After finishing their meal, Xu Xiu helped tidy up a bit before getting up to leave.
Xiao Ruoyan thought she had hidden it well, but everyone present except herself could see her reluctant expression.
Xu Xiu smiled and said, "I'll pick you up the day before school starts."
"No...no need..."
The tone of the refusal was so pale and powerless.
"Alright, it's settled then. Auntie and Grandpa, I'll be going now."
Just as he turned to leave, Xiao Liang called out to his granddaughter, "Ruoyan, why don't you see her off?"
"Okay...okay."
She had wanted to give it to him but was too embarrassed to ask. Now that her grandfather had spoken, she had no choice but to listen to her elders.
The two walked silently along the village path, neither of them speaking a word.
It felt like I had a thousand words to say, but I didn't know how to begin.
Before she knew it, she had arrived at the village entrance. For the first time, Xiao Ruoyan wondered why her home was so close to the village entrance.
I was thinking that I would wait for someone from the village to go out, and since the time was uncertain, I could spend more time with him. But I didn't expect that someone would go to the county as soon as I arrived at the village entrance.
Xu Xiu got into the car immediately. After the car drove away, Xiao Ruoyan suddenly received a text message on her phone: "Xiao, I still have a lot of food in my bag. Remember to put it in the refrigerator."
"You're not allowed to lose weight while you're at home. I remember your current weight is 90.5 pounds. If you're lighter when school starts, well, you know what that means."
It was only after Xu Xiu reminded her that Xiao Ruoyan remembered—not that she remembered he hadn't taken his bag, but that Xu Xiu seemed to be carrying a hiking backpack today. Why would he need a hiking backpack just to go home...?
So that's what it was...
At this moment, Zhang Aixiang, carrying Xu Xiu's bag, ran breathlessly to the village entrance, only to find that she was still a step too late. She watched her daughter staring blankly at the path leading out of the mountains at the village entrance.
She slowly walked to her daughter's side, and it took Xiao Ruoyan a while to realize that her mother had come over at some point.
Looking at the backpack on my mom's back... it's really big, especially compared to my mom's size.
Xiao Ruoyan opened her backpack and found a lot of meat and vegetables inside. The meat was in a foam bag, and there seemed to be ice packs inside as well.
It turned out that the vegetables Xu Xiu had taken out earlier were only the tip of the iceberg in his backpack. Just as she was about to stop her daughter from rummaging through Xu Xiu's backpack, Xiao Ruoyan handed her the information on her phone.
After reading the message, Zhang Aixiang also looked at the path leading out of the mountain and fell silent.
As the tricycle swayed along, Xu Xiu leaned against it, watching the scenery and unknowingly fell asleep. When he woke up, they had already arrived in the county.
Just as I was about to pay the fare, the middle-aged man on the bicycle immediately refused and then whispered, "Are you the son-in-law of the Xiao family?"
"Um...not yet."
Xu Xiu asked with a puzzled look.
"Alas, the Xiao family is a widow and her son, and Old Xiao himself is not in good health."
Hearing this, Xu Xiu was also very curious. He hadn't even found out the details of Xiao Ruoyan's father in his previous life before he was reborn.
Xu Xiu has never smoked since his rebirth and has no nicotine addiction, but he always carries cigarettes in his pocket whenever he goes out.
He took out a cigarette from his pocket and offered one to the middle-aged man in front of him. "Brother, what's your surname?"
The man took the cigarette from Xu Xiu and said with a smile, "My surname is Zhang, and my name is Zhang Gui."
"Brother Zhang, where is Xiao Ruoyan's father?"
Xu Xiu lit a cigarette for Zhang Gui and then asked him.
"Alas, Xiao Ruoyan died not long after she was born, on the way out of the village. Over the years, many people have died on this road; it's just too difficult to travel."
“The county originally wanted to repair the road, but the leaders have changed one after another, and no one has repaired the road. The village also thought about repairing the more than 20-kilometer road at its own expense, but even if it is widened into a dirt road, the village cannot afford it.”
“Everyone says that to get rich, you must first build roads, but the village has no special industries or tourist attractions, and the crops we grow are very ordinary, so the county has no incentive to help us build roads.”
"So many young people who have left the village will never come back. Now only the elderly, women and children are left in the village. When we get old, there will be no one left in the village to work."
"We can only leave it to fate."
Zhang Gui took a deep drag on his cigarette. "Over the years, I've been to the county many times for this road repair project."
Seeing the middle-aged man's melancholy expression, Xu Xiu simply shoved the whole pack of cigarettes into his hand and said as he turned to leave, "Brother Zhang, things are up to us. Who knows what the future holds?"
After saying that, he left directly. Zhang Gui watched the boy's back and felt a sense of agreement for some reason.
Back in the county, I drove straight to visit my grandparents and maternal grandparents. I didn't stay for a meal and went straight back to Jincheng. When I got home, I found my parents were still busy at the factory.
I ate something quick at the service area that evening, and when I realized my parents weren't home, I went straight to the factory.
In previous years, factories would be closed for the National Day holiday for a few days, although not for seven days, but at least two or three days.
This year, they simply paid overtime without giving holidays. When Xu Xiu drove his car to the factory gate, the gatekeeper opened the gate as soon as he saw it was a factory car.
Xu Xiu came to the factory to take a look and returned the car. The car was a tool vehicle used by the factory and was often needed to transport auxiliary materials.
Upon entering the factory area, I found the workshops brightly lit, and several floors of the office building also had lights on.
Xu Xiu took the elevator directly to Xu Tinglong's office, while Fang Xueting's office was in the workshop; one was in charge of sales and the other was in charge of production.
My parents used to argue a lot about production. One of them would say why the production was so slow, and the other would say not to accept just any order.
However, since they started producing and selling their own products under their own brand, the two have rarely argued.
Xu Tinglong was in his office looking at the latest sales data. The sales department had compiled all the growth data for various styles and sizes.
Just as I was engrossed in watching, I heard someone knocking on the door.
"Please come in."
Xu Ting didn't even look up, only subconsciously asking, "What is it?"
"Dad, I just missed you."
Upon hearing Xu Xiu's words, Xu Tinglong felt a chill run down his spine.
Looking up at her son, she laughed and scolded, "What, you think you're all grown up now that you're in college? You don't even give me a heads-up before you come back?"
"Have you had dinner yet? Do you want me to order takeout for you?"
Xu Tinglong spoke casually, then continued looking down at the data.
Seeing how busy Xu Tinglong was, Xu Xiu was too lazy to stay here and planned to go to the workshop to see his mother. Maybe his mother would be more excited to see him.
When they arrived at the workshop, Fang Xueting was so busy in the workshop office that she had no time to pay attention to Xu Xiu.
Xu Xiu glanced at his son as he entered the room, and then nothing more...
Indeed, there is no harm without comparison. Think about the reactions of Xiao Ruoyan's mother and grandfather, and then look at your own parents.
Sigh... There really is a difference between sons and daughters.
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