Mr Wayward

Chapter 23

The scenery outside the window receded quickly, and Ji Changning was full of exhaustion, "What do you want to do?" He felt that what he said was clear enough. He hadn't seen Shen Yichen these days, and the job resignation process was very straightforward. He thought everything had been settled Certainly.

Shen Yichen held the steering wheel and looked directly at the road conditions. He didn't look back at Ji Changning, but said in a serious tone: "I'm trying to keep you."

"Stop making trouble, and drive back quickly. Do you know how long it will take? I don't care about the company's affairs." Ji Changning was not moved at all. He knew that Shen Yichen was a busy person, so he didn't know what nerves came to drive him.

Shen Yichen replied, "To me, you are more important than work."

Ji Changning let out a "ha", he touched the non-existent goosebumps on his arms, and looked disgusted, "Earthy love talk?"

Shen Yichen said casually: "This is my sincerity, and it won't be exchanged for a thousand dollars."

Ji Changning: "You let me go."

Shen Yichen: "I said I will take you back, can you just treat me as the driver?"

Ji Changning: "I can't afford to hire a big Buddha like you."

Shen Yichen smiled, "I'm free, and you can also post back."

Ji Changning ignored him, and turned his head to look at the scene outside the window. They lived only three kilometers away from the expressway, and soon the car drove into the expressway. Ji Changning suddenly said, "You won't throw me on the expressway. come down?"

It is essential to be on guard against others, what if he really makes a fuss on the highway.

"No, what kind of person am I in your heart?" Shen Yichen didn't understand why he would say such a thing.

"Bad man." Ji Changning said hi.

"Oh." Shen Yichen looked at him from the rearview mirror, but didn't say much, he didn't want to quarrel with Ji Changning anymore, he already regretted the fight with Ji Changning.

Ji Changning said to himself, "I will move out after this matter is dealt with."

Shen Yichen: "It's too early to say."

Ji Changning: "I will respect you as an elder in the future, so please let me go."

Shen Yichen: "I don't want to be your elder." Ji Changning sighed, and he pressed his temple with his thumb, "Seriously, what exactly do you want to do?"

"Haven't you visited your dad for so many years, just take this opportunity to visit."

"I'm afraid you want to piss them off." After finishing speaking, Ji Changning remembered that his parents had already passed away, and if there was a spirit under the spring, he would also be angry, and actually brought a man over there.

However, in any case, the living are more important.

There are no restrictions.

There are no restrictions.

There are no restrictions.

Ji Changning murmured a few words in his heart. When he was young, when he went to worship with adults, some small accidents would occasionally happen, such as the incense was not lit, the tea and wine were poured into the wrong cup, etc., and the adults would say: "It's okay, there are no taboos, the ancestors did not Will care."

Since then, he has kept this sentence in his heart. He thinks that his parents won't blame him. It's not easy for Ping An to grow up so old.

In fact, Shen Yichen also mentioned going to worship before. He suggested to Ji Changning to choose a holiday to go there together. Ji Changning shook his head. He must choose a weekday to go.

Ji Changning didn't think it was a big deal, and he didn't go to meet Shen Yichen's elders. Meeting his parents was a redundant procedure for them, and there was no need to cause trouble for an unblessed relationship.

They didn't talk, there was only the sound of the engine in the car, Ji Changning felt that the car was too quiet, he suggested to Shen Yichen: "Can you turn on the music?"

Shen Yichen obediently turned on the music in the car, and Ji Changning relaxed on the pillow, so it didn't seem so embarrassing to hear the sound.

He closed his eyes to rest his mind. After getting on the highway, he was too lazy to waste his energy. Maybe he was too tired recently. After a while, he really fell asleep. After Shen Yichen saw this scene from the rearview mirror, he silently turned off the music.

Jiangcheng and Ji Changning’s hometowns are in the same province, but one is the provincial capital and the other is a border city. It takes more than 4 hours to travel from home to high-speed without traffic jams. They set off at 8:[-] a.m., and when they passed by the service station, they were able to travel ahead of time. After lunch, Shen Yichen parked the car and called Ji Changning up to eat.

