“These are kept by the locals here. You probably never had them before. The old village head knows that Lao Fang is coming and slaughtered one. You will be able to try it tonight.” Lin Dazhi came back over after he had returned the tractor. He ran into Shu Yan first on his way to look for Lao Fang.

  “You slaughtered a sheep?” Cows and sheep were extremely important to herdsman in this day and age. She would ask Feng Zeyu the cost of one later on and they must pay the village head back.

  When Shu Yan returned, Feng Zeyu was already hanging up the clothes, including hers and the kids.

  “How come you did them already?” With their current relationship, it was quite embarrassing to have Feng Zeyu did her laundry.

  “I was doing mine anyway.” That didn’t bother Feng Zeyu much. After he had hung up all the clothes and that both of the kids were back, he showed Shu Yan to the place to washup. “I had just boiled some hot water. You can wash up here. We will head over to dinner at the village head’s place tonight.”


  “You are too industrious. We must take you with us everywhere we go from now on,” said Shu Yan jokingly.

  “I guess I need to do my best so you will take me with you next time.” Feng Zeyu, too, said jokingly. After he had put down the water, he let Shu Yan took JingJing inside and he washed up with Tianbao next to them.

  After they were finished with washing up, Shu Yan asked Feng Zeyu, “Captain Lin said the old village lead slaughtered a lamb just for us. Farm animals for sure are very important to herdsman. We need to pay them back.”


  “Don’t worry. I will take care of it.” Feng Zeyu had it all thought out already. He would donate a lumpsum to fix up the road that led out of the village.

  It had just gotten dark outside when Lin Dazhi came to fetch Shu Yan and Feng Zeyu for dinner. The old village lead was particularly excited when he saw Feng Zeyu. There were tears in his eyes. He said repeatedly in his broken mandarin, “I am glad you are back. Happy.”


  Feng Zeyu’s eyes were reddened as well. He used a lot of vocabularies in the local dialect when he talked. From the bits and pieces, Shu Yan gathered that he offered to donate money to fix the roads and needed the help of the old village lead.

  That was a generous act. Shu Yan immediately asked Feng Zeyu how much that would cost and offered to pay for a portion of it.

  “No need. I will pay for this road.” Feng Zeyu was very adamant this time.

  Shu Yan nodded and did not fight with him over it.

  The lamb chop and everything else made from the lamb’s organs were all very taste. Roasted mutton was very tender. The sheep tasted different than the mutton that Shu Yan had before at her old place. Back home they used goats, which would taste gamey if one didn’t know how to cook it properly. Sheep had almost no gamey taste to them at all. Or that the village lead’s wife was a very good cook. Even Shu Yan, who didn’t like mutton much, had quite a bit of it.

  “Have more. Have more. Xiao Fang is family to me and you are too now.” The village lead was very happy when he saw that Shu Yan truly enjoyed them.

  Shu Yan had a few glasses of alcohol and was a little dizzy. Feng Zeyu carried Tianbao in one arm and held Shu Yan’s hand with his other. Shu Yan held onto JingJing with her other hand. The few paced forward slowly.

  “I borrowed horses from the village lead. We can go take a ride tomorrow?”


  Tianbao was already asleep or he would for sure want to go with.

  “Yes!” She had tried it over at Hu Ruixue’s place. She didn’t know how to ride the horse and someone was leading the horse in front of her. It was still bit scary sitting on one.

  Shu Yan was a good drunk. She didn’t fuzz or make a scene even when she was drunk. She felt asleep as soon as she hit the bed. She did, however, have a little bit of a headache when she woke up the next morning. Feng Zeyu gave her some herb soup for the hangover and she felt much better after that.

  “Don’t drink so much next time if you can’t hold alcohol.” Feng Zeyu, rubbing her temples softly, asked her tenderly, “Do you still feel bad?”


  “They are too enthusiastic. I feel bad not drinking. What did you tell me yesterday? We are going to go riding today?” Shu Yan changed the subject quickly.

  The two had become more and more affectionate with each other ever since they had hugged on the tractor. Shu Yan didn’t feel anything wrong with that.

  “Yes. I asked the village lead for his two sons’ help as well. They could take Tianbao and JingJing. I’ll take you.”


  After helping Shu Yan onto the horse, Feng Zeyu led the horse for a round before he hopped on behind her. With a flick of the riding crop, the horse dashed out. Shu Yan let out a scream and held onto Feng Zeyu’s hands tightly as she laid in his arms.

