Fang Zeyu packed his luggage, turned around and saw that the mother and three were all asleep. A slight smile appeared on his lips. He picked up the thermos to fetch water, otherwise there would be too many people tomorrow morning and it would be difficult to get hot water.
With only the three of them left in the private room, Fang Zeyu was worried and rushed back after getting two bottles of hot water.
Fang Zeyu quietly climbed to the top bunk and lay on his side, looking at the sleeping Shu Yan. He would occasionally glance at the two children below and felt a special warmth in his heart.
When Shu Yan woke up, it was already 7 a.m. She squinted and turned her head to see that the bed opposite hers was empty; the blankets were neatly folded, and there was no one underneath. She had no idea where they had gone.
Shu Yan thought about it for a long time before asking Fang Zeyu to travel together. There's a saying, "To know if two people are compatible, just travel together." Especially a tiring trip, so when Fang Zeyu suggested the grasslands, she immediately agreed.
She wondered if the two of them, plus their two children, could get along well without any communication or entertainment.
As things stand, Fang Zeyu is considerate, thoughtful, and responsible. After thinking about all sorts of things for a while, Shu Yan sat up in bed, casually tied her hair into a bun with a hair tie, and watched as the two children played with toys together on the bed below hers.
Where is Uncle Fang?
Just as Jingjing was about to answer, she heard a knock on the door. Shuyan quickly opened it and saw him carrying a tray of things.
A bowl of egg drop soup and a plate of fried rice with egg—these things are usually simple, but they're a rare treat on a train.
"How did you get these?" There are boxed meals on the train, but they're expensive and taste terrible.
"I noticed that the three of you haven't eaten much, so this morning I borrowed the kitchen from the restaurant and made this myself. Try my cooking and see if it suits your taste."
As Shu Yan took the things, she said to him, "There's no need to go to so much trouble. We ate quite a lot yesterday. Besides, you should have woken me up. You carried the luggage on and off the bus yesterday. I'm afraid you didn't sleep well at night."
"I'm not tired. Let's try it and see how it tastes." Fang Zeyu served Shu Yan a bowl of soup.
"I haven't brushed my teeth or washed my face yet, I'll go wash up first."
"Do you want hot water?" Fang Zeyu put down the bowl, took a basin from the bed and handed it to Shu Yan.
"Yes." Shu Yan felt sticky since she hadn't showered yesterday, so she poured some hot water to wipe herself down, which made her feel better. "Have both children been bathed?"
"I've already washed myself, Uncle Fang washed me." Tianbao grinned at Shuyan. "Mommy, am I clean?"
"Clean, come eat with your sister, Mom will be back soon." Shu Yan pushed his little head away.
Returning refreshed, she saw the three people whispering to each other, but she couldn't hear what they were saying. However, the smile on Jingjing's face never faded.
She took the small bowl, took a sip, and looked at Fang Zeyu in surprise, "I didn't expect you to be so secretive?"
“I learned a little from my comrades in the cooking squad before. If you like, drink more.” Fang Zeyu said as he served rice to the two children. “You should eat more too, so you can grow up quickly.”
After drinking a bowl of hot soup, Shu Yan felt much better. She let out a sigh of relief and started eating her egg fried rice. The egg fried rice tasted good, not particularly delicious, but on a trip, waking up to find someone has gone out of their way to make you a bowl of egg fried rice is very comforting.
A little after 11 a.m., they finally arrived at their destination. After getting off the train, Fang Zeyu looked around and found the person who had come to pick him up. The two excitedly hugged each other and patted each other on the back, looking quite emotional.
"Old Fang, it's been ten years since we last met, hasn't it? I haven't been able to sleep well since I heard you were coming." He glanced at Shu Yan, "Is this your wife?" Then, seeing the two children beside him, he couldn't help but widen his eyes, "The kids are so big already? Old Fang, that's not fair of you. You didn't even tell us you were getting married, and now the kids are all grown up. Don't you even consider us your brothers?"
Transportation on the grasslands is inconvenient, and Fang Zeyu has very little contact with them; they don't even know he's in prison.
Fang Zeyu patted the man on the shoulder. "Don't talk nonsense. This is my girlfriend, Shu Yan. These are my girlfriend's two children."
A look of surprise crossed the man's face, but he quickly recovered and shook hands with Shu Yan with a slightly embarrassed expression.
“She’s my sister-in-law too. Lao Fang and I are old comrades-in-arms, we’re very close. You can call this place your own home. Just let me know if you need anything,” the man said, patting his chest with great generosity.
Shu Yan glanced at Fang Zeyu.
"This is my old squad leader, Lin Dazhi. You can just call him Squad Leader Lin." This was his second squad leader. They spent two years together, and since he was the youngest at the time, Lin Dazhi took good care of Fang Zeyu.
