Starting a new chapter in life

Chapter 200 Jing Yan is relieved

"Honey, this fried noodles are pretty good, except the soy sauce is a little too strong. You should try them later. I think my cooking skills are just as good as theirs. What do you think? Should I cook some dishes at home and buy some lunchboxes to make bento boxes?"

"I sell it at the school gate every day when the students get out of school. Although I don't earn much, it shouldn't be bad either. I don't need a shop and I don't have to pay taxes. I think it's pretty good." Chang Sheng's voice was very clear.

The woman's soft voice rang out: "Why didn't you go with your friend when he asked you to do business together? You still have some savings at home. Now we've both been laid off. Although it's supposed to be unpaid leave, what are we supposed to do?"

Selling boxed lunches can indeed make money, and you're quite skilled. But you're very concerned about your image, and our county isn't very big. What if someone you know sees you selling boxed lunches and laughs at you? I don't want you to suffer any humiliation."

“What’s shameful about me earning my own living to support the family? I don’t want to go out. You’re so gentle and delicate; you can even burn yourself while heating up food. How can I let you take care of the children alone at home? I’m already content just being with you and the children for the rest of my life.” Chang Sheng’s voice was filled with deep affection.

Jingyan listened to their conversation while eating fried noodles. Her heart was filled with turbulent emotions, if not earth-shattering waves. In her past life, she was determined to live a good life and support her family by working odd jobs in the fields and selling barbecue at a stall. The harder she worked, the more ambitious Chang Sheng became.

Back then, she had suggested that he stay home and make boxed lunches while she tended the barbecue stall, hoping that once they made enough money, they could open a barbecue restaurant. There was always hope for the future. But what was Changsheng's attitude back then?

He said he was too lazy to earn small amounts of money making boxed lunches, insisting on making big money instead. He was always traveling all over the country with his cronies, bringing back very little money, and even taking more from her.

She argued and made a scene, but in the end, her relationship with her husband became as cold as water. Her daughter advised her to divorce her father so that they could have some peace and quiet. But she was out of her mind at that time and insisted on staying in a loveless home. In the end, she exhausted herself and suffered a heart attack, passing away prematurely.

She had always thought it was Changsheng's problem, that he wasn't down-to-earth. But today she realized that the way they lived in their previous life wasn't just Changsheng's fault; she might have had a lot of problems too. She was too strong-willed, so she was sometimes domineering. Changsheng didn't act like the head of the family he does now in front of her.

His current wife seems to be incompetent at everything, but it is precisely because she is incompetent that he feels more important and more worried about his family. He thinks he can do everything himself, so he doesn't need to take care of the family. Is this the reason why he doesn't want to go home?

Wrong, all wrong. At this moment, Jingyan's unhappiness in her previous life's marriage, which she had always been brooding over, suddenly seemed to be relieved. It wasn't her fault, nor was it his fault. The only mistake was that the two of them were truly incompatible.

Ironically, she had never understood this in her entire past life. She looked at the girl beside the two of them again. She was cute and pretty, but she wasn't her Xiaoyue. Yes, her parents had changed, so how could the child be the same one?

After finishing her noodles, Jingyan felt a rare sense of relaxation. Just as she was about to get up and leave, someone called out to her, "Are you Li Sijun's sister-in-law?"

Jingyan turned around and saw Changsheng stand up and greet her with surprise. Jingyan smiled at him and asked, "You know me?"

"I've seen your photo. Back then, in the 12th Company, I was a statistician under Company Commander Li. Didn't you visit Sister-in-law Li more than ten years ago? At that time, Company Commander Li originally wanted to set us up."

"But after you came, Company Commander Li told me you were already married, so that's all in the past. But I remember you; you were beautiful and left a deep impression." Chang Sheng said this quite frankly.

Jingyan looked at the woman beside him and replied with a smile, "Thank you for your compliment. Your wife is beautiful too."

Chang Sheng proudly raised his head, "That's right, I don't know about my wife and daughter in other places, but in our county, they're the boss!"

These words made Jingyan laugh out loud. When Xiaoyue was born, she was very dark-skinned, a little black girl. Changsheng was the same way, raising his head and saying, "My daughter is in the Twelfth Company, she's the leader, what's with the dark skin?"

In that instant, all the grievances and resentments that had weighed on my heart for a lifetime truly passed. It turned out that it wasn't that I hadn't loved; it's just that we drifted apart and got lost in the end.