  It was excitement after the fear had subsided. Shu Yan laughed heartily into the wind.

  “Wait for me, Mommy,” shouted Tianbao from behind.

  The village lead’s sons wanted to ran forward as well but they both have a kid with them. The kind who had never ridden a horse at that so they had no choice but to keep their speed in check. Their father had made it abundantly clear. If they were not good hosts, he would use the riding crop on them.

  Chapter 347: 'Part of the reason for the road is to solicit the help of the Party Village Secretary; the other part is to have some good karma.' (1)

  “I’ll give you a massage in a little while. That way you won’t be sore tomorrow.” Feng Zeyu worried that Shu Yan would feel comfortable when she woke up tomorrow.

  “I should be fine. I have been practicing yoga lately.”


  The club that was referred to her by Hu Ruixue has a yoga instructor. In addition to some body-molding exercises, Shu Yan would practice yoga as well. She planned to continue on with yoga after her body-molding regime was done.

  She had seen others who practiced yoga. They had good temperaments and shapely bodies. She hoped that she could maintain in reasonable shape after 40 years old too.

  Horse-back riding slowly, Shu Yan’s bangs were lifted up by the wind slightly and she laid comfortably in Feng Zeyu’s arms.

  “It is so pretty here. I hope we can come again.”


  “We can come anytime if you want.” Feng Zeyu, too, liked this place a lot.

  Back then when he was no longer able to stick around his home town, his grandfather pulled strings to get him into the troop, which subsequently changed his life. He might otherwise really have turned to the streets and gone down the path of no return.

  That afternoon, they put a blanket on the ground and laid down on it to watch the blue sky with white clouds. They could spend an entire day lying there like that.

  “Look at my little horse, Mom.” Tianbao came by slowly riding on a small female horse.

  “Where did the horse come from? Don’t hurt it.” The horse looked very small.

  “Jinshan said it would be fine. He rides it all the time.” It was the first time Tianbao was riding on his own.

  “Who’s Jinshan?” Shu Yan turned and asked Feng Zeyu.

  “He’s the grandson of the old village head. This is probably his practice horse. If he says it’s fine, it must be fine.” Feng Zeyu helped Shu Yan off the horse and came over to stroke the horse that Tianbao was riding on. “You still need to be careful even though the horse is small. It is no joke to fall off of one.”


  “I’m not afraid. Uncle Fang would protect me.” After being together for the last few days, Tianbao looked up to Feng Zeyu more and more.

  Feng Zeyu knocked him gently on his head. “I only have two hands. What if I can’t make it on time?”


  After a little while, JingJing, too, came over on a little horse. There was a boy around 8 years old walking next to her. He was very well built. Most likely he was Jinshan that Tianbao had mentioned.

  “Mom, can I ride the horse over to that side?” Truth was, JingJing was a little bit scared of horseback riding before. But she was not afraid of the little horses. In fact, she found the little horse very cute.

  Other than Jinshan, Jinshan’s father was there as well. Shu Yan was not worried about them wandering around. Besides, the point of coming here was to have fun. She didn’t see the need to be overcautious.

  They went over to the village head’s place for dinner again and they cooked another lamb. Feng Zeyu and the village head talked a lot about the road over dinner. The village head’s idea was to fill up the potholes and put pebbles over it.

  “Can we apply to have concrete road from the province?” Feng Zeyu did some math with Lin Dazhi the night before. The closest province city was 20 kilometers from here. The road was quite flat. The village can provide the labor and it would cost roughly a million yuan.

  The old village head shook his head. “No, I have submitted our request many times in the past. They kept telling us that they didn’t have the budget for it.”


  The grassland was too big and the villages too spread out. Take their village for example, the population was below 100. The province was poor to begin with. Of course they would not shell out 1 million yuan to pave the road for them. Besides, once they have paved their roads, all the other villages would want the same and all would be going to the province for that. They would never hear the end of it.

  Shu Yan was surprised as she listened to them talk. She didn’t know that paving roads would cost so much. Per Feng Zeyu’s calculations, it would cost roughly 10,000 yuan per kilometer. And that was assuming the road was flat. If there were mountains or rivers, the cost would only go up from there.

  If that was the case, the 50,000 yuan that she donated was not even close. She felt that it should be enough at the time and her third brother said he would top off the remainder. She thought they were talking about 10,000 ~ 20,000 tops. Now it looked like even 100,000 wouldn’t ben enough.

