They finally arrived at their destination a little after 11. After getting off the train, Feng Zeyu looked around and located the person who was there to pick them up. The two hugged each other and patted the other on their backs emotionally.
“Say, Lao Fang, had it been 10 years since we last saw each other? I haven’t even been sleeping well since you told me that you are coming.” He turned to look at Shu Yan. “This is sister-in-law?” Then he spotted the children next to him. He eyes widened. “Your kids are that old already? Hey, that wasn’t cool. I am okay with you not telling me that you are getting married but you have kids that age already. Are we bros or not?”
Transportation to the grassland was very cumbersome. As such, Feng Zeyu did not have a lot of contact with them and his friend had no idea about him being in prison before.
Feng Zeyu smacked the man on his shoulder. “Stop with the nonsense already. She is my girlfriend, Shu Yan. These two are her kids.”
A surprised look came and gone on the man’s face and he immediately recollected himself. He shook hands with Shu Yan, slightly embarrassed.
“That’s still sister-in-law. I am an old comrade of Lao Fang and we relationship is solid. Treat my place as if it is your own. Let me know if you need anything,” said the man expansively as he patted himself on his chest.
Shu Yan gave Feng Zeyu a look.
“This is my old captain, Lin Daizhi. You can just refer to him as Captain Lin.” This was his second captain and they had spent two years with each other. He was the youngest at the time and Lin Daizhi had taken good care of him at the time.
Feng Zeyu was picked by a different team for his outstanding performance later on when Lin DaiZhi stayed with the same company. He married a local girl and was now half a grassland person himself.
“Thank you in advance for your trouble then, Captain Lin.”
“I specifically went and borrowed a car when I learned that you are coming. Let’s go. Let me show you where you will be staying. You can get some rest first.”
The vehicle that he had borrowed was a tractor. The kind that made the tutututu noises with smoke coming out the front. JingJing had rode on one in the past as did Tianbao but he had already forgotten all about it. He was excited when he saw that kind of tractor.
Feng Zeyu first put the two children onto the tractor then helped Shu Yan get on as well. Lin Daizhi, watching him from one side, gave him an ambiguous smile.
Anyone who knew Feng Zeyu knew that he was a big lump of iron. He had learned how to take care of women after all these years. That was something.
Lin Daizhi was very attentive. He placed a blanket inside the bed of the tractor and it fit four perfectly.
The two children were very excited at the beginning but their excitement was short lived from the bumpiness. The road was too narrow. Had Feng Zeyu reacted a little too slow, Tianbao would have been tossed out of the bed by now.
“How come nobody ever fixed this road? There are so many potholes and the road is too narrow.” If there was another car coming from the opposite direction, one of them would have to back into a slightly wider spot and wait for the other to pass carefully.
“We don’t have a choice. It’s very poor here,” said Lin Daizhi loudly from the front when he heard Shu Yan’s question.
“Even this road was paved by us along with the local villagers,” lamented Feng Zeyu as he looked at the road outside of the tractor. “The local villagers suffered a lot for this road. Many were hurt too.”
After some chitchatting, Shu Yan was dispirited from the bumpiness. Her back was against metal and was hurting from banging against them. She was certain that she was bruised. Feng Zeyu pulled her into his arms when he noticed it.
Shu Yan’s body stiffened a little and she blushed. She looked up at Feng Zeyu and noticed that his ears were reddened as well. Chuckling a little, she relaxed in his arms.