She smiled and nodded: "That's right, boss!"

Her agreement made the thick-skinned man feel embarrassed. His wife pinched the soft flesh on his waist and said, "Alright, aren't you afraid of being laughed at for saying that?"

Chang Sheng grinned, revealing a full set of teeth, and said happily, "You've come to see your sister?"

Jing Yan nodded: "Yes, my nephew took the college entrance examination this year, so I came to visit. Now that the exam is over, I'm just taking a walk around the area."

"Okay, tell Company Commander Li to contact me when he has time. We haven't seen each other for several years. He took good care of me when we were in the company."

Jing Yan nodded in agreement once again. As for relaying the message, well, Li Sijun, make her sister cry. She never wants to see him again in her life.

Former husband and wife, now strangers on opposite sides of the road, their paths crossed briefly before severing all ties. All love, hate, and grudges vanished without a trace at this moment, for all perception requires memory. When memory fades, what once existed is nothing more than dust blown away by the wind, dissipating and disappearing...

With her worries resolved, Jing Yan leisurely watched a movie and returned to the state-owned farm's hotel in less than half an hour by bus.

The hotel owner was somewhat surprised to see her return: "Didn't you say you were going out for two days? Why are you back today?"

"I thought the county town was quite big and I'd need two days to explore it, but when I got there I realized there wasn't much to see, and I came back without finding anything interesting," Jing Yan explained casually.

The hotel owner wholeheartedly agreed: "Indeed, our place is small, and other places nearby are pretty much the same. There's really nothing fun to do here. Are you still waiting for your scores and acceptance letters?"

Jing Yan nodded: "Yes, we've already moved to another city. It's just my nephew. He can't transfer his school registration because he was studying in another city before. He came back to take the exam this time. Anyway, it'll be at the end of the month at the latest. We won't be short of a couple more days. We'll get everything done before we leave, so we don't have to go through all the trouble of going back and forth."

"You guys have some savings too. The room cost over a thousand yuan these past two months. Most people wouldn't dare stay in a hotel; they'd rent an apartment instead," the hotel owner sighed.

Jing Yan laughed: "Renting a house is no problem, but I have to clean it myself, use public toilets, and change my own sheets and blankets. It's so much better here. There are people who come to clean every day, and the sheets and blankets are changed every two or three days. It's much cleaner than living here by myself."

The hotel owner thought about it and realized that made sense. After chatting for a while, Jingyan went back to her room, leaned against the bed, picked up the book on the bedside table, and continued reading her novel. Hmm, Jin Yong and Gu Long's novels are indeed good, but unfortunately, there are too many descriptions of martial arts moves that she doesn't quite understand, so she simply skips those parts and only reads the plot descriptions.

In mid-month, the results came out: over 480 points. Jingyan immediately asked, "Do you know the admission scores for universities in Shanghai this year? Did you apply to Tongji University or another school?"

"My first choice is Tongji University, majoring in Business Administration." Rong Qiang's face lit up when he saw the scores posted by the school. This year's scores were almost half again as high as last year's, proving that a year's hard work had indeed paid off.

“Come on, let’s buy some gifts so you can visit your teacher later and thank him for all the test papers he mailed to you this year. We have to remember that kindness.” Jingyan said, pulling Rongqiang to go shopping at the department store.

They bought snacks, fruits, cigarettes and alcohol, as well as pens and watches. Rongqiang looked at his hands, which were full of bags, and said helplessly, "Auntie, isn't this too much?"

Jingyan patted him on the shoulder: "What's so great about it? Putting aside the favor of giving us the test questions, the postage alone is quite a lot. If we give them money, the original relationship will be ruined. So we can only express our gratitude with gifts."

Rong Qiang pointed to the watch: "Anything else is fine, but isn't this too expensive?"

"Didn't you say you didn't see your teacher wearing a watch? Teachers need to check the time frequently, so a watch is convenient. Besides, it's not a big brand, just something that costs a hundred or so yuan, so it doesn't count as bribery."

Jingyan didn't buy anything too expensive; it was just to express her feelings. Her child got into a good university, and the advice and opportunities from the teacher were very valuable. Originally, she wouldn't care how her third sister expressed her gratitude, but since she accompanied her back, she could only go the extra mile in terms of etiquette.

