Chapter 267 Return to Yangcheng

"At least you found it by browsing the blog, instead of making it up anonymously for Auntie Third to guess. Now I can at least tell her about the situation." Su Yuchen didn't know what to say for a long time, so he patted Zhao Xiaojing's hand and said soothingly. "But you're really amazing, you can actually find a needle in a haystack."

"Yes, I'm lucky. Now all I have to do is find the right time to tell her about it."

"Then should we change our itinerary? Do you want to go to your third aunt's house first?" Su Yuchen fastened his seat belt and slowly started the car.

The two set out from Jiangcheng early in the morning. Their plan was to drive on the highway for three hours and arrive in Yangcheng around 9:30. They would first go to Wen's house to deliver the things, then go to Dong Mei's house to unload all the things for Dong Mei and Zhou Chuyan from the car. After lunch, Su Yuchen would drive home.

"No change. Let's go to Wen's house first. Third Aunt is still at work today, so she won't be home when we go there. Let's have something to eat at noon and then go to her house. I have the key. You can leave your things and go first. I'll wait for her to come back and then talk to her slowly."

"Okay, it's better if you two talk in private."

The two set off again and drove all the way to the gate of the Wen family's yard. After knocking for a long time, Aunt Niu hurriedly opened the door. After asking, they found out that the old couple was not at home. Fan Guiying went to the next city to perform with the dance troupe. Wen Zhiyi had recently become obsessed with playing with spinning tops again. He went out to look for his friends early in the morning and didn't even bring his cell phone.

"Grandpa and grandma are thinking about you. They were talking about you a few days ago, asking when you would come back. Now they know that you came and didn't see them. They must be very sad." Aunt Niu was about to call Fan Guiying when she said this, but was stopped by Zhao Xiaojing again.

"It's okay, Aunt Niu. If you don't play, grandma will be in the game. If you play, she will be anxious. I'll come another day. The main reason is that we have to go somewhere else today and we don't have time to stay too long. I'm just afraid that if I tell grandpa and grandma in advance, they will prepare a lot of things for us to eat."

"Hey, you are such a sensible child. Your grandparents are looking forward to you coming for dinner. They are happy that you are eating here! When people get old, they just like to be in a lively atmosphere. Come in and talk. I will make you a cup of tea. At least sit down for a while." Aunt Niu enthusiastically pulled the two of them into the house.

The two men kept saying that they had things to do and Aunt Niu pushed them for a long time before they gave up. Finally, they unloaded a pile of things and drove away amid Aunt Niu's constant thanks.

Zhao Xiaojing was thinking about what to do next. Su Yuchen accompanied her for a casual meal and then sent her back to Dong Mei's house. After unloading a bunch of things, he left Zhao Xiaojing to clean up by herself.

Dong Mei's house is a standard three-bedroom, one-living room apartment. The room assigned to Zhao Xiaojing was Zhou Chuyan's former room. Zhao Xiaojing opened the door and put her luggage in. As soon as she entered, she saw that the room had been tidied in advance, with sheets and quilt covers in place. It looked like they had been dried in the sun recently and still had the smell of sunshine on them. The table and wardrobe were wiped clean and space had been made for her.

After leaving the bedroom and looking around, I found that the guest room where the sundries were usually kept had been cleared out, and there was a mattress on the small bed, as well as a complete set of folded sheets and quilt covers that had not yet been put on.

Zhao Xiaojing understood; this was probably something Dong Mei had planned for Zhou Jianye. The two had been arguing more and more fiercely in recent years. Although he only stayed home for about ten days a year, they were incompatible and disliked each other during those ten days. They had already slept in separate beds years ago.

It’s just that he used to live in Zhou Chuyan’s bedroom. This time, Dong Mei asked Zhao Xiaojing to live in the bedroom, so the guest room became his new territory.

Zhao Xiaojing tidied up at home for a while. Just as she had divided the things for Dong Mei and Zhou Chuyan into two parts and put them away, she heard the sound of a key turning at the door.

Zhao Xiaojing hurried over and opened the door. Dong Mei was startled. She looked up and saw Zhao Xiaojing. She looked her up and down for a while before she frowned in surprise and said, "Why didn't you call and tell me you were coming back early? I haven't prepared any food yet, and it's too late to cook now. What should I do? I can only take you downstairs for a meal."

Dong Mei's workplace has a cafeteria. She usually eats alone in the cafeteria to save trouble and then goes home for a nap. Zhao Xiaojing didn't want to trouble her to come back early to prepare a bunch of meals, so she said she would be home in the evening.

"Aunt, I've already eaten. Comb and I just finished eating. Don't worry about me. Just eat." Zhao Xiaojing pulled Dong Mei, who was standing at the door, in and said.

"Have you really eaten?" Dong Mei looked at Zhao Xiaojing hesitantly.

"I've really eaten there. I ate at the rice noodle shop downstairs. I just finished eating there not long ago."

Dong Mei nodded and walked inside. "I'll make you some tea. What's this? Why are you buying something again?"

Dong Mei looked through the things Zhao Xiaojing had placed in the living room, each item in her possession. Her face darkened with each glance, her brow furrowed so deeply it felt like it was digging into her flesh. "Why did you buy all this? It's not like you're buying it elsewhere. Are you worried about holding onto the money? I told you last time..."

"Third Aunt bought these not for you alone. Half of them are for Sister Yanyan. This is the first time for me to go away, so I am bringing you some local specialties. Sister Yanyan also brings me some whenever she goes out to play. Besides, it's Chinese New Year, and I bought these New Year goods for you so that I can eat them myself. I have been in Jiangcheng for nearly half a year, and I have wanted to try these things for a long time. It's a good opportunity for you to eat them together so that it won't be a waste. I won't buy them next time." Zhao Xiaojing interrupted Dong Mei hurriedly, fearing that she would go on and on, making her more and more angry, which would affect their mood since they just met.

"You've become more and more eloquent since you went out." Dong Mei glanced at Zhao Xiaojing sideways and wanted to say something else, but pursed her lips and gave up. She pulled Zhao Xiaojing to sit down and changed the subject.

"You look more energetic. Are you used to living in Jiangcheng?"

"I'm used to it. Jiangcheng is much hotter than here, both in summer and winter. When we got back today, Shuzi and I both felt a bit cold, so we quickly put on a down vest each."

"Xiao Su went home? Why didn't you leave her here to play?"

"She brought more things than I did. She turned on the heater in the car and brought a pot of stewed soup and some cooked food, eager to get home to put them away. She was like moving house when she got home. She took all our leftover vegetables and some cooked food with her and emptied the refrigerator."

Zhao Xiaojing had something hidden in her mind. She kept thinking about how to tell Dong Mei and what words to say to comfort her after telling her. But when she really met Dong Mei face to face, she was so nervous that she didn't know how to start, so she just talked about some interesting things.

"I told you that you would arrive in the evening and she would stay here for one night before going back. She even finished most of her work in the morning and said that she would not come over in the afternoon if she had nothing to do. She would buy some vegetables and cook a good meal for you, but you didn't tell her anything." Dong Mei complained.

"It's okay. I'll be here at night. It'll be tiring for you to do it alone. I'll help you at night." Zhao Xiaojing said with a smile.

Dong Mei didn't respond. She didn't know what she was thinking about. She patted Zhao Xiaojing's hand, looked at her carefully, smoothed out the wrinkles on her clothes, and sighed deeply.

"Why."