Two Lunch Boxes

Jiang Xia never disliked the smell of labor. Her grandmother used to be a cleaner before selling vegetables, which earned more.

She sat down, leaning against the doorframe, leaving him enough space, and then handed him the water bottle: "Have some water first."

Zhou Chenglei was indeed a bit thirsty. He glanced at the space beside her and sat down.

"I'll hold the lunchbox for you."

Zhou Chenglei had intended to put the aluminum lunchbox on the ground, but upon hearing this, he gave her the lunchbox, took the water bottle she handed over, unscrewed it, tilted his head back, opened his mouth wide, and poured the water from the bottle into his mouth from a distance.

Jiang Xia glanced at him.

He tilted his head back and opened his mouth wide; his posture for drinking water wasn't exactly elegant, but it was incredibly wild.

The lines of his jaw and profile were beautiful, his skin was wheat-colored with fine pores, his neck was slender, and the top button of his shirt was fastened tightly. His sharp Adam's apple moved up and down as he drank, as if trying to break free from the constraints of his collar, making him incredibly sexy.

This man was flawless from every angle!

Zhou Chenglei drank half a bottle of water in one go. When he put it down, he noticed Jiang Xia was staring at him, lost in thought. Thinking she wanted to drink, he handed her the water bottle: "There's more."

Jiang Xia snapped back to reality and took it, tilting her head back and taking a few big gulps.

Damn, she had actually been captivated.

This man was poisonous! Zhou Chenglei saw her drinking quickly and reminded her: "Slow down, don't choke."

Jiang Xia slowed down.

Zhou Chenglei noticed her fair and delicate face was flushed with a touch of red from the heat. Her fingers, holding the Military Green Water Bottle, were white, slender, tender, and long. The porcelain-white skin formed a sharp contrast with the Military Green Water Bottle, making it incredibly eye-catching.

With just one glance, he shifted his gaze away.

Jiang Xia took a few sips and stopped drinking. Drinking too much water before eating would ruin her appetite.

Zhou Chenglei waited for her to finish, took the water bottle from her hand, screwed on the cap, and placed it aside.

Jiang Xia handed him the lunchbox she had been holding on her lap. He took it, opened the lid, revealing a lunchbox full of food, especially a lot of dried fish, and a boiled egg.

Zhou Chenglei handed the lunchbox to her and then took the unopened lunchbox from her hand.

Jiang Xia was warmed by his thoughtfulness and politely returned a smile: "Thank you."

Her voice was crisp, pleasant, and a little soft, making people feel comfortable. Zhou Chenglei couldn't help but glance at her.

The sky was azure blue, with not a cloud in sight, and the girl's smile was light, pure, and flawless.

"No need." With just one glance, Zhou Chenglei silently withdrew his gaze and lowered his head expressionlessly to open the lunchbox in his hand, revealing a lunchbox full of food: mostly green vegetables and pickled vegetables, with only two dried fish, and less rice, more Sweet Potato, a stark contrast to the previous lunchbox.

Jiang Xia also saw it; that was originally the lunchbox Mother Zhou had prepared for her.

She didn't care. They were getting divorced anyway, and she understood that there was no such thing as unconditional kindness in this world.

"I can't finish it all; let's switch."

Zhou Chenglei picked up his chopsticks and started eating: "No need, you eat what's left."

Seeing that he had already started eating, Jiang Xia picked up a few pieces of dried fish and put them in his lunchbox.

Zhou Chenglei avoided it: "No need, you eat it."

Jiang Xia: "I really can't eat that much."

Zhou Chenglei: "Eat until you can't eat anymore."

Jiang Xia could only give up.

Mother Zhou saw it and frowned, feeling that Jiang Xia was being inconsiderate! Men needed to do physical labor and needed to eat more meat to have strength.

Jiang Xia couldn't do anything, so why eat so much meat? To gain weight? The rice was Sweet Potato rice, the dishes were steamed small dried fish and bok choy, and pickled vegetables.

The small dried fish were very fragrant because they were so small that the bones could be chewed and swallowed directly. The pickled vegetables were refreshing, the bok choy was very tender, and the Sweet Potato rice was fragrant and sweet. They were all delicious, regardless of the cooking skills, because the ingredients were excellent.

Jiang Xia was full but still had a little more than half a lunchbox of food left. After all, this was prepared according to Zhou Chenglei's appetite.

She stretched her waist to relax her stomach. When she was young, her family was too poor, and they sold vegetables, so she never wasted a grain of rice, but she couldn't eat anymore.

Zhou Chenglei had just finished eating. Seeing her stretch her waist to relax her stomach, he asked, "Can't eat anymore?"

Jiang Xia nodded, "I'm stuffed."