  Their village was, after all, located in the ravine, some two mountains away from the next closest village. If they were to pave roads, they would need to first cordon off the fields with rocks and they would also need a bridge. It would entail much more than what they were talking about here at the grassland.

  Chapter 348: 'Part of the reason for the road is to solicit the help of the Party Village Secretary; the other part is to have some good karma.' (2)

  “What’s the matter?” asked Feng Zeyu when he saw Shu Yan pondering over something after he was done talking to the village head.

  “I am thinking about my donation from before. I thought 50,000 yuan was a lot already but now it looked like my assumption was wrong. I need to touch base with Third Brother. It was my idea and I can’t let him spend that much money.”


  Feng Zeyu only new that Shu Yan had made a donation but didn’t know the details. Now it looked like the road to pave was quite long.

  Feng Zeyu took Shu Yan to his old troop for a tour the next day. Technically they were not allowed inside but Lin Dazhi looked for their old superior. This old superior loved Feng Zeyu and quickly had someone showed them in when he heard that Feng Zeyu was there.

  “It had changed so much.” Feng Zeyu lamented when he looked around the base.

  “You have been gone for years. It’s only normal that things had changed.” Lin Dazhi pointed at a building and asked Feng Zeyu if he still remembered what that was for.

  After having lunch there, Tianbao looked around and said softly, “Mom, I want to join the military when I grow up.”


  Shu Yan glanced over at him. And she wanted to be a scientist when she was young. Look at her now.

  When the province found out that Feng Zeyu wanted to donate money to pave the road, the immediately sent someone out to meet up with him. They ended up not talking a lot about fixing up the road but they solicited him for investments. They stressed for Feng Zeyu to help out the grassland that he had one stayed.

  It was obvious that these people did not have personal agendas. They truly wanted to help the province brought in some money. This area was just too poor.

  Shu Yan looked at the flocks of sheep outside and pondered. Hu Ruixue was already planning on starting a women’s clothing line and they would most likely start their marketing in a couple of months, right around the fall clothing time. Cashmere was a must for fall and winter clothing. And wool would be needed for all sorts of clothing like wool coat, scarves, hats, socks……


  “I might have an opportunity for you.”


  Those from the province looked over at Shu Yan after she spoke.

  “This is……?”


  “She is my girlfriend. She is in the clothing business.” When he heard Shu Yan, Feng Zeyu knew that she only brought up the idea after careful considerations.

  Clothing business? The eyes of those who were there to solicit business lit up. Clothing business was great. If they could have a wool factory there, that would add a lot of employment opportunities and the herdsmen in the province would be able to have income.

  “That is just a thought right now. I will need to send someone over to look into it in details. I can’t just make that call.” Shu Yan explained with a smile and then went on to say, “Besides, I am here for vacation. As such, I would rather not talk about work. I will call up my people at the company later and you can reach out to them directly.”


  Her words did not discourage them. Shu Yan was the boss, if she was willing to invest in this area, it was unlikely that her employees would go against her wish.

  They looked for the village head and had him take good care of Shu Yan and Feng Zeyu. The province would cover their expenses there. As for the road, the province could shell out some money as well. Not a whole lot, but at least they would contribute some.

  The four of them spent a week in the grassland and those from the province, just like they had promised, never came to bother them again. Shu Yan learned to make yogurt and cheese from the herdsmen. Cheese was too complicated but she could try making yogurt at home.

  The two children became close friends with Jinshan from the village head’s family and they would ride the little horse and wandered around every day. They even delivered a little lamb with Jinshan yesterday.

  “Mom, little lambs are so magical. They can stand up and even walk shortly after they are born,” said Tianbao to Shu Yan excitedly.

  “Oh? Is that so?”


  “Yes. He also said that I can have the little lamb. Mom, can we bring it home with us?” Tianbao blinked as he looked at Shu Yan. JingJing didn’t say anything but she looked at Tianbao with anticipation.

  “The lamb is so small. It will die if it doesn’t get its mother’s milk.” Shu Yan was very baffled. He wanted to bring a lamb home with him? Kids really have all sorts of crazy ideas.

  “Then can we bring its mother too? That way the lamb won’t starve to death,” said Tianbao immediately.

