Chapter 21.
It was five in the morning, and the sky was still very dark.
The village was shrouded in mist. Cheng Jiantong struggled to get out of bed at Old Cheng's house and called out loudly to Huang Cuizhi and Cheng Yiguo, asking them to help him to the house where Cheng Ying, the second wife, lived.
At that time, Cheng Ying was still fast asleep when she heard a noise at the door. Having been in training for a long time, she was particularly alert to the outside world even in her sleep. She woke up instantly and heard Cheng Jiantong say outside the door: "Xiao Ying, get up. You should go to the post office to pick up your letters and packages."
Cheng Ying hummed in agreement, then quickly got out of bed without another word. She combed her hair, opened the door, and saw Huang Cuizhi and her husband standing beside Cheng Jiantong with gloomy expressions. She tucked her combed hair behind her ear and said, "Grandpa, Grandma, I'm going to deliver the mail. While I'm gone, please be good to my dad. If I find out you're mistreating him or my mom, you know the consequences."
Huang Cuizhi and Cheng Yiguo both snorted and stared coldly at Cheng Ying without saying a word.
The Cheng family had all heard about Cheng Ying buying a house in town. They originally thought that the money from the second wife's family had been borrowed and taken away under various pretexts, and that they could only control the second wife. They also thought that the marriages of the Cheng sisters, Cheng Ying and Cheng Xue, would be decided by them, and that they would "sell" the two sisters to get a large sum of dowry money.
Who knew that when Cheng Ying came back, everything changed. Not only did the Cheng family compensate the second wife with a large sum of money, but they also got rid of the second son's postman job. Most importantly, Cheng Ying has now taken over the second son's job and bought a big house in town. The second wife's life will only get better and better in the future. No one can decide the marriage between the two sisters.
As for the Cheng family, their lives became notorious in several nearby villages and towns because of Cheng Chunfu's murder of his own uncle, and their situation would only get worse and worse.
Thinking of this, Huang Cuizhi and the other woman felt even more distressed, and looked at Cheng Ying as if they wanted to devour her.
Ignoring their gazes, Cheng Ying noticed Cheng Jiantong's hesitant expression and asked, "Dad, what do you want to say?"
Looking at her beautiful face, Cheng Jiantong hesitated for a moment and said, "Xiao Ying, do you really not regret becoming a postman? This job isn't about getting up early for a day or two, but about getting up early year after year. No matter if it's windy, rainy, snowy, or flooded, you have to get up early to deliver mail without fail."
Cheng Ying said, "Dad, I've thought it through. You don't need to worry. I'm all grown up now, I'm not a three-year-old anymore. I know what I'm doing."
Cheng Jiantong fell silent, gazing at the young woman who was a head shorter than him. The image of her crying in his arms when she was born still flashed through his mind.
Years have passed in the blink of an eye. That rosy-cheeked little girl has grown into a young woman who can handle everything on her own, has her own opinions, and can protect herself without needing his protection as her father. His eyes were a little blurry, and his heart was pounding. He knew that his eldest daughter had truly grown up.
"Go ahead." Cheng Jiantong condensed all his thoughts into one sentence, "Be careful on the road, and remember to rest with Big Yellow."
Da Huang was sleeping at the foot of his bed. When he heard him call out to Huang Cuizhi and her husband, the two pretended to be dead and didn't hear him. They didn't say a word or pay any attention to him. Da Huang couldn't help but bark loudly at them.
The two pretended not to hear, but the dog got impatient and ran to their bedside, tearing at their clothes. Huang Cuizhi and the dog were furious and stopped pretending, giving the dog a good scolding before helping Cheng Jiantong up and into the second room.
When they came to the second room, Da Huang naturally followed, and now he was sitting at Cheng Jiantong's feet, looking just like a bodyguard.
When Cheng Jiantong mentioned it, Da Huang's ears twitched. It looked up at Cheng Jiantong and barked softly at him, as if asking why he was calling it.
Cheng Jiantong stretched out his still-movable right hand, affectionately stroked the dog's head, and pointed at Cheng Ying, saying, "Dahuang, from now on your little master will take over my work. You must take Xiaoying's place and go to the mountains to deliver messages to the people there. You must protect your little master and prevent those jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards from harming her. You must also drive away those ungrateful snakes, insects, and ill-intentioned people, and bring her back safely."
It's unclear whether Dahuang understood him or not, but it sensed that the director was in low spirits and looked somewhat sad. It whimpered softly at Cheng Jiantong, as if asking its master why he was sad.
This was Cheng Ying's first time delivering mail. Because Cheng Jiantong needed to "talk to" Da Huang, Cheng Ying took Da Huang back to the village for the night instead of staying in the house in town.
When Cheng Jiantong arrived, Wan Shuhui also got up on time and went to the shack kitchen in the outer room to cook a big bowl of noodles with soybean paste for Cheng Ying.