Zhou Chenglei reached out and took the lunch box from her hand, and in a few bites, he shoveled the half-box of leftover food into his mouth and finished it.

Jiang Xia: "..."

At this moment, Zhou Zhou also came over with a lunch box, "Uncle, I can't finish it, Grandma said to give it to you."

Zhou Chenglei didn't say anything, took it, and in a few bites, he ate the leftover food from Zhou Zhou.

Jiang Xia's expression became more natural.

After Zhou Chenglei finished eating, he took the small spoon from Jiang Xia's hand and went to the well to wash the three lunch boxes.

After washing the lunch boxes, he told Jiang Xia and Mother Zhou to go back and take a nap. The sun was quite strong at noon, and he was afraid she wouldn't be able to handle it.

Jiang Xia didn't go back. She had a bit of OCD; she didn't like to rest until the work was done.

Mother Zhou took Zhou Zhou back. Zhou Zhou had to go to school around one o'clock in the afternoon.

Father Zhou and Zhou Chenglei started working. Zhou Chenglei climbed onto the roof, and Father Zhou mixed cement and sand.

Jiang Xia wore a straw hat and did what she could below, such as passing tiles.

Before long, Mother Zhou, Zhou Chengxin, and Tian Caihua all came, and they pushed a cart of tables and chairs over.

Then Father Zhou, Zhou Chenglei, and Zhou Chengxin, the father and son trio, all went up to the roof to repair the leaky tiles. Mother Zhou mixed cement and sand below, and Jiang Xia and Tian Caihua, one standing on the ladder and the other on the ground, passed tiles and cement and sand.

Soon, Great-Grandmother's family also came to help.

Great-Grandmother's six-year-old grandson, Zhou Jie, shouted loudly as soon as he came in, "Big Brother, Big Nephew, Little Nephew, I'm here!"

(Big Brother) Father Zhou: "..."

(Big Nephew) Zhou Chengxin: "..."

(Little Nephew) Zhou Chenglei: "..."

Great-Grandmother's son, Zhou Yongguo, was the same age as Zhou Chenglei, but two generations higher in seniority. He was from his grandfather's generation. So he had to call a peer Great-Grandfather.

Zhou Chenglei had never called him that since he was a child, only calling Zhou Yongguo by name, not Grandpa.

The two of them studied together, skipped classes together, and got along very well.

Because Zhou Chenglei didn't call him Grandpa, Zhou Yongguo taught his six-year-old son to call Zhou Chenglei Little Nephew.

On the roof, the Zhou family's father and sons all pretended not to hear.

Zhou Yongguo climbed up the bamboo ladder and looked at Zhou Chenglei, "Little Grandson, your grandpa is here and you don't even greet him!"

Zhou Chenglei wished he could kick him down!

Zhou Jie hopped and skipped to Jiang Xia, "Niece-in-law, I'm your Uncle (Uncle)."

Jiang Xia looked at the robust Zhou Jie: "..."

She touched his head, "Hello, Uncle! Uncle, have you not been eating? Why are you so short and thin? If I took you out, people would think you're my son, not my uncle. You need to eat well."

Jiang Xia verbally gained a little advantage, but this child had a big head and a thin body, looking malnourished.

She had just chatted with Great-Grandmother and learned that Great-Grandmother's family had only one grandson for three generations. He was weak, sickly, and picky about food, which was worrying.

Zhou Jie hated it most when people said he was short. He was the shortest child in the village. He pouted, "You're being disrespectful! Humph, I'll grow up one day, and I'll be taller than you! Humph!"

Everyone in the yard laughed.

Great-Grandmother chuckled, "Then you have to eat well and not be picky."

Zhou Jie didn't listen. He ran to ask Mother Zhou, Zhou Zhou, and Guang Zong Yao Zu where they were.

Hearing that they were at the new house, he ran off to play with them.

Many hands make light work. With three more adult men, who were also good at working, the six of them repaired the roof in two hours.

Zhou Yongguo didn't know where he found two large buckets of lime water and brushed the mottled, moldy, and peeling walls all over the house.

Summer, and August was the hottest time, so it dried quickly. As soon as one side was brushed, the other side was dry.

Jiang Xia looked at the brushed room, which was white, bright, and much more comfortable.

Great-grandmother's three sons helped to paint the walls, while Zhou Chenglei and his two sons went back to move things.

By a little after five o'clock, everything had been moved over.

But it was also because there weren't many things; the living room only had two old square tables and eight chairs, and nothing else.

Jiang Xia looked at her new home. Although it was sparsely furnished, perhaps because there were many people, it didn't feel lonely or cold.

Tian Caihua walked in at this moment, looked around the renovated house, and said with a hint of sourness, "This old house is quite comfortable after being renovated. But the renovation shouldn't have cost three hundred yuan, right?"