Chapter 58 I only like the wildflowers on the mountain...

After that day, Xu Jialan disappeared for a few more days.

The next time I saw him was at the Chen family home.

When Chen Yaoan returned home, he was squatting in her yard pulling weeds from her flower bed.

She glanced at him. "What are you doing at my house again?"

Xu Jialan glanced at her but didn't say anything.

She went straight into the house.

Chen Yaoan asked Yan Shumei, "Grandma, didn't we tell him not to come? Why did you let him in again?"

Yan Shumei said irritably, "He insisted on coming in. How could I, with my old arms and legs, stop him?"

Chen Yao'an remained silent.

"By the way, he'll be moving in next door to us from now on."

Chen Yao'an, who was drinking water, choked and coughed a few times before stopping. "Move next door to us?"

"Yes, the place next door wasn't always empty; Old Chen probably rented it to him."

Old Chen and his family had been their neighbors for many years. His son had settled in Linan City, and his daughter lived in another city. Some time ago, the elderly couple also moved to Linan with their son, and their house had been empty ever since.

No wonder she saw people going in and out of the next door these past few days, carrying a lot of things in. She guessed that someone was moving in, but she never guessed that the person was Xu Jialan.

Chen Yao'an went about her own business and didn't bother with Xu Jialan, who was still in the yard.

After pulling out the weeds from the flower bed and throwing them all out, Xu Jialan went to the tap in the yard to wash the mud off her hands and arms.

Chen Yaoan was preparing dinner in the kitchen when he stood at the kitchen door and asked her, "I just moved here today and haven't bought anything to cook. Can I have a meal at your place?"

She didn't even turn her head; to hesitate for even a second in refusing would be disrespectful to herself.

"If you want to eat, go to your own home."

Xu Jialan wasn't annoyed; she still had a smile on her face. "I helped you pull the weeds, after all. Can't you be a little lenient and treat me to a meal?"

"cannot."

Xu Jialan maintained the same expression as before, "Then I'll go ask Grandma and Aunt Zhou for their opinions."

"Asking them won't help."

He, however, argued logically, "No matter what, there are three people in this family. You can't just say it's not okay; you have to ask the other two for their opinions."

Zhou Yao had been playing in the yard. Xu Jialan usually called her Aunt Zhou. When she heard him mention her, she ran over.

"You called me?" She looked at Xu Jialan.

"Aunt Zhou, can I have dinner at your house tonight?"

"Of course I can. You'll have to play with me after dinner."

Xu Jialan looked at Chen Yaoan with a smug expression.

Chen Yao'an didn't know when Xu Jialan had bribed Zhou Yao to make Zhou Yao enjoy playing with him so much, but she just couldn't stand his smug look.

“And there’s my grandma too. If she doesn’t agree, you can forget about staying here.”

Zhou Yao looked excited. "I'll go call Grandma."

After saying that, he ran away.

A moment later, Yan Shumei came over, pulling on her crutch. Zhou Yao was still holding her back, saying, "What are you doing? Pulling and tugging at me like that."

Xu Jialan complained first, "Grandma, Chen Yao'an won't let me eat here. Do you also not want me to stay for dinner?"

Yan Shumei didn't think much of it. "Let's eat. It's just a meal. Thank you for helping me pull the weeds earlier."

"It's not hard work, Grandma."

Xu Jialan looked at Chen Yaoan with the air of a victor.

Chen Yao'an was angry, but then felt that arguing with him was childish, so she stopped talking and let him do as he pleased.

At the dinner table, Chen Yaoan deliberately sat far away from Xu Jialan, but he was tall and strong, with long arms and legs, and he put food into her bowl.

"I can reach it myself."

Chen Yao'an picked up the chopsticks he had picked up and threw them back into his bowl, but she was not as tall as him and had to stand up to reach his bowl.

But Xu Jialan seemed determined to go against her, so he picked up another dish with his chopsticks and put it in her bowl.

She painstakingly put it back in his mouth.

Yan Shumei, with her traditional mindset, couldn't stand it and said unhappily, "Why make such a fuss over a simple dish? Can't you just eat properly?"

Xu Jialan finally calmed down.

After dinner, Zhou Yao insisted on playing with Xu Jialan in the yard, while Chen Yaoan went back to her bedroom to work.

The sounds of Zhou Yao and Xu Jialan playing could be heard from time to time in the courtyard.

Chen Yaoan found it amazing that Zhou Yao, who now had the mentality of a child, was particularly fond of clinging to Xu Jialan. This was true before, and it was also true when she returned from Beijing and saw Xu Jialan again.

Her bedroom window was open, facing the yard, and she couldn't help but cast a curious glance at it.

It was just a glance, but Xu Jialan caught her red-handed.

He was squatting with his back to her, but suddenly, as if sensing something, he turned around and looked in her direction.

When he looked over, she was startled for a second, then coldly looked away and casually pulled the curtains in front of her closed.

one

Chen An didn't expect Xu Jialan to be so shameless, as she came again the following evening.

This time, Chen Yao'an opened the door and stopped him outside. "You're not welcome in our home. If you want to eat, cook for yourself. Do you think our home is a restaurant?"

“I didn’t mean that, and I didn’t treat your house like a restaurant. You’ve misunderstood.” His voice was gentle, and he seemed to have a good temper.

"I don't think I've misunderstood anything."

"Just let me in, I'm begging you!" Xu Jialan said in a gentle tone, as if she didn't care about her cold attitude at all.

