Chapter 16 Sugar Melon At the very least, Ms. Zhuang cannot suffer a loss in this regard...

After returning home, the family doctor came to check on me, and the results were consistent with what the medical staff at the scenic spot had said: there was nothing seriously wrong with my arm.

Zhuang Fuyao breathed a sigh of relief.

After washing up and lying in bed, the discomfort she had briefly forgotten during the day surged back up. Zhuang Fuyao tossed and turned, rolling from one end of the bed to the other, before finally sitting up dejectedly and opening a ticketing app to buy tickets to Cheng Beibei's hometown.

Cheng Beibei's hometown doesn't have an airport, so she has to take a high-speed train for more than four hours to the provincial capital, and then take a slow, old-fashioned train for several more hours to get there. If she's leaving early tomorrow morning, she'll have to inform Liang Huaixu.

She arrived at Liang Huaixu's door and asked, "Are you asleep?"

She didn't knock, thinking that if he was asleep, she would talk to him the next morning.

Just a second before she turned around, Liang Huaixu opened the door. "What's wrong?"

He was wearing gray striped pajamas, so he must be resting now. His hair was a little messy, and it had been a long time since I'd seen him so relaxed and at ease.

Zhuang Fuyao paused for a moment, then said, "I'm thinking of taking a long trip to clear my head tomorrow."

Liang Huaixu remained silent for two seconds.

It seems that this kind of relaxation today is not enough to relieve the pent-up emotions in her heart.

He asked, "Do you need me to come with you?"

"No need, I just wanted to let you know." Zhuang Fuyao thought it was getting late, "Then I won't bother you any longer, get some rest."

She went back to her room to pack her things, and by the time she finished, it was already a few minutes past midnight. As Zhuang Fuyao was thinking about what she might have forgotten, she suddenly realized that she hadn't paid Liang Huaixu any rent yet, even though she had moved in so long ago.

She had boasted that she would pay double the rent.

She checked the rent in the area online, multiplied that amount by two, and sent it over.

—Then I won't bother you anymore.

Liang Huaixu was still somewhat resentful of her polite remark, but now that he had received her transfer, the scrutiny in his eyes intensified.

After a long pause, I replied to her: 【What is this?】

Zhuang Fuyao: [Rent, it's double what we agreed on before.]

Liang Huaixu returned the money: "No need, I didn't intend to take your money."

Zhuang Fuyao sent another message, laced with sarcasm: "Keep it. Didn't you say you wanted to avoid suspicion? What's the deal with living at your ex-husband's house without paying?"

After saying that, he also sent a few emojis: [[smiling][smiling][smiling]]

She felt that although she hadn't learned anything else after transmigrating sixteen years into the future, she had mastered the essence of the sarcastic and unsavory style she found online.

Unfortunately, Liang Huaixu doesn't use the internet much and doesn't understand these internet slang terms. He thought she was being friendly and was completely immune to the hurt.

Since she said that, he couldn't refuse anymore: "Okay, then I'll accept it. [smile]"

In the next room, Zhuang Fuyao angrily threw her phone down.

Damn, what's with this repressed old man being so sarcastic?!

-

The next day, while Zhuang Fuyao was rushing to catch her train, Liang Chaoluo also returned to work at the company.

No one here knows he is the heir of Changting; they just think he's a recent college graduate who joined the company this year. Plus, he's good-looking, so his colleagues are all quite friendly towards him.

"Where did Xiao Liang go this weekend?"

The other person chuckled, "He went to see his girlfriend, didn't he?"

Liang Chaoluo's WeChat Moments are always open, and he doesn't block his colleagues, so everyone knows he has a girlfriend.

Liang Chaoluo sat down at his workstation and turned on his computer. "No, I'm just lying at home. I haven't gone anywhere."

At that moment, a message popped up in the bottom right corner: "[The long arm of the law will eventually catch up with you. Human trafficker Aunt X has finally been apprehended. Our city's hero for her courageous act...]"

The person who intervened to help others was blurred out, but judging from his clothes and build, Liang Chaoluo looks a bit like his father.

He opened the video app, searched for keywords, and found a roadside view that wasn't blurred out.

