Jiang Ning ignored Xue Yuantong.
Xue Yuantong didn't care: "Does what you like the same as what I like?"
Jiang Ning said: "I'm too lazy to choose."
While talking, Xue Yuantong moved to the back seat. She moved very carefully for fear of bumping the cake and coconut milk jelly.
"Let's go back to the palace!" Xue Yuantong patted the seat.
Jiang Ning didn't move.
"What are you standing there for? Go away." She said impudently, "I'm going home to cook!"
Jiang Ning starts the mountain bike.
At lunch time, Aunt Gu was still working in the company, and it was a busy time.
After Jiang Ning got home, he found a stool and sat in the kitchen, watching Xue Yuantong wash vegetables and cook.
Perhaps because he bought the cake, Xue Yuantong cooked exceptionally fast today. There were two dishes in total, fried fish with garlic chives and home-cooked stir-fried pork.
The staple food was steamed buns made by Xue Yuantong. Although Jiang Ning still had spiritual rice in his hand, he did not take it out.
He was worried that Xue Yuantong had eaten too much and would not be able to adapt to eating rice as usual, so he just wanted to eat it occasionally.
This time we are just trying to grow spiritual rice, and the quantity is small. When the next batch matures, the spiritual rice will be used as a daily staple food.
Pumpkin rice soup, served with small cakes and coconut milk jelly, makes a very sumptuous lunch.
Even after the meal was ready, Jiang Ning still didn't move. He waited the whole time for Xue Yuantong to serve the rice and then put the quick snack to his mouth.
Jiang Ning's behavior would be condemned anywhere.
In his previous life, Jiang Ning lived with his uncle. His parents gave his uncle 1,000 yuan a month for living expenses. Jiang Ning helped with cooking, washed pots and dishes, and mopped the floor, otherwise he would easily be scolded by his aunt.
Perhaps staying in someone else's home was a matter of course, but Shen Qing'e, who was also staying there, did not have to do anything.
He had just come from the countryside, a teenager of fifteen or sixteen years old, his mind was not mature yet. In that environment, he had never considered living outside and could only obey the orders.
"It's time to eat, Jiang Ning!" Xue Yuantong called.
Jiang Ning just came back to his senses. He smiled and stopped thinking about the past.
"Okay, got it."
Xue Yuantong picked up the garlic shoots and took two bites. His lively eyes glanced at the cake and coconut milk jelly on the corner of the table from time to time.
She took a sip of the pumpkin soup, which tasted slightly sweet.
"Jiang Ning, don't you want to eat cake?"
Jiang Ning glanced at her: "Do you want to eat?"
After hearing this, Xue Yuantong reacted violently, like a cat whose tail was stepped on:
"I won't eat, I'll just ask."
What a good question.
Jiang Ning said slowly: "Help me get a spoon."
Xue Yuantong: "There is a spoon and a fork in the cake."
Jiang Ning said in an unquestionable tone: "Are you teaching me how to do things?"
Xue Yuantong was furious. Do you think you can be so arrogant just by relying on an insignificant cake
Who gave you the confidence to provoke me? Doesn’t Tongtong have any face
"Go get it quickly, don't waste time." Jiang Ning said.
Face cannot be eaten, but bread can be eaten.
When you are under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. Xue Yuantong obediently brought a spoon for Jiang Ning.
Jiang Ning untied the bag and took out the paper box containing the cake. He moved his fingers and the spoon spun in a fancy way, which surprised Xue Yuantong's little face.
'Wow, even spinning a spoon looks so cool!'
If she could turn into this, it would definitely shock her mother and Xue Chuchu!
Unfortunately, Xue Yuantong was unwilling to learn such a simple technique.
Jiang Ning moved his fingers, and the spoon fell like a sharp knife, falling towards the cake, and with a light stroke, it cut the cake into two halves.
He dug out a piece and put it in his mouth to taste it.
Xue Yuantong was getting anxious because Jiang Ning had clearly cut it in half but refused to give her any!