Ji Changning just woke up in a daze, Shen Yichen said why and he followed, and they sat down in a shop that looked clean.

They bought two bowls of beef noodles and paid 50 yuan. Shen Yichen looked at the thin slice of beef between his hands for several seconds.

"The knife skills are pretty good." Ji Changning grinned while biting his chopsticks. As long as he didn't mention the emotional entanglement between the two of them, he was quite calm. Besides, he didn't have any conflicts with Shen Yichen.

Shen Yichen tasted it and felt it was terrible, but when Ji Changning sat across from him and smiled at him, he felt that it was too good to eat, so he ate a few more mouthfuls, but in the end he was defeated by the smell.

Ji Changning didn't put his chopsticks directly like him, and he didn't think it tasted good, but he could barely eat it, after all, it cost 25 yuan a bowl.

Shen Yichen: "Don't eat, do you want to buy something else." He looked around and saw a bakery, "Do you want to buy some bread, which is convenient for eating on the road."

Ji Changning: "No need, the butler actually prepared a lot of food in the car. I never went to the service station to buy food before."

"Why?" Shen Yichen remembered that in the past years, Ji Changning drove back alone. If his hand hadn't been injured this time, he might have gone alone.

"It's expensive and unpalatable." Ji Changning wiped his mouth with a piece of tissue paper, but he didn't want to eat it either. He couldn't help but lament that his appetite had gotten better and better. When he was a child, he could eat anything.

"Are you... short of money?" Shen Yichen focused on this, automatically ignoring the second half of the sentence.

Ji Changning shook his head, but did not explain carefully.

Every time he goes home, it reminds him that he used to be a poor boy. He was able to walk for half an hour to save two yuan for the fare. As we lived frugally, past memories came to mind one by one.

When they returned to the car, Shen Yichen was still driving, but this time Ji Changning changed from the back seat to sitting on the co-pilot. The service station was only half an hour away from the exit, and the huge sign on the expressway indicated that they were about to leave. Arrive at the high-speed exit.

The steward gave Shen Yichen the direction to go directly to Ji Changning's old house, and it was estimated that it would take another hour to arrive, and it was expected to arrive around 1:[-] noon. Shen Yichen asked casually, are you going to worship the ancestors in the afternoon?

Ji Changning thought for a while, "Usually I go the next day."

Because driving for several hours is too tiring, he usually goes there after taking a rest. Worshiping ancestors is a physical effort.

"And I have other things to deal with, so I won't go today." Ji Changning added, and after finishing speaking, he picked up his mobile phone and made a call. Shen Yichen heard him chatting in dialect with the other end of the phone, saying a word He didn't understand, but he felt that Ji Changning's last words were thank you.

Ji Changning hung up the phone and turned to Shen Yichen and said, "Can you take me to another place first?"

"Of course, you do it yourself." Shen Yichen raised his head towards his phone, signaling to Ji Changning to change the location of the navigation. Ji Changning was not interested in seeing his privacy, but after he changed the location for a while, two messages popped up on the top of the phone , it can be seen that Shen Yichen is really busy.Busy with work and socializing, Shen Yichen always has things he can't finish.

Ji Changning changed the destination to the village committee. He was talking on the phone with their village chief just now.

He came this time not only because of ancestor worship, but also because he promised the village chief that he would definitely come back during this time.

The village committee didn't have a dedicated parking lot, so Shen Yichen found a shade under a tree and parked his car under it.

Ji Changning picked up his backpack and got off the car, and Shen Yichen followed him into the gate of the village committee.

Ji Changning paused: "Don't follow me, you wait for me here, it should be over soon."

Shen Yichen watched him go up the stairs to the office on the second floor. The building of the village committee was deserted. He only saw a staff member passing by. : "Accompany a friend to run some business." The man nodded and left.