"Holy shit."

That's true.

And why does the person next to him look a bit like his mother?!

He looked for other angles, and when he saw the whole face, he gasped in disbelief.

The location is at the foot of Dongpi Mountain.

Did Lao Liang go hiking with Ms. Zhuang?

No, what's going on... As far as he knows, the two have rarely been in contact since their divorce. Could there be something he doesn't know?

Are these two going to remarry?

So, who was the woman who went shopping with Lao Liang before?

At that moment, the questions in his mind could fill a book of 100,000 Whys. Finally, he came to a bold guess—Old Liang might be two-timing, unable to let go of his ex-wife, and also dating a young and beautiful girl!

Over the years, he'd heard some inside stories about the industry. Many of the seemingly respectable uncles and aunties actually had very wild lives behind the scenes.

Everyone knows how to put on an act.

I never imagined that his revered father had such an unknown side... I wonder if Ms. Zhuang knew about it.

Liang Chaoluo's expression was complicated. If he hadn't seen the news that the two had gone hiking, he would never have interfered with Lao Liang's private life.

Now it looks different.

If Lao Liang really did such a thing, he would definitely defend Ms. Zhuang to the end.

At the very least, Ms. Zhuang cannot be at a disadvantage in this regard.

With that in mind, he immediately arranged a gathering of handsome men, planning to take Ms. Zhuang there for a good time in a few days.

-

When Zhuang Fuyao arrived in Zou City, it was already evening. She found a hotel and stayed there for the night before setting off the next day.

Zou City is a small county town with a less developed economy, but it has beautiful scenery and simple, honest people. Near the destination, there is a large field of beautiful autumn chrysanthemums. The midday sun is shining brightly, and there are not many people in the chrysanthemum field except for a young man. Zhuang Fuyao went over to ask, "Hello, do you know where Cheng Beibei lives?"

The young man removed his sunscreen mask, revealing rough, dark skin, but handsome features. His pupils were dark, and he looked at Zhuang Fuyao warily. "Who are you?"

Zhuang Fuyao smiled amicably, "I'm Cheng Beibei's friend."

How can you prove it?

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Fuyao immediately sensed that the other person knew, so she quickly opened her social media profile, flipped to an album titled "Puffs and Pork Floss Cakes," and showed it to the young man, saying, "Look."

The young man was taken aback, and the way he looked at Zhuang Fuyao was different from before. "Are you Sister Fuyao?"

Zhuang Fuyao was a little confused, then suddenly remembered something and exclaimed in surprise, "You wouldn't happen to be Cheng Baobao, would you!"

Cheng Fan scratched his head sheepishly. "Sister Fuyao, I've changed my name to Cheng Fan now."

Zhuang Fuyao suddenly remembered high school, when Cheng Beibei would call home from school, calling everyone "baby." At first, they didn't know what was going on, and some even teased, "Cheng Beibei, which baby are you talking about?"

Cheng Fan smiled shyly: "But everyone is still used to calling me baby. Sister Fuyao, you can call me whatever you want."

He led Zhuang Fuyao home.

When Cheng's mother learned that she had arrived, she was overjoyed and immediately grabbed a chicken from the coop, preparing to kill it for Zhuang Fuyao to eat.

"No need, Auntie!" Zhuang Fuyao saw the living conditions in the house and knew that even a chicken was precious to the Cheng family, so she quickly stopped them.

Upon hearing this, Cheng's mother pretended to be angry and her face fell. "Fufu is complaining about Auntie's simple meals."

"No, how could that be!" Zhuang Fuyao shook her head vigorously, but she didn't dare to stop her.

Only then did Cheng's mother smile again.

During their meal, they chatted about their recent situations, and Zhuang Fuyao learned that not long after Cheng Beibei passed away, her father also left, leaving only Cheng Fan and Cheng's mother to depend on each other. Cheng's mother was also in poor health. To take care of his mother, Cheng Fan had worked away from home for a few years before returning, and their daily expenses were covered by the five acres of chrysanthemum fields in front of their house and selling sugar melons.