Rong Qiang couldn't argue with her, so he simply took a bunch of things and went to his teacher's house. Jing Yan went back to her hotel by herself. When Rong Qiang returned that evening, she looked very happy: "Auntie, although my teacher always said she didn't want me..."

But my teacher's wife was very happy. I really hadn't thought things through before; I hadn't even properly chosen a gift when I visited my teacher's house. This time, I finally understand the meaning of "it's never too much to ask for a gift."

Jingyan smiled and said, "It's not too late for you to know now. The results are out, so we'll just wait for the admission notice. Tomorrow we'll call home and tell our families about the results so they can rest assured. Once we get the notice, we'll go back home."

Rong Qiang nodded in agreement very seriously.

Jingyan hesitated for a moment: "Um, do you want to go see your dad? Tell him your test scores?"

Rong Qiang thought for a while, "I'll go over there after I make the call tomorrow. I won't eat at his place; I'll come back and eat with you."

Sister Wang answered the phone at home. She was very excited to hear about Rongqiang's score: "Don't worry, I'll tell everyone the good news when they get back tonight. You should also call and let them know before you come back."

If it's a day off, Zhijun might go back to pick you up from the station. You have no idea how much he's been talking about when you'll be back lately. He knows exactly when the results will come out and when the acceptance letters will arrive; he just misses you.

When Jingyan heard He Zhijun's voice, she finally understood the longing to go home. Zhizhi and An'an were also at home. When they heard it was their mother on the phone, they waited by her side. After finally finishing talking to Sister Wang, they heard the voices of the two children again.

The children had never been separated from their mother for so long before, and they truly missed her. Even the family's old cat and dog couldn't soothe their longing. "An'an, Mom has been here for the past two months and hasn't had a chance to check on you. How were your high school entrance exam results? You should be fine for high school, right?"

An An's voice came from the other end of the phone: "Of course I didn't ask you. My grades are still pretty good. I'll be a high school student in September, and then I'll have pocket money."

Jingyan chuckled: "Don't worry, I won't forget about your allowance. How about I give you ten yuan a month? I'm being generous to you, your little brother only gets five yuan."

An'an was very happy: "I love Mom the most."

After calming the child down and hanging up the phone, Jingyan couldn't stop smiling. Rongqiang was also very happy: "I'll go back during my vacation. If An'an has any questions in high school, I can tutor him."

Jingyan nodded happily: "Okay, but he should learn on his own. If he doesn't understand something, he can ask you. We can't let him develop a dependent personality. Alright, go see your dad. No matter how many disagreements there are between adults, at least he's a good father."

Rong Qiang nodded, his expression momentarily gloomy, but he still smiled at Jing Yan before turning and leaving the hotel.

Jingyan could only sigh as she watched his retreating figure. What could she do? In the end, he had to walk on his own.

It was almost lunchtime, but Jingyan didn't go out. She waited in the hotel. Rongqiang had said he wouldn't eat there and would definitely come back. She couldn't help with anything else, but she could at least have lunch with the child.

Indeed, just after midnight, Rong Qiang returned. Seeing Jing Yan sitting in the hotel lobby reading a novel and waiting for him, he, who had been sulking, finally smiled and said, "Auntie, I'm back."

Jingyan looked up and saw him, so she quickly got up to greet him. "You're back. What happened? Did you get upset with your dad?"

Rong Qiang shook his head: "It wasn't that I was mistreated; they were both quite nice to me."

Although he said that, his sadness was still visibly obvious. Jingyan didn't reply, but pulled him and said, "Are you hungry? Let's go eat first."

The two went out and randomly found a small restaurant. After browsing for a while, they couldn't find anything they wanted to eat. They had eaten enough here, so they finally chose a bowl of beef noodles to make do with the meal.

After lunch, as they left the restaurant, Rongqiang stammered, "That woman is pregnant."

Jingyan...

After a while, Jingyan pulled him to a small park not far away, found a bench and dragged him to sit down. "Rongqiang, everyone has their own life. We all know why your parents divorced back then. It's not unusual for them to have another child. But if your mother meets someone suitable and wants to remarry, will you object?"

Rong Qiang shook his head: "Of course I won't object. My mother has done nothing wrong to him, so why can't she live for herself? If my mother really has to stay with my brother and me for the rest of her life, Auntie, I wouldn't want that either. My older brother and I also hope that Mom has someone who cares about her. As for my father, I wish he could grow old alone and be unfaithful to his marriage. Humph!"