Actually, along the way, Shen Yichen noticed that there were few people around here, and it might be because of time issues, everyone was probably resting at this point.

He was looking at the bulletin board in the hall of the village committee. Most of the information pasted on it was about demolition. He made a rough guess in his heart, then went out to wait for Ji Changning, and took a look around. This was the first time he came to Ji Changning. hometown.

The air is good and the sky is blue. The temperature here is three or four degrees lower than at home.The surrounding buildings seem to be old houses, most of which are about three or four floors, with a very wide view, and not far away are continuous green mountain peaks, and here is a hilly area with many mountains.

The nearby businesses are also very backward. Since Ji Changning said that the official ancestor worship will be held tomorrow, Shen Yichen has been thinking about how to solve the problem of food and accommodation, but he has hardly seen any shops that can meet these conditions.

Shen Yichen waited for less than half an hour and Ji Changning came out.

Shen Yichen asked if he was going to deal with the demolition?

Ji Changning was a little surprised, "How do you know?"

Shen Yichen: "Guess, how much can you compensate, and exchange for a safe house?"

Shen Yichen's guess was correct, the area of ​​Ji Changning's old house was going to be expropriated for the construction of high-voltage lines, and the information had been sent back before, but this time he just came here to sign in person.

The people on their side have already moved here and there, and Ji Changning himself has settled outside and rarely comes back, so this matter has been delayed again and again, and the village chief has called him several times to urge him.

To Shen Yichen's surprise, Ji Changning said that he chose the money, and now the expropriation is no longer like the nouveau riche it used to be, not to mention that in such a remote countryside, the compensation for demolition should not be high, and Ji Changning should not be short of these Money, no matter how you think about it, this decision is very abrupt.

Ji Changning explained: "After the old house is demolished, the homestead can be re-approved to build a house, but I don't plan to come back, so I just chose the money." He said very plainly, and Shen Yichen couldn't help looking at him. The house is important to many people. Saying it is like the foundation, Ji Changning's approach is a bit unimaginable. Whether it is from the perspective of human nature or purely from the perspective of efficiency, it is obviously more beneficial to rebuild a house.

Ji Changning walked to the side of the car and got in the car. Shen Yichen thought he didn't want to tell himself. After Ji Changning fastened his seat belt, he heard the low hum of the car starting, and asked suddenly: "Do you think I'm cold-blooded? It's the land where I was born and raised, but I want to leave her and go away, it's very unfilial." His tone was a little melancholy.

Shen Yichen turned his head to look at him seriously, while Ji Changning was looking down at his fingers on his knee.

"Slowly, many things will become cumbersome, but if you can make up your mind to give up if you stay with me because you don't want to part with it," Shen Yichen told him.

They drove away, and Ji Changning was the co-pilot doing humanoid navigation. The location of the old house was more remote than that of the village committee. There were many forked roads and the signal was not good. Ji Changning directed Shen Yichen where to drive. Their speed was very slow, and Shen Yichen observed the surroundings , He thought that he had underestimated the situation near the village committee just now, the village was already relatively developed there, and the place they were going to now was more "village".

They drove through weed-covered farmland along the way, and the road under the car turned from cement to sand. Ji Changning said that luckily it hadn’t rained recently, otherwise the car would have been covered in mud. He mentioned that it used to rain before and after the Double Ninth Festival, so After worshiping the ancestors and returning home, he had to send the car to be washed first.

"Go straight along this road, then turn right and walk about 20 meters to my house." After Ji Changning finished speaking, he lay down in front of the window to look at the scenery outside. He hasn't been back for a long time, but his hometown has changed compared with last year It's not big, and fewer and fewer people stay there.

Suddenly, Ji Changning pointed in one direction and said, "Look, that piece of land used to belong to our family. If I said I planted the land, you wouldn't believe me. I planted tomatoes there." Ji Changning thought of the vegetable garden in the yard of his home, Shen Yichen told him not to mess around, which made him dissatisfied for a long time.