Xue Yuantong seems unruly on the surface, but she is very principled. Her mother's education since childhood has made her know her limits.
If Jiang Ning didn't decide to give it to her, she would rarely take action.
Jiang Ning slowly admired Xue Yuantong's demeanor. It must be said that her hesitant look was indeed pleasing to the eye.
The more Jiang Ning refused to give it to her, the more Xue Yuantong wanted it.
After a while, her resentful look seemed to be melted away by Jiang Ning.
At this time, Jiang Ning pointed at half a piece of strawberry cake:
"Look at what I do, this half is yours."
Xue Yuantong was so happy that she wanted to pounce on the cake and eat it. However, she remained reserved on the surface:
"Tsk, I told you that you definitely can't finish it. There's really nothing I can do. I'll just reluctantly share some of the burden with you."
She maintained her composure, pretended to be normal, and took the cake.
In addition to the cake, there was also coconut milk jelly. Jiang Ning didn't tease her anymore.
Once a day, no more, no less.
After Xue Yuantong fulfilled his little wish, he began to talk to Jiang Ning:
"Jiang Ning, are you going out to work tomorrow?"
"I'm not going out." The last time I went on a long journey, I found some of the materials for the flying sword. As for the remaining materials, I can just wait for notification from Shao Shuangshuang.
Xue Yuantong sighed and said, "I'm going out tomorrow."
Jiang Ning knew it in advance with his spiritual sense, but he still listened to her:
"A neighbor in the village is sick and has just been discharged from the hospital. She was very kind to our family and helped us a lot. My mother plans to go home to see her."
"My mother told me before that she would work overtime on the weekends, but the company happened to be very busy these two days, so she didn't plan to work overtime and wanted to go home to visit the neighbors."
Xue Yuantong: "I thought about it and told my mother that she would continue to work and I would go back to her hometown to visit the neighbors on her behalf. Hehe, Jiang Ning, am I awesome?"
She is already able to take charge of the household, and she can completely take care of things like going out and appearing in public.
“Great, great.”
"Of course. In the past, when I missed my grandparents, I would go home by myself!" Xue Yuantong said proudly.
She was still a junior high school student at that time. Her mother did not have holidays on Saturdays and Sundays, so she took the bus back to the village by herself and was not afraid at all.
"Okay, then you go home." Jiang Ning said.
"Oh." Xue Yuantong responded sullenly and continued eating.
After a while, she asked, "I'm going home, how are you going to eat lunch?"
Jiang Ning said, “Just do something.”
Xue Yuantong was conflicted. She was the one who took care of Jiang Ning's three meals a day. What if she left home and Jiang Ning had nothing to eat
She believes she has a responsibility.
When they were almost done eating, Xue Yuantong asked tentatively, "Will you come back to the village with me tomorrow?"
Jiang Ning didn't hesitate: "Okay."
Xue Yuantong was stunned: "Agreed?"
Jiang Ning: "What else?"
…
The last class is Friday afternoon.
Gao Heshuai not only did not stay late, but disappeared five minutes early.
As soon as the bell rang, Shan Kaiquan stood up and shouted to the back row:
"Kunnan, let's go to the playground together!"
He didn't lower his voice, and even though the get out of class had just ended and the classroom was in chaos, many classmates around could still hear him.
Shan Kaiquan glanced at Bai Yuxia inadvertently, and sure enough, Bai Yuxia looked over at him.
Guo Kunnan responded: "Coming, coming!"
Shan Kaiquan shouted, "I'm not going home today. Go to the playground and run a hundred meters. You help me time it!"
Recently, Shan Kaiquan has put in 120% of his strength to prepare for the sports meeting. He followed the online tutorials, standardized his running movements, and went exercising whenever he had free time every day.
Not only running, but also squats and push-ups.
In addition, he drinks two boxes of pure milk and three eggs every day, and eats his meals at the restaurant at the school gate.
