginning.

The owner of the restaurant is Timo, a bald old man with a beard and an old friend of Grandma Marlene.For Marle's sake, Dimo ​​took good care of Tifa.Compared with other slums, the atmosphere in Qifanjie slums is not bad, and other 'temporary workers' who do odd jobs in restaurants have not shown any hostility towards Tifa.

On the one hand, they didn't believe that such a beautiful girl would stay in old Timo's dilapidated restaurant all the time, and of course it didn't pose much threat to their jobs.On the other hand, they heard that Tifa is Heather's distant relative, Junior Sister Jia, who came from a rural village called Gongaga to join Heather, a well-known senior brother.

Is Heather considered to be famous?They don't know, but they can be sure of one thing - no one in the slums of Qifanjie dares to provoke Heather.From this point of view, Heather can indeed cover it.

In this way, Tifa gets up at 5:6 every morning, washes up and then does warm-up activities in the room by herself.When it was almost 7 o'clock, I went out to find my brother, and the two set off to exercise in the open space near the outer wall, and returned to Qifan Street Station for breakfast near [-] o'clock.

Then Brother Heather would disappear mysteriously from time to time, and according to Granny Marley, he was busy with his own affairs.And Tifa went back to her room to wash up before rushing to Dimo's to get to work.

Lunch was settled at Dimo's restaurant. It was not a greasy meal, but the advantage was that it was a free working meal. Tifa still ate very happily.

Tifa worked until about eight o'clock in the evening. Tifa changed shifts with the replacement, and then went to the market to pick some high-quality and cheap ingredients, trying to learn from his senior brother's way of bargaining.Even though he is seriously inexperienced in bargaining, he has a sweet face and can always buy suitable ingredients at preferential prices.

After returning to Tianwangzhuang, Tifa will cook dinner with Grandma Marle, or Grandma Marle will teach Tifa how to make some home cooking unilaterally.Heather sometimes came to eat together, sometimes came back very late, but never stayed out all night.

Marle said that this kind of situation is very rare. In the past, Heather would not return to Tianwangzhuang for several days in a row.

One month, two months...

Gradually, under the abundant nutrition and targeted rehabilitation exercises, Tifa's body became healthy and full of vitality again, and her complexion was no longer the pale appearance of just recovering from a serious illness.

She even had the courage to take the train to the Staples Mall on Bafan Street by herself to buy two cheap clothes and replenish some daily necessities.

Dimo's restaurant paid very little wages. Thanks to Tifa's frugality and free lunch, Tifanu worked hard to save some money.She hid all the money in the shoe box in the closet in the room, and counted it every few days to calculate how long it would take to pay off the rent and medical expenses owed to Grandma Marle.

In the third month, Tifa paid off her previous rent arrears, which was a huge victory for her.

Marle congratulated her with a smile, but Heather just said "oh" and didn't respond.

Tifa was not hit by his senior, but was still full of motivation.She even plans to take an extra job during the breaks. The medical expenses owed to Granny Marle and her senior brother have not been paid off, so she must continue to work hard!
Tifa's fourth month in Midgar, in April 2003, Heather announced that Tifa's rehabilitation had come to an end.

"Your recent activities are no different from ordinary people. The metal bracket is no longer uncomfortable, right?"

In the deserted open space in the early morning, Heather said to Tifa:

"Physically, it's no different from ordinary people, and even stronger than some men with poor living habits. Coupled with flexible body skills and Zanganliu martial arts for self-protection, you can already have some means of self-protection."

Tifa was wearing a black short-sleeved skirt and short skirt for easy movement, and the same pair of red sneakers on her feet.Compared with when she first arrived four months ago, she was no longer pale and timid, and became much more cheerful: "Brother, don't you need to continue the rehabilitation training?"

Heather nodded slightly: "Well, the next step is to officially start the advanced practice of Zanganliu martial arts, or come to me at six o'clock every morning. Be mentally prepared, this is much more difficult than rehabilitation training."

"I won't slack off."

"Also, go to Dimo ​​today to suspend work. I found you a new job."

"Huh? So suddenly, Mr. Dimo..."

"I'll tell Timo that working in a restaurant isn't a good option if you want to pay back the treatment."

"Hey, what's the job?"

Tifa wasn't worried about where his senior brother would kidnap and sell him, but he was a little uneasy that he would suddenly change to a new environment just after getting used to working in a restaurant.Speaking of which, when she first met Master Zangan, she still regarded him as a child trafficker.

Heather pointed to the above: "Go to the upper part of Bafan Street to be an apprentice bartender. The salary is higher than that of a restaurant. The most important thing is to learn something. I said it..."

"As long as I have learned it, no one can take it away. I will always remember it, brother." The girl smiled brightly.

"...I will answer quickly. It seems that you still have the strength to run around the open space three more times! Hurry up!"

"Ugh?"

　PS: According to this speed, I feel that there are not one or two hundred chapters in FF7 that can't be finished...

　
(End of this chapter)