Chapter 135: The Feeling of Home

According to rural custom, once the twelfth lunar month arrives, the market is held daily, and the streets are bustling with people buying and selling goods. Dad walked up to a pork stall, intending to weigh a few catties of meat. When Dong Yanyan asked for the price, pork belly was three yuan and fifty cents a catty, and ribs were five yuan a catty—could it be any cheaper? It was practically a giveaway!

"Give me twenty catties of pork and twenty catties of ribs!" With the New Year approaching, it was better to stock up.

The uncle selling the pork clearly knew her father. He pointed at her and laughed, "Old Dong, is this your eldest daughter? She’s grown so tall!"

"Hello, Uncle Liu!" Dong Yanyan smiled sweetly.

"Yes, my eldest daughter. She just got back from school in the provincial capital," her father replied with a beaming smile. "Go ahead and weigh a bit more. Now that my daughter is home, I want to cook more good meals for her." As he spoke, he reached into his pocket for money.

Dong Yanyan knew he didn't have much cash on him, so she stepped in, pulled out two hundred yuan, and handed it over first.

Her father was surprised. "How do you still have so much money left?"

"Don't tell Mom, okay? My fourth uncle gave it to me," Dong Yanyan whispered into his ear.

Her father understood and nodded with a chuckle.

After buying fish and meat, they also picked up two crates of fruit for her grandparents. On the way back, they passed a small stall selling hair accessories. The floral clips were colorful and quite pretty, and her father stopped, wanting to buy one for Nannan. Dong Yanyan inwardly smiled; men who love flowers seem to dote on their daughters—her father was like that, and so was Xu Cheng.

"No need to buy any, I have plenty in my bag. I got them from the wholesale market, planning to sell them at the market," Dong Yanyan said with a smile.

"Yanyan, between delivering newspapers and running a stall, will your teachers be happy about that?" her father asked with some concern. "Don't just think about making money. The family has recovered over the last two years; if you need money, just let us know. If you don't study well, it will be hard to find a job later."

Dong Yanyan hadn't even considered looking for a job after graduation. Over the past dozen years, she had gained more than enough work experience. Her goal now was to save money and start her own business later.

"I know, don't worry. It won't interfere with my studies," she replied with a charming smile.

Once the tractor started, Dong Yanyan felt the chill; the north wind stung her face like a blade. Her mother quickly wrapped her in a cotton-padded coat and a scarf, leaving only her eyes exposed.

After a bumpy ride on the tractor, they arrived home just as the sky was turning dark. Nannan came running out of the house, cheering, and threw herself into Yanyan’s arms.

"Did you miss your big sister, Nannan? Let me give you a kiss!" Dong Yanyan picked her up and laughed affectionately.

Her aunt also came out of the house and beamed as soon as she saw her. "Yanyan is back! Your parents have been looking forward to this for days!"

Her aunt was two years younger than her father and worked at a factory in town. Because she knew how to dress well, she looked much younger than Yanyan’s mother.

"Auntie, stay for dinner! Let me show you my cooking skills," Dong Yanyan said warmly.

"I have to get home; Xiaogang and Xiaoling are waiting for me! Come over to my place tomorrow!" her aunt said, bustling off in a hurry.

The family of four went inside. Her aunt had already stoked the *kang*, so the room was warm. As soon as they entered, her mother told Yanyan to take off her shoes and get on the bed, while she and her father went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Exhausted from two days of traveling, Dong Yanyan took off her outer clothes and crawled under the covers, falling asleep instantly.

When she woke up, dinner was already on the table. Sleeping and eating all day—this was truly a life of luxury.

The dinner was equally sumptuous. Her father made his signature braised fish and sweet-and-sour ribs, and also sliced up some meat jelly as a cold appetizer. Her parents kept piling food into her bowl, and she returned the favor. Seeing her parents focusing only on her sister, Nannan pouted in displeasure. Her father quickly pulled her into his lap to feed her.

"Dad, you can't spoil her like this. She’ll be eight after the New Year; you should teach her to share. If she’s this selfish and willful now, she’ll be hard to discipline later," Dong Yanyan said with a smile.

Nannan was unhappy at this and pointed at her, shouting, "You're the selfish one!"

Dong Yanyan gave her a stern look. "Nannan, pointing at people like that is very rude!"

Nannan pursed her lips, on the verge of tears. Seeing his youngest daughter about to cry, her father shot Yanyan an annoyed look. "Don't make her cry while we're eating! Nannan is younger than you; can't you be a little more accommodating?"

Yanyan laughed playfully and placed a rib in her bowl. "Here, have your favorite!"

After dinner, it was past seven o'clock. People in the countryside were all watching TV at this time; the provincial station was re-airing *Shenzhen Love*, a show her mother had followed religiously back in the day.

Dong Yanyan took the new down jackets she had bought for them out of her travel bag—one for each.

"How much did this cost? Where did you get so much money?" her mother asked with concern. "You shouldn't skimp on food; you're already so thin."

"Mom, I earned this from a part-time job outside school. Only students with good grades get the work-study positions, and my teachers are really good to me." This was the excuse she had prepared; otherwise, her mother would have asked endless questions about how she earned so much and whether it affected her studies. This lie effectively shut down any further inquiry.

Sure enough, her mother’s face lit up. "Our Yanyan is really capable! These clothes must have been expensive. Don't spend money on us next time; use it to buy yourself something good to eat."

"I know," Dong Yanyan said. She opened another bag, which was packed with hair clips, necklaces, and accessories. "I got these wholesale; they're very cheap. I'm planning to sell them at the market on the weekend. Nannan, pick two you like!"

Children love these colorful little trinkets. Nannan happily browsed for a long time before picking out a pair of rabbit hair clips. Seeing the child behaving so well and not being greedy, Yanyan thought that while family upbringing matters, the environment has the greatest influence on a child's personality. Children are easily swayed by their peers. If she hadn't spent so many years in a school culture obsessed with keeping up with the Joneses, perhaps she wouldn't have grown up so restless and selfish. But the future environment would be just like that, and she couldn't change it on her own. All she could do was work harder and harder, striving to ensure that by the time Nannan reached middle school, she would have the means to get her into a school with a better atmosphere.

Her mother, seeing her so busy, felt uneasy again. "Yanyan, why are you always thinking about making money? You're a student; your main task is to study..."

"I know," Dong Yanyan said, feeling a bit impatient. It was hard to explain that those in her class who only knew how to study to death and won scholarships every year often ended up worse off than those like Xiaohan, who frequently had to retake exams. Examination-oriented education was just like that; once you graduate, life is about your wits and your connections—no one is going to hand you a test paper to solve anymore.