Starting a new chapter in life

Chapter 202 Third Sister Moves House

Rong Qiang found the words fake and insincere, but He Zhijun accepted them readily. It was because Jing Yan rarely acted so coquettishly or vulnerable; most of the time she was quite independent.

Her personality can be understanding and independent, but she's definitely not weak or helpless. This is the first time I've clearly felt her weakness after being married for so long. Even if it's a bit fake, it's still a kind of fun in our marriage, isn't it?

Although there are many places to eat in Haishi, the food is still more local. Jingyan couldn't get used to it, and neither could Rongqiang. So the three of them didn't linger and took a bus directly to the pier. They bought ferry tickets and boarded the ferry home when it was time.

As soon as she entered the house, the three children, Zhizhi, An'an, and Xiaoxiao, ran out of the study and surrounded Jingyan, asking her how she was doing. In reality, they had missed her terribly because they hadn't seen her for so long. Jingyan happily gave the children candy, while Rongqiang took out his college admission notice, told his family, and went straight to the chicken coop to talk to his mother and older brother.

After dealing with the three children, Jingyan took her change of clothes to the bathroom and took a hot shower. Once clean, she went to the bedroom, grabbed a novel, and sat down on a recliner in the yard with her hair down.

Her long hair cascaded over the back of the chair. She opened a book from the middle and covered her face with it, closed her eyes, and rocked back and forth in the rocking chair, letting her hair slowly dry in the warm air. Soon, soft snoring began.

When He Zhijun came out, he saw Jingyan asleep in the yard. He shook his head helplessly, went inside, took a sheet, and gently covered Jingyan with it. After thinking for a moment, he replaced the book on Jingyan's face with a straw hat.

His actions didn't wake Jingyan; she was still sleeping soundly. Looking at her sleeping face, He Zhijun's heart, which had felt somewhat empty for the past two months, was finally filled again. His wife was back; it was wonderful.

Jingyan slept on the recliner for nearly two hours before waking up. When she got up, she noticed the sheets on her body and the straw hat on her face. Without even thinking, she knew that He Zhijun must have covered her with them. A smile naturally appeared on her lips. She took her things and went into the house. He Zhijun was sitting on the sofa in the living room reading a newspaper.

Jingyan casually placed the bed sheet and straw hat on the side of the sofa, sat down next to He Zhijun, rested her head on his shoulder, and whispered in his ear, "Zhijun, I've missed you so much these past two months in the Great Northern Wilderness. Have you missed me too?"

He Zhijun had never been treated like this before. Jing Yan's breath was right next to his ear, and he felt a tingling sensation on half of his body. His ears turned bright red instantly, and he replied in a slightly dry voice, "I miss you. I can't sleep well at night when you're not home."

Jingyan couldn't suppress her smile. It turned out that teasing people was so much fun, especially someone like He Zhijun, who was her husband for so long. He would blush when teased, and even stutter a little. So cute.

Before she could continue, He Zhijun moved his buttocks far away, creating distance between them, before turning to look at her: "What have you been through all this time? How have you changed so much? You've never spoken to me this close before."

Jing Yan blinked her big eyes, feigning ignorance, and asked, "You don't like me like this?"

He Zhijun coughed lightly: "Well, it's not that I don't like it, it's just that I'm not used to it. Who did you learn to be so seductive from? This, this isn't good." By the end, He Zhijun was somewhat embarrassed and angry.

Jing Yan awkwardly touched her nose: "Well, I've spent most of the past two months in hotels. When I have nothing to do, I read novels. In romance novels, the male lead likes the female lead to tease and act cute like this. You don't like that?"

He Zhijun's expression softened considerably: "It's not that I don't like it, it's just that I'm not used to it."

"It's normal to feel uncomfortable. If you were used to it, wouldn't I be the one getting robbed?" Jing Yan's voice instantly returned to normal.

He Zhijun... "Speaking of which, if we're just pretending to be cute, could we at least make it last a little longer? You're just a flash in the pan."

"It's already good enough that you could perform for me. I'll show you again when I'm in a better mood." Jing Yan sat up straight and folded the bed sheet that she had thrown on the sofa earlier.

He Zhijun leaned back and took her hand, saying earnestly, "Jingyan, don't worry, I won't let our family have any trouble. I'm very satisfied with my current life and won't have any ulterior motives, so you don't need to pretend to be weak, and you can't pretend to be weak anyway."

