She followed him into the room and saw Old Tang sitting on the bed, wearing reading glasses, looking much better.
Seeing her come in, Old Tang said kindly and apologetically, "Xiao Yuan has brought things again. We are two old people, how long can we live? Don't spend so much money."
Ning Yuan frowned: "Grandpa Tang, you can't say that..."
"That's right, old man, if you're saying this because you don't want me to be alive, then I might as well just die now!" Grandma Xia shouted at Old Tang while boiling water.
Old Tang paused, then gave a wry smile: "You're at it again. I meant I'll be a burden to you all..."
"Bullshit! You're telling me to die! I've seen through you! You heartless, ungrateful old man!" Granny Xia continued to glare at him.
Ning Yuan sat on the edge of the bed, gently tugged at Tang Lao's sleeve, and whispered, "Shh, just apologize to your wife and accept the punishment."
Old Tang pushed up his glasses and obediently said, "Old woman, I was wrong, it's all my fault."
Grandma Xia grumbled and waved her ladle: "That's more like it, otherwise I'd beat you up!"
Ning Yuan and Old Tang exchanged a smile, unable to suppress their laughter.
Grandma Xia was also trying to alleviate Old Tang's guilt towards her in her own way.
Ning Yuan saw that Grandma Xia was about to pour boiling water over the eggs and immediately stopped her: "Wait, Grandma, you should boil the eggs first and then add the brown sugar. Otherwise, if you pour it over them like this, the eggs won't be cooked properly and you'll easily get a salmonella infection, which is very dangerous."
Grandma Xia frowned unhappily: "What 'sand-sand mushroom'? I used to go for it too, and I never saw any danger. You brat, stop scaring people."
Old Tang was taken aback, pushed up his glasses and looked at Ning Yuan: "Xiao Yuan, how do you know about Salmonella? Traditional Chinese medicine doesn't have that term. Have you studied medicine?"
Ning Yuan shook her head: "No, it's just that my family lives next to the health center. One of my aunts works there as a doctor and often takes me there to play. I grew up in the health center."
She had no choice but to repeat the same excuse again.
Old Tang looked her up and down: "You do know quite a bit about hygiene."
Ning Yuan smiled and said, "I know a little bit, which is why I said that Grandma Xia could simply boil eggs in brown sugar water or stir-fry eggs with chives, it would be about the same."
These days everyone is poor, and brown sugar is considered a blood-nourishing "supplement".
"Hey, they're different. There's a huge difference between stir-fried chives with eggs and boiled eggs with brown sugar." Grandma Xia suddenly curled her lip in disdain.
Ning Yuan said with a hint of helplessness, "What difference could there be?"
This old lady is stubborn and difficult to persuade.
Unexpectedly, Granny Xia suddenly turned her head and glanced sideways at the tall figure who had walked in at some unknown time—
"Look, here's the difference: stir-fried eggs with chives are aphrodisiacs, helping you and your husband achieve perfect harmony in your nightlife."
Ning Yuan turned her head and met Rong Zhaonan's long, cold eyes, and immediately began to cough: "Cough cough cough cough... cough cough cough..."
Rong Zhaonan, of course, also heard what the old lady said. Seeing Ning Yuan coughing until her face was red, he pushed up his glasses and found it somewhat amusing.
Ning Yuan didn't dare look at him anymore, and just lowered her head and patted her chest.
This old lady from the countryside really dares to say anything; she's so outspoken!
Seeing this, Old Tang could only shake his head helplessly and instructed Granny Xia, "Weren't you going to boil eggs for me? Why aren't you going?"
"I'm your servant, you old fool!" Granny Xia rolled her eyes and went to boil eggs while grumbling.
Ning Yuan looked at Rong Zhaonan somewhat awkwardly: "Why are you here too? Are you here to help Grandma Xia with some chores?"
Rong Zhaonan suddenly reached out and handed her an old-fashioned flashlight: "You forgot to bring a flashlight when you came. The road is difficult to travel on when you go back tonight."
Ning Yuan paused for a moment, then reached out and took the flashlight. For some reason, a subtle sweetness welled up in her heart.