After Cheng Ying finished washing up and eating Wan Shuhui's noodles, Cheng Xue also got up. The family stood in the small courtyard separated by the second room, watching Cheng Ying put on her postman's uniform, put on her green mailbag, and clipped a large empty mailbag to the metal clip on the back of her bicycle. Then she got on her bicycle, ready to take Da Huang away.
Wan Shuhui was still worried, her eyes red as she kept urging, "Xiaoying, be careful on the road. If you encounter floods or wild animals, avoid them if you should. Don't be reckless. Pay close attention to the road, and let Dahuang go first. Don't go where it doesn't want to go. Although you've served in the army, you're still a girl. If you encounter men with ill intentions in the mountains, avoid them if you can. If you really can't avoid them, either ask someone your father knows in the village or the village chief for help, or..."
She didn't finish her sentence, but Cheng Ying understood. "Mom, don't worry, I've made all the necessary preparations to take over Dad's job."
This is one of the reasons why she wanted to retire from the military and return to her hometown to take over her father's job as a postman.
Her father's postal route was through villages deep in the mountains. Although most of the villagers were simple and kind, these villages were quite remote, and the villagers had not received much education. Many were ignorant and did not know the rules and laws.
In addition, the village is remote, and many elderly people in the village prefer sons to daughters, resulting in a serious gender imbalance. Many men in the mountain village cannot find wives, so they have come up with crooked ideas, and there have been many cases of deceiving and abducting women.
If her younger sister, Cheng Xue, were to take over her father's postman job, given Cheng Xue's gentle and good-natured personality, she would likely be devoured by those ill-intentioned men in those places, leaving not even a bone fragment.
She, on the other hand, was a former soldier whose fighting skills were among the best in the army. She could handle any situation in the mountains well, so it was best for her to take over her father's postman job.
Cheng Xue was also worried about her sister going out alone to deliver the mail, but she knew her sister's personality. Her sister was always a woman of her word, and once she made a decision, no one could change it.
Cheng Xue quietly slipped a small knife and a small bottle of chili powder into Cheng Ying's arms, whispering in her ear, "Sis, this is for self-defense. If you encounter a bad guy, sprinkle the chili powder on his face and then use the knife to cripple him!"
Cheng Ying was both amused and exasperated as she received the gift. She was a soldier, and when she retired, she carried a replica of a military dagger. The dagger, including the blade, was only ten centimeters long, but it was exceptionally sharp and could slit a person's throat with a single blow, killing them instantly. If she were to encounter a bad guy, she could cripple him with her bare hands without even needing to use the dagger.
However, since it was Cheng Xue's good intention, she didn't say anything and accepted it all. Before leaving, she instructed Cheng Xue, "Go to Old Cheng's house and listen to what's going on. See if the people in Old Cheng's family treat Dad well or badly. If they treat Dad or Mom badly, tell me when I get back, and I'll deal with them properly. Go to the house in town when you have time. I made a few extra spare keys and put them under your and Mom's pillows. You can go to the house in town to pick grapes, or you can read quietly in your room. Also, help me feed the black cat named Xiao Hei. You have to practice the military boxing and fighting techniques I taught you every day. Don't be lazy. When I come back this weekend, I'm going to check your fighting skills."
Cheng Xue immediately covered her head and wailed, "I know, sis, everything else is fine, but those military boxing and combat techniques are really hard to learn!"
She has never liked sports since she was a child and has always been a quiet and gentle person. She didn't even want to participate in the sports meet at school. Her sister had only been back for a little over half a month when she started giving her high-intensity military boxing, combat training and running training.
During this period of rigorous training by her sister, she was so tired that her back ached and her limbs felt like noodles. She was planning to take a good rest after her sister left, but her sister said that she would check her training results when she came back. This was going to kill her.
Cheng Ying said with a half-smile, "No pain, no gain. When you become as strong as me, no one will dare to bully you, and you will have the confidence to deal with any situation. Then you will know the painstaking efforts I made you train."
Cheng Ying stepped onto the bicycle, called out to Da Huang, "Da Huang, let's go!" and rode off into the misty village road.
Dahuang didn't run after her; it remained sitting at Cheng Jiantong's feet.
Cheng Jiantong had no choice but to bend down with difficulty, reach out and slap Da Huang's rump, then pointed in the direction Cheng Ying had left and said, "Da Huang, go! Go with your little master. From now on, you'll be following her!"
Big Yellow's bottom hurt, and it let out a whimper. It stood up and looked up at him, looking very surprised. Why was its little master riding its master's bicycle? Why was it wearing its familiar green postal uniform and carrying a postal package? And why did its master want it to follow its little master? What was going on?
But no matter what, it must obey its master's orders.
Dahuang kept looking back at its owner's reaction. Seeing its owner pointing in the direction the little master had left and calling for it to go, it didn't hesitate any longer and chased after Cheng Ying.
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