Chapter 60.2

Regardless of whether that jerk Xie Yanzhao came in or not, Xu Zhu slammed the door shut and finally felt that the whole world was quiet.

His eyes were vacant as he sat for a while, only to hear Xie Yanzhao’s voice coming from outside.

The voice was low and steady, but if you listened carefully, you could sense the smugness in it.

“This shirt I’m wearing was made by my wife herself…”

Xu Zhu: “……”

Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!

He wanted to scream and go crazy!!

He buried his whole body on the desk, hands clamped over his ears.

But Xie Yanzhao’s voice still cut through.

“My wife said this shirt…”

Xu Zhu: “……”

Help me!!!

……

Hu Wanning was sitting in Ruan Mingfu’s yard, looking like she wanted to laugh but was too scared to. After a long while, she managed to squeeze out a sentence.

“I never realized, but old Xie’s actually quite mischievous.”

Ruan Mingfu had a stony expression on her face.

That dog of a man had gone crazy these days.

He seized every opportunity to show off his shirt to anyone he could find, emphasizing that it was made by his wife herself.

Now, she has become the talk of the family compound.

She was too embarrassed to go outside.

Gu Yilin, however, was oblivious, laughing so hard she was almost in tears.

“Ha ha, this is killing me… hahaha, how can he be so amusing…”

She laughed so hard she had tears in her eyes.

Gu Yilin wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. “Oh my, it’s really too funny, hahahaha…”

Ruan Mingfu glared at her coldly, “Laugh again and I’ll starve you for three meals.”

Gu Yilin: “……”

Damn!

What a wicked plastic friend.

To avoid further aggravating her, Gu Yilin finally reined herself in.

“Sister-in-law, Old Xie and the others have a day off the day after tomorrow,” Hu Wanning brought up the main topic. “Why don’t we go to the mountains to gather firewood for a day?”

In winter, you need a lot of firewood for heating.

“Is one day enough?”

“Definitely not enough, but let’s take it slowly,” she continued. “With two big men around, it’ll save us some effort.”

It’s a matter of gradual accumulation. You can’t expect to get everything done at once.

Ruan Mingfu nodded, “How much firewood will we need to get through the whole winter here?”

If it’s too troublesome, she would rather spend money to buy it.

“At least we need to fill up the kitchen first.”

Gu Yilin was surprised, “So much?”

Ruan Mingfu’s kitchen was already large. Filling it up completely with firewood would be quite a task.

“Not just that,” Hu Wanning added, “the winters here are long. To get through the winter smoothly, we need to stock up even more. Otherwise, when the real cold sets in, it’ll be freezing enough to make you shiver.”

“Every year, the snow that falls is knee-deep.”

“Sister-in-law, is that true?” As a Southerner who had never seen knee-deep snow, Gu Yilin was very excited: “Knee-deep… that’s so deep.”

Seeing her interest, Hu Wanning added, “And it even freezes.”

“Every year, the lake surface freezes into a thick layer of ice. People can stand on it and even make big movements without it cracking.”

Gu Yilin had never heard of such things, and her eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Sister-in-law, doesn’t that sound fun?”

“Of course. During the New Year, they even hold couplet guessing games on the ice,” Hu Wanning continued enthusiastically, “and by the fifteenth day, there are ice lanterns to see.”

Gu Yilin pulled Ruan Mingfu: “I want to see; I want to see.”

It sounded so fun. It couldn’t possibly be a mistake.

Crazy Heartbeat.jpg

“I don’t have any issues,” Ruan Mingfu glanced at her, “but I don’t know if your family will let you out by the end of the year.”

Look at the timing they’re talking about.

It’s the time for family reunions. It would be strange if Gu’s parents let Gu Yilin go out.

Gu Yilin: “……”

Damn, what a disappointment.

“By the way, Sister-in-law, aren’t you planning to go back to Beijing for the New Year?”

Hu Wanning nodded.

She and Xu Zhu hadn’t been back for a year or two, and it was just right that the little chubby boy had grown up, so they’d take him back to show the elders.

“Oh?” Hu Wanning suddenly remembered, “Sister-in-law, since your parents have been rehabilitated, you could go back to Haicheng. It shouldn’t be as cold as here, so you can stay a bit longer.”

“My parents have just been rehabilitated. We don’t know how they’ll arrange things over there yet.”

“I know this!”

Seeing the two look over, Gu Yilin forced a smile.

She looked at Ruan Mingfu with sympathy. “I have some very bad news for you. Your house has been occupied.”

Ruan Mingfu: “…… I haven’t even been in the countryside for a year.”

This was truly maddening.

Although Ruan Mingfu had never lived in the Ruan family house in Haicheng, she knew from the original owner’s memories that the Ruan family home was very beautiful, a small Western-style house with gardens in the front and back, filled with flowers and plants that Mother Ruan had collected from various places.

But as soon as the movement started, everything was pulled out and replaced with simple vegetables.

Thinking about how such a beautiful small Western-style house had been vandalized, Ruan Mingfu felt quite upset.

“I’ve found out that three families have moved in,” Gu Yilin looked at her. “None of them are easy to deal with. It’s going to be tough to get your house back!”

She thought for a moment.

“Wait, since your parents have been rehabilitated, what about their jobs?”

If Father Ruan was still the steel plant director, he’d make those people move out quickly. If there were no arrangements for Father Ruan and Mother Ruan’s jobs, that would be a problem.

“They’ve been reinstated.”

Gu Yilin nodded, “That’s fine.”

Then she felt something was wrong!

“Your parents have been reinstated, but what about my parents?”

They were filling the vacancies left by Father Ruan and Mother Ruan, especially Mother Gu. The position of director at the Haicheng Supply and Marketing Cooperative had been a significant source of pride for her.

She didn’t dare think too much about it.

“I don’t know.”

Ruan Mingfu had no idea about the situation in Haicheng. Her only contact there was Gu Yilin.

“I need to make a call back and check.”

With that, Gu Yilin hurriedly ran off.

“Sister-in-law, congratulations! It looks like your family will finally be reunited.”

Though Hu Wanning’s own family background was good, it wasn’t as impressive as Ruan Mingfu’s. A steel plant director and a supply and marketing cooperative director. With only one daughter, it was clear that Ruan Mingfu had been raised in a life of luxury.

Hu Wanning felt a pang of envy.

People said she had good luck, but seeing Ruan Mingfu’s situation, she realized that Ruan Mingfu was the one truly blessed.