  “Mother sheep belongs to Grandpa Village Head. If you take her away, Grandpa Village Head and his family will have no money for food. Have you thought about that, Tianbao and JingJing?” Shu Yan looked at them solemnly. “Same goes for the little lamb. It is what Grandpa Village Head and his family relies on for their income. Jinshan was being polite when he said you can have it. And you just accepted it like that?”


  “Then can we buy it?” asked Tianbao, dispirited.

  “Buy it and bring it home with us? Have you forgotten how we got here?”


  JingJing shuddered at the thought of squeezing inside their cabin with mother sheep and shook her head immediately, “Never mind.”


  “Alright, Mommy will buy you a puppy when we returned to City Nan. Puppies are cute too and it will also protect you.” Shu Yan had been thinking about that for a while now, especially after they bought the house with a yard.

  “Allllright,” replied Tianbao begrudgingly.

  Chapter 349: 'Part of the reason for the road is to solicit the help of the Party Village Secretary; the other part is to have some good karma.' (3)

  When it was time to go, the old village head and the herdsmen threw a grand farewell celebration for them. Everybody in the village attended and they all gathered around the fire and sang and danced. Even Feng Zeyu and Shu Yan were urged to urged to dance for a little while.

  The next morning, they got up, packed up, and Lin Dazhi brought them back to the city in the tractor.

  “Lao Fang, there’s a phone in the troop now. Call me if you need anything. Do keep in touch.” Lin Dazhi had already learned about what had happened. He punched Feng Zeyu on his shoulder, leaned into him and said in a low voice, “Sister-in-law is quite nice. Be good to her.”


  “I don’t need you to tell me that.” Feng Zeyu rolled his eyes at him. Of course he would be nice to his own wife. Who else would he be nice to? “Come visit us in City Nan sometime.”


  They took the same rough trip back to City Nan and, when they got out off the train, Shu Yan let out a big sigh of relief.

  “The grassland was fun but the transportation there was not very convenient.” Travelling at this day and age was very inconvenient. In the future, high-speed train between City Nan and capital city would only take 4-5 hours. It took close to 20 hours now. The difference was drastic.

  Noticing that Shu Yan looked tired, Feng Zeyu had them waited by the exit and went to get the car himself.

  It was roughly 5 PM when they returned to the little district and most people were off work. Feng Zeyu hesitated a little and decided to walk Shu Yan to her place.

  Some of them who knew Shu Yan or Feng Zeyu saw them together and gossiped.

  “Is that true? That Feng Zeyu was having an affair with a woman in our district?”


  “What do you mean by having an affair? That is normal dating.” Grand Zhang spoke up for Shu Yan.

  “Doesn’t that woman have kids already? I think her son is already going to kindergarten.”


  “I know that. She was divorced a long time ago. Now both of them are single. What’s wrong with the two of them getting together? If you ask me, it will be difficult for Feng Zeyu to find a female comrade of suitable age. A divorce woman is perfect. Besides, Shu Yan is pretty and has a nice personality. She would have many suitors if she wasn’t divorced.” Grandma Zhang was familiar with Shu Yan’s situation and she defended her.

  Within three days, many in the area learned that Feng Zeyu was dating someone and that she was a divorced woman with two children.

  Most said that Feng Zeyu was a smart one. He had no job at his age and a scar on his face. It would be difficult for him to find himself a good girl. A divorce woman with two children was perfect. He didn’t need to shell out betrothal money, or hold a banquet. That was a big saving. Words had it that the woman had a house in Nanfu Mansion in City Nan. That meant she has money of her own. What a good deal.

  “Didn’t you tell me that he wasn’t seeing anyone? How come he is dating now?” Zhou Xiaomei heard the neighbors gossiping on her way back from work and she rushed home to ask her mother.

  “How would I know? Speaking of, what do you see in him anyway? Even if he was innocent back then but him having been in prison was still a fact and he lost his job. Nobody knows what he does now. The only thing good about him is his house but that stepmother of his is really someone. He does not make a good partner. Xiaomei, Mom will find a you a better one later. We are not in any hurry.” Mother Zhou insisted that her daughter only had feelings for Feng Zeyu because of previous trauma.

  Zhou Xiaomei was the 30-something teacher that the old lady’s friend had mentioned to her before.

  Zhou Xiaomei kept her head lowered. She had never told this to her family but, two years ago, she ran into a hooligan n her way home and, right when she thought that was the end of her, Feng Zeyu, who happened to walk by saved her.

