Chapter 220: Zou Xuri
Yi Roujing and Xie Chenyan knew that the gatekeeper had already been dismissed, so what was his purpose in going to the factory to deliver a message?
"Teacher, I’ll take Taotao home first today." Xie Chenyan said earnestly, "Teacher, from now on, I will personally pick up and drop off my child, so please don’t let anyone else take Taotao, anyone at all."
The teacher, aware of Xie Chentao’s family situation, nodded in agreement, "I will make sure the other teachers know as well."
"Thank you, teacher." Xie Chenyan bowed to the teacher and then left the kindergarten with Taotao.
"Teacher, could you tell me the name of the former gatekeeper of the kindergarten and where he lives?" Yi Roujing asked, casting a glance at the back of Xie Chenyan.
"Wu Chao, we’re not quite sure where he lives." the teacher replied apologetically.
Having asked what she wanted to know, Yi Roujing followed behind Xie Chenyan. Sir Zhang, panting heavily, came running over with a handcart, "Nurse Yi Roujing, no, there’s nothing wrong, right?"
"Nothing’s wrong."
"Then I’ll head back now." Sir Zhang said with a smile.
"Okay, thank you, Sir Zhang." Yi Roujing waved and caught up with Xie Chenyan’s pace.
"Chenyan, are you familiar with the original gatekeeper at the kindergarten?" Yi Roujing asked with concern.
Xie Chenyan shook her head, "Not really, I just greet him when picking up and dropping off Chentao, he seems like an honest old man."
"Chenyan, would you like to stay at my place for a while?" Yi Roujing invited, "It’s a bit unsafe for just you and Chentao to stay alone."
Xie Chenyan hesitated a bit, "He hasn’t done anything harmful to me or Taotao, and staying all the time isn’t a solution. Besides, the neighbors around us are nice and look after us, maybe it’s not necessary, if worst comes to worst I can temporarily stay at the factory."
"Sister, I want to stay at the pretty sister’s house so I can play with Youning." Xie Chentao looked up at Xie Chenyan, eyes pure with a hint of longing; it was rare to have such a good playmate.
"Youning is really smart and knows a lot of words, I’ve learned quite a lot from him."
Xie Chenyan, someone who dotes on her younger brother, couldn’t bear to refuse looking into Xie Chentao’s bright eyes.
"I’ll talk to Aunt Guangmei and have Youning stay at my place during this time, the two kids can keep each other company in one room. What do you think, Chenyan?"
"Then, thank you, Roujing." Xie Chenyan said somewhat embarrassedly, "Just worried it might trouble you."
"No trouble at all, my in-laws are staying with us during this period, my third brother and his family live in Bright Alley, we just have dinner together, there’s definitely enough room." Yi Roujing replied with a smile.
With Yi Roujing’s in-laws present, moving in wouldn’t influence anyone much, and since Yi Family’s three brothers didn’t live together, Xie Chenyan didn’t know whether to anticipate or hope.
Yi Weiliang isn’t someone who speaks sweetly; instead, he’s extremely reliable, expressing his care through actions. Since starting to date Yi Weiliang, he has been the one to keep the water tank full at home; he also often comes around to help tidy up, allowing Xie Chenyan to feel a lot more at ease.
Most importantly, Yi Weiliang isn’t someone who acts inappropriately; he’s a principled gentleman, and Xie Chenyan really likes him a lot.
"Roujing, thank you." Xie Chenyan sincerely expressed her gratitude. She had always been someone who wouldn’t bother others if she could avoid it, mainly because she had no one to rely on. Her grandparents had fled to the south long ago, raising just her father, hence in this town, aside from the house left by her family and her job, she really had nothing.
She had encountered many who pretended to help while actually coveting what she had, mostly desiring the house she currently owned. Over these years, she had barely maintained distance from people to protect herself, truthfully apart from neighbors, no one else had ever been as considerate, as neighbors didn’t share common interests and therefore were more genuine in their treatment.
Unexpectedly having found someone who treats her sincerely, Xie Chenyan was truly grateful, grateful for meeting Liu Guangmei, and for seizing the opportunity by suggesting the match with Yi Weiliang herself.
It was Yi Roujing’s first time visiting Xie Chenyan’s house at No. 12 Huanxi Lane, which was a bit smaller than Bright Alley, and the house was built earlier too.
Xie Chenyan’s home wasn’t very big, three main rooms with the kitchen on one side and the bathroom on the other. The yard was about half the size of their home, with a rope strung for drying clothes. There was no well in the yard, so water was fetched from the public town well; this was something Yi Roujing heard from Yi Weiliang.
Xie Chenyan packed clothes from the room, also packed a lot for Xie Chentao, and prepared a bag of rice, which was their supply of food.
Yi Roujing didn’t try to dissuade her, although she hadn’t met Xie Chenyan often, she understood her quite well as someone who doesn’t like to trouble others or take advantage of them and prefers not having debts of gratitude; now that they had agreed on staying over, everything else was up to Xie Chenyan.
"Knock knock—"
Yi Roujing heard someone knocking at the door but didn’t answer; instead, she turned around to see, coinciding with Xie Chenyan coming out of the kitchen looking puzzled.
"Who is it?" Xie Chenyan asked.
"Chenyan, it’s me." came a deliberate low male voice from outside.
Xie Chenyan didn’t recognize the voice immediately, but whoever it was, for a man to knock on her door and speak as if they were familiar made her frown.
"I don’t know you." Xie Chenyan had no intention of opening the door.
"Chenyan, it’s me, Zou Xuri."
Xie Chenyan’s frown deepened upon hearing this, "I don’t know you."
"Hey, Chenyan, Chenyan, open the door, I really like..."
To prevent the person outside from continuing to say something misleading, Xie Chenyan opened the door sternly. Outside stood a young man barely reaching 1.7 meters, seemingly under twenty years old, dressed in blue cloth garments, with a 3:7 parted hairstyle. As soon as the door opened, he slipped inside.
"I knew this trick always works." Zou Xuri said smugly.
"Can’t you just leave me alone?" Xie Chenyan looked at Zou Xuri with obvious impatience.
"I’ve said I really like..." Zou Xuri was looking around the yard but stopped when he saw Yi Roujing in a blue short-sleeved long dress, a stunning presence, leaving him staring.
"So beautiful, is she your friend, Chenyan?"
Xie Chenyan stepped in front of Zou Xuri to block his unabashed gaze.
"She’s already married, don’t get any ideas." Xie Chenyan said through gritted teeth, "If you keep this up, I’ll go to the factory manager."
"Go ahead, the manager’s my uncle, you know that." Zou Xuri said dismissively, "My dad agreed to let me marry you, why can’t you see reason, don’t make my dad dislike you."