Chapter 20

“En,” Zhan Xinyue nodded, then asked, “Don’t you think I’m crazy? There are many people who look alike, I just have similar eyes to Guagua’s mom.”

Sheng Tunan shook his head, analyzing, “No, Guagua’s mom wears long clothes and long pants even in hot weather. It’s just the beginning of summer today, she couldn’t be hot. And she’s clearly different today, she seems very nervous.”

“Yes, I wouldn’t have thought about it either, but I noticed she was uncomfortable when she saw me, and Guagua’s eyes are also very similar to mine.”

Almond-shaped eyes are not a common eye shape, less than five percent of people have them. Moreover, Li Yucheng, Zhan Xinyue, and Dongfang Xiaoching all have black and bright pupils, they are almost identical.

[The little fairy in the Zhang Weijian version of “Little Fish” has standard almond-shaped eyes! Guan Zhilin, Zhao Liying, Jia Jingwen, and Yang Chaoyue all have almond-shaped eyes. Almond-shaped eyes tend to make people look younger.]

“But it’s just a guess. Maybe Guagua’s mom is just suddenly feeling unwell.”

Zhan Xinyue’s eyes were calm, “I don’t have any intention of searching for my family. In my previous life, I was alone, and when I was struggling, they never appeared, they never looked for me. In this life, even if she’s my biological mother, I won’t go find her, and I won’t recognize her.”

When she needed family before, they weren’t there. She had gotten used to being alone, and she didn’t need them to appear anymore.

“In this life, you have me, I will always be with you.” Sheng Tunan’s voice was firm and powerful.

“En.” Zhan Xinyue’s eyes curved slightly. Being used to being alone didn’t mean she liked being alone. It was nice to have someone to accompany her.

The commune wasn’t far from Chang Hong Brigade. This time, they drove normally, and they arrived at Sheng’s house soon.

It was a unique two-story wooden house. Sheng Ye Ye was a carpenter, and he had built this house himself. It was sturdy and beautiful, and there was a small courtyard. The pillars of the courtyard gate were carved with auspicious patterns.

Flowers were planted around the courtyard, hydrangeas and gardenias vying for attention, the breeze blew, and the fragrance was intoxicating.

Sheng Tunan drove the car into the center of the courtyard. Zhan Xinyue got out of the car, holding the rice noodles.

Hearing the sound of the car, Grandma Sheng came out from the house, fumbling her way. When she was young, she often made and sold shoes to earn money, and her eyes had been overworked. Now that she was old, her eyes were bad, but she wasn’t completely blind, she could see some outlines.

“Is that Nan Nan back?” Grandma Sheng leaned against the door frame, her eyes unfocused as she looked around.

“Grandma, it’s me, I brought your granddaughter-in-law back.” Sheng Tunan walked over and held the old woman’s hand.

“Is it Xinyue?” Grandma Sheng held Zhan Xinyue’s other hand, saying “good” three times in a row.

“It’s good that it’s Xinyue. Before, they said Hongyan was going to marry in, I wasn’t very happy about it.”

If it weren’t for the fact that Sheng Tunan had heard that Zhan Xinyue was already engaged, and because he felt that it was inconvenient for the old lady to be at home alone, and the Zhan family had brought a handwritten letter from his grandfather, saying that it was his grandfather’s wish, Sheng Tunan would have married Zhan Hongyan in his previous life.

“Grandma, it’s me. I brought you some pork bone rice noodles. Eat them while they’re hot.” Zhan Xinyue helped the old lady sit down and put the rice noodles on the table.

Sheng Tunan went to the kitchen to find chopsticks, washed them, and then gave them to Grandma Sheng.

The old lady was used to eating only two meals a day. It was only a little past ten in the morning, and she hadn’t eaten yet, so she was a little hungry. But she didn’t start eating right away, she had to have Sheng Tunan get another pair of chopsticks and share the meat with Zhan Xinyue.

Grandma Sheng thought that meat was a good thing, and she didn’t get to eat it often, so she wanted to give it to the younger generation.

“Grandma, Tunan and I have already eaten, our stomachs are full now. You eat it, it’ll be cold if you don’t eat it, it won’t taste as good.” Zhan Xinyue persuaded her, putting the chopsticks in Grandma Sheng’s hand.

Hearing that they had already eaten, Grandma Sheng finally picked up her chopsticks.

While the old lady was eating, Sheng Tunan went to the kitchen to boil some water, brewed some tea that Grandma Sheng had roasted herself, and put it in a white porcelain teapot to cool.

The old lady ate slowly, so Sheng Tunan took Zhan Xinyue upstairs, took out the blankets, pillows, sheets, and quilts from the closet, and spread them out in the courtyard to air.

“Xinyue, let’s go to the commune again and buy you some clothes to change into. You can wear them for now, and we’ll take you to the city to buy some nice ones later when we have time.”

The clothes in the commune supply and marketing cooperative weren’t fashionable enough, of course, they couldn’t compare to those in the department store.

“Okay.” Zhan Xinyue’s previous clothes were all patched up. Except for two sets of underwear that she wore close to her body, Zhan Xinyue had put them on beforehand, and she didn’t bring any other clothes with her.

The two of them waited for the old lady to finish her noodles, cleaned up the table, and then went out.

To get to the commune from Sheng’s house, you had to pass by the Zhan family. As the car drove near the Zhan family’s house, they saw Zhan Ai Guo, who had just returned from the county, chasing Chen Ju Xiang with a flat stick.

“You shameless woman, you dare to sleep with another man, I’m going to beat you to death today.”

Zhan Ai Guo chased after her furiously, Chen Ju Xiang ran ahead in a panic.

“It wasn’t me, I didn’t, don’t hit me, it was…”

Chen Ju Xiang was chased to the edge of the pond, with nowhere to escape. She was afraid of the flat stick hitting her, she didn’t want to endure that kind of pain again. Just as she was about to say that it was Zhan Hongyan who slept with the brigade leader, she was covered by Zhan Hongyan’s hand.

“Mom, don’t talk nonsense.” Zhan Hongyan whispered, but her tone was cold and stern. After warning Chen Ju Xiang, she stood up and said to Zhan Ai Guo, who was holding the flat stick, “Dad, don’t air our dirty laundry. Let’s go back to the house and talk.”

“The whole brigade knows, what’s the point of talking about it now?”

Zhan Ai Guo threw the flat stick aside, sat down on the road in despair, spat on his palm, rubbed it, and slapped his own black, thin, and old face, “I’ve lost all face in the commune.”

He had a son who was studying in the county, which was quite a glorious thing. Zhan Ai Guo was the kind of person who loved to show off his son.

This morning, when he came back from the county and passed by the commune, he saw someone from the brigade. He was about to walk over and brag about how excellent his son was, that he could even get into a high school in the county, but before he could speak, the person looked at him as if he were a joke, trying to hold back his laughter, pretending to be sympathetic and understanding, but in fact, he was gloating, saying,

“Ai Guo, your wife was slept with by the brigade leader. He said it was forced, but I think your wife seemed to enjoy it. You should go back and have a look. Hey, you should buy some abortion pills to take back. What if your wife, an old woman, can still have children, and she gets pregnant with a wild child and gives birth to it, are you going to keep it or not?”