Zhuang Fuyao knew that Cheng Beibei was staying at her uncle's house in Jiang City, but she didn't know that her family situation was so bad.

Through their conversation, she also learned that she had been helping the Cheng family all these years.

The conversation quickly turned to Cheng Beibei, and Cheng's mother couldn't contain her emotions, "Beibei is such a pitiful child, so young—"

Cheng Fan handed over a piece of paper, "Mom, Sister Fuyao rarely comes here, let's chat about something happy."

Cheng's mother wiped away her tears and exhaled, "Yes, let's not talk about these things."

She tapped Cheng Fan on the head. "And you too! Didn't your sister Fuyao come to our house five years ago? You didn't even recognize her!"

Cheng Fan said in a low voice, feeling wronged, "It's been five years, how could I remember so much? Sister Fuyao didn't recognize me either."

Cheng's mother flicked her forehead again, saying, "You dare to talk back?"

Zhuang Fuyao laughed from the side.

She sensed that although the Cheng family was poor, the family atmosphere was harmonious, and both Cheng's mother and Cheng Fan were easy to get along with. Although she had said she wanted to chat about something pleasant, she had come here specifically to learn about Cheng Beibei's life.

So she carefully said, "Aunt Cheng, I had some trouble these past few years and lost my memories of the past sixteen years, so I'm only just now learning about Beibei's situation..."

"How could this happen?" Mrs. Cheng said with a pained expression. "Besides amnesia, are you experiencing any other discomfort?"

Zhuang Fuyao smiled and shook her head, "The only thing is amnesia."

"That's good, that's good." When Cheng's mother heard about the amnesia, she was overwhelmed with emotion, so Cheng Fan quickly took some medicine from the house and fed it to her.

After taking her medicine, Cheng's mother went to rest. Cheng Fan told her about Cheng Beibei's situation.

After learning about her condition, Zhuang Fuyao frowned, "Your mother's health..."

Cheng Fan sighed: "She's been getting medicine from the hospital. The doctor said my mother needs to rest and recuperate, but we have five acres of chrysanthemum fields at home, so she can't put her mind at ease. She keeps working despite the doctor's orders and won't listen to any advice."

Zhuang Fuyao also felt that this was not a solution.

……

After waking up, Cheng's mother came out and said, "Fufu, don't leave. Why don't you stay here for a few days? Although we're not as big as the big cities, the air is fresh and the summers aren't too hot. Many city people rent houses here for vacations."

Given the current state of the Cheng family, Zhuang Fuyao was worried about leaving, so she smiled and agreed. That night, she stayed in Cheng Beibei's old room, where many photos were pasted on the yellowed walls, including many pictures of her and Cheng Beibei together.

Zhuang Fuyao felt a lump in her throat and, hearing the noise outside the door, quickly sniffed.

Cheng's mother brought over a blanket and covered her with it. "The temperature difference between day and night is quite large here. After thinking about it, we should add more blankets."

Before leaving, I asked her again, "Fufu, what are we having for breakfast tomorrow?"

"Anything is fine with me, Aunt Cheng."

"How about egg noodles?"

Zhuang Fuyao smiled and nodded, "Okay."

She usually has trouble sleeping in unfamiliar beds, but she slept exceptionally well that night. When she opened the window in the morning, there was a large field of chrysanthemums. She took a deep breath and could smell the faint fragrance of the flowers, which gave her a refreshing feeling.

After breakfast, Cheng Fan went to the fields, while his mother took the candied melons she had made to the market to sell.

Zhuang Fuyao went along. While setting up the stall, Cheng's mother picked up a candied melon, smashed it, put it in a plastic bag, and handed it to her, saying, "Here, have a taste."

Zhuang Fuyao was amazed when she first tasted the candied melon. "So delicious!"

With the aroma of maltose, it has a particularly crispy texture.

Cheng's mother smiled and said, "This is a family heirloom of the Cheng family."

She talked to Zhuang Fuyao about many things from the past. "The house we live in now was built decades ago. Back then, having a house like this was definitely considered top-notch in the surrounding area... But later, as the variety of food increased, both domestic and foreign, compared to those, sugar melon became insignificant."

