Wang Jingjing's Home

After a bumpy ride in a three-wheeled vehicle, Li Yang and Yue Xiaodan finally arrived at her home—a remote small mountain village in Luoning County. Standing at the entrance to the dirt road, Li Yang looked around. The place was indescribably quiet and desolate. He had never lived in such an environment growing up, and the sight stirred him deeply.

There was none of the warmth he had imagined. Only Yue Xiaodan's father came out to greet this future son-in-law who had arrived for the first time, and even then, he was merely polite.

Xiaodan's father was a middle-aged man in his forties. His usual outfit was a set of shabby work clothes so worn that their original color could no longer be seen. He had started out as a bricklayer and traveled all over the country when he was young, earning quite a bit of money, all of which he handed over to Xiaodan's mother for safekeeping. Her mother had never worked a single day in her life. After getting married, she stayed home farming, raising children, and caring for her in-laws.

Xiaodan's father had only one brother among his siblings; the rest were all sisters. Naturally, her grandparents lived with her parents. When she was younger, Xiaodan's mother had suffered greatly under her overbearing mother-in-law. It had also, invisibly, warped her mind, and her preference for sons over daughters gradually became more extreme than most people could accept.

Yue Xiaodan became one of her preferred targets for taking out her resentment.

"Mom, Dad, I brought my boyfriend home!" Xiaodan rarely returned home herself. She both loved and hated the place where she had grown up. From her school days to the time she entered society, every trip home had been filled with painful memories. Even thinking about them made it feel as though they had happened yesterday. It had truly been too hard.

Fortunately, after waiting and hoping for so long, she had finally ended up with the boy she loved. Yue Xiaodan had never expected Li Yang to prepare luxury cars or a grand villa for her. She did not even care whether there was a bride price or not. As long as the tragedy did not repeat itself, and her children would not be trapped in these poor, backward mountains like she had been, that was enough.

The convenient transportation near Li Yang's home was the greatest comfort in her heart.

"Hello, Uncle and Auntie. My name is Li Yang. I'm Xiaodan's boyfriend!"

Li Yang kept a low profile, looking honest and simple. Yet his outfit and the worldly air he could not hide made him seem unlike the boys in the village, with their clear yet vacant eyes.

Li Yang had mixed with the wrong crowd before. Though it had not been for long, it had still exposed him to all kinds of powerful people and intimidating situations. Blades and violence were not unfamiliar to him either. At critical moments, it had taught him how to make timely choices and assess situations.

Some things simply could not be faked or imitated.

Watching Li Yang handle her family flawlessly with such practiced social ease, Yue Xiaodan smiled without realizing it. She had never expected that Li Yang, who acted like an immature boy whenever he was with her, would make her feel both unfamiliar and proud at that moment. Her judgment really had been good.

"What are you grinning at?"

Li Yang quietly took her hand, interrupting all the thoughts running through Yue Xiaodan's mind. Only then did she look around and remember that she had come home today.

After exchanging a few polite words, her mother did not speak much more with Li Yang. It was nearly noon, so she began getting busy preparing lunch.

Xiaodan went in to help for a while, but her father soon sent her back out to keep Li Yang company. Her father cooked while her mother assisted him. A few days after Yue Xiaodan's strong and domineering grandmother died, her mother seemed to feel as though she had lived to see liberation. Ordinary people truly could not understand that state of mind.

Later, her mother simply decided that her grandfather would rotate between the homes of his four daughters, and their family would no longer be responsible for the old man. After a period of deadlock, her mother finally got her way.

At last, she became the head of the household she had dreamed of being.

It was hard to imagine how the smile on her face must have never faded when she slept that night.

"Hubby, do you think my family is strange?"

Yue Xiaodan held Li Yang's hand as they walked along a secluded path in the mountain village. Cornfields surrounded them, a lush and beautiful sea of green.

"Not at all. Isn't my wife beautiful and sensible?"

After hearing that, Yue Xiaodan did not know how to repay Li Yang for his warmth and consideration.

So she could only use a passionate kiss to express how deeply she loved him. She had already looked around. It was midday, and there was not even a shadow of a person nearby. No one would come by, which was why Xiaodan dared to take the initiative so boldly.

Set aflame by Xiaodan's hot, delicate body, Li Yang mischievously lifted her light body in his arms and carried her into the cornfield beside the path...

Their kiss never broke. Knowing what would happen next, Yue Xiaodan's kisses became even more passionate and wild. She was clearly looking forward to Li Yang doing that to her as well...

So their clothes would not get dirty, Li Yang did not let Yue Xiaodan lie on the ground. Wearing a dress, Yue Xiaodan obediently cooperated with him...

