Aunt Gu later found out that it was Jiang Ning who rode his bike to take Tongtong to school those days.
So she was busy in the countryside until today, and finally rushed back.
Now seeing his own girl staying obediently beside Jiang Ning, he felt that it was pretty good for a moment.
Ever since she rented a house to Jiang Ning, she felt that the child was honest and polite, but he looked a little weak. But who would have thought that after not seeing him for a few days, he had grown a lot and looked more energetic.
"Jiang Ning, please wait a moment. There is still one dish left to cook." She told Tongtong yesterday and asked her to call Jiang Ning to come for dinner.
Jiang Ning did not refuse and said politely, "Thank you for your help, Auntie."
"No trouble, no trouble."
Xue Yuantong watched the two of them chatting and interrupted:
"Mom, stop chatting and go cook. I'm starving."
Aunt Gu glared at Xue Yuantong, but Xue Yuantong was not afraid at all. He pulled Jiang Ning to wash his hands, then pulled Jiang Ning to the main room and made him sit on a small stool next to the folding table.
Xue Yuantong cut a plate of watermelon and sat at the table chatting with Jiang Ning.
"It's so cool? Did you notice?" Xue Yuantong asked curiously.
Jiang Ning nodded: "It is indeed very cool."
He mobilized his spiritual power to cool down the surroundings. He would not be stingy with that bit of spiritual power towards Xue Yuantong. He quite liked this quirky girl who laughed all day long.
"Hmm, maybe it's because of the shade of the tree." Xue Yuantong thought.
There are many trees planted near this row of bungalows, providing shade so that the temperature in the bungalows does not rise too high. Although it is still hot in the summer, it is still possible to get through it with an electric fan.
Her living conditions are average and her mother is the only one who can earn money. These days it costs several thousand yuan to install an air conditioner and electricity is expensive, so her family does not have an air conditioner and every summer is spent in misery.
Jiang Ning smiled. This year was indeed not that hot. Unlike one year in the future, the temperature in the whole country rose sharply. It was unbearable to live without air conditioning in the summer. Some people even had to turn on the air conditioner for the whole night to fall asleep.
"It's so cool!" Xue Yuantong took a bite of the watermelon and shook the bottle of Orange Fruit. Just as she was about to screw the lid on, Jiang Ning said, "Let me do it."
"No, I can do it." Xue Yuantong twisted it with all his strength and opened it.
She said proudly: "I am a female man, it's just a bottle cap, it's easy."
"Great, great." Jiang Ning praised her kindly, as if he was praising a child.
Xue Yuantong snorted: "Eat melons, eat melons. My mother brought them back from the countryside. My grandfather used the seeds to grow the melons himself. They are very sweet. I'll grab two for you to eat slowly later."
As she spoke, she looked at Jiang Ning expectantly, hoping that he would taste it.
Jiang Ning took a bite and found it was indeed very sweet, slightly better than the melons sold on the street. However, it was much worse than the spiritual fruits he had eaten in the world of immortal cultivation. But he still ate it happily and ate several pieces in front of Xue Yuantong. He was happier than eating those spiritual fruits.
Whether something tastes good or not sometimes depends more on who you eat it with.
Jiang Ning is a left-behind child. His parents only come back home during the Chinese New Year, and then stay for less than twenty days before going to work in coastal areas.
He was left alone at home. His grandparents died early, so he had to buy three meals a day. He was relatively safe in the village, as some neighbors and relatives looked after him from time to time.
Jiang Ning used to resent his parents, but as he grew up, he gradually understood.
Anhui Province is backward. If we stayed in our hometown, people like my parents who have little education would either farm and earn less than 10,000 yuan a year, or go into business.
Because the wages in local factories are not high, much lower than those in coastal areas, if we go there, two people can save 70,000 to 80,000 yuan a year, and buy a house and a car for the children in the future.
Therefore, in Jiang Ning's village, most of the adult men went out to work. Many of those who were the same age as Jiang Ning did not even finish junior high school and followed their parents to other places.
Jiang Ning had been eating alone for these years. After graduating from university, he wandered around in society, still eating alone. To be honest, it was very boring.
He prefers to eat with his family and chat about family matters while eating, but such opportunities are rare and living in society, one is always forced to do things against one's will.
Now sitting in Xue Yuantong's house, chatting with Xue Yuantong and eating, he hasn't felt this relaxed for a long time. Although he was also at his uncle's house a few days ago, he always felt that there was an invisible barrier between him and his uncle's family.
Even though he has done many times better in this life than in his previous one, those memories are forever buried deep in his heart. Although cultivators have means that are almost like those of immortals, they are still human after all.
On the contrary, he felt unusually relaxed now that he was with Xue Yuantong.
Xue Yuantong smiled brightly. When Jiang Ning praised her melon, she felt like her bones were relaxed.
Aunt Gu came over with the pot, the aroma filled the air, making people drool.
Xue Yuantong stood up, put his hands on his waist, and excitedly introduced Jiang Ning:
"Look, this is the chicken my mother brought from the village. It's fresh chicken, cooked with dried beans in a clay pot over a firewood fire. Look at how my mother is sweating from the heat, and you'll know how delicious this chicken is!"
"There will also be some unleavened bread dipped in soup later. The taste is so delicious that I guarantee that once you have one bite, you will want to come to my house for free meals every day!"
"You are enjoying yourself today, hahaha."
Aunt Gu looked at her own girl and couldn't understand why she gave birth to such a fool.
Jiang Ning took the pot and placed it on the table. At the same time, he activated his spiritual power and a cool feeling spread out.
"The main room is so cool!" Aunt Gu said in surprise.
"I noticed a long time ago that it's particularly cool today!" Xue Yuantong agreed.
Aunt Gu served the dishes one by one. In addition to the clay pot chicken, there were two other dishes, one was roasted edamame, the other was cold-mixed tomatoes, and the watermelon cut by Xue Yuantong, which barely counted as four dishes.
"The dishes today are relatively simple, Jiang Ning, please don't dislike it." Aunt Gu said embarrassedly.
"It's already very rich." Jiang Ning said.
Aunt Gu brought over an electric rice cooker with mung bean soup in it. A bowl of it in summer can quench your thirst and cool you down.
"Eat, eat." Xue Yuantong stretched out his hand to grab a piece of cake, then felt burned. He immediately retracted his claws with a resentful expression.
Jiang Ning was so amused that he couldn't help laughing.
Aunt Gu picked up a piece of cake for Jiang Ning and put it on his bowl.
The pancake is cooked with the local chicken, with soup pouring over a small half of it and the other half remaining crispy.
Jiang Ning took a bite and praised, "Auntie's cooking skills are really good."
Xue Yuantong's face was full of pride, as if he was proud of it.
"If it tastes good, eat more. I see you've grown a lot taller. Now is the time when you need nutrition. You need to keep up so that you can grow taller." Aunt Gu said.
Jiang Ning looked like he was learning a lesson.
Xue Yuantong felt sad when she heard this. She felt that if she continued listening, she would drool with jealousy, so she took the initiative to change the subject:
"Mom, how did you get home today? Did you take a car?"
Aunt Gu nodded: "Yes, I changed buses twice, but there weren't many people."
Xue Yuantong felt a little sad when he thought about how hard it must have been for his mother to carry so many things and change trains along the way.
But she had no choice.