Ning Cheng
After Ning Jing came out of the bathroom, Ning Qi quickly finished his bath before proceeding to have lunch with his mother and sister. His mother took her time and asked all the questions that she had been keeping to herself for some time.
She even asked about his job and what he was planning to do now. Ning Jing, who understood that his brother may not work anywhere anymore, couldn't help but playfully giggle, earning glares from both Ning Qi and Bai Lu.
"Alright! You both take some rest now! I have to deliver food to your father and workers now. " Bai Lu said as she looked at the clock, which was already past 2 p.m.
"Hm! It's alright, Mom, I will go deliver the food to Dad. You stay here and talk with Jing first." Ning Qi volunteered, as it has been some time since he has seen their own fields, which their parents have worked on for many years.
When they were young, his mother used to bring both of them to the fields whenever they had some time off from school. Even though they can't do the same work as an adult can, it was still better than paying for an extra worker.
Ning Qi remembered those days, and his zeal to become rich was also because of that particular reason when he used to see his parents working every day without proper breaks. Their sweat finally bore fruit with Ning Qi's job, and they are now hiring a lot more workers to do work on their behalf.
Bai Lu wanted to deny it at first, but she remembered that Ning Qi hadn't visited the fields for many years. It will be good for him to at least have an idea of where their fields are and what marks their area, etc., in case he decides to sell them off when they are dead for any reason or even by old age.
It's always good to know what's yours, or else you don't know when greedy people will slowly swallow it.
"Alright! Don't stay there for long. It's quite hot out there at this time." Bai Lu said as she went to bring the lunch boxes, which look to be enough for 5 to 6 people.
"Okay, mom! I will come back quickly." Ning Qi quickly promised, as he went outside and started his father's old bike, before going away hurriedly.
Ning Qi then talked with some people along the way without stopping his bike, and in around 20 minutes, he reached their field location, which is around four kilometers from the village.
He saw three or four people working in the field alongside a tractor, which was driven by his father. One of them is loading the seeds, the other is checking the sowing tracks, and the last one is cleaning up the gears that sow seeds.
He parked his scooter nearby a big tree and slowly made his way toward the tractor along the uneven soil, which was freshly plowed.
First, one needs to plow the land for the correctly aligned tracks, along with some nutritional urea or fertilizers that will help the sown seeds grow healthier in the initial phases. It looks like the plowing process is already done, and they are doing the sowing now.
As he approached his father's tractor, Ning Qi reflected. But soon, he looked a bit stunned by one of the middle-aged guys who looked to be a bit younger than his father.
All of them also looked back in surprise as they saw someone approaching them. Even Ning Cheng looked at the person before stopping his tractor and getting down with a wide smile on his face.
"Hello! Uncles, How are you doing?" Ning Qi politely asked as he knew all of them. It is, after all, a small village.
"We are fine, boy! I hope that you are earning enough money to buy a home in the city and bring your parents there soon." One of the bulky-looking but kind-faced men said with a light laugh, to which everyone nodded their heads with a bit of laughter as they looked at Ning Cheng.
Not bothering with any of them, Ning Cheng walked to his son for a gentle hug before releasing him with a smile on his face.
"I bought food for all of you, dad! It's getting quite late, so it's better if you all eat first before working again." Ning Qi suggested that, and he didn't say much after that.
"Alright! talk with your father-in-law first, we are going to have the food near the tree." Ning Cheng said as he took the lunch boxes from his hand before going away with the other two men.
There wasn't much talk between them, both of their emotions toward each other were expressed in that hug. And Ning Qi is aware that his father is giving him the opportunity to speak with his father-in-law, whose relationship with Ning Qi is awkward.
"Uncle! How are you and Aunty doing? and how are Rou Sheng's studies going on?" Ning Qi finally inquired because he felt this father-in-law's family was also pitiful.
"We are alright, Qi! Sheng is also doing well in his studies... It's just Lan... " His father law wanted to talk about his daughter, aka Ning Qi's wife, a bit to console him, as he himself felt a bit bad about their marriage.
"It's alright, Uncle! What's mine will never be able to get away from me. Let's go, uncle. I will visit your home later in the evening with Jing." Ning Qi said, confusing his father-in-law a bit. He understood how petty and, at the same time, how dangerous those guys in that sect are.
He knows they will never agree for Ning Qi and his daughter to stay together. Not to mention the fact that he felt that his daughter may have used his agreement with Ning Qi's father during their childhood days for her own use.
Even though he felt like that, he is unable to bring himself to scold his own daughter, who is very gentle towards them. He is even more perplexed by the fact that the girl has been asking them about Ning Qi every time they visit her for the past three years.
Soon he shook his head, as he didn't know what was going on in these youngsters' heads. He can neither understand the determination he saw in his son-in-law's eyes nor the thought process of his own daughter. He simply followed Ning Qi and felt a bit happy that this guy finally decided to talk with them.
Ning Qi knows that he just behaved a bit arrogantly, but he did feel that his strength was really making him arrogant. He felt that he said something that he usually would never say, as though she were an object. But he also reminded himself of this as a new lesson to keep himself from such a thought process.
"Okay! Father, I'm going home first." Ning Qi said as he started his scooter before waving to everyone. He was relieved because the obstacle that he almost always tried to avoid had come to an end.
For the next two days, he spent most of his time with his mother and father, who also stopped their work to spend time with both of them. His mother made a lot of food, while his father took the local alcohol, which he was fond of sharing with Ning Qi on both nights he stayed there.
Ning Jing also wanted to drink but his father and mother gave her a good scolding, which instantly made her cry, which is a very common thing in their household. Soon, their mother started consoling her, while the son and father continued their drinking, knowing that Ning Jing would only cry for two or three minutes before she would concentrate on something else.
Ning Qi also did some training on night timing, as he just needs three or four hours of sleep to get back his energy from all his day's activities.
He also visited his father-in-law's home, where they received them and made him truly feel like a son-in-law. His mother-in-law is also a good cook, and she even made lots of snacks for him and Ning Jing to bring along to the city.
Ning Qi felt genuine concern for someone who had recently married her daughter but had little contact with her. And his father in law also treated him like his own son, which kind of touched Ning Qi's heart, and he decided to at least 'save' their daughter from that sect's clutches before uniting with them, even if their relationship as husband and wife is just a namesake.
"Be careful and don't eat too much outside food, and also don't eat anything that has too much oil..." Bai Lu started talking about all the restrictions that Ning Qi needed to follow. As this is their usual routine, Ning Qi simply kept nodding his head, agreeing with whatever she said.
"Alright, Mom and Dad! I will come back as many times as possible." Ning Qi said this as he kissed his mother on the cheek and hugged his father before getting into his car and driving back to Guilin.
Ning Jing didn't join him, as he still hadn't received the notification of the sect mission's success, and also because tomorrow is Sunday, which is a holiday for her college. She decided to spend time with their parents, which Ning Qi also wanted to do, but he has to go today as he already promised Li Ping, Yi Ran, and Jia Li.
The Ning family of three also looked until the car went out of their sight before deciding to go inside.