Shen Yichen looked in the direction he pointed and didn't recognize the specific field, he only saw a large stretch of weeds, so it turned out to be a field.

"And that mountain used to belong to our family. When my parents were still there, I planted oranges on the mountain with them. Do you know how fruit trees are composted? We eradicated the nearby weeds and dried them next to the fruit trees. Dig a hole and fill it with grass, but I don’t know if it will work, and I didn’t eat a single fruit afterward.”

"There are still a lot of bugs on the mountain. I used to be very courageous. I dared to catch all kinds of bugs with my bare hands. I would even catch crickets and go back to school to play."

"There is a river not far away, and there are many crabs in it. I still remember that a bunch of small crabs will crawl out when they open their stomachs, but the river is getting dirty and now it seems to be invisible."

Ji Changning was smiling when he said these words, and Shen Yichen listened carefully. These were all about Ji Changning's childhood that he had never known before.

He also noticed that Ji Changning said "once", so what happened now?But he didn't interrupt Ji Changning's memories.

On the way, they met an old man with a hoe on his shoulders. The old man squinted his eyes and looked at the people in the car. He was wondering who this car was. Strangers rarely come here.

Ji Changning waved his hand at the old man and called him uncle.

The car stopped, Ji Changning chatted with his uncle in dialect, Shen Yichen was a little surprised, he thought Ji Changning would resist dealing with people he knew before, but he seemed to be in a good mood.

Shen Yichen repeated the high-frequency words and words in their chat, and asked Ji Changning what the word meant.

"Worshiping the mountain means worshiping the ancestors and going to the grave. He asked me if I came back to worship the mountain, and I said yes." Ji Changning said.

On the way, they also met a few playful children, and soon they arrived at Ji Changning's home.

Ji Changning's old house was a one-story house. In front of the house was a courtyard surrounded by bricks. The wall was less than one person high. When Shen Yichen stood up, he could see that the courtyard was empty and there were many fallen leaves on the ground.

The neighbors on the left and right sides of the old house are all vacant houses, the doors and windows are closed, and it looks very deserted.In fact, they can count on two hands the number of houses inhabited by them along the way. Most of the people who stay are the elderly and children. Young and middle-aged people choose to go out to work, and it is obvious that they will not come back in the future.

Ji Changning found a bunch of keys from his bag, jingling, he opened the door of the yard, and with a babble, he stepped on the fallen leaves and walked forward as if nothing had happened, and opened the door of the bungalow.

Shen Yichen followed him in. As soon as he opened the door, he could smell the dust. It was obvious that no one had lived in this house for a long time, and there was no smell of smoke. What surprised him even more was that when he opened the door, he saw that there was nothing in the living room. There are no furniture such as tables, chairs and stools.

"Do you want to live here at night?" Shen Yichen asked, he was a little shocked, can this kind of place be called a home?

"I live, but you can drive out to live. There should be a place to rent near the village committee." Ji Changning is not sure. After all, all the people here are locals, who would need to rent a house.

Shen Yichen's face darkened, "No, I'll live with you, this place... doesn't look safe, it's better for the two of you to be safe."

Ji Changning smiled, "Don't worry, no one will steal things in this kind of ghost place, and this house looks poor and white." He thought for a while, "But the car outside must be locked, the most valuable That's it."

"I mean personal safety." Shen Yichen looked around, "Why is there nothing in your house, how do you live at night?"

Ji Changning said flatly: "Things that are not in use will naturally be moved away. Someone needs them."

Ji Changning turned on the switch with ease, "Go and try to see if the light is on?" He said to Shen Yichen. "Let me tell you in advance, this is not a resort, farmhouse or other places. There are cockroaches, mice, bugs, everything. You should be mentally prepared first."

Shen Yichen's expression remained unchanged: "I'm not afraid of these."

Ji Changning nodded, "That's the best." He turned on the lights one by one, and Shen Yichen helped to test the lights. When he turned on the lights in the corridor, because there were many switches, he didn't know which one to press twice. The incandescent lamp turned on for a while, made a "sizzling" sound, and then went out.