Jingyan… “I know. It’s rare for me to go to all this trouble. If you don’t like it, then I don’t need to pretend anymore. It’s quite tiring. By the way, Rongqiang hasn’t come back from the chicken coop yet?”

He Zhijun nodded: "Yeah, he's not back yet."

“Then I’ll go take a look. Judging by the time, the first batch of chicks should be ready to lay eggs soon.” Jing Yan said, getting up to walk out.

He Zhijun quickly followed, saying, "I'll go with you."

It took them about half an hour to reach the chicken farm. As Jingyan entered the gate, four puppies wagged their tails and ran over, circling around their legs happily.

Jingyan squatted down and played with them for a while. After entering the enclosure, she saw the chickens leisurely strolling around in the yard enclosed by the net. Jingyan smiled and said to He Zhijun, "These must be the legendary free-roaming chickens."

He Zhijun flicked her head with his index finger and said, "Watch where you're going. These chickens are free-range. Be careful not to step in their droppings."

Upon hearing this, Jingyan became much more serious. She walked a short distance inside and saw Ronggang sweeping up the scattered chicken droppings in the yard, holding a broom in his right hand and a dustpan in his left.

"Rong Gang, are you busy?" Jing Yan called out.

Rong Gang looked up and saw them coming. He happily greeted them, "Auntie, you must be tired from the journey. Why didn't you rest at home? The chicken coop is a bit dirty. Why did you come here?"

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you, so I wanted to come and see you. How are you doing? Have you started laying eggs yet?” Jingyan asked.

Rong Gang nodded: "The chickens started laying eggs three or four days ago. I've collected about sixty or seventy so far. They're not very big. My mom said that the egg production will stabilize after a while. I've already talked to Brother Dou about this. He said that he'll start getting eggs from here from September and stop buying from the Yan family."

“These chickens don’t poop in a fixed place, and it’s not a good idea for you to keep cleaning them up like this. We need to find a way to solve this once and for all, otherwise it’s just a waste of time,” Jing Yan said, frowning.

"Mom's idea is to set a fixed range for them according to the batches we buy, so that we have a dedicated route to go in and out, and there won't be chicken droppings on the road, making it relatively cleaner. As for the chicken coop, we only need to clean it once a day. We really can't keep up with cleaning it all the time." Rong Gang also knew that chasing after them to clean wasn't a long-term solution.

Jing Yan nodded: "Listen to your mother, quickly find Liu Qiang and the others to help divide it into four areas. The Luhua chickens only lay eggs for about two years. After two years, the egg production will drop sharply, so they can be sold as old hens. Dividing it into four areas should be enough."

Rong Gang scratched his head: "I can do this kind of work. I'll have Rong Qiang help me out later. There's no need to hire anyone else. We should save money on hiring people if possible."

Jingxian had just finished cleaning the brick-built chicken coop and came out: "Jingyan, what brings you here? You've always been lazy and hate doing this kind of work. What, you've managed to overcome your nature now that you're older?"

Jing Yan raised her head: "I'm not here to work, I just missed you a lot and came to visit."

"You're just being silly. You'll see it tonight. Is it really worth making a special trip? Are you here to see when it will lay eggs?" Jingxian grew up with her since childhood. Even though they were separated for more than ten or twenty years, he still understood his younger sister.

Jingyan chuckled: "Third sister understands me best. But Ronggang has already told me, so I don't have anything to ask. Third sister, we have quite a few chickens, so we must keep the hygiene up. I'm not afraid of anything else, but I'm afraid of the chickens getting sick, that's really scary."

Jingxian became much more serious upon hearing this and nodded: "I know, I will be careful. If I can't manage it all, I will reduce the number of chickens I raise. I won't neglect one thing for another. You're right, if we're not careful and there's a chicken plague, then we'll lose everything."

After a while, Jingyan and He Zhijun slowly walked home again. He Zhijun looked at her and asked, "You came all this way and didn't see anything. If there's anything you want to know, you can ask when you get home tonight."

Jingyan glared at him: "I didn't come here to really look at the chickens, I came to see my sister. If I hadn't come myself, they would have told me everything was fine when they got home. They're the type to only report good news and not bad. Only after I came and saw that everything was alright can I feel at ease."

When the couple returned home, Sister Wang was already preparing dinner. It was quite a feast, with eight dishes and a soup. When Jingxian and his family of three arrived, they were ready to eat. The family enjoyed a lively dinner together, and after cleaning up the kitchen, they sat in the living room chatting.

