Chapter 188 Noble
It was already late when Zhang Xiaonan returned to the teachers' dormitory building of No. 1 Middle School.

It was Zhang Yunfeng who sent her back.

During the whole day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the two of them wandered around the city for a long time without any specific destination. Although her brother Yunfeng is now a city dweller, he is a city idiot. Speaking of this, Zhang Xiaonan couldn't help but think of playing hide-and-seek when she was a child. No matter where she hid, brother Yunfeng could always find her. He was too familiar with the winding roads of Jiangjunling in Yunxi Village, as familiar as the crops he looked after day and night.

Actually, in such an era when old ideas were in urgent need of being liberalized, their way of dating was indeed somewhat different. It was always Zhang Xiaonan, the young woman, who took the initiative, while Zhang Yunfeng would only nod and say yes. Where to go for fun? Where to eat? Where to go for a walk? But she was happy to take her brother Yunfeng to Ximen Street to buy clothes, to Beihu Park for a walk, and to watch the movie "Farewell My Concubine" in the evening. When they were in the mood, or perhaps because they were reluctant to part, they climbed to Sugu Mountain to watch the Mid-Autumn Moon.

Under the moonlight, Zhang Yunfeng lay on his back on the grass, and Zhang Xiaonan snuggled up to him. The two of them looked at the vast starry sky and the drifting moon for a long time, and talked about many intimate words, as well as those old stories that they could never finish talking about, and just let the sails of memory sail into the past years again and again.

As they chatted, they suddenly fell silent. Zhang Yunfeng looked at the starry night sky. In the silent mountains, he could even hear the blood vessels in his temples beating. He looked at Zhang Xiaonan, whose head was resting on his arm, and couldn't help but say, "Xiaonan, do you know the difference between you and the stars?"

Zhang Xiaonan was stunned and looked at his profile: "What's the difference?"

Zhang Yunfeng said hesitantly: "The stars light up the night, and you light up my heart."

Zhang Xiaonan was stunned!

She immediately sat up sideways and shouted with a smile: "Brother Yunfeng! When did you say something like this to please a girl?"

Zhang Yunfeng scratched his head embarrassedly: "That, Yunqi taught me."

Zhang Xiaonan burst out laughing, and as she laughed, tears suddenly welled up in her eyes. Perhaps this is what love feels like, with joy and sorrow.

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It was already late when the two returned to No. 1 Middle School.

Zhang Yunfeng held her hand and walked through the silent campus. She was holding a bouquet of flowers in her hand. Both of them were immersed in a joyful atmosphere until they arrived at the gate of the teachers' dormitory building and saw an old man. The cheerful laughter stopped abruptly.

Under the dim street lights, the old man was sitting by the flower bed, smoking his pipe silently. When he heard the footsteps, he slowly turned his head and looked at the two of them. On his wrinkled face were a pair of ordinary eyes, the kind of ordinary eyes that were covered with wind, frost, cold rain, and had seen countless human warmth and coldness. They were not hot, warm, or cold, but just ordinary. However, they made the hearts of Zhang Yunfeng and Zhang Xiaonan, a young couple, "beat".

Zhang Xiaonan looked at the cigarette butts scattered on the ground under the old man's feet, and hurried over to ask, "Dad, how long have you been here?"

Zhang Guorui said not long, and then said: "You go to the dormitory to rest, I will talk to Yunfeng."

Zhang Xiaonan subconsciously called out "Dad", but then she didn't know what to say, maybe she felt guilty! But a woman in love always has her heart set on her lover, and she was afraid that her father would make things difficult for her brother Yunfeng. Although she already knew that this day would come sooner or later, when it really came, her heart was as tangled as a knotted hemp rope, and she didn't know what to do.

At this time, Zhang Yunfeng seemed particularly calm. He said to Zhang Xiaonan, "Xiaonan, it's so late. You go up first. I'll chat with uncle."

Zhang Xiaonan subconsciously pulled Zhang Yunfeng's arm: "You two can chat." Then he said to Zhang Guorui: "Dad, I'm going to take a shower and will be down soon."

Zhang Guorui nodded, then watched Zhang Xiaonan pull Zhang Yunfeng's arm, with concern and worry in her eyes, and went upstairs almost turning back every three steps. This made Zhang Guorui couldn't help but think that maybe in the eyes of this daughter, he, as a father, wanted to eat her sweetheart alive!

He threw away his cigarette butt and patted the edge of the flower bed: "Yunfeng, come and sit here."