This passion was an experience the two had never had in all the time they had been together. Yue Xiaodan felt completely relaxed, body and soul.

"Hubby, I love you!"

Her face flushed red, Yue Xiaodan lay against Li Yang's chest with her eyes closed, lost in thought.

Fortunately, Yue Xiaodan had brought her bag with her when they came out, which made things convenient afterward. Leaving behind a mess of tissues, the two exchanged a smile, held hands, and left.

When they got home, the meal was ready: four dishes, steamed buns, and porridge. It was the usual fare rural people served guests.

Li Yang did not think much of it. He did not care about such formalities. As long as people were sincere, that mattered more than anything.

That was also Li Yang's best interpretation of human nature over the years.

There was no chicken, duck, fish, or meat. Yue Xiaodan had more say than anyone else in her home, and that was precisely why she had no lingering attachment to the house that had never given her warmth growing up. Getting married and leaving as soon as possible had always been her greatest dream.

After a meal that was not especially warm, her younger brother ran into his room to play on the computer. He had gotten a computer after graduating middle school, while she had never received anything. Sometimes, her family even asked her for money when they needed something done. She knew clearly that all the money her mother had saved was meant for her younger brother to marry a wife.

Her younger brother was not particularly enthusiastic toward this future brother-in-law he was meeting for the first time. After a few brief words, he did not chat any further.

Li Yang did not care either. I want Yue Xiaodan. Do I have to wait on all of you too?

During the meal, Li Yang only briefly described his family situation. Yet it was not hard to see from her mother's face that she was not especially satisfied. Old rural women had their own shrewdness and were skilled at reading people. When Li Yang had arrived with Yue Xiaodan on that broken three-wheeler belching black smoke, she had already roughly understood half of Li Yang's status and circumstances.

After the meal, her mother got up and went into the room to sleep, leaving her father to continue entertaining Li Yang. But this bricklayer, who had spent his life honestly traveling around for work, truly did not know what he could talk about with Li Yang that would put them on the same wavelength.

Li Yang was tactful and knew how to handle things without making them awkward.

"Uncle, go get some rest. Xiaodan and I can clean up in a bit."

In the end, her father left with a reddened face, leaving the two of them to clean up the mess.

Yue Xiaodan's home was very simple. Beyond the front gate was a large courtyard. One side room was the kitchen, while beside the gate were the men's and women's toilets, the kind with a large pit that made it convenient to use the waste as fertilizer in the fields. Li Yang, who had experienced that smell before, did not react much.

The first floor of the Main Room was where the family lived. The second floor had been built but not renovated. Needless to say, it had been saved for her younger brother's future marriage.

Yue Xiaodan's room was piled high with all kinds of junk and looked especially messy. Finding somewhere for Li Yang to rest was going to be a problem too.

She gave the clothes she had bought to her family, but received little thanks. They acted as though she should have bought them, aside from her father, who was somewhat moved.

"Hubby, let's get married soon. I don't need to live in a nice house. As long as I can be with you, I'll have our babies in the future. I'll take care of the children, and you can earn money to support us, okay?"

Standing in the rundown kitchen, Yue Xiaodan wrapped her arms around Li Yang's solid, dependable waist from behind. Leaning against his back, she murmured softly to Li Yang as he washed the dishes.

Just now, Li Yang had insisted that she not lift a finger, taking on the task himself and getting busy with the pots, bowls, and utensils.

This made Yue Xiaodan feel terribly guilty. What kind of future son-in-law, visiting for the first time, did this sort of thing? Only a bizarre family like hers could produce such a situation. Whenever she went to Li Yang's home, she had never done housework even once. Old Mom was far too welcoming—how could she possibly let her do anything herself?

"It's fine, honey. I'll support the family, and you can just be beautiful like a flower." Li Yang turned and swiftly kissed Xiaodan on the lips as she looked up at him, then smiled as he prepared to turn back and continue washing the dishes. But the mischievous Xiaodan suddenly cupped Li Yang's face and began kissing him back. A woman's physical response best showed just how much she valued the man she loved!

Yue Xiaodan, who had always seemed very conservative to outsiders, had constantly been pushing past her own limits of boldness ever since meeting Li Yang.

The two of them kissed in the kitchen until their eyes turned hazy. If they had not been in this setting, who knew how passionate and entangled they might have become again!

In the end, Li Yang teased Xiaodan about what she was doing, and only then did they reluctantly separate. After Li Yang quickly finished up, neither of them knew where to go, so they simply sat down in the kitchen. Xiaodan lay limply in Li Yang's arms. Luckily, the Ceiling Fan was on in the kitchen, so it was not too hot. Her family did not care at all whether the two of them had rested or not. It was truly speechless!