The bulb burned out.

Shen Yichen: "Sorry."

Ji Changning sighed, "You will really cause me trouble, forget it, the lights in the corridor don't matter." Anyway, he won't need it in the future, he looked outside, the sun is still bright at this point, he thinks it is very suitable for drying the quilt .

"Come with me." Ji Changning opened a side room with an area of ​​only a few square meters. There were many tools in it, such as brooms, garbage shovels, buckets, etc., as well as some modern appliances, such as kettles and induction cookers. It turned out that Ji Changning stuffed things in Come in this room.

Ji Changning took out a three-meter-long plastic pipe from the corner, "Take a broom and sweep the house, there should be a lot of spider silk on the ceiling."

Shen Yichen looked at him, Ji Changning straightened his face: "Why, you have to work if you want to sleep here."

Shen Yichen obediently picked up the broom and began to clean. Ji Changning went out to open the tap water valve, rinsed the pipes, and then placed the "long stick" on the two walls of the yard to form a triangle, and then ran back to the house to continue Busy.

Shen Yichen followed wherever he went, like a follower.

They went to the corner room, which was Ji Changning's bedroom and the only normal room in the house. There was a bed, desk, wardrobe, and stool in it. They were all covered with a dustproof cloth. Ji Changning put The curtains were drawn open, the room was well lit, and the room suddenly brightened.

Shen Yichen saw a lot of Ji Changning's previous textbooks on the desk, and they were well preserved. When he flipped through them, there were dense notes, and the handwriting was very correct.

Ji Changning didn't have time to talk to him. He opened the closet, and a smell of mothballs came over his face. It was put there to prevent insects, and it seemed to be very effective. He didn't find insect feces in it.

It happened for a reason. In the past few years, he tried to see black rice grain-like rat droppings in the closet, and he also saw a litter of newborn kittens in it.

There were still some clothes in the closet, all of which were packed in bags. He took a quilt and quilt at the bottom, and asked Shen Yichen to help him carry them out to dry. The quilt was brought from home last year, but it has not It's always good to dry it out.

"I'm coming, don't your hands still hurt?" Shen Yichen rolled up his sleeves. He hadn't done housework for many years, but he was willing to do it now.

"It's okay." Ji Changning would avoid using his left hand to hold things, so it's fine.

An hour later, they roughly tidied up the house. Shen Yichen was mainly working. He piled up the fallen leaves in the yard to the corner, and then cleaned the bedroom, because the dust is not serious after covering the dust cover. Can.

Shen Yichen was covered in thin sweat, his stomach growled inappropriately, they didn't eat anything at noon.

Ji Changning opened the trunk of the car, Shen Yichen asked him if he wanted to move the contents of the car in, Ji Changning patted the bottled mineral water, "Just move this in."

In addition, there is a box of mineral water. Ji Changning said: "Few people here use tap water, let alone mine. Beware of bad people." Groundwater is cleaner and healthier than piped water.

Ji Changning boiled a pot of mineral water with the electric kettle, and then soaked two bowls of instant noodles.

"Did you eat these things when you came back?" Shen Yichen asked him.

"The conditions are like this, let's make do with it." Ji Changning seemed indifferent, and he also took some fruits from the car, which he planned to use to worship the ancestors tomorrow.

"This is a vitamin supplement." He took out potato chips, biscuits, and small cakes, "These are also delicious."

Shen Yichen frowned: "Are you taking these to worship the mountain? No, what are you going to take tomorrow after eating now?" He adapted quickly and already used the word worshiping the mountain.

"It's okay, the housekeeper packed a big box, there's more than enough to eat."

"Then why don't you let him bring something else?"

"It's not easy to store without a refrigerator." Ji Changning was confident, he was already gnawing on potato chips.

Shen Yichen was silent.

You just want to eat snacks.

