Feeling Tian Jing's mood was a bit down, Shen Jianrong changed the subject:
"Quick, take us inside, we haven't eaten yet."
Tian Jing collected herself, glanced at the sun already high in the sky, and stepped up the stairs:
"Come on in. I'll boil you some noodles to fill your bellies first, and then I'll make lunch right away."
"Sister-in-law, go to the nursery and get some vegetables. Call Li Min over too."
"Also invite Brother and Suo Zhu to have lunch."
"Alright!" Ouyang Meihua replied, waved to the Shen sisters, and quickly left.
Tian Jing led the Shen sisters into the courtyard. Shen Jianrong didn't sit in the living room, but followed Tian Jing into the kitchen to help with the fire.
"No need to build a fire." Tian Jing didn't stop the Shen sisters and let them follow into the kitchen: "We have a gas stove too."
There were two kitchens, one with a wood-burning stove and the other with a clean and simple marble gas stove.
Shen Jianfang teased her younger sister: "After your cook left, the kitchen became as messy as a scrap yard. Look at your in-laws, aren't you embarrassed?"
Tian Jing, who was putting a pot on the stove, was startled: "Xiao Yuan left?"
Shen Jianrong nodded: "She left with her great-aunt. She said she'd send someone else to me, but I haven't received anyone yet."
Tian Jing knew that the person Shen Jianrong was referring to was Yuan Feng: "Her great-aunt hasn't returned yet."
Yuan Feng had left for over a month. It was already April, and she should be back soon.
Shen Jianrong asked in surprise: "Was Xiao Yuan's great-aunt married to someone from Ku Shan?"
"You're really carefree." Tian Jing admired Shen Jianrong: "Didn't you ask Uncle Shen?"
Shen Jianrong shook her head: "My father doesn't like to gossip about family matters."
The water boiled, and Tian Jing took out four wild eggs. As she cracked them into the pot, she recounted her connection with Yuan Feng.
Shen Jianrong chuckled: "This isn't just a connection with Yuan Feng, it's a connection with Yuan Feng's whole family."
"I think so too." Tian Jing agreed, turned off the heat, and prepared to drain the noodles.
The Shen sisters took bowls and chopsticks and drained the noodles themselves. Tian Jing had already cooked them, so were they going to wait for her to serve them?
Tian Jing told them to eat in the dining room next door, but the sisters insisted on eating in the kitchen.
Just then, Ouyang Meihua and Li Min arrived with a basket of vegetables.
Tian Jing introduced the Shen sisters to Li Min.
Shen Jianrong, holding a bowl, gestured with her bowl to Li Min: "Let's not be so formal. I'm hungry."
Li Min extended her dirt-covered hand: "Here, same here. I'm not a very particular person."
"Perfect." Shen Jianrong picked up noodles and ate, saying as she ate: "I hate being overly polite."
"You choose the vegetables first, and we'll help after we eat."
Ouyang Meihua and Li Min sat by the kitchen door, picking vegetables.
Shen Jianrong hooked a small stool with her foot and sat next to them.
Seeing her younger sister's informality, Shen Jianfang also took a small stool from the stove and sat beside her, holding her bowl and slurping noodles:
"Finally, I've found this feeling again. Holding a bowl and eating casually, squatting or sitting, is the most comfortable."
Shen Jianrong smiled, thinking her elder sister was living a happy life but still reminiscing about the hardships of her time in the countryside.
Shen Jianfang glanced at her younger sister: "Father used his last effort to get you a job in the factory."
"You don't know the hardships of the countryside, nor do you know the feeling of eating a bowl of thin broth and leaning against a wall while basking in the sun after enduring hardship."
"That was truly hateful and nostalgic."
As she spoke, Shen Jianfang looked at the sunlight outside.
It was unclear if Shen Jianrong understood Shen Jianfang's feelings, but Tian Jing certainly did:
"Sister Shen, you can lean against the wall and bask in the sun at breakfast tomorrow."
Shen Jianfang nodded: "I will experience it. Tian Jing, we will be troubling you for a few days."
"You are most welcome." Tian Jing picked up a basin and squatted beside her, stringing beans:
"And that includes two days of playing in the hot spring valley in the back mountain."
"You've come at the perfect time, the ice and snow on the mountain have almost melted."
"And it's before the scenic area opens, so you won't have to deal with crowds of tourists."
"Ziyu went up once. It was too cold and icy to play, but she did enjoy the hot springs."
Shen Jianfang nodded repeatedly: "Great, great! We'll go soak in the hot springs tomorrow."
"The hot springs near the capital are either fake, or there are too many tourists, which makes it inconvenient for us to go."
Shen Jianrong also nodded: "Ziyu also told me about the long rafting route in the cave. Can we go now?"
Tian Jing nodded: "At this temperature, the rafting route still has a thin layer of ice that hasn't completely melted."
"We can go in the hottest part of the day, and it will be perfectly fine."
After Shen Jianfang washed the two bowls, she was about to help again, but the vegetables had already been picked.
Ouyang Meihua and Li Min washed and cut the vegetables, while Tian Jing took the Shen sisters to see the guest rooms in the backyard.
The sisters chose to share a room.
Tian Jing went to get water to clean, and the Shen sisters went to get their luggage from outside the courtyard.
As the sisters took down their luggage, they saw a girl about ten years old running from the side of the five-story building of the village committee towards their small car.
"Bang!"
The girl ran headfirst into the car door, fell backward onto the ground, and lay motionless.
Shen Jianfang and Shen Jianrong exchanged glances. One stayed to watch the scene, while the other rushed back to the courtyard to call Tian Jing.
A woman also ran over from the side of the village committee building:
"Oh dear, she hit someone! The car hit someone!"
Zhou Chenbin, in the village office, heard the commotion and came out to investigate.
Tian Jing, Ouyang Meihua, and Li Min also came out.
Upon seeing Lin Wanniang clinging to Shen Jianfang's leg, and Lin Wan lying motionless on the ground.
Tian Jing flicked her hand and cast a superpower shield over Lin Wanniang and Lin Wan, the mother and daughter.
The superpower shield slowly contracted. Lin Wanniang felt uncomfortable and had to release her grip, pushing against the air beside her.
Her hand touched something, but she couldn't see it. The object was getting smaller and tighter, forcing her to curl up.
Lin Wanniang was terrified by this uncontrollable feeling: "There's... there's a ghost!"
Tian Jing beckoned, and Lin Wan, who was curled up by the superpower shield and had stopped faking her unconsciousness, floated to her feet.
Tian Jing tilted her head and asked Lin Wanniang, who was shocked by this situation: "Where is the ghost?"
Lin Wanniang looked at her in terror: "You? You?"
Tian Jing sneered contemptuously: "What about me? Are you implying I'm a ghost?"
As she spoke, she kicked out. Lin Wan rolled like a ball towards the back wall of the village office, bounced off it, and rolled back to her mother, who was curled up.
Tian Jing slowly walked up to the two spherical figures and raised her foot: "Lin Wan's mother, you've been released from prison, haven't you?"
"You've come to play games with me right after getting out? Alright, let's play a kicking ball game then?"
Saying that, Tian Jing kicked each of them once, sending the two human-shaped balls towards the back wall of the village committee building.
After bouncing back to Tian Jing a few times from the back wall, Tian Jing withdrew her superpower shield: "Was it fun? Do you want to continue?"
Lin Wanniang and Lin Wan lay on the ground, retching uncontrollably, unable to answer Tian Jing.
Tian Jing looked down at the mother and daughter lying on the ground:
"Lin Wanniang, tell me, how did you get in?"
She was about to go out to pick up guests, so when did Lin Wanniang enter, and how did she get in?
Zhou Chenbin also considered this point. He took out his phone, preparing to question the security team.