Just as they were fooling around affectionately, Yue Xiaodan's phone rang. Li Yang had teased her to the point where she was nearly unable to hold herself back, and the call happened to snap them both awake.

"Hello, Jingjing!"

Ignoring Li Yang's wandering hand, Yue Xiaodan smiled as she asked the person on the phone.

"Did you bring your boyfriend home?!"

"Yeah. How did you know? Are you home too?"

Yue Xiaodan shifted her position while lying in Li Yang's arms and continued asking.

"Mm, I came back today to take care of something, and I happened to hear that you were back too." The village's "intelligence bureau" was no joke—if anything happened to any family, everyone within several miles would know about it.

Actually, Wang Jingjing had come back for a blind date. She was too embarrassed to let Yue Xiaodan know about her current single status. There was often invisible comparison and psychological sparring between girls; no matter how good their relationship was, they were no exception!

"Then are you at home? I'll come over and hang out with you!" In order to keep Li Yang from being so bored, Xiaodan had truly racked her brains. She knew Wang Jingjing had a computer at home, so she thought of this idea.

Wang Jingjing had not wanted to agree at first, but when she suddenly thought of Li Yang being there, she involuntarily agreed without hesitation. In truth, the idea of love at first sight had already been imprinted deep in her heart when she first met Li Yang.

After quickly hanging up, Yue Xiaodan gave Li Yang another passionate kiss, then picked up her bag and headed out with him. She did not tell her parents; she felt there was no need.

Walking through the village, Yue Xiaodan boldly held Li Yang's hand. She was not afraid of gossip. I'm dating openly and honestly. What's there to be ashamed of? On top of that, her fashionable way of dressing over the years made her seem somewhat out of place in this rural environment.

Li Yang deserved credit for that too. From the inside out, he had changed her with his own hands. The current Yue Xiaodan had long since left behind her ugly-duckling days, replaced by a fashionable, beautiful twenty-one-year-old girl with a bold and avant-garde style of dress.

"Jingjing, we meet again! This is so great!" The moment Yue Xiaodan entered the house, she gave her best friend a big hug. Li Yang stood beside them and simply greeted her, just to be polite.

"Come on, let's go to my room." Wang Jingjing pulled Yue Xiaodan along in front, but the way she looked back at Li Yang every few steps gave away what she was thinking. Seeing Li Yang, whom she had been thinking about day and night, made her heart instantly race like a startled deer!

Wang Jingjing was her family's only daughter. This was rare in the countryside—practically unheard of.

So, the treatment she received, her living conditions, and her status in the family were worlds apart from Yue Xiaodan's.

It was something ordinary people could not imagine.

For the sake of comfort, her parents had even renovated the second floor. The kitchen, bathroom, and spacious living room had everything one could need. It was unbelievably beautiful, and the pleasant breeze from the large standing air conditioner in the living room constantly chipped away at Yue Xiaodan's steadfast heart.

"Come, have something to eat." Before long, Wang Jingjing seemed to pull a trick from thin air, bringing out all kinds of fruit and snacks, along with wholesale-bought ice cream and popsicles from the refrigerator. She warmly pressed them all into the two of their hands.

"Oh, right, wait for me!"

Jingjing smiled so broadly that she could barely close her mouth. Her fair, tender little feet in slippers surprised Li Yang. What a beautiful pair of feet—they looked as though they had been exquisitely carved!

She quickly took out a pack of canned Tsingtao Beer and set it on the table.

"Come on, it wasn't easy for us to get together. How could we not have a drink?"

The three of them got into the mood and began drinking and chatting happily. A Hong Kong-Taiwan blockbuster played on the large LCD television, and her home had a complete broadband wireless network setup, making it easy and convenient to watch whatever they wanted.

The environment was simply too comfortable, and before long, Li Yang became a little sleepy. Meanwhile, the two beauties chatted more and more enthusiastically. Yue Xiaodan did not drink, for some unknown reason, and gave all her drinks to Li Yang. Fortunately, Jingjing did not think much of it. She was happy enough just having Li Yang by her side.

"Come on, I'll take you to my room to rest for a while. I still need to talk to Xiaodan about private girl stuff, so it wouldn't be convenient with you there."

Wang Jingjing spoke to Li Yang in a tone that sounded more like coquettish pleading. Since she had also drunk two cans of beer, she had become bolder in the way she spoke.

"Go on, hubby. We'll play a little longer."

Leaning against the sofa, Xiaodan waved with a smile, signaling for Li Yang to listen to her. She happened to need the bathroom, so under Wang Jingjing's direction, she went into the restroom.

"Come on, Li Yang."

Seeing Yue Xiaodan enter the bathroom, Wang Jingjing directly took the sleepy Li Yang's hand and led him into her large bedroom.