Chapter 29

Xu Niannian didn’t expect that the house still couldn’t be sold, and she felt a little discouraged for a moment. However, she decided to make the best of it:

“Alright, but I don’t know when I’ll be back. I’ll try to come back as soon as I can.”

The man furrowed his brows a little more:

“It’s not easy to go to the countryside. Where are you going? You can leave me a contact, and I’ll help you get back when the time comes.”

After a brief pause, he added:

“But it might take some time. It’s not realistic to bring you back right after you’ve just gone to the countryside.”

Xu Niannian smiled at him:

“It’s fine, I’ll be leaving in two or three months anyway.”

She thought to herself that the person she had met seemed quite good, and appeared capable. Since she was bound to return to the capital someday, maybe they would meet again in the future.

Xu Tianyang saw the young girl so happy and smiled too:

“How are you going to handle this?”

Xu Niannian explained:

“My fiancé has already submitted the marriage application. In two or three months, I’ll be able to join the military with him, and I won’t be in the countryside anymore.”

Xu Tianyang’s grip on the steering wheel tightened.

Xu Tianfei nearly laughed out loud. In over 20 years, he had never felt this good. It had taken so long for his brother to find someone he liked.

And now, she was about to get married.

At this moment, Zhou Min also calmed down and, hearing that she was getting married, curiously asked:

“How long have you known your fiancé before you got married? Tianfei and I have known each other since we were kids, and we just got married last week.”

The other two also perked up their ears to listen.

Xu Niannian counted:

“We’ve known each other for a long time, but we hadn’t been in contact for a while. We reconnected just a few days ago.”

In this era, it wasn’t uncommon for people to get married after just meeting once.

Xu Tianyang felt a pang of bitterness. If she went to the black market that day, and he had asked around, would things have been different?

He clenched his jaw and asked:

“Are you short of money?”

The last time she went to the black market to sell noodles, and now she was rushing into a quick marriage. Could it be that money was the reason she was selling herself?

Her military marriage certificate was official—destroying a military marriage would land her in prison.

He took a deep breath.

Xu Niannian thought the question was a good one. Was she poor? She felt that the little money in her pocket could be considered poor, but in this era, having that amount wasn’t considered poor.

So she shook her head:

“I’m not poor, but I will be richer one day.”

Xu Tianyang drove the car to a state-run restaurant. The sky was getting dark, and he knew that if he took her home now, she would be scared.

It would be better to treat her to a meal at the restaurant as a way of thanking her.

When Xu Niannian saw the restaurant, she wanted to refuse. Zhou Min excitedly grabbed her hand:

“If it weren’t for you, I would have been dragged away today. Thanks to you, just have a meal with us. You wouldn’t really turn down a meal, would you?”

Xu Niannian had no choice but to follow them in. She sat on the same side as Zhou Min, while Xu Tianyang sat across from them.

At the dinner table, Xu Tianyang asked about the house and her family situation. His main goal was to gauge how much her family meant to her.

Then, he took out a pen and paper and wrote a three-year lease agreement.

He made two copies, both of them signed, and used the restaurant’s seal for it.

When Xu Tianyang reached for the money to give her, she quickly declined:

“I’m asking you for help, how could I take your money?”

This house wouldn’t be easy to sell to someone else, and people wouldn’t want to take on a property with so many issues.

By leaving it with Xu Tianyang, the house would be safe, and she would feel better.

But Xu Tianyang would need to expend some effort to get them out.

Seeing she wouldn’t accept the money, Xu Tianyang didn’t insist:

“I’ll take you to the train station tomorrow, there’s a car passing by.”

Xu Niannian looked at him in surprise. She felt deeply grateful for him handling the house issue for her.

Now he was even offering to take her to the train station. Wasn’t he being too kind?

“It’s okay, my fiancé will pick me up tomorrow. Could you instead take me to the steel factory? I’m going to visit a relative before I leave.”

Xu Niannian looked at the time—it was already almost eight. The steel factory’s dormitory area was still a bit far, and she needed some time.

Just as she was about to leave, Xu Tianyang stood up naturally, offering to take her there.

The drive was silent. Xu Tianyang drove smoothly, delivering her to the steel factory’s dormitory area. He waited until she went inside before turning the car around.

Zhou Min secretly poked Xu Tianfei in the waist from behind.

Xu Tianfei smiled:

“Brother, she’s not married yet, right? If you like her, go for it. You still have a chance.”

Xu Tianyang coldly replied:

“Get lost.”

He started the car.

Xu Niannian didn’t expect the steel factory gate to close so early at night, leaving only a small door open.

When a man saw a pretty girl standing outside alone at night, he found it a little strange:

“What are you doing?”

Xu Niannian immediately applied some chili water near her eyes, making tears appear:

“Brother, I had an argument with my family. I came to find my aunt, Wang Aixia, at XX building, XX unit, XX number.”

The security guard recognized the name, as their family had been having people come by every day recently, so it wasn’t unusual.

“Come, you can sign here.”

Xu Niannian quickly signed the name Ye Xiaohua and walked inside.

Taking advantage of the night, she hurried to the security desk, checked if anyone was around, and then peered inside. Seeing no one, she quickly entered and was immediately overwhelmed by dust inside.

“Ugh,” she muttered, grabbing some mature wheat straw from her space and laying it on the floor.

She then placed the prepared rice and flour on top, labeling them with their weight and price.

She entered her space and noticed that some plants she planted yesterday had grown to waist height.

After a while, she found the apple tree. She remembered eating its fruit in her past life but hadn’t paid attention to what the tree looked like.

She thought for a moment and finally spotted it.

While waiting for Aunt Wang, she continued watering the apple tree with spiritual spring water. In this era, fruit was rare, and apples were highly valued.

After about half an hour, the tree began to bloom, and the buds slowly opened, turning into blossoms. Eventually, green apples began to form, growing bigger and ripening.

Xu Niannian picked two apples, ready to taste them.

Just then, a noise broke the silence of the night, making a loud sound.

Aunt Wang punched Old Wang on the back:

“What are you doing?”

Old Wang rubbed his foot, unsure what he had just kicked. It was his first time doing something like this, and it felt like they were sneaking around.

He cautiously opened the door, and under the moonlight, saw that no one was inside.

Old Wang held Aunt Wang back:

“Let me go in. You stay outside and watch. If anything feels off, run.”

Aunt Wang stopped in her tracks, feeling that she had seen enough in her life to trust him.