"Who is it!"
An old woman's voice sounded from the courtyard.
Hearing the voice, Xia Xue's body trembled slightly.
"Who's talking outside?"
A woman with grey hair, holding a small basin of cornmeal, cautiously opened the door.
"Mom~"
Xia Xue called out, her voice trembling.
Before her stood her mother, Xia Cui'e, whom she hadn't seen for many years.
*Clatter!*
Xia Cui'e's body jolted, and the small basin in her hand fell to the ground.
"Oh, my daughter, you've finally come back!"
"Mom~"
The two of them took a step forward and embraced tightly.
"Daughter, don't you even think about your two elderly parents? Why haven't you been home for so many years?"
Xia Cui'e sobbed uncontrollably, and Xia Xue also wept with tears.
The mother and daughter hugged and cried together.
Tian Mengyao, watching from behind, had her eyes red.
However, when she turned her head, she saw Lin Fan's expression was very indifferent.
This made her angry.
This scoundrel was truly heartless!
Why wasn't there any reaction at all?
She, of course, didn't know the inside story.
Lin Fan clearly remembered that every time his elder brother went to his in-laws' house, he would be scolded by them.
His sister-in-law didn't want to stay away from home, but she was forced by her parents back then.
Everyone in the village knew about this.
"Xue'er, now that you're back, don't leave again. I heard that Lin Feng..."
Xia Cui'e was about to say that Lin Feng had died, but when she saw a young man standing behind Xia Xue, she was stunned: "Lin Feng?"
"Mom, you've mistaken him. He's Lin Feng's younger brother, Lin Fan."
After Xia Xue introduced him, Lin Fan stepped forward and smiled, "Hello, Auntie."
"Hmm, you look exactly like your brother."
Xia Cui'e showed no good expression towards Lin Fan either.
If it weren't for Lin Feng's sweet talk that tricked her daughter, would her mother and daughter have been separated for so long?
"Xiao Fan has a girlfriend, and she's quite pretty."
Seeing Tian Mengyao, Xia Cui'e's face became even more unpleasant.
These two brothers were cut from the same cloth!
Even though their families were dirt poor, they found wives who were more beautiful than each other.
Tian Mengyao smiled and explained, "Auntie, I'm not his girlfriend. We're just ordinary friends."
She said this, but her heart was pounding faster and faster.
"Oh, so you're not."
Xia Cui'e walked up to her and said sarcastically, "Girl, I'm telling you, when you find a partner, you must open your eyes wide and be clear-minded..."
"Mom, what are you talking about?"
Xia Xue tugged at her mother's sleeve. "Where's Dad?"
This time, she was most worried about her stubborn father.
"He went to the fields to work. Wait, I'll go call him."
As soon as Xia Cui'e stepped out of the gate, she froze. "Whose car is this?"
"Mine!"
Lin Fan raised his right hand and shouted, as if afraid Xia Cui'e wouldn't hear. "Auntie, if it's blocking your way, I'll move it aside!"
"Your car?"
Xia Cui'e slowly turned her head to look at Lin Fan, her old eyes wide.
Others might not know the Lin family's background, but she knew it very well.
Back then, if it weren't for the Lin family being too poor, she wouldn't have insisted on not letting her daughter marry into their family.
Although she didn't understand cars, the Wrangler SUV looked tall and mighty, and it was obviously not cheap.
"No need, the road is wide enough. People can still pass, can't they?"
She didn't know if Lin Fan was showing off or had other intentions, so she walked around the car.
As an old woman who had never even been to school, she would still talk to the old man and guess what was going on.
"Let's go inside."
Xia Xue called out, then led Lin Fan and Tian Mengyao into the house.
Looking at the familiar surroundings, Xia Xue burst into tears again.
Lin Fan didn't know how to comfort her, so he stood beside his sister-in-law and looked in the direction she was looking.
Simple, old, full of the sense of time and the atmosphere of a mountain village.
It was really hard to imagine that his elder brother had been scolded by his in-laws in this very room.
Even though their conditions weren't great!
Perhaps it was because the Xia family had such a beautiful woman in their neighborhood as her sister-in-law!
After Lin Fan put his things on the table, he went out to sunbathe.
Xia Xue, on the other hand, was tidying up the house.
Tian Mengyao walked behind Lin Fan and asked in a low voice, "Xiao Fan, what's going on?"
Lin Fan turned to look at Tian Mengyao and asked, "What's going on?"
He didn't want to answer and chose to play dumb.
"Your sister-in-law, why is she like this with her family?"
Tian Mengyao leaned closer to Lin Fan and said proudly, "Also, did the old lady just mean that I should open my eyes and not be fooled by you?"
Lin Fan scoffed, "She meant for you to recognize reality and not daydream all day."
After he said that, he realized that this was actually similar to what Xia Cui'e had said.
After all, for realistic people, the saying "don't bully a young man for being poor" was just a pipe dream!
Hundreds of years ago, there was a Jewish master, called Ma or something, who explained this principle.
He said that humanity, generation after generation, each generation benefited from the conditions created by the previous generation, thus making the world better and better.
It was the same for individuals. A person's future and living standards largely benefited from the educational environment, economic conditions, social connections, and so on, created by their parents.
Of course, everything is divided into general and specific.
Lin Fan was a special case.
"You're the one daydreaming!"
Tian Mengyao's little mouth was so angry that it crooked.
Lin Fan chuckled, "What, you're not allowed to speak the truth anymore?"
Tian Mengyao gritted her teeth and went to hit Lin Fan.
Lin Fan dodged and continued to tease Tian Mengyao.
Tian Mengyao missed a punch and continued to throw punches. "Are you still daring to bully me?"
"What's wrong with bullying you?"
And so, the two began to circle and play in the courtyard.
Tian Mengyao couldn't catch up to Lin Fan and shouted in frustration, "Xue'er sis, look at Xiao Fan..."
"Shush, shush, shush, please don't shout, my dear grandmother."
Lin Fan was afraid of this move.
He stopped and let Tian Mengyao punch him a few times.
"What's wrong?"
Xia Xue heard the commotion and thought something had happened.
Lin Fan clasped his hands in a salute and begged for mercy. "As long as you don't complain, I'll agree to any condition."
"You promise to lend me the car, and I get to decide when to return it."
"You want to snatch my car?"
Lin Fan was stunned.
He truly didn't expect this little brat to try and take possession of his car.
"Xue'er sis~"
Tian Mengyao pretended to cry, looking like she had suffered a great injustice.
"Alright, alright, alright!"
Lin Fan nodded repeatedly in agreement.
He then thought that since he couldn't drive himself now, and he would need to find Tian Mengyao when he had errands to run, it was all the same.