Returning to Parents' Seventeen
Chapter 113: How Good It Is

Chapter 113: Chapter 113: How Good It Is

Thinking about what she had to do after returning to Ning City, Xu Chuning felt a surge of excitement.

Hearing her say this, You Shuzhen smiled lightly, with a hint of emotion, "I miss your grandmother too."

Had it not been for the insistence of Xu Chuning’s grandmother, You Shuzhen truly wished to bring her to Jiang City to live together with them.

After chatting for a bit, Xu Chuning couldn’t resist the drowsiness and fell asleep.

The environment on the train wasn’t great, but she was accustomed to it; noises never prevented her from sleeping. Most children from ordinary families don’t have such picky issues.

Xu Chuning slept for a good half hour. When she opened her eyes, You Shuzhen was still asleep.

She rested her head on You Shuzhen’s shoulder, who sat upright, her head leaning against the train’s seatback, sleeping stiffly.

The train passed through a tunnel, enveloping the interior in darkness.

Once through the tunnel, light sloped back into the carriage. Xu Chuning looked earnestly at You Shuzhen at that moment. She hadn’t really looked at her closely for a long time. Xu Chuning noticed that in the past six months, You Shuzhen’s face had more wrinkles, and her hair had grown somewhat whiter.

Watching her, Xu Chuning suddenly thought back to the last parent-teacher meeting at school. The other students’ parents all looked quite young, without a trace of exceptional fatigue on their bodies or faces, let alone white hair.

At that thought, Xu Chuning’s heart suddenly felt a pang. She wanted You Shuzhen to have an easier life, but currently, she felt powerless to help.

So far, the only thing Xu Chuning could do to bring some joy and relaxation to You Shuzhen was, apart from finding "Li Xiaonan", still finding "Li Xiaonan".

After twelve, the train stopped in Ning City.

Xu Chuning and You Shuzhen, carrying their large and small bags, disembarked from the train, caught a bus to Ning City’s bus station, bought tickets after waiting over twenty minutes, and successfully boarded a coach back to the county town.

An hour later, they got off the coach in the county town and took another minibus to Pingning Town.

After several transfers back and forth, when they arrived in Pingning Town, it was nearing four in the afternoon.

But Xu Chuning and You Shuzhen appeared calm; they were accustomed to such journeys and didn’t feel excessively fatigued.

After alighting, considering the volume of luggage, they called a tricycle to take them from the town to their doorstep.

Hearing the sound, Xu Chuning’s grandmother came out from the house. Seeing them, she was particularly excited, "Ningning, Shuzhen."

"Grandma," Xu Chuning ran to her grandmother for a big hug, "Did you miss me?"

The grandmother patted her back with tender excitement, "Yes, grandma missed you both."

You Shuzhen watched the old and the young with slightly upturned eyes and brows, "Ningning, let’s move the luggage first."

Xu Chuning responded with an "Okay" and hurriedly walked over to You Shuzhen’s side, carrying the luggage into the house.

"Grandma, we’ll go inside first."

Grandma agreed.

Once inside, Grandma sized up Xu Chuning and frowned, "Haven’t you been eating well? You’ve lost weight."

"Not at all," Xu Chuning denied, "I eat a ton. If you don’t believe me, ask Ms. You."

You Shuzhen chuckled, "Her studies are strenuous; even eating a lot doesn’t result in weight gain."

Hearing this, grandma gently patted Xu Chuning’s hand with heartfelt concern, "Eat more now that you’re home, grandma won’t allow you to diet at such a young age."

Xu Chuning’s lips curled up slightly, as she quickly agreed, "I understand."

After chatting affectionately with grandma for a while downstairs, Xu Chuning and You Shuzhen went upstairs to clean. When Xu Chuning was in junior high, You Shuzhen had taken some money home to build a new house.

In Jiang City, the mother-daughter duo were considered poor, but in Pingning, where the cost of living was very low, their family’s circumstances weren’t bad. You Shuzhen opened a shop in Jiang City when Xu Chuning was in elementary school, and after many years, they had saved a good sum of money. Since they didn’t spend much, she took the money early to build a house in her hometown.

The house was two-storied and simply furnished.

The ground floor covered a large area, with three rooms, and the second floor also had three rooms.

Besides that, there was a walled yard where Xu Chuning’s grandma planted vegetables. On the other side of the yard was the comparatively simple kitchen.

After tidying up the house a bit, You Shuzhen went to make dinner.

The neighboring villagers, knowing the two had returned, even brought over a lot of fresh vegetables to their home.

Country neighbors are mostly quite honest and simple, and You Shuzhen has a gentle personality, getting on quite well with the neighbors around her.

After dinner, Xu Chuning and You Shuzhen stayed in the living room downstairs to watch TV with grandma for a while before going back to their rooms to rest.

While downstairs, Xu Chuning didn’t feel tired, but after taking a bath back in her room, she felt so exhausted that she didn’t even want to move a finger.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Xu Chuning: "Come in."

At her old home, You Shuzhen would knock before entering Xu Chuning’s room, respecting her daughter’s privacy.

"Mom." Xu Chuning sat up from the bed, "Why did you come in?"

You Shuzhen brought the fan over to her, "Is it hot?"

Xu Chuning: "Actually, it’s not too bad."

You Shuzhen gave her a look, saying softly, "Let’s go to the market tomorrow and buy two new fans."

Currently, there was just one fan in the house. You Shuzhen and grandma were used to the summer heat and seldom used the fan. However, as the high temperatures in recent years had become more severe, grandma would occasionally use it.

Xu Chuning wasn’t as heat-tolerant, but she hadn’t mentioned needing a fan. It was only after grandma went back to her room to sleep that she remembered they hadn’t brought the fan upstairs, so You Shuzhen went to fetch it for Xu Chuning.

Xu Chuning: "Do we really need to spend the money? I actually could do without it."

You Shuzhen gave her another look, "You might do without it, but it won’t work when there are more people. Have you forgotten that Xitong and the others said they wanted to come over to play?"

"..." Xu Chuning shook her head, "No, I haven’t."

Feeling a bit embarrassed she said, "Mom, I’m making you spend again."

You Shuzhen couldn’t help but smile, "What are you talking about, we were going to buy it anyway."

She touched Xu Chuning’s head, "Mom is very happy that you have classmates coming over to play."

Of course, what made her even happier was that Xu Chuning has a few good friends to hang out with. That way, she wouldn’t be so lonely.

She has secrets she didn’t wish to share with You Shuzhen, and also people to share them with.

You Shuzhen thought this was very good.

"Thank you, Mom." Xu Chuning’s gratitude was beyond words.

You Shuzhen: "We’re family."

She didn’t chat much with Xu Chuning, just put down the fan and reminded her, "Go to sleep early, you’ve had a long day."

"Okay, you too, Mom."

You Shuzhen left the room, and on her way out, she closed the door behind her.

Xu Chuning lay down again, enjoying the breeze from the fan, which made her feel much more comfortable.

Suddenly, her phone on the side vibrated.

Xu Chuning picked it up and saw it was Deng Xitong @ing her in the group chat, asking how it feels to be back in her hometown.

Xu Chuning smiled and replied: [Super great!]

Shen Yubai suddenly popped up: [How great is it?]

Xu Chuning: "..."