All for the medals of the sports meet.
Guo Kunnan said: "Okay!"
Shan Kaiquan: "Practice him!"
After listening to this, Dong Qingfeng felt that Shan Kaiquan was too pretentious, just like those students who liked to pretend to study. He pretended to work hard every day, punched in to study, came earlier than the chickens and left later than the dogs, but his true colors were revealed when it came to the exams.
Dong Qingfeng praised: "You work so hard, you will definitely win a prize, right?"
This trick is called flattery, which Dong Qingfeng learned from Chen Qian. Unfortunately, Chen Qian has been reading and studying every day recently and rarely chats with him and Wang Yong.
Shan Kaiquan didn't hear the hidden meaning in Dong Qingfeng's words, he just thought that Dong Qingfeng was really praising him. At this time, Bai Yuxia hadn't left yet, and many classmates were watching around. How many young people wouldn't be arrogant
Shan Kaiquan boasted: "My goal is simple, just get into the top three."
Dong Qingfeng saw that he had taken the bait and praised him in front of the whole class:
"You can do it. You must win the award. Show me the medal when the time comes!"
After making the statement, Dong Qingfeng was satisfied. His classmates heard it, and if Shan Kaiquan didn't win the award, he would bring up these words again.
Let Shan Kaiquan always go against him, this time he is just bringing humiliation upon himself.
With this thought in mind, Dong Qingfeng left happily.
Shan Kaiquan was equally happy, and he showed off in front of the whole class.
…
Saturday.
Xue Yuantong woke up early, which was unusual for her. She rubbed her eyes and ran to the next door to knock on the door before washing up.
"Jiang Ning, get up quickly, or you will miss the bus."
It's only half past five and the sky is just beginning to brighten.
Jiang Ning didn't want to get up, but Xue Yuantong kept urging him.
After breakfast, it was half past six.
Xue Yuantong carried his small schoolbag, carefully checked the power switches at home, and locked the door.
Jiang Ning took Xue Yuantong to the bus station on a bike.
Xue Yuantong's hometown is located in Xinhong County, 50 kilometers away from Yuzhou City. People who usually travel there choose to take intercity buses, with a fare of 10 yuan.
If you are willing to spend money, you can take a taxi. The price of a shared taxi is around 20 to 40 yuan. If you charter a car, it will be more expensive, costing 80 yuan.
Although it is only half past six, there are quite a lot of people in the river dam, most of them are elderly people running and exercising.
Under Xue Yuantong's command, Jiang Ning rode his bike, overtaking one runner after another.
There was a little boy who was exercising with his father. He seemed unconvinced and started racing with Jiang Ning on his mountain bike.
Jiang Ning deliberately maintained a just right driving speed, hanging on to the child. Xue Yuantong changed his face and mocked him from behind, causing the child to run almost to death.
Jiang Ning stepped on the pedal slightly and completely widened the distance.
The bus station is 5 kilometers away from the river dam. There are few people and cars in the city in the morning. It took Jiang Ning just over 10 minutes to ride to the destination.
He found a place to park, locked his mountain bike, and left a spiritual mark on it.
After buying the ticket, Jiang Ning and Xue Yuantong entered the waiting hall.
Walk all the way to the window with 'Xinhong County' written on it.
Xue Yuantong found two empty chairs, wiped them clean with tissues, and sat down with Jiang Ning.
The waiting hall is very spacious, with large floor tiles showing stains.
Xue Yuantong seemed a little reserved, with his legs together, looking around.
She suddenly asked: "Jiang Ning, are you cold?"
“It’s not cold.”
"Oh, I'm not cold either." Xue Yuantong was dressed simply today, wearing an avocado-colored sweatshirt on top, slightly loose jeans on the bottom, and white sneakers on the feet.
While waiting for the departure, more and more passengers gathered at the Xinhong County window, forming a long queue.
Xue Yuantong and Jiang Ning arrived early and were in the front of the line.