Fang Zeyu was selected by the TZ Brigade for his outstanding performance, while Lin Dazhi stayed in the army here and married the daughter of a local villager, so he can be considered half a grassland person.
"Then I'll have to trouble Squad Leader Lin from now on."
"Knowing you were coming, I specially borrowed a car. Come on, I'll take you there. Let's rest over there first."
He borrowed a tractor, the kind that chugs and puffs out smoke. Jingjing had ridden in one before, and Tianbao had also ridden in one, but he had long forgotten about it. Now, seeing this kind of tractor, he was quite excited.
Fang Zeyu first carried the two children upstairs, then helped Shu Yan upstairs, while Lin Dazhi looked at him with an ambiguous smile.
Everyone who knows Lao Fang knows he's a tough guy, but after all these years, he's actually taking care of women. That's quite rare.
Lin Dazhi was very thoughtful; he laid a mattress in the back of the truck bed so that four people could sit down comfortably.
The two children were quite excited at first, but eventually they couldn't stay excited anymore because the road was so bumpy. If Fang Zeyu hadn't been quick-witted and agile, Tianbao would have almost been thrown off.
"Why hasn't anyone fixed this road? There are so many potholes, and it's so narrow." If two cars are passing each other, one car has to slowly back up to a slightly wider spot and stop there while the other car carefully passes by.
"There's nothing we can do, it's poor here," Lin Dazhi, who was in front, said loudly when he heard Shu Yan's question.
"This road was built by us and the local villagers together." Fang Zeyu said with great emotion as he looked at the road outside, "The local villagers suffered a lot for this road, and many people were injured in the process."
After chatting for a while, Shu Yan was a little dizzy from the jostling. The ground behind her was metal, and she was bruised from the impact. Fang Zeyu noticed this and pulled her into his arms.
Shu Yan stiffened, her face flushed slightly, and she looked up at Fang Zeyu. Seeing that his ears were also red, she chuckled softly and relaxed, leaning against him.
So it became Fang Zeyu holding Shu Yan and Tianbao, Shu Yan holding Jingjing, and Tianbao looked at Fang Zeyu and then at Shu Yan, and suddenly said, "The four of us are all hugging each other."
Jingjing looked back and saw that it was indeed him, but she didn't struggle. For the past two days on the train, Uncle Fang had been taking care of them, washing her and her brother's faces and hands, cooking delicious food, and protecting them. It was the first time Jingjing had felt the warmth of having a father's protection. She cautiously glanced at Fang Zeyu, but whether he could be her father remained to be seen. She smiled and said that her new father had been very good to her before, but had become unkind after marrying her mother.
Fang Zeyu could feel Jingjing glancing at him, but he pretended not to notice. He thought the girl was quite sensitive and would eventually accept him.
After a bumpy two-hour ride, we finally arrived at our destination. When Shuyan got off the bus, she felt like all the bones in her body were falling apart. Tianbao and Jingjing, full of energy, were running around in all directions within minutes of getting off the bus.
"Mom, look, it really stretches as far as the eye can see." Jingjing pulled Shuyan to look at the grassland behind them.
Shu Yan turned around and was immediately stunned by the beautiful scenery before her.
The boundless grassland was lush and green, with a light blue sky that seemed to merge with the horizon. Wildflowers of various colors bloomed on the grassland, and a gentle breeze carried the fragrant scent of grass and trees mixed with the faint fragrance of flowers, instantly making one feel refreshed and relaxed. Shu Yan took a deep breath, and the fatigue caused by the bumpy journey seemed to disappear in an instant.
"How is it? Isn't it nice here?" Lin Dazhi said with a smile after parking the car.
"It's so beautiful, I'm afraid I won't want to go back if I stay here too long." After being in the bustling city for so long, suddenly coming to such a place made Shu Yan feel her mind and spirit calm down, as if her soul had been cleansed.
Lin Dazhi laughed and pointed to the yurt in the distance, "That's where you'll stay tonight."
When Fang Zeyu spoke to Lin Dazhi, he mentioned that he would be bringing someone important over, leading Lin Dazhi to guess it was his wife or something similar. However, he hadn't realized that Fang Zeyu and Shu Yan had only recently started dating, and the yurt they had prepared was a bit of a last-minute arrangement.
"It's okay, I'll get some sleep tonight." They've been sharing a room on the train for two days already, so one more day won't make a difference.
Of course, the main reason is because there are children around, otherwise it would be awkward for the two of them.
Fang Zeyu put his things down and started tidying up, refusing to let Shu Yan come over to help.
"Go sit over there and rest, or go out and enjoy the scenery. I'll take care of things here." Fang Zeyu took out the toiletries and put them away, then opened the box and took out the food.
"I need to unpack my own suitcase. I'll take out my clothes first." There were also some dirty clothes that she and her two children had changed out of over the past two days, which Shuyan planned to soak first. "Where can I wash and do laundry?"
"Leave it here for now, I'll take you there in a bit."