Jingxian solemnly said, "Jingyan, I'm planning to rent an apartment with Ronggang in the neighborhood near the chicken coop."

Jingyan was stunned: "Third sister, what's wrong? Are you not comfortable living here? Why do you want to move out?"

Jingxian grabbed her hand: "Little sister, don't overthink it. It's not that living here is bad, it's just that it's too far from the chicken farm. When the chickens are laying eggs in bulk, they can't leave the farm unattended, so living here isn't very convenient."

I've been looking around lately, and there's a residential area not far from the chicken farm, less than a five-minute walk away. It's convenient for us to take care of it, and the rent isn't expensive either. A two-bedroom apartment with a toilet and shower costs only fifty yuan a month, which is a price I can afford.

Seeing that she was determined, Jingyan knew she couldn't persuade her otherwise, so she could only sigh and say, "Since you have a plan, then do as you wish. But even if you move away, you should come back to visit often. It's rare that we sisters live so close, so we should visit each other more often."

Jingxian smiled contentedly: "That's for sure. If you weren't here, I wouldn't be able to come, and I wouldn't be able to find a way to make money. You'll be a big customer of my chicken farm in the future, so how could I not visit often?"

Jingyan let her tease her, "So when are you planning to book a house? I'll go with you. Rongqiang doesn't need to move. He usually lives at school, but when he comes back for holidays, he stays here with me. He can also help my child with his homework."

Jingxian did not object to the suggestion and readily agreed.

Both sisters are impatient, so once they made the decision, they quickly started looking for a place to rent. Ronggang stayed at the chicken coop while the two sisters wandered around the residential area for two days. After looking at several apartments, they finally settled on one that was close to the entrance of the residential area, with no obstructions in front or behind, and good natural light.

This is considered an old house. Older houses didn't pay much attention to lighting, so they were all rather dark. It's rare that both sisters were satisfied with this one. After paying the rent to the landlord and getting the keys, the two of them cleaned the house inside and out before going home to move their things.

Not to mention clothes, shoes, and socks, even bedding, sheets, and duvet covers were packed up for changing. Looking at this pile of stuff, the two sisters were a little worried. Finally, Jingyan went back to the shop and brought over the trolley she used for transporting goods every day.

Because of the long-term use of transporting meat and eggs, the color of the cart had become dark, and the items placed on it were a bit dirty. Jingyan put a rainproof cloth on the cart and laid it flat before stacking things on it.

The two sisters and Rongqiang took turns pushing the cart, and it still took three trips to get all the necessities over. Jingyan pushed the cart back, leaving Jingxian to help Rongqiang pack the luggage. The mother and son didn't finish packing until evening.

After that, Jingxian and Ronggang officially moved in and started cooking for themselves. Fortunately, Ronggang was a good cook, and Rongqiang would often go over to help before school started, so their life quickly got back on track.

Soon, summer vacation ended. Rongqiang went to university, and An'an went to high school. Ronggang took Rongqiang to register at university. When they came back, Ronggang happily talked about the university campus, saying how big it was, how many teaching buildings there were, how big the sports field was, and how there was more than one canteen...

The envy in his words was palpable. In fact, Ronggang was also very smart and had good grades. Unfortunately, he was too straightforward and had a strong sense of brotherhood. This kind of personality could make it easy for him to make friends, but it could also make friends who drag him down.

Jingxian mentioned before that during his middle school entrance exam, his friend was in the same exam room as him. During one subject, his friend threw him a note with a question he wanted the answer to.

Rong Gang knew cheating was wrong, but because of his sense of loyalty and the consequences of being discovered, perhaps also taking a gamble, he gave the answer.

Unexpectedly, the proctor caught his friend cheating, and both of their scores for that subject were invalidated. Even without a score in that subject, Ronggang, though not getting into a top-tier high school, still ended up in a vocational high school.

However, at this point in time, a high school diploma really isn't enough. One wrong step and you'll fall behind. Jingyan wonders if Ronggang regrets it when he thinks about this late at night. But judging from this period of time, the boy's fierce loyalty to his friends has indeed subsided a lot.

Sure enough, a fall into a pit, a gain in your wit. Although the consequences of this lesson were quite severe, it ultimately served to improve things. So, never believe in grand pronouncements like "I'd go to great lengths for a friend," or you might end up getting stabbed in the back by your friend.