The next morning, Zhang Hongmei practiced Tai Chi as usual, while Zeng Zhongkang went for a run. William and his wife prepared breakfast.
As Cheng Guangxu mimicked Zhang Hongmei's gestures, Zhang Hongmei felt that God was fair; He had given him a brilliant mind, but everything else was quite ordinary.
Cai Peilin went for a run with Zeng Zhongkang today, but returned after only twenty minutes, covered in sweat and panting heavily. He nodded to the two of them and went into his room.
Cheng Guangxu craned his neck to look outside, but did not see Zeng Zhongkang.
"Hehe, you don't need to look anymore. Zeng Zhongkang won't be back for at least an hour."
Cheng Guangxu's mind was particularly sharp today. "Could it be that Cai Peilin couldn't keep up with him and came back on his own?"
Zhang Hongmei didn't respond to him, but instead said, "You really should exercise. Only when you're in good health can we talk about other things."
"I understand. Starting tomorrow, I will go running with Zeng Zhongkang."
The two girls got up and walked around the yard twice.
Dinner was served only after Zeng Zhongkang returned and finished washing up.
Breakfast consisted of bread, milk, and a vegetable salad. After breakfast, Mr. William drove off in his farm van with his wife and the groceries for the children.
"Alright, you can all leave now. Zeng Zhongkang, just come pick me up tomorrow morning."
None of them said they wanted to stay, guessing that Zhang Hongmei might have something important to do. They felt they didn't have the strength right now, so they decided to just obediently follow her instructions.
An hour later, Zhang Hongmei was the only one left on the farm.
She changed her clothes, put on a hat and gloves, and prepared to take a walk around the farm. She still wanted to see the lush green wheat fields, but they were too far away, so she had no choice but to walk there.
She completely ignored Zhang Shouyi. This guy went too far, writing a whole page about Liu Jingze's miserable state. It looked like he was gloating. He was so annoying. She decided to ignore him for a day.
I didn't get back until noon. I did nothing and had no appetite. I just washed up, changed my clothes, and lay in bed reading.
I was planning to make fish balls for Gu Chuanming and Zhang Shouyi that evening, the kind with spiritual spring water. So I figured we'd eat them together tonight.
The farm was really quiet. It was at least several kilometers from the ranch, and I had no intention of going to visit it. Taking advantage of the quiet, I was quite efficient at reading.
I didn't get up to clean the fish until 5 PM. There was no grass carp here, so I had to use carp. I'll use the fish heads and bones to make soup. I have enough time to simmer it slowly; it will taste better that way.
Remove the skin and bones from the fish fillets. This time, I didn't use a knife because theirs was unusable. I ended up finding a rolling pin, washed it clean, and used it to pound the fish repeatedly, hoping to enhance the flavor.
An hour later, the fish finally met my expectations, and the fish soup had turned milky white. It was time to season it.
I put in two large cups of spiritual spring water, added just a little salt, and nothing else.
It takes about half an hour for the fish meat to become firm. After removing the fish bones, the surface is very clean, and the remaining fish meat is all in the soup.
Another half hour later, the fish soup was ready. I took a bowl out of my spatial storage and put it into my ring.
It was still a little past four in the morning when Zhang Shouyi suddenly opened his eyes, sensed something, and smiled.
"Xiao Li, let's go back to Xinyuan."
Xiao Li jumped up from the makeshift bed outside the office, tidied up his own bed, put it in the hidden storage room, and quickly washed up.
By the time he was all ready, Zhang Shouyi had also come out. He didn't look like the leader who had only slept for two hours at all; in fact, he looked incredibly energetic.
Back at Xinyuan, Old Gu was already up and practicing Tai Chi, while Aunt Li was cooking.
The two refused to be followed by anyone and went to Zhang Shouyi's room, telling Aunt Li not to prepare breakfast for them.
Zhang Shouyi handed out the fish balls, and Zhang Hongmei thoughtfully prepared bowls, chopsticks, and spoons for them. So the two grown men sat at the round table, ignoring each other and just eating heartily.
In the end, all the fish balls and fish soup were finished.
Zhang Shouyi put away all the tableware before opening the windows and doors to let the smell out. Ten minutes later, both of them called for water and went to take a bath.
An hour later, the two sat down again. "I think I could live for another twenty years without any problem," Gu Chuanming said slowly, squinting his eyes.
"You'd better stay alive, that girl is still waiting for you to back her up."
"Hehe, that's for sure. It's the same whether you're there or not, but we can't do without her. My Gu family will definitely flourish."
Zhang Shouyi was in a good mood and ignored him. "I reckon all the machinery will arrive this morning. Would you like to come with me to take a look?"
"Okay, have you arranged the place?"
"It's one of my houses in the suburbs. Don't worry, it's very big and quite secluded. Xiao Li and Chengzi let them stay here."
"Okay, have you made arrangements for the people at the research institute?"
"Yes, everything is settled. We'll study it here; there's nothing complicated about it."
Gu Chuanming shook his head. "I think it's better to transport it elsewhere, otherwise it will be exposed there."
"Hehe, it's okay, I have several such secluded places. Let's just leave it there; transporting it out would be too conspicuous."
"Okay, you decide. If there's not enough space, I have a few spots here, though they're not very secluded."
"Hehe, I have enough here, cough! It's not mine anymore, I'm penniless now, everything belongs to Zhang Hongmei."
"Haha, that's perfect."
The two then focused on work. Since Gu Chuanming returned, things seemed much more stable.
In his past life, this old fellow lived for several years, but he just watched the chaos unfold without ever making a move. In this life, he hasn't taken any action either; he's just obediently followed his wife. His granddaughter has come out of seclusion, and she's doing it willingly.
"Don't laugh like that. You're so young, why are you acting so strangely? Hongmei has never seen you like this before, has she?"
"Probably not, otherwise they would dislike me even more."
"Haha, so you know she looks down on you? To be honest, you're not good enough for my granddaughter. I only have eyes for that Song Zigan."
"Oh? Why?"
"Just like Hongmei said, I feel that I quite like that child; he's clean."
"Hehe, no one in this circle is clean. Let's see how long he can stay clean. Hongmei has paved the way for him, and I have to follow my wife's lead. So, I will give him a chance."
"Hehe, you're so petty. Be careful Hongmei gets angry when she comes back and punishes you."
"How could that be? I really am helping him. I gave him the stage, and now it's up to him to see if he has the ability to keep singing."
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