Wang Ning’an was back. After being away on business for more than half a month, he rested for one day, then turned right back into the same workaholic the next. He threw himself body and soul into work and occasionally even forgot to eat. Wang Cheng sometimes could not understand him. After that, Wang Cheng also stopped eating with Chu Yifeng, though the two would occasionally exchange a few messages.
In mid-July, Wang Ziyu received her admission notice from Jing University.
Papa Wang and Mama Wang were both delighted. That day, instead of going to the new house, the two of them took their youngest daughter out to buy some of the things she would need for university.
After discussing it, Wang Cheng and Eldest Brother decided to go home for the weekend. Wang Cheng told Mama Wang. Her eldest son had not been home in a long time, so she was thrilled and promised to prepare a table full of good food for their return.
The weekend arrived before long.
Wang Cheng took a day off from the company, and on Saturday morning he went home with Wang Ning’an.
The road through Guanjia Village was not as bumpy as the one in Wangjia Village. The concrete road had only been laid the previous year, so it was still quite new, with hardly any cracks or collapsed sections. Its only drawback was that it was not as smooth and steady as asphalt. When the car stopped in front of their home, several passing villagers looked over, though no one crowded around the way they once had.
Ever since Wang Ziyu became the provincial top scorer, groups of strangers had been appearing outside the Wang home every so often, sometimes even arriving by car. The place had become so lively that the family was already used to it.
Papa Wang and Mama Wang were happiest of all to see their eldest son after several months apart. The moment they finally got hold of this workaholic, Mama Wang pulled him into the living room for a family chat. With both parents flanking him from either side, Eldest Brother had no hope of escaping for at least an hour or two.
Wang Ziyu stood nearby, secretly laughing. The day before, their parents had gone on and on about how rare it was for Eldest Brother to come home and how they absolutely had to tell him not to work so hard. He had not even arrived yet and her ears had already suffered enough.
“Careful Eldest Brother doesn’t remember that.” Wang Cheng appeared behind her.
Wang Ziyu turned and happily hugged his arm. “Second Brother, Mom was so happy the other day that she bought me tons of things, including pretty clothes.”
Mama Wang handled most of their little sister’s wardrobe, and with her taste there was no danger of Wang Ziyu being dressed like some tacky village girl. A pretty white dress paired with her fair, fresh face and clear skin made her one of the prettiest girls in Wangjia Village. Wang Cheng had seen plenty of young men in the village secretly looking at his sister. Some turned red the moment they spoke to her and stammered so badly they could hardly get a sentence out.
“Well, well. Whose pretty little girl is this? Want to go home with Uncle?” Wang Cheng pinched Wang Ziyu’s soft cheek, teasing her in the tone of some suspicious uncle trying to coax away a little girl. He immediately made her laugh.
“Brother!” Wang Ziyu stamped her foot, blushing.
“Calling me Dad won’t help either.”
“I’m not playing with you anymore.” Wang Ziyu flung his hand away.
“All right, all right, I’m joking.” Wang Cheng quickly caught her hand. “How’s that stupid pig lately?”
“Doing great. All it does is eat and sleep. It lives better than anyone in this family.” Wang Ziