Chapter 85: Cousin Arrives

Zhong Huisheng is a fashionable woman. While calling her an “old lady” might be inappropriate—since she’s not yet 60 years old, and people over 60 are generally considered elderly—she is certainly in the early stages of old age.

Describing her as fashionable is quite accurate.

In her hometown, many elderly people, and even young people, have never been to a city and consider taking a train a distant dream.

However, Zhong Huisheng is already able to travel by train on her own.

She packed her things, and, accompanied by Wei Xin’s husband, took a bus to the city.

After arriving at the train station, she checked her ticket and boarded the train by herself, enduring more than 40 long hours of travel. Upon arrival, she said goodbye to the friends she had made along the way.

Many elderly people fear going out, but not Zhong Huisheng.

When she was younger, she had traveled with her father to many cities, including Shanghai. In the following decades, she had been confined to a small mountain village, making this trip a great pleasure for her.

Wei Dai was already waiting on the platform. Thanks to his military uniform, he smoothly accessed the platform and held up a large sign with bold letters to ensure his aunt would see him as soon as she got off the train.

As expected, when Zhong Huisheng disembarked with her luggage, she scanned the platform for less than three seconds before spotting the sign.

“Is that Wei Dai?” she asked with a smile. Wei Dai heard her and quickly maneuvered through the crowd to reach Zhong Huisheng.

“Aunt, I’m Wei Dai. Thank you for your trouble along the way,” he said, taking the luggage from her.

Zhong Huisheng waved her hand. “It was no trouble at all.”

She looked Wei Dai up and down and sighed, “I haven’t seen you for a few years, and you’ve grown so much. You look completely different from what I imagined. When you were a child, you resembled your mother a bit, but now I can’t tell who you look like.”

In fact, he resembled his late uncle, Zhong Huisheng’s cousin, but she didn’t mention this, as he had died before Wei Dai was born.

Wei Dai: …

He wondered if she was remembering him as a three-year-old.

In reality, he and Wen Jiajia had only met Zhong Huisheng a few years ago when they got married, so it had only been two or three years. How much could he have changed in that time?

He smiled and said, “Aunt, let’s go home and catch up.”

Zhong Huisheng nodded. Although she was happy, she was also quite tired.

They boarded the bus, with Zhong Huisheng deliberately sitting by the window while Wei Dai sat next to her, pointing out landmarks and scenery along the way.

“That’s the department store that Jiajia often visits. They have a wider selection than the supply and marketing cooperative, but items like oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar aren’t available there.”

Zhong Huisheng nodded. The store was a high-end version of the cooperative. Her family’s cloth shop had once been categorized into several grades.

“That’s a state-owned restaurant. Jiajia goes there every now and then to buy steamed buns. This restaurant and the department store we just saw are both close to the city gate. If you need to buy anything in the future, you can come here.”

Zhong Huisheng nodded again, thinking that her niece-in-law, whom she had met only twice, must be a frugal person. A frugal person wouldn’t buy steamed buns every few days.

She got along well with people of this kind. Before coming, she had been most concerned that her lifestyle philosophy wouldn’t align with her niece-in-law’s.

This might seem trivial, but many elders struggle to get along with younger people due to such differences.

For instance, some elders use at least a spoonful of oil in their cooking, while others only need to boil their food in water. Such differences can create tension.

The bus turned and exited the city through the city gate, bypassing the hospital.

There was much construction happening outside the city. The weather was mild, with gusty winds pushing the construction sites to progress quickly.

Zhong Huisheng found it unusual, as few people in her village built houses, and she had never seen such rapid, large-scale infrastructure projects before.

She asked Wei Dai, “Is this place far from home?”

Wei Dai replied, “It’s about a two-hour walk, but there are two buses every day. There are also donkey carts and mule^[1]which are hybrids of a male donkey and a female horse, are known for their strength and endurance, making them suitable for pulling heavy loads. carts from surrounding villages. If you see one, you can usually get a seat.”

Zhong Huisheng was satisfied. “Very good. I’ll come back to see it once the construction is finished.”

Soon, the bus arrived near the military base.

Wei Dai helped Zhong Huisheng out of the bus and walked with her to the family area.

Looking at the square yard covered with green creepers, Zhong Huisheng nodded in approval. She admired the green hills behind the house and the nearby lake, feeling satisfied.

This was a nice place. Even the breeze felt gentle, carrying the essence of Jiangnan water towns and pastoral landscapes.

They pushed open the gate and walked along the bluestone path into the house.

Although she couldn’t see inside due to the courtyard wall, once she entered, she saw the situation clearly.

Perhaps because of last night’s autumn rain, the bluestone slabs were very clean. Even the pebbles on the sides were “glossy and shiny,” as if they had been carefully scrubbed.

The creeper grew only outside the wall, while the inside was clean, with only a few climbing roses. However, it was not the blooming season for roses, so only leaves adorned the wall.

Next to the roses were two rows of vegetable plots, separated by pebbles. Zhong Huisheng was curious about where all the pebbles had come from.

The vegetable garden was lush and green, showing that fertilizer had been recently applied, as evidenced by the wood ash in the soil.

