Chapter 191 It's Broken
"Fine!" Chen Jingyang agreed readily. "No means no! Anyway, you can't stay in the mourning hall forever. You'll definitely have to sleep in the same bed with me at night."
Zhang Pengfei: →_→
Zhang Pengfei had originally planned to go on a trip and had almost packed all his things. Although his destination had changed to his hometown, he was still very eager to go.
After his father passed away, he only made a brief trip back to his hometown when he picked up Huahua to come to Beijing. Then, he spent almost a year in the hospital the following year. In the third year, he was interning at a law firm and didn't have time to go back. This year is the fourth year.
A while ago I was busy with Bai Tianhe's case, and then I was busy with Chen Jingyang. In the blink of an eye, it was Mid-Autumn Festival.
He originally planned to go back next year for the Qingming Festival, by which time Chen Jingyang's situation would be basically on track, the weather would be suitable, and Dou Qiaoyun would be able to go back more easily.
Thinking of Dou Qiaoyun, Zhang Pengfei asked Chen Jingyang, "Do you think I should keep this from my mother for now? I'm afraid she'll be upset if she finds out."
“There’s no need,” Chen Jingyang said without hesitation. “She’s been in the hospital for so long, and Liu Jin’e and the others haven’t come to see her even once. Plus, with Hua Hua’s tattling, I think she has no feelings for Liu Jin’e and Zhang Tianmin anymore.”
Zhang Pengfei thought what he said made a lot of sense, so...
"You've already arranged all your work this morning? You can start your vacation now, right?"
"Yes!" Fearing Zhang Pengfei might not believe him, he emphasized again: "The new hardware standard has been finalized, and the small-batch trial production has yielded good results. Now, the main focus is on product optimization, so I don't need to oversee it."
“Okay, let’s go to my mom’s now and ask her opinion. If she doesn’t want to go back to her hometown, we’ll stay with her for two days and go back when Hua Hua has her vacation.”
As Chen Jingyang had predicted, Dou Qiaoyun wasn't particularly emotional upon hearing of their passing. She was just very surprised and sighed a few times before deciding not to go back—funeral customs were numerous, and she was now confined to a wheelchair, so going back would only cause trouble.
Compared to Dou Qiaoyun's composure, Huahua was practically ecstatic, filling two suitcases with just clothes and shoes.
Zhang Pengfei watched coldly: "You're only going back for a few days, and you're bringing eight outfits for a fashion show!"
Hua Hua cleverly argued, "There's dirt everywhere in my hometown, and clothes get dirty very quickly. There's no washing machine, so of course I have to bring a few more clothes."
Hua Hua is now in fourth grade, and her aesthetic sense is appalling in Zhang Pengfei's eyes. She likes all kinds of shiny, sparkly things from head to toe, like a little peacock strutting around in the city.
Zhang Pengfei was too lazy to argue with her, so he opened his suitcase and started taking out clothes: "These little red boots can't be brought, these red leather shoes can't be brought either, these two red dresses, this pink one, and this fairy-themed one can't be brought either!"
The two suitcases instantly deflated by more than half.
"No way!" Hua Hua pouted, picked up her clothes, and tried to stuff them back into her suitcase.
Zhang Pengfei lowered his eyelids and glanced at her: "You dare?!"
Hua Hua indeed dared not move, but she pouted, and tears streamed down her face like a tap. She turned to look at Chen Jingyang, her face streaked with tears, and said, "Brother Jingyang..."
Hua Hua has grown more and more beautiful and cute over the years, but unfortunately she hasn't grown much taller, just like her grades, which have consistently placed her at the bottom of the class.
Such a beautiful little girl, standing in front of you, looking at you with a pitiful yet expectant expression—who could resist that?
"Oh dear!" Chen Jingyang sighed with a wry smile, forcing himself to coax, "Huahua, we're going back for a funeral, you understand? You and your brother both have to wear mourning clothes, so you really can't wear these red shoes."
Hua Hua thought for a moment, and decided that since she already had white boots and black leather shoes, she wouldn't have to bring the red ones.
"What about these dresses?" she asked eagerly. "Can I bring them?"
Chen Jingyang hummed in agreement for a while, then asked, "Why are you bringing such an ugly dress back to your hometown? Are you giving it away as a gift?"
Upon hearing this, Hua Hua forgot to shed tears: "Ugly? But Liu Chengzhou said these dresses are beautiful!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Pengfei thought, "It's that kid Liu Chengzhou again!" and scoffed, "Don't listen to his nonsense! What does a little brat know? These dresses really are ugly!"
Hua Hua was clearly starting to struggle with the choice between her brother and Chen Jingyang on one side, and Liu Chengzhou on the other. In the end, Liu Chengzhou was outnumbered and gave in: "Alright then, I won't bring the ugly clothes."
Zhang Pengfei glanced at Hua Hua with disdain. Instead of being happy about Hua Hua's compromise, he was worried: Is this the legendary naive and innocent girl? She gave up without even struggling!
Because of the long distance, the three of them first flew to the provincial capital before driving home.
Zhang Pengfei originally planned to take the high-speed rail directly from the provincial capital to the city and then take a taxi home, but Chen Jingyang rejected this plan.
Chen Jingyang felt that he could infer from Zhang Pengju's words that many people in the village looked down on them, and driving back would at least "set the record straight".
The car he used to "show off" was a Cullinan worth over 6 million yuan.
Although it's not as good as his previous one, he was quite satisfied to be able to rent such a car in such a short time.
Seeing his smug look, Zhang Pengfei couldn't bear to discourage him, so he spoke up halfway through the journey: "Our village is quite backward, so probably no one would recognize that this is a Cullinan."
Chen Jingyang was indeed taken aback, but then he smiled and said, "It's okay. As long as they have mobile phones and know how to search, they will be able to recognize it starting today."
The brothers' houses are next to each other, one in front of the other. Zhang Pengfei's house is in the back, and you have to pass by Zhang Pengju's house.
A number of people were standing in front of Zhang Pengju's house. When they saw a car coming, they consciously stepped back to make way for it.
The Cullinan slowly drove through the crowd and stopped in front of Zhang Pengfei's house—the gate was too narrow to drive in.
Zhang Pengfei got out of the car, a pack of cigarettes in his hand, and walked towards the crowd behind him.
"Uncle Mingde, Brother Pingyuan, Master Huaichen..." Each person is greeted with a pack of cigarettes; this is the most common way to greet someone in the village.
He could have given each of them a cigarette, but Chen Jingyang said that would be too stingy. He hadn't been home for four years, and it wouldn't be right to only give them a cigarette when they met.
Amidst the chorus of greetings like "Pengfei's back?", Chen Jingyang stood silently behind Zhang Pengfei.
Everyone stared curiously at the tall, smiling man.
"This is Chen Jingyang, my friend. He's here to take care of some business," Zhang Pengfei explained.
Chen Jingyang formally extended his hand to one of the older men, bowed slightly, and said in an impeccable posture, "Hello."
Zhang Pengfei's vision went black: Oh no!
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