After Shen Yichen finished eating the instant noodles, he picked up the broom and continued to sweep the floor, when suddenly he heard someone knocking on the door.

The yard door was unlocked, and a girl of sixteen or seventeen stood in front of the door and stared straight at him.

"Who are you?" she asked.

Shen Yichen: "Who are you?"

The girl looked inside over him, and said vigilantly, "I'm here to find my brother, why are you at my brother's house."

elder brother?Shen Yichen wondered when Ji Changning would have a younger sister, he had the impression that Ji Changning was an only child.

Ji Changning also ran out to look after hearing the movement. He was still holding a bag of potato chips. He was obviously surprised when he saw the girl at the door, "Why are you here? Don't you have to go to school today?"

"The school sports meeting slipped ahead of schedule." My sister said.

So Shen Yichen watched the two siblings cooing in the corner, and Ji Changning even gave the girl the potato chips in his hand, they talked for a while and then looked at Shen Yichen at the same time, then turned around and continued to mutter.

After chatting, Ji Changning opened the back of the car, packed a big bag of his treasured snacks for his sister, then took out his wallet and took out a few hundred yuan notes and stuffed them into her hand, sister don't push them back again, you come to me Go several times.

Shen Yichen watched from the side as they pushed and pulled like no one else was watching.

Just ignore me, he thought.

Ji Changning finally asked: "Is the family there?"

The younger sister said: "They all went to the uncle's house. They said that the cousin got married and they won't be back until tomorrow."

"Ah? Aren't you going to worship the mountain tomorrow?"

"Go tomorrow, Da Tai Cemetery, hey, the one so far away, I will worship my family next week."

"It's delayed this year." Ji Changning hesitated for a few seconds: "Then I'll go and sit with you."

My sister smiled brightly, "Okay."

The younger sister led the way on a bicycle, while Ji Changning and Shen Yichen walked behind.It's not far away, it's just a walk, and you can also see the surrounding scenery along the road. Although it's just an ordinary village, Shen Yichen, a city person, sees it as a novelty, and Ji Changning wants to take a look after he hasn't been back for a long time.

Shen Yichen asked: "Why didn't I know you had a younger sister?"

Ji Changning: "It's the youngest girl in my uncle's family."

Shen Yichen thought to himself, don't you have a problem with your aunt's family? Why are you so friendly to this younger sister?But nothing came out of his mouth.

Ji Changning took the initiative to explain to him: "I took her with me when I was a child, and she is the most obedient child I have ever met."

When the younger sister heard what he said, she turned her head and said, "I've grown up." People of this age hate being called children.

Ji Changning said with a smile, "Yeah, it's so big in the blink of an eye."

Shen Yichen listened to their brothers and sisters chatting along the way, but he knew a lot of things, for example, this younger sister always quarreled with her mother, and Ji Changning seemed to have quarreled with her aunt.

When I arrived at my aunt's house, I saw a lot of cassava in the living room, and there were half-shaved cassava beside it.

Ji Changning: "Do you want to feed it to chickens?" He is no stranger to this kind of thing. It is easy to grow and has a large yield. He often used it to feed chickens when he was a child.

The younger sister said depressedly: "Yes, my mother called me to plan and feed them."

"Why are you so stupid, you just say you don't have time to do your homework, so you don't have to work." Ji Changning imparted his experience.

"There's no one at home, so she doesn't care about that." The younger sister curled her lips.

Ji Changning has always loved this younger sister very much. In the first year he came to his uncle, his younger sister was born. She is the youngest child and the only girl. She was supposed to be a beloved little daughter, but my uncle wanted a daughter so much back then. , but passed away in a hurry before she grew up.

The people left behind couldn't take care of themselves. My aunt didn't have a good look at this young oil bottle, and my sister was not doing well. All Ji Changning could do was give her a little money occasionally. If my aunt accidentally found out, he would be furious again.

Ji Changning sighed, "Let me plan it for you." He sat down and put on his gloves, pressed the grater with his left hand, and picked up a cassava with his right hand.