Zhou Yao, who was originally inside the house, heard Xu Jialan's voice and ran out of the house, overjoyed, to Xu Jialan.

"You're here." She reached out and pulled Xu Jialan's arm. "Come in quickly."

Chen Yao'an stopped her and discussed with her, "Mom, how about we don't let this person in?"

"Why?" Zhou Yao asked, displeased. "I want to play with him."

"Then I'll play with you."

Zhou Yao disagreed, "No, I want to play with him!"

She hurriedly grabbed Xu Jialan's hand and pulled him inside, saying, "We don't care about her."

Chen Yaoan pressed her forehead, feeling a bit of a headache. No matter what, she couldn't go against Zhou Yao's wishes.

She had no choice but to turn around and go to the kitchen to cook. He could come and go as he pleased; she would just ignore him. It was just that his presence was a bit of an eyesore. In short, she would not change her attitude.

Just as she was thinking this, a loud "crack" sounded behind her.

Still shaken, she looked behind her and saw the broken tiles lying on the ground.

Just as she was lost in thought, she heard a sound above her head again. She looked up and saw that a section of the roof had fallen off, revealing a patch of sky.

She noticed that the missing tile was surrounded by several other tiles that were also about to fall.

The moment the thought crossed her mind, the tiles lost their support and fell to the ground.

Chen Yao'an couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Is the house going to collapse?

She hurriedly ran outside and bumped into Xu Jialan, who was rushing over. Xu Jialan asked her what happened.

Ignoring her awkwardness, she said with concern, "I feel like the kitchen is going to collapse."

Upon hearing this, Xu Jialan quickly pulled her away a little further away.

Hearing the commotion, Yan Shumei hurried over, almost losing her footing a few times. "What happened?"

"The roof tiles in the kitchen fell off, and I don't know how."

"ah?"

Yan Shumei looked at the roof and saw that there was indeed a hole in it. She was worried and said, "Oh dear, this is troublesome."

Chen Yao'an knew what she meant. This house was built by Chen Yuandong himself when he was alive. If Chen Yuandong were still alive, there would be no need to worry at all. Chen Yuandong could have repaired it himself.

Now, there isn't even a man in their family, let alone the ability to repair their house.

"It's okay, I'll get someone to fix it."

"I'll go in and take a look first," Xu Jialan said.

"Let's not watch it."

Xu Jialan glanced at her, the meaning in her eyes was self-evident.

"If you go in and get hit by something, our family can't afford to pay for it."

"Don't worry, you don't need to pay for it."

After saying that, Xu Kalan went into the kitchen.

Not long after, Xu Jialan came out and said, "It's best not to use the kitchen. The roof beams are unstable, and the roof tiles could fall off at any time."

"What should we do then?" Yan Shumei asked worriedly.

"The roof beams may need to be replaced. The current beams are made of wood, and they may corrode over time."

"This is so troublesome." Although Chen Yao'an didn't like him, she didn't know why she still trusted his professional abilities.

"Don't worry about it, leave this to me."

"Give it to you? Can you handle it? You've never done this kind of work before, have you?" Yan Shumei questioned.

Xu Jialan smiled, ignoring Yan Shumei's distrust, "Grandma, you underestimate me too much. This is what I studied."

"Huh? Studying this? Studying house construction?"

Xu Jialan was taken aback for a moment, then agreed, "You're right."

"No need, I'll find someone to fix it," Chen Yao'an refused.

Xu Jialan didn't refute her, and it's unclear what she was thinking.

The kitchen is unusable, but the food still needs to be cooked.

"Let's use my kitchen instead," Xu Jialan suggested.

With no other options available at the moment, Chen Yaoan had no choice but to compromise, as the family was waiting for dinner, and Zhou Yao couldn't wait any longer.

Xu Jialan and Chen Yaoan carried their things to his house. It seemed that he had tidied it up again, and it was much cleaner and tidier than when Old Man Chen lived there. The kitchen had also been cleaned and reorganized.

After putting her things down, Xu Jialan asked her, "Do you need me to stay and help you?"

"No need, out of sight, out of mind."

Xu Jialan didn't linger and turned away decisively.

She looked back, but he was nowhere to be seen.

—

The weather in Dai County has been quite bad lately, with sunshine and rain coming and going, making it unpredictable.

It happened to be raining when she was leaving get off work.

She pushed her electric scooter into the shop and stood at the door wondering how to get home when Xu Jialan's car stopped in front of her shop.

Xu Jialan got out of the car, holding a black umbrella, and walked up to her. "Take my car back."

"No need," Chen Yao'an refused out of habit.

This time he didn't let her have her way. He reached out and pulled her hand closer to him. "The rain is about to get heavier. Let's go back first."

She pulled her hand back, but he didn't let go. "I already said I didn't need it."

Xu Jialan pulled closer again, "I know you don't like me, just bear with it, it'll only be half an hour to get home."

He then somewhat forcefully pulled her into the car.

Xu Jialan got into the car, but didn't drive off immediately. Instead, she took a bouquet of flowers from the back seat and handed it to her. "These are for you."

Chen Yao'an glanced at it but didn't take it. "I don't like this kind of flower."

Xu Jialan seemed very patient and showed no displeasure. She put the flowers back and said, "What kind of flowers do you like? I'll buy them for you."

"I don't like the flowers in flower shops, I only like the wildflowers on the mountain."

He thought for a moment and then agreed, "Okay."

She glanced at him but didn't take it to heart.