What pleased her most was the presence of a toilet and a bathroom, which could be connected or separated. She had long been suffering from living in a thatched hut!

However, she couldn’t build a bathroom and toilet for herself in the village, not because she lacked the money, but because she wanted to keep a low profile.

No matter what environment she entered, she always aimed to integrate into it. This had been her life philosophy for many years.

Yet, theory and practice are different, and seeing the clean and tidy toilet and bathroom made her very happy.

Finally, they entered the house.

The living room had many items, but it was not cluttered. Most things were neatly placed on shelves and in cabinets. There were three cabinets and two shelves, none of which obstructed the windows, making the living room feel very bright.

She was satisfied once again. She was an expert at storage and enjoyed organizing things into cabinets and shelves.

Wei Dai opened the door to the utility room—or rather, the door to his aunt’s room—and revealed a bright bedroom to Zhong Huisheng.

At this point, she was 120% satisfied with the setup.

Wei Dai said, “Time is tight, so let’s just keep it like this for now. Please let me know if you want to add anything else.”

Zhong Huisheng praised, “It’s great!”

She liked this kind of simple room, especially since she could see the sparkling lake from the window.

Wei Dai smiled and said, “Then you can unpack your luggage first, and I’ll take you on a tour of the nearby village.”

Zhong Huisheng put her bag on the chair and said, “There’s no need for that. You should get back to work. I can handle things on my own.”

He insisted, “I’m happy with this.”

What’s the fun in being guided through everything? Besides, the village is right next to the army base, so it’s definitely not dangerous.

Wei Dai had nothing more to say. After telling his aunt where he had placed her things, he left. He had intended to introduce her to the neighbors next door, but Sister Bao and the others were at the textile factory and not home.

In the evening, Wen Jiajia returned.

She came back earlier than usual today, carrying some items she had bought from Master He.

Before she even entered the house, she heard the chattering of two children in the room.

Wei Dai was the first to see her and hurried out of the kitchen to help her with the car.

Wen Jiajia said, “Oh, I don’t need your help.”

Her belly was relatively small. According to Sister Bao, it was like a belly in early May. Teacher Shen also noted that it was slightly smaller than it had been at that time.

Because of this, Wen Jiajia visited the hospital last month for a check-up, and Dr. Peng assured her everything was fine, which relieved her.

After saying this, she noticed a kind-looking woman standing at the living room door. Wen Jiajia immediately recognized her as Wei Dai’s aunt.

She smiled and said, “Hello, Aunt You’re finally here. How was your journey?”

Zhong Huisheng smiled back and said, “It was good! The journey was smooth, and everything here is great too.”

“Really? That’s a relief. It would be a problem if you weren’t comfortable living here. If you have any issues, just let us know. We’re family,” Wen Jiajia said, also smiling.

The two began chatting.

Since they were from the same hometown, there was plenty to talk about. Although Zhong Huisheng was very low-key in the village, she was aware of all the relevant gossip.

These stories alone were enough to interest Wen Jiajia, to the point where she lost her appetite for eating.

“For example, last year’s big event happened at the home of your village leader’s younger brother. Do you know his eldest son? He’s the one with the scar on his face.”

Wen Jiajia nodded, remembering.

It was hard to forget, as the scar covered a quarter of his face and was said to have been caused by burns in his childhood.

“That guy married a girl from the mountains at the end of August or the beginning of September last year. It turned out that the girl was involved with her brother!”

Wen Jiajia’s mouth dropped open in shock, “How did this come to light? His family must be in chaos, and the brothers will become enemies.”

“…I’m talking about the girl’s brother.”

Wen Jiajia’s mouth dropped even further, wide enough to fit an egg.

Even Wei Dai, who was cooking, perked up and asked quickly, “Is that true?”

“Yes! It’s said that the girl was found in a pile of straw when she returned to her parents’ home. Someone was in the sweet potato field stealing sweet potatoes that night, heard the noise, and went to investigate. It would be possible to hide if only one or two people were involved, but since a group was stealing sweet potatoes, it was impossible to keep it secret. The mountains are high and the roads are long, so the family didn’t know about it until the next day.”

Wei Dai asked, “Which family is the girl from?”

“They say she’s from the Sun family in Gaoshan Village.”

Wei Dai understood, “That family, then the girl must not be their biological child.”

Wen Jiajia asked, “How do you know?”

Gaoshan Village, true to its name, is a village in the mountains. To get there, one has to cross two mountains. It’s far from Fuyang, let alone Wei Dai’s home.

Wei Dai smiled and said, “I’ve been there before and played with the girl’s brother.”

Zhong Huisheng nodded and added, “Indeed, I heard someone say the girl was adopted. Ah! It’s tragic that the brother ruined his sister’s life.”

She continued, “There was also a rare incident in your Hegou Township. The son of your third cousin in Hetou was arrested and jailed. He stole from a neighbor’s house and accidentally set fire to it. Fortunately, his house was by the river. If it had been on the hillside, several houses might have burned down.”

It seems that in her hometown, there is always a lot of excitement. For example, in a family compound, if there’s excitement, it’s usually minor.

As she spoke, dinner was ready.

The table was set with braised fish, sweet and sour pork ribs, stir-fried mustard greens, and loofah and egg soup.