Shu Yan left it for the time being. The two children were already running and playing wildly outside. Once Shu Yan was sure everything was alright, she found a place to sit down not far from the tent and quietly looked at the boundless grassland.
"Mom, I see lots of sheep over there, come quick!" Tianbao ran over and pulled Shuyan over.
A flock of white sheep slowly moved over like clouds.
"These are sheep raised by the villagers here. You've probably never eaten them before, right? The old village chief knew Lao Fang was coming, so he specially slaughtered one. We can eat them tonight." After returning the tractor, Lin Dazhi came to find Lao Fang and ran into Shu Yan first.
"You even slaughtered sheep?" In these days, cattle and sheep are absolutely vital to herders. Go back and ask Fang Zeyu how much money he wants. We must give the money to the village chief.
When Shu Yan returned, Fang Zeyu was already hanging up the laundry, including her and the children's clothes.
"Why did you wash it?" Given their current relationship, it was really embarrassing for Fang Zeyu to do the laundry.
"It was just a small thing." Fang Zeyu said dismissively. After hanging up the clothes, he saw that the two children had also returned. He took Shu Yan to the washroom and said, "I just boiled some water. You two wash here. We'll have dinner at the old village chief's house tonight."
"You're so diligent. I'll take you with me wherever I go next time," Shu Yan said half-jokingly.
"Looks like I'll have to do my best to try and get you to take me with you next time." Fang Zeyu joked with her, then filled the tub with water and let Shu Yan take Jingjing in, while he and Tianbao washed together on the side.
After washing up, Shu Yan asked Fang Zeyu, "Squad Leader Lin said that the old village chief specially slaughtered a sheep to entertain us. Livestock on the grassland must be very important to the herders. We should give them a certain amount of money later."
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Fang Zeyu had already thought about this. He would donate money to repair the road leading out of here.
As dusk fell, Lin Dazhi came over to call Shu Yan and Fang Zeyu to dinner. The old village chief was overjoyed to see Fang Zeyu, his eyes filled with tears, and he repeatedly said in his not-so-standard Mandarin, "It's good that you're back, I'm so happy."
Fang Zeyu's eyes were also red. His sentence contained many words of the local dialect. Shu Yan pieced together the meaning and guessed that he wanted to donate money to repair the road and asked the old village chief for help.
This was a good thing, and Shu Yan immediately asked Fang Zeyu how much he needed, saying she could contribute some as well.
“No need, I’ll take this route.” This time, Fang Zeyu was somewhat insistent.
Shu Yan nodded knowingly and didn't argue with him.
Lamb chops and various lamb offal dishes were all delicious. The roasted lamb was very tender. The lamb was different from the lamb that Shuyan ate in her hometown. The lamb in her hometown was from mountain goats, which could easily have a gamey smell if not cooked properly. The lamb had almost none of that. It might be because the village chief's wife was a good cook. Even Shuyan, who doesn't usually eat lamb, ate quite a lot.
"Eat more, eat more. Xiao Fang is my family, and you will be my family too." The old village chief was especially happy to see Shu Yan eating so well.
Shu Yan drank a few glasses of wine and felt a little dizzy. Fang Zeyu was carrying Tianbao, holding Shu Yan's hand with one hand, and Shu Yan was holding Jingjing's hand with the other. The group walked slowly.
"I borrowed a horse from the village chief. I'll take you out for a ride tomorrow."
Tianbao was already asleep, otherwise he would definitely have been clamoring to go together.
"Okay!" She was led around a few times by Hu Ruixue, but she didn't know how to ride and was still a little scared when she sat on it.
Shu Yan has excellent drinking manners; she doesn't cry or make a fuss when drunk, and falls asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow. She just had a slight headache the next morning, and Fang Zeyu brought her a bowl of hangover soup, which helped her a lot.
"If you can't drink next time, then don't drink." Fang Zeyu gently massaged her temples and asked tenderly, "Are you still feeling unwell?"
"They were so enthusiastic, I felt bad if I didn't drink. What did you tell me yesterday? We're going horseback riding today?" Shu Yan quickly changed the subject.
Since they hugged on the tractor last time, their behavior has become increasingly intimate, and Shu Yan hasn't felt anything was wrong.
“Yes, I also asked the village chief’s two sons to take care of Tianbao and Jingjing, and I will take care of you.”
Fang Zeyu helped Shu Yan onto the horse, led it around for a bit, then flipped over and sat behind her. With a flick of the whip, the horse shot off. Shu Yan cried out in surprise and leaned against him, gripping his hand tightly.
After the initial fear came excitement, and Shu Yan's hearty laughter echoed in the wind.
"Mom, wait for me!" Tianbao shouted from behind.
The village chief's two sons also wanted to run, but they were carrying babies in their arms, babies who had never ridden a horse before. They could only control their speed. Their father had said that if they neglected their honored guest, they would be whipped.
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