Returning to the small mountain village of '86, intelligence updated daily.

Chapter 138 Living in the Zhao Family

Zhou Rui stated that he wanted to go alone, which disappointed Zhao Qingya somewhat.

"Brother Rui, we can go together!"

"No, Xiaoya, it's too crowded. This isn't good."

After Zhou Rui finished speaking, without waiting for Zhao Qingya to say anything more, he said to Zhao Jianjun decisively, "Then Uncle Zhao, it's decided. I'll leave now and wait for you in the county town."

After Zhou Rui finished speaking, he was about to leave. Zhao Jianjun and Li Lan did not continue to persuade him about the matter of squeezing onto the motorcycle. Instead, they both tried to persuade Zhou Rui to stay for dinner.

"It's getting late, let's just grab something quick before we go." Zhao Jianjun glanced at his watch; it was a little past ten o'clock. The midday bus was scheduled to depart at noon, so they had over an hour to go.

It doesn't take long to get from the Zhao family's place to the town, even on foot.

After a moment's thought, Zhou Rui agreed.

He was worried about not having enough time, but now that he has plenty of time, he can fill his stomach before leaving.

And so, Zhou Rui entered the Zhao family's house.

This was his first time eating at the Zhao family's house, because the Zhou family rarely went to other people's houses for meals.

As soon as Zhou Rui entered, he realized that there was indeed a gap between the two families. The Zhao family was a low-key household with tens of thousands of yuan in income, and they never flaunted it in the village.

The home is decorated in a simple and elegant style and is very clean.

Because she was born after the family split up and was an only child, there were only three people in the Zhao family.

After entering the house, Li Lan hurriedly started cooking, because she had originally planned to take her time, but now that Zhou Rui was in a hurry, she had to speed things up.

After entering the house, Zhou Rui did not wander around or sit and wait for his meal. Instead, he went to help Aunt Li with the cooking.

Soon, the Zhao family's usual three meals a day were served.

Three dishes and a soup—it's very simple, but it includes meat dishes.

As one of the few wealthy households in the village, the Zhao family ate meat at every meal.

Zhou Rui ate his meal while glancing absentmindedly at the clock on the wall.

Aunt Li, worried that he would go hungry, kept putting meat on his plate. Zhao Jianjun smiled and said, "No rush, eat slowly. If it's too much, we can take a tractor."

"That's right, that's right, little Ruizi, come here, Auntie will add some meat for you. Eating more meat will help you grow stronger."

I quickly finished my meal and glanced at the time. It was already past eleven o'clock. Normally, my mom would have come home early to start preparing by this time.

Zhou Rui stood up, said goodbye to Uncle Zhao and Aunt Li, and walked towards the town. He didn't run because he couldn't do strenuous exercise right after eating, or his stomach would hurt.

Zhao Jianjun and his wife stood at their doorstep watching Zhou Rui leave. After a while, Li Lan said, "He's a really energetic young man, and he's also principled. He's much better than someone back then."

As Li Lan spoke, she glared at Zhao Jianjun.

Zhao Jianjun laughed. He knew his wife was referring to the fact that if Zhou Rui squeezed onto a motorcycle with their daughter to avoid close contact, there would inevitably be some contact, but Zhou Rui refused without even thinking about it.

This is enough to show that Zhou Rui is of good character.

"That's the kid I've set my sights on, how could he be anything but good?"

Zhao Jianjun was beaming with pride, but Zhao Qingya behind him wasn't stupid. She naturally knew what her parents were talking about, and a little shyness appeared on her face.

This scene is quite rare, because Zhao Qingya has always been generous, unpretentious, and unconventional, so this shyness is really unusual.

However, Zhao Jianjun obviously didn't see this scene, because his eyes were still full of admiration for Zhou Rui.

"Xiao Lan, things have really gotten out of hand since Zhou Rui started this week—have you noticed something?"

"What's up?"

"It seems like it's only been less than a month, and Xiao Ruizi has gone from borrowing a tricycle to buying one and even a tea plantation. That's fast!"

"Now that you mention it, it's true! I remember just last month, he was still frequently borrowing the tricycle. I can still vividly recall the embarrassed look on his face. In the blink of an eye, the Zhou family has changed so much!"

"Of course, Xiao Ruizi is someone I, Zhao Jianjun, have high hopes for—"

"You've said this countless times, I'm sick of hearing it. Stop talking, hurry up and pack your things. I heard what Xiao Ruizi said just now. If our factory really gets through this crisis because of him, we really need to thank him properly."

Li Lan looked away, pulled Zhao Jianjun around, and went back into the house. Zhao Jianjun simply nodded in agreement.

"Yes, we really need to thank them properly. But what should we thank them for—"

Zhao Jianjun subconsciously felt that this matter would definitely succeed, because Zhou Rui always gave him peace of mind.

Zhou Rui, who had just embarked on his journey, was unaware of the Zhao couple's opinion of him and his family. He was only thinking about how to deal with Li Dehua this time.

Moreover, he didn't mention sending Zhao Qingya away at all. After all, his mother was right. How could he send her away? Was he supposed to send her away with two legs that could run 100 kilometers and consume two bowls of clear soup noodles?

Aside from that, he didn't mention Zhao Qingya's birthday, something he had never forgotten, but simply kept to himself.

When we arrived at the town's bus station, there were only ten minutes left before departure.

Zhou Rui breathed a sigh of relief. He had made it just in time despite rushing. He paid for his ticket and waited for a while before a driver came with a loudspeaker to urge everyone to get on the bus.

Zhou Rui got into the car with a bag he was carrying with him. Inside the bag were a change of clothes. After all, he would be gone for several days, and Zhou Rui was a clean person, so he couldn't stand wearing dirty clothes.

This is very similar to her cousin Zhou Guo'er. It just goes to show that they are indeed siblings from the Zhou family.

The bus was slow, bulky, and the roads were difficult to navigate, making it much slower than a motorcycle. So, it took Zhao Jianjun about an hour after the bus departed before he was able to take his daughter to the county town.

Around 4 p.m., after a bumpy ride, Zhou Rui finally arrived in the county town.

He gathered his belongings and, as soon as he got off the bus, saw Zhao Jianjun and his daughter Zhao Qingya already waiting for him at the gate of the state-run bus station.

"Little Ruizi, let's go home."

Zhao Jianjun greeted him warmly.

"Brother Rui, we meet again~ Hehe~" Zhao Qingya was very happy.

"Uncle Zhao, how about I don't trouble you anymore? I can stay at a hotel for a few nights. I'll come find you again if I need anything."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Jianjun interrupted him unhappily.

"Silly child, what are you saying! If you keep talking nonsense, I'll go back and tell your dad and grandpa. What trouble? More people means more chopsticks!"

"Besides, we've already eaten that chicken, and we also had the deer blood wine from before. Talking about these trivial things would only make Uncle sad."

"Yes, yes, Brother Rui, we're all family, no need to be shy, let's go home together."

Seeing this, Zhou Rui reluctantly agreed.

He really didn't want to trouble the Zhao family. This was also what his grandfather and father had taught him since he was a child: never try to take advantage of someone without asking.

But it was difficult to refuse at the moment, so he had no choice but to go home with the Zhao father and daughter.