As someone who traveled from sixteen years ago, Zhuang Fuyao has a deep understanding of this and has noticed that there are indeed far fewer artisans nowadays.

She searched for "sugar melon" online and exclaimed in surprise, "Sugar melon is actually an intangible cultural heritage food!"

“Intangible cultural heritage?” Cheng’s mother didn’t know anything about these things. “But a few years ago, someone did come to our door and said they wanted to spend 100,000 yuan to buy our secret recipe for making sugar melon. I didn’t believe it and thought it was a scam, so the matter was dropped.”

Zhuang Fuyao nodded, "Aunt Cheng, it might have been different a few years ago, but if someone is still buying from you now, they're definitely lying."

Nowadays, a simple online search will yield videos of how to make sugar melons, so who would be willing to spend an extra 100,000 yuan?

Cheng's mother: "My baby also told me that there are some online. But every family has its own way of making them. Although they are all candied melons, they taste different. Our Cheng family's candied melons are really different from other families'."

Zhuang Fuyao wasn't really aware of this, but it wasn't long before she truly felt the popularity of Cheng's candy melons.

In less than half a day, all the sacks of candied melons were sold out.

Zhuang Fuyao was genuinely happy for Cheng's mother, "Today was very fruitful."

Cheng's mother smiled and said, "Yes, it's market day today. We have market three times a month here, and it's only this lively on market days."

Hearing this, Zhuang Fuyao understood the Cheng family's predicament. Although the candied melon was delicious, in this small place, the customer flow was limited, and it was mostly repeat customers who came and went, resulting in very meager profits.

……

On the second day of their stay, Cheng Fan took her to Cheng Beibei's grave.

Zhuang Fuyao spoke at Cheng Beibei's tombstone and cried a lot.

When they returned, Cheng Fan gave her a ride on his electric scooter.

The people here are very friendly, and the neighbors are very welcoming. They greet her when they see her. They know she is an artist and respectfully call her "Teacher Zhuang".

"Baby, let's take Teacher Zhuang to see Beibei!"

“Yes, Uncle Li.” Cheng Fan smiled.

When we got back, Cheng's mom had already prepared lunch, a very lavish meal with meat, eggs, and vegetables. After lunch, we took a short nap before getting back to our own tasks. This place is far from the hustle and bustle, without the 996 work culture; it's truly a place where people work from sunrise to sunset.

The day before she was to return, Zhuang Fuyao said something.

Cheng Fan is already twenty-five years old this year. Because his family is poor, he has no opportunity to date. The income from the chrysanthemum field and the sugar melon is also limited, in addition to his mother's health...

So she thought that Cheng's mother and Cheng Baobao should return to Jiang City, and coincidentally, the Guofeng Restaurant was also in the process of being set up and was short of staff. Although Cheng Fan had not received much formal education, he was smart and had the skill of making candied fruit.

She could sign a contract with the Cheng family to include the candied melon in the restaurant's menu and give the Cheng family a certain percentage of the candied melon's sales revenue.

This would solve the Cheng family's financial problems, and she could also take good care of Cheng Beibei's family.

Upon hearing this, Cheng's mother quickly shook her head, "That won't do."

Because the treatment they received was too good. She didn't think her own Sugar Melon was worth that much, and was more inclined to believe that Fufu wanted to subsidize them.

But they all have hands and feet, how could they take such a big advantage of others?

Cheng Fan shared the same thought.

When Zhuang Fuyao couldn't persuade her, she decided to take it one step at a time and bring the baby to Jiang City first. She clung to Aunt Cheng's arm and said coquettishly, "Aunt Cheng, why don't you and the baby come to Jiang City with me for a while? You can't bear to refuse me, can you?"

-

Jiang City

There was no news from Zhuang Fuyao for several days.

A sense of inexplicable unease rose in Liang Huaixu's heart, so he invited He Zongqin out for drinks.

He Zongqin rushed over with great enthusiasm, and said in surprise, "It's rare to see this. The last time we went out for drinks was several years ago."

He braced himself, eager to hear what terrible thing had happened. "Tell me, what's going on?"

Liang Huaixu gave him a deep look, said nothing, and just kept drinking.