Zhang Yunfeng hesitated for a while before walking over and sitting next to him. He saw Zhang Guorui holding a local cigarette wrapped in a dry tobacco stick, so he quickly took out a pack of Furongwang from his pocket, handed it to Zhang Guorui and said, "Uncle, smoke this." Zhang Guorui smiled faintly and took one. His loose face like dumpling skin seemed to sigh a little: "I remember that you gave me a dry tobacco stick half a year ago. Yunfeng, not bad, you are really promising."

Zhang Yunfeng helped him light the cigarette and said hesitantly, "It's for socializing. Actually, the taste is too light. I still like to smoke the local tobacco in our village."

Zhang Guorui smiled and said, "That's true. Ever since you came to the city, I have no place to buy good local tobacco to smoke. The local tobacco I buy from others doesn't have the rich flavor of the local tobacco you grow. You are really good at growing tobacco."

Zhang Yunfeng immediately said: "I still have a few pounds of cut local tobacco at home, uncle, I will ask Xiaonan to bring it to you later."

Zhang Guorui looked at the tall and strong man beside him in silence. Under the faint moonlight, his sincere face moved the old man a little. After a long time, he sighed and said: "Yunfeng, you are a good kid, but... eh, uncle doesn't know what to say, but you should know that I don't agree with you and Xiaonan, okay?"

Zhang Yunfeng nodded.

Zhang Guorui took two puffs of his cigarette. "It's not that I don't like you. It's a blessing for our village to have a good young man like you in that corner of Yunxi Village. The times are different now. It's not as feudal as the old society. We talk about free love and spiritual feelings. Our old ways are no longer popular. I can't stop you. I just want to ask you, Yunfeng, you and Xiaonan are already quite old now. If you get married, it won't be appropriate for so many people in your family to live together. Also, after you separate, who will own the noodle shop? Is it yours or your mother's?"

When Zhang Yunfeng heard Zhang Guorui vaguely mention the idea of ​​"dividing the family", he instinctively resisted. His mother was old and in poor health, his father was in prison, his younger brothers and sisters were still in school, and his youngest sister was in elementary school. As the "head of the Zhang family", how could he selfishly abandon his entire family and set up his own business for his own happiness under such circumstances?

Zhang Yunfeng could never do such a thing. He replied stiffly, "Uncle, you should know that my family just opened a branch store, and all the money has been invested. I don't have the money to buy a house yet, but the current house is big enough to live in... As for the noodle shop, the funds for opening the store were all earned by Yunqi from selling game consoles. He was also the one who facilitated the opening of the store, so he should be credited with the lion's share. Although Yunqi is capable and smart, and will definitely have a great future if he gets into a good university in the future, he doesn't think highly of this, but there may be some accidents, so I have to make plans for his future and leave him a foundation."

Zhang Guorui took two puffs of his cigarette, and perhaps because he smoked too much, he coughed violently for a while before saying, "Actually, no matter whether you and Xiaonan are getting along well or whether you are with other girls, what I'm talking about are realistic issues. Yunfeng, I'm not trying to embarrass you. When you become a parent in the future, you'll naturally know what it feels like."

At this point, Zhang Guorui put out his cigarette butt on the ground and sighed, "As for what happened between you and Xiaonan, uncle knows it in his heart. He can't stop it, and uncle doesn't want to stop it. Uncle just hopes that you can understand me as a father. You should know that Ma Lin, who was introduced to Xiaonan by her second uncle, is a people's policeman. His parents are both big leaders in state-owned units. They have a bright future and are very good people. They are sensible and reasonable. Yunfeng, you can blame uncle for being snobbish. Uncle admits it. Uncle can only say that I'm sorry for you, but uncle is a person who has suffered in the old society and has experienced too many hardships. Now most of his body is buried in the ground, and the only thing he can't let go of is Xiaonan..."

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It was late at night and the wind was strong.

That night, Zhang Yunfeng had forgotten how he got home.

He covered his head and lay down on the sofa. He felt uneasy and couldn't sleep. He took a bottle of white wine from the cupboard and drank it in small cups.

As early as four years ago, he didn't know how to drink, and at that time he couldn't understand why so many men liked to drink such a bitter thing.

Now he doesn't understand it either, but he likes to drink it.

But as he was drinking, he suddenly saw a figure in the aisle, staring at him silently. He wiped the wine stains from his mouth and said, "Why aren't you asleep yet?"

"I woke up when I heard the door open." Zhang Yunqi walked over and sat on the sofa. He took the wine glass and poured a glass of wine. He clinked the glass with Zhang Yunfeng and said, "Brother, did you watch Farewell My Concubine with Sister Xiaonan today?"

Zhang Yunfeng nodded.

Zhang Yunqi smiled and said, "In fact, there is a sentence in it that left a deep impression on me: People have to fulfill themselves. If you want to be respected in front of others, you must suffer behind their backs."

(End of this chapter)