From a young age, few people have worried about me so openly.
Her nominal parents were so indifferent to her that she always felt she wasn't good enough, which is why her parents didn't like her, fostering her inferiority complex and repressed personality from a young age.
"Thank you." She smiled gratefully, her eyes crinkling.
Rong Zhaonan looked at his large, dark eyes, which were like two crescent moons, and lowered his eyes, saying, "Mm."
"You two sleep in the same bed, share the same blanket, and have done everything together, why are you still being so polite, like neighbors?" Grandma Xia suddenly blurted out.
Ning Yuan: "...cough cough cough cough."
Rong Zhaonan: "..."
The old lady's words revealed the truth.
Old Tang interrupted Granny Xia impatiently: "Alright, old woman, the young girl is shy, can you say less?"
As he spoke, he looked at Ning Yuan and apologized somewhat awkwardly: "Xiao Yuan, I'm really sorry, my husband is just so outspoken."
Ning Yuan gave a dry laugh: "It's nothing, it's nothing."
Rong Zhaonan stood up and glanced at the roof beam: "I see that the straw on the roof is rotten. I'll replace it with a new batch."
Ning Yuan quickly changed the subject: "Speaking of which, this house is both dilapidated and damp. Living here would make anyone sick, even if they weren't. How about I ask the Party Secretary if we can move to a slightly better empty house?"
She really didn't want to bring up the idea that chives were aphrodisiacs anymore.
Rong Zhaonan was inspecting the straw on the roof when he glanced at her indifferently: "What, you've recently gotten on the good side of the village secretary, and now you're even starting to arrange housing for him?"
Ning Yuan paused, then frowned her delicate brows: "I just noticed there's a small earth god temple in the nearby woods, but it's empty. Wouldn't it be better to live there than here?"
During the earlier Cultural Revolution, the statues and altars in the local earth god temple were smashed as part of the "Four Olds." Now it's just an empty single room, which the villagers use to pile up wheat straw.
Rong Zhaonan narrowed his eyes and sneered: "Naive to the point of being stupid. You don't even know why Old Tang and Granny Xia are staying here, yet you're already making arrangements for others."
Ning Yuan's face turned cold: "Why are you talking so sarcastically!"
Old Tang quickly chimed in, trying to smooth things over: "Xiaoyuan, we have a bad background. We're here for reform. If we live in an empty temple, it will have a very bad influence."
Ning Yuan was taken aback, and hesitantly asked Old Tang, "I really don't know your identities, sir and Grandma Xia. May I ask who you are? Please forgive me if I have offended you."
She hadn't inquired about it before.
Ning Yuan's politeness surprised Old Tang for a moment before he shook his head: "It's nothing. You can ask anyone in the village about our identities."
He said, "I used to be a teacher, a stinking intellectual. I was a professor at Fudan University in my early years. I also know some traditional Chinese medicine and ran a clinic."
Ning Yuan was stunned, a million thoughts racing through her mind—a professor from Fudan University!
People she could never have met in her past life! Every professor in this era has real talent and learning!
"Then Grandma Xia..." Ning Yuan asked cautiously. Could Grandma Xia really be a socialite?
Old Tang smiled and said, "She's from this village, she's just a landlady."
Ning Yuan nodded: "No wonder..."
It turns out that they really were all from bad backgrounds; Grandma Xia was a local landlady.
But how could a landlady from a rural village in southeastern China who had never been to school... end up with a professor from Fudan University in Shanghai, such a brilliant intellectual?
Was it an arranged marriage, like the one between Lu Xun and his illiterate first wife, Zhu An?
He seemed to have noticed Ning Yuan's question.
Old Tang continued, "The land in this village and the neighboring villages all belong to her family. After her father made his fortune in the provincial capital by doing banking business, he also brought her to the provincial capital."
Recalling the past, Old Tang smiled gently: "Later, she went to study in England. At the horse race, I saw her at a glance, and we started writing to each other and getting to know each other."
Ning Yuan: "..."
It turns out that the least educated and least read person in the entire room was himself, the reborn guy.
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