As Zhou Yi toured the courtyard, he said with a touch of arrogance, "Don't underestimate me, do you? I grew up in Beijing, after all."

Whether you understand it or not, living in Beijing, the ancient capital of six dynasties, you must know something from what you see and hear all along.

Upon opening the door to the main room, a thin layer of dust covered the furniture, indicating that Xiaoyun hadn't visited for several days.

The flowers in the yard are thriving, growing lush and verdant. The pomegranate tree is in full bloom, a riot of color.

The jujube tree was covered with tiny lilac blossoms, attracting the buzzing of bees.

Chen Hong first went to the kitchen to boil a kettle of water, and was about to lead Zhou Yi to the backyard to see what vegetables Xiao Yun had planted.

Zhou Yi then sent him back to his room to rest.

Chen Hong took out two pearl necklaces and a small gold lock from the safe in her bedroom. She had called Xiao Yun in advance to ask her to withdraw them from the bank as a return gift for the Zhou family.

He then pretended to go to the storeroom and took two boxes of sea cucumbers, two boxes of abalone, and two ginseng roots, which he brought to the Zhou family's house that evening.

After arriving in Beijing, Zhou Yi stayed with her the whole time, and she didn't even have a chance to prepare gifts for the Zhou family.

It just so happened that Zhou Yi was in the backyard, which gave her the opportunity. She packed everything she had sorted out into boxes and then put them all into a tote bag.

Chen Hong quickly brewed a pot of green tea. Seeing that Zhou Yi hadn't returned yet, she put the teapot and teacup on a tray and carried it to the backyard.

"Chen Hong, look, there are so many vegetables growing in the backyard. The cucumbers and tomatoes are growing so well, and the green beans, kidney beans, and loofahs are growing so well too."

It seems that having a big courtyard is better; as long as you're not lazy, you can eat whatever you want.

Did my little sister grow these vegetables? Haha! I've discovered that you sisters are both quite adept at managing your households.

"We can't possibly eat all these vegetables, even if we feed a dozen or so people!"

Chen Hong: "What's wrong? You're interested in growing vegetables now? You seem pretty excited about it?"

Zhou Yi drew water from the well, washed his hands, took the tray from Chen Hong, placed it on the stone table by the well, blew the dust off the stone bench, and pulled Chen Hong to sit down.

"Hey, don't we Chinese all have this gene? Given the chance, we always want to farm, whether it's fruits, vegetables or crops, we just can't stand seeing the land lying idle."

Nowadays, many young people in the city love to grow potted fruits and vegetables on their balconies, and I can't resist the trend either.

"When I retire, let's try to rent a plot of land in the suburbs, turn it into a botanical garden, and grow some fruits and vegetables in our spare time. We won't expect to make any money from selling them or generate any economic benefits; we'll just be self-sufficient. It would definitely be very interesting."

Chen Hong laughed at him: "You're really naive. You've never experienced the hardships of farming. Isn't our backyard enough for you to grow crops?"

Want to lease a plot of land? If you have too little land, you won't have the time to travel back and forth. If you have too much land, the daily weeding, watering, and management will be exhausting enough.

"Haven't you seen how farmers work so hard cultivating four or five acres of land that their backs are so sore they can barely straighten up? Do you think it's easy?"

Zhou Yi: "Is it really that tiring? It can't possibly be as tiring as our training, can it?"

Chen Hong: "If that's what you're saying, then I won't argue. But you're in your prime right now, so you don't see this little bit of exercise as anything special."

But do you believe that after retirement, when you're all old and frail, taking care of even one acre of land will exhaust you?

Zhou Yi thought for a moment and nodded in agreement, “That’s not very realistic! Then we’ll go back to Yujia Village.”

There are mountains and sea there, land and boats; you can farm if you want, fish if you want—that's the life of a god!

"If you want to live the life of an immortal, then you have to take good care of your health. Don't think that fishing is easy."

Without good health, you can't even sit on the shore and fish, let alone go fishing on a boat. You know, even fishing requires a lot of strength.

Zhou Yi grasped Chen Hong's hand: "I know, whatever you do, take care of yourself! I'll remember that!"

Don't worry, I will definitely stay with you until we grow old!

Chen Hong didn't say anything more; saying anything more would only make her more emotional.

The couple had tea in the backyard for a while, then weeded the vegetable garden together. Unable to resist, they picked a large basket of vegetables and watered the whole garden afterward.

He then went back to the front yard to tidy up, changed into a pair of comfortable flat sneakers, and carried the vegetables and gifts back to the Zhou family home.

Zhou Yi's mother was overjoyed to receive Chen Hong's gift. "Oh my, you even gave me a pearl necklace! I kept the pearls you gave me last year and couldn't bear to have them made into jewelry."

"I'm getting old, and there aren't many occasions left for me to wear jewelry. You young people, keep it for yourselves!"

Chen Hong: "As you know, I have plenty of pearls. The pearls I got last time were all brought to Beijing by my sister to be made into jewelry by a friend."

I came in a hurry this time, and I didn't have time to pick it up yesterday. I only got it today.

I'll give one to you and one to your sister-in-law. You can wear them for fun! They're not worth much, and you can wear them when you go out.

The bead is the perfect size, not too big or too small, it goes well with any outfit, and it won't be too flashy for everyday wear.

Sister-in-law Zhou couldn't wait and had Chen Hong help her put it on. "Tsk tsk, this necklace is great. I can wear it to work too!"

I'm worried about this. I usually wear platinum jewelry, but it's too thin and doesn't look good on someone my age.

Gold seems too ostentatious, like something a nouveau riche would wear. Pearls are so much better! Pearls are perfect; you can wear them to work, or to any event. This is wonderful!

Chen Hong smiled and said, "I'm glad you like them. Wear them for now. Later, when I find pearls of other colors, I'll make them into jewelry and give them to you to wear in rotation."

Sister-in-law Zhou laughed heartily upon hearing this: "Oh my, these natural deep-sea pearls are so precious! How many seashells would it take to collect them to make such a uniform string of pearls?"

You've already given away two strings of them; don't risk going into the sea to salvage them now.

Our mom and I aren't greedy; having one string of them is already enough to make people envious, so please don't send us any more!

Looking back, Zhou Rui was holding a gold lock in his hand and biting it with his teeth. Zhou's sister-in-law rushed over and snatched the gold lock from the child's hand.

"Oh dear! You silly child, are you? Why are you even biting it?"

The whole room burst into laughter: "This kid!"

Zhou Rui looked bewildered: "Mom, that was a gift from my second aunt!"

"I know it's a gift for you. I'll put it away for you. Mom doesn't want it."

"No, will I get a share when it reaches you? Don't treat it like my New Year's money over the years, which just disappears as I save it up!"

Sister-in-law Zhou was a little annoyed. "You child, once you have money, all you do is play games and buy all sorts of useless things."

What's wrong with me saving it for you? It's all being spent on you anyway. Do you think you don't spend money on food, clothes, or school?

In a few years, I'll have to buy you a car, a house, and help you get married. All of that costs money.

Zhou Rui: "Okay, okay, Mom, look, you're here again! You can keep it, you can keep it, okay?" The child's expression was quite helpless!

Everyone laughed; this kind of scene happens several times a year between the mother and daughter.