  The hooligan did not succeed in what he wanted to do but she was groped all over. She begged Feng Zeyu to not tell anyone and she did not contact the police. She was a teacher; she could not let words get out. And she had a fiancé studying overseas.

  Her fiancé called off the betrothal later on and she thought about Feng Zeyu again. She thought marrying him wouldn’t be too bad and mentioned it to her mother. Her mother objected to it adamantly. Both her parents assumed that she only felt the way that she did because she was sad that her engagement was called off. Later on, then they heard that Feng Zeyu was innocent, Zhou Xiaomei was ecstatic and she asked her mother to ask around again.

  The old lady who lived with Feng Zeyu said that he wasn’t seeing anyone. All of a sudden, not only was he dating, he was dating a divorced woman with two children. Zhou Xiaomei didn’t understand. Why would Feng Zeyu pick a woman with two children over her. Was it because of her age?

  Chapter 350: 'Part of the reason for the road is to solicit the help of the Party Village Secretary; the other part is to have some good karma.' (4)

  “Tsk, Third Brother, I didn’t know better but you could have let me know. Here I thought 50,000 yuan would be close but now I found out that it wasn’t even close. You are helping me out on this. I can’t have you spend that much money. Will another 100,000 be sufficient.”


  “You don’t need that much. You are not the only one paying for it. The Old Party Secretary said the villagers who has the ability to will also chip in some, money or manpower. And the other two villages that the road will pass through will chip in as well. Most of the materials will come from the surrounding. Remember the creek on the side? We have both sand and rocks. I have the machines. I won’t be adding too much in. 50,000 yuan really is enough.” Shu Jianyang didn’t think that Shu Yan would go and look into this.

  “I don’t understand any of these. I will transfer another 100,000. Alright, we are siblings and we will stop this silly argument. In addition to getting the Village Party Secretary on our side, I am also doing this to build up some karma for myself.”


  Shu Yan transferred over another 100,000 yuan. She wasn’t sure whether that would be sufficient. She figured she would give the Village Lead a call when the road was completed and make up the rest to Shu Jianyang.

  The trip to the grassland took 5 days and they spent 7 days there. Shu Yan hadn’t been to the office in half a month. When Shu Yan went back into the office, she felt that the Hu Ruixue’s eyes were glowing green when she looked at her.

  “Is that really necessary? I will stay behind and watch over the company when you go on a trip next time.” Shu Yan chuckled.

  “You think I am mad because you went on a trip?” Hu Ruixue gave her an unfriendly look.

  Shu Yan went over and gave her a hug. “I know. You are mad that I turned you down but went on a trip with Feng Zeyu.”


  “Oh, so you do know. You who put men over friends.” Hu Ruixue rolled her eyes.

  Hu Ruixue had brought up a few times to travel with her and her children but Shu Yan had turned her down every time. Then she turned around and went with Feng Zeyu. And to the grassland instead. How would the grassland be more fun than out of the country? In the end it was about the companion.

  Shu Yan smiled awkwardly. “I just felt that Feng Zeyu hadn’t have a lot of time with my children and wanted them to have more time together. Besides, going to a rural place allow me to better see what kind of a person he really is. After this trip, the kids are much closer to him and I am certain that we have a future together.”


  “Is that so? Your trip has that effect?”


  “I am serious. The way there and back was rough. It was easy to see one’s true self when one was tired. And, spending day and night together allows one to see many issues from the details. One’s values among the most important of them all. I am talking about one’s consumption value. Just imagine a lavish person being with a miser. That will never work out.”


  Shu Yan had this boyfriend once who was fairly decent in all areas except that he was very frugal. There was nothing wrong with being frugal but the way he had to mull over every purchase was over the top. Especially when it came to food. Shu Yan felt that one should frugal when it made sense and not so much if it didn’t. She didn’t feel there was a need to be too frugal when it came to food. The two dated for a month and split up after just 4 meals. Mainly because their values were too different.

  He felt that Shu Yan wouldn’t manage the family budget well and Shu Yan felt that he was too frugal, to the point of penny counting even when they were having fast food.

  Feng Zeyu was one with his own values. He was neither wasteful nor was he frugal. He felt that expenditure on eating and clothing were necessary and just needed to keep them within one’s means whereas anything frivolous was unnecessary. This matched very well with Shu Yan’s set of values.

  “He was attentive, gentle, and good at caring for others. Most importantly, he was nice to the kids. And I could tell he really was nice to them. He wasn’t just putting up a front.” Shu Yan’s eyes curved.