Until the window barriers opened, people filed in and boarded the intercity bus.
Xue Yuantong chose a seat in the second to last row. She sat next to the window, and Jiang Ning sat next to her to protect her.
Xue Yuantong's lips curled up. In the past, when she rode alone in a car, she was most worried about the strange passengers sitting next to her.
Sometimes when he met some particularly big aunts or uncles, Xue Yuantong would silently shrink towards the window, for fear of being touched or touching others.
It's much better now. With Jiang Ning by her side, she doesn't have to be so cautious.
"That's great." Xue Yuantong sighed in his heart. It's so safe.
The experience of riding a car is completely different from before!
She looked out the car window and saw a bus next door parked in the parking lot heading to Guyang County. She remembered that Jiang Ning's hometown was in Guyang County.
There were more and more passengers in the car, including many middle school students of about their age, some of whom were carrying suitcases.
In the end, the bus was full.
Some passengers stood holding the handrails, making the environment inside the car noisy.
A few middle-aged men and women in the back row seemed to be together, chatting and laughing with their mouths wide open.
Before the bus started, Xue Yuantong took out his headphones and gave half to Jiang Ning:
"promise."
Jiang Ning snapped his fingers lightly, and the surrounding noise gradually decreased without attracting Xue Yuantong's attention.
The intercity bus started and slowly drove out of the bus station.
Xue Yuantong straightened up and looked around excitedly. She didn't even know what she was wondering about.
She noticed that across the street, there was a young couple sitting very close to each other, each wearing headphones.
Xue Yuantong unconsciously moved closer to Jiang Ning and stuck to him with his body.
The intercity bus took a full hour and twenty minutes to reach Xinhong County Bus Station, a distance of 50 kilometers.
Xue Yuantong's hometown is in Humiao Town, Xinhong County. After getting off the intercity bus, he needs to transfer to another bus.
This stretch of road is a full thirty kilometers.
Jiang Ning looked up at the sun to check the current time. Even though they got up very early, it was already half past eight.
Xue Yuantong pulled him: "Follow me, I know where to wait for the bus!"
She brought Jiang Ning to a platform in the county town. In the past two years, Xinhong County has vigorously carried out demolition and reconstruction, and the platform has just been built and is brand new and spacious.
An old man carrying a snakeskin bag, a woman carrying a red plastic bag, a middle-aged man smoking, and a student with a backpack were standing and waiting for the bus.
From time to time a black car drove by, shouting to solicit passengers.
Jiang Ning also met the driver who asked questions, and Xue Yuantong rejected all of them.
Xue Yuantong is young and has little experience, but she knows how to avoid danger and always takes the bus when traveling alone.
Aunt Gu told her that there are all kinds of drivers driving illegal taxis in rural areas. Some of them buy a second-hand car and start picking up private passengers.
When you go out, you should always be on guard against others.
Even though Jiang Ning was by his side, Xue Yuantong was unwilling to take any risks.
Xue Yuantong held Jiang Ning's wrist with her small hand and stood quietly.
She looked across the platform, where there was a red advertising wall and inside was a construction site.
In the sky, a huge tower crane starts moving.
Xue Yuantong knew that another building was being built.
Every time she goes back to her hometown, she can always feel tremendous changes and realize that the times are moving forward.
Xue Yuantong felt inexplicably confused about this change.
Sometimes, she would think about the distant future. What will her future be like
Let's grow up together with Jiang Ning
Since when did she start thinking about the future and including Jiang Ning in her thoughts
Xue Yuantong recalled fragments of past scenes.
Before we knew it, the bus from Xinhong County to Humiao Town arrived.
The ticket seller grabbed the door and yelled at the top of her voice: "Hu Miao, Hu Miao."
Xue Yuantong's thoughts returned.
The people around picked up their luggage and moved towards the door.
She took Jiang Ning's wrist, looked at the people rushing to get on the bus, and smiled:
"The car is here, let's go."