C20

There was a period of silence.

"Not bad, it's just because you haven't been home for four years. Dad seems very angry." Zhang Xiaole frowned, deep in thought.

Zhang Xiaojian knew that his sister must have hidden the scene of his father cursing.

However, he could understand. His father only felt that he had failed and felt that he had lost face for him. After all, his father was someone who cared about face.

The year that Zhang Xiaojian went to college, his father placed dozens of tables in one go and invited all his relatives and friends over. However, he had graduated from university and had a job, yet his family didn't even know anything about it.

"Brother, you must have had a tough time these past few years." Zhang Xiaole squinted her eyes and looked at her brother with a pained expression.

He knew that his brother had been a role model for everyone since he was young. If he was strong, if he wasn't unhappy outside, he wouldn't have gone home for four years.

Zhang Xiaojian grinned and said: "It's alright, anyway I didn't starve to death."

The car had already arrived at the village entrance. The cement tablet at the village entrance was still there. However, another two cracks had appeared on it. The crack from top to bottom was even wider now.

In the Green Spirit Mountain Village, Zhang Xiaojian's heart was extremely warm, and his eyes were moist again.

The village didn't seem to have any changes, except for the cement road beneath his feet. It seemed like the construction had just been completed not too long ago.

There were also a few more red brick houses, but nothing else had changed.

The white poplar trees on both sides of the road were still the same, it should have been more than twenty years ago. One person could no longer hug him.

There were a few women chatting by the side of the road, and a few children running by.

Seeing Zhang Xiaojian's car coming over, they all stared at it as if they were looking at something strange.

Although it was the twenty-first century, the village still looked like it was in the nineties.

"It's Zhang Xiaole." A middle-aged woman recognized her sister in the passenger seat.

Zhang Xiaojian smiled at his sister.

Zhang Xiaole greeted the woman and said: "Sister-in-law, it's me."

"Xiao Le, whose car is this? How impressive." the woman asked.

Zhang Xiaojian slowed down his speed a lot and recognized that the woman was Wang Dong's woman. That year, she was the one who stood at their doorstep and scolded him for a whole three hours because Wang Dong had lent him five hundred yuan.

"Sister-in-law, it's me." Zhang Xiaole stopped the car and stuck her head out the window.

"You are, you are Zhang Xiaojian." The woman finally recognized it and clicked her tongue in praise. "You must be rich, driving such a good car. It should be about the same as the Mayor's Jetta."

Zhang Xiaojian laughed and said in his heart, it was more or less the same.

Seeing that Zhang Xiaojian had returned, all the aunts in the village rushed over, surrounding Zhang Xiaojian and talking about what to do.

As if performing a magic trick, Zhang Xiaojian brought out all kinds of candies for the children whose snot was smeared on their sleeves and brought them out to the rough fingers of the unruly, red-black face of the villagers to smoke.

"This cigarette is quite expensive, right? No matter what, it costs a dozen yuan a box." The prince smacked his lips.

Zhang Xiaojian laughed and said: "It's not worth much."

If he were to say that this cigarette was nine dollars per cigarette, Wang Dong would definitely be scared to death.

"Little slut, I already knew that you were promising. This time, I can stay for a few days." the Prince asked.

"I'm not leaving." Zhang Xiaojian said smilingly as he breathed in the sweet air of his homeland. His right hand couldn't help but rub his nose.

"I'm not leaving, what's your job to do?" the prince's wife asked.

"Bye." Zhang Xiaojian said.

Everyone was stunned, even her sister Zhang Xiaole frowned.

"Brother." A familiar voice came out next to Zhang Xiaojian's ears. At the same time, someone heavily punched him in the chest.

Raising his head, he saw a man with a dark red face standing before him. A pair of big hands with calluses on them grabbed Zhang Xiaojian.

"Ol 'Five." Zhang Xiaojian blurted out.

"You didn't forget me. I guess you have a conscience." The fifth brother grinned.

"We were all punished by the teacher together. How can we forget the friendship of getting what we need?" Zhang Xiaojian's eyes moistened again.

"Sovereign Nanjing, you kid, you're too extravagant." He received one from Old Five, and kept the rest in his pocket.

Zhang Xiaojian pointed at the fifth brother's nose and said, "It's been so many years, and you still haven't changed."

"Change my ass, this is all I can do. I'm not like you scholars, who travel a thousand miles in a single day." The fifth brother puffed out a cloud of smoke.

"I'm not home yet. Let's drink when we're free." Zhang Xiaojian said, and turned around to wave goodbye to everyone.

The fifth brother nodded with a look of jealousy and envy. He didn't say it out loud, but in his heart, he must have been cursing at Zhang Xiaojian, the baby.

At the very west side of the village, there was a courtyard. Zhang Xiaojian parked in front of the door, opened it and slowly got down.

In front of the door was an old elm tree, which he had heard his father say came out the year he built the house. His father was sixty-one years old, and the old elm tree was forty years old.

The courtyard was very clean. There were a lot of mulberry flowers growing at the entrance, and they were all busy. There were even beautiful big butterflies flying around on the flowers.

"So beautiful." From within the ring came a voice that could topple empires.

Zhang Xiaole was still not used to it, she looked at the storage ring weirdly.

"It's good that you like it." Zhang Xiaojian said.

A big black dog rushed out from the courtyard, lightly barked twice when it saw Zhang Xiaojian, and then rubbed its body against his leg with all its might.

Zhang Xiaojian squatted down and patted the black dog's head a few times. Then, he threw two pieces of cake out.

"Dad, Mom, I'm back." Zhang Xiaole had already ran into the courtyard as she laughed and said.

Zhang Xiaojian stood at the door, looked at the three grass huts and the peeling paint on the windows, and let out a long sigh.

Two old men hurriedly walked out of the room.

The man's hair was gray and the wrinkles were like sculptures. He was wearing a blue Chinese tunic that had been washed until it turned white.

The woman staggered, her eyes watering.

The two of them stopped in the middle of the courtyard. They had imagined this scene many times, but every time was just a dream. Now that they had actually seen their son, they couldn't believe it.

Zhang Xiaojian's father held a pipe in his hand. The excitement in his eyes suddenly disappeared as he said: "You still know how to come back."

"Child." Zhang Xiaojian's mother trembled as tears streamed down his face.

"Mom." Zhang Xiaojian ran two steps forward and hugged his mother tightly.

The countless times he had dreamt of this finally came true today. Zhang Xiaojian could not hold it in any longer, tears gushing down his cheeks.

"Alright, I'm rich now. You're back, what are you crying for?" Zhang Xiaole advised from the side.

It was only then that Zhang Xiaojian's father saw the car parked outside. Carrying a pipe, he quickly took two steps forward and gently caressed Lexus as he asked, "Son, it really is you."

Zhang Xiaojian laughed and said: "En."