Shen Yichen stopped him: "Don't move around."

"It's okay, the left hand is just supporting without using force." Ji Changning really felt that there was no need to treat himself as a porcelain doll, and he still wanted to fulfill his brother's responsibility in front of his sister.

Shen Yichen squatted down beside that, and looked at Ji Changning's movements, "I'll do it, the head office will do it."

It was the first time in his life that Young Master Shen grated cassava, and it took him half an hour to finish rubbing two buckets of cassava, his hands were almost numb.

Ji Changning went to talk to his sister again.

Every time my sister would apologize to him, she said that my aunt was sorry for him, but it had nothing to do with my sister, he didn't want my sister to quarrel with my aunt because of him.

She will always be Aunt's daughter, and they are family.

"Don't blame your mother, she is also for this family, I can understand." Ji Changning thought that what he said was really on point, but he just said it nicely, but in fact he made a clean break.

The old house was the only inheritance left to him by his parents. All other things, including fields, cash, and even the furniture at home, were all taken away by his aunt. Those lands were also expropriated in the early years, and Ji Changning paid a penny. Did not take either.

He thought that what he had given was enough, and he could really understand why his aunt did this. When his uncle passed away, he had to rely on her to support his three sons and one daughter. How could she support the family if she was not tough and selfish.

She just chose to transfer all the damage to Ji Changning.

Understanding is understanding, but Ji Changning doesn't want to forgive anymore, he is already tired, and as he grows older, his tolerance for various things seems to be decreasing.

When leaving his aunt's house, Ji Changning said to Shen Yichen seriously: "Thank you."

Thank you for helping me during the most difficult time at home.

Thank you for loving me and for all the things you do for me.

But I want more than you give, but you don't want it.

Shen Yichen was happy in his heart, all he did was not in vain, he knew Ji Changning's heart was very soft, he thought Ji Changning would change his mind.

They walked back to the old house and put the quilt back in the house, chatting about instant noodles for dinner, Shen Yichen asked, do we eat instant noodles for every meal these days?

Ji Changning wanted to say yes, he used to live on instant noodles, but seeing how hard Shen Yichen rubbed cassava for him in the afternoon, he decided to improve his food.

Ji Changning went to a nearby grandmother's house and chatted with her. The elderly here are the loneliest. He told the elderly to take care of their health, and then stuffed a red envelope, "Grandma, the vegetables you grow are very good. I wonder if you can give them to me. Take some."

Grandma smiled and said yes, and then led him to pick vegetables in the field.

After picking a lot of vegetables, Ji Changning borrowed the well water from his grandmother's house to wash the vegetables. The tap water in their house was stale water, which had a strange smell and could not be drunk.

When he got home, Shen Yichen had already tidied up the bedroom, made the bed, and even hung up the mosquito net. The floor of the house was also very clean, and the yard was even washed with water.

To be honest, Ji Changning was a little shocked, he had the impression that Shen Yichen was a typical son-in-law, with so many people invited at home, he thought that Shen Yichen would not be able to do housework at all, but today's events changed his view of Shen Yichen.

Ji Changning showed Shen Yichen his spoils, a basket of vegetables, so their dinner was instant noodles and boiled vegetables.

The old house did not install a water heater, and the temperature dropped a little at night. To prevent a cold, Ji Changning went to his grandma's house to boil a pot of hot water with firewood. night.

Then Shen Yichen brought the hot water back with a bucket, and the two of them were able to take a warm bath. Their division of labor and cooperation became more and more proficient.

They sleep together at night, after all, there is only one bed and one quilt, the moonlight shines through the window very brightly, Shen Yichen sleeps very honestly, he really wants to hold Ji Changning in his arms like before, but he suppresses his emotions impulse.

"Did you sleep here alone before, aren't you afraid?" Shen Yichen asked in the dark.

"Don't be afraid, this is my home." Ji Changning replied.

In fact, he is still afraid. He is not a very courageous person, but this is his real home, the only home that really belongs to him, so every year he sleeps here one night, with the lights on all night, anyway, unconsciously will fall asleep.

It's like a ritual to him.

Miraculously, they both fell asleep quickly tonight.

The next day's breakfast was instant noodles and the vegetables left over from yesterday. Shen Yichen was already tired, so he drove Ji Changning out to find something to eat, and it took a lot of time to go back and forth.

Ji Changning packed up the things up the mountain. His parents' graves are on the mountain, incense sticks, paper money, paper cups, biscuits, snacks and fruits. After confirming that they were correct, Ji Changning put them all into a big bag. Take a hoe, there are a lot of weeds on the mountain, and it will always be useful. Besides, I also take another bag, which contains a few bottles of mineral water, a Moutai, and tea.

I thought that the vegetation on the mountain would be very lush, but going up the mountain was easier than expected. The predecessors stepped on a path for them, and the half-person-high weeds were pulled to both sides.

"Do you need to kneel and kowtow to worship here?" Shen Yichen asked casually when he went up the mountain.

"No need, we don't have this custom, the most important thing is the heart, sincerity is enough." Ji Changning said.

The grave of Ji Changning's parents is a cement grave, only some grass is found in the joints between the bricks. Ji Changning pulled it out vigorously with gloves on, not missing any corners.

Shen Yichen said that there were no weeds.In other words, the cleanliness is a bit weird, as if someone has come to pay respects before, which is not impossible, maybe Ji Changning's other relatives have been here.

Ji Changning didn't know what he was thinking, "Because I had someone clean it up beforehand."

Shen Yichen was stunned for a moment, how could it be like this?

"I can't help it. If I were to do it alone, I'd have to work from morning to night. Maybe I couldn't finish it." Ji Changning was helpless. That's why ancestor worship was held on weekends, so that generations of people would have time to get together. A group of people took hoes and sickles, and a group of people took the objects of worship. How could he deal with it alone, and his parents only had one son.

After cleaning, Ji Changning poured wine and burned incense in front of the grave, lined up the offerings, then took out a pack of Double Happiness and lit one. This was the first time Shen Yichen saw Ji Changning smoking. It was obvious that Ji Changning was not a novice, but he Never seen him smoke before, and he didn't even like the smell.

Ji Changning put the cigarette next to the incense, and muttered, "Dad, I brought you your favorite cigarette, but it's better not to smoke too much."

He turned his head to look at Shen Yichen, thinking about how to introduce this man to his parents.

"This is... a benefactor? A boss? A friend?" Ji Changning scratched his head, "In short, it's a complicated relationship."

Ji Changning bowed three times holding the incense, muttering words, but his voice was very low and Shen Yichen couldn't hear clearly.

Shen Yichen followed behind him, took three incense sticks, and bowed three times, saying hello to Ji Changning's parents in his heart, and then asked what Ji Changning said just now.

"I hope my parents will win more by playing mahjong down here." Ji Changning said, he remembers that his parents used to love playing mahjong.

Ji Changning opened a bottle of mineral water, and then began to fold paper money beside him. He wanted to prevent the wind from blowing and sparks could extinguish the fire at any time. They couldn't help setting off firecrackers. Occasionally, they could hear the sound of firecrackers from a distance. It should be someone else Worship the mountain on the same day as him.

They waited until the incense was gone before getting up and deciding to go down the mountain. They even drenched with mineral water before leaving.

Ji Changning grabbed two oranges and gave one to Shen Yichen, "Eat it to quench your thirst."

Shen Yichen watched him pick it up from the grave, "Is it really all right?"

Ji Changning let out a sigh, "It's okay, it's okay, there are no taboos, we are all like this here, as long as you want it, parents won't blame me."

Shen Yichen disagreed, "Are you sure your procedure is correct? Is this the custom in your locality?"

"No, it should be my mistake." Ji Changning said without any psychological burden, and he thought about it, "According to common sense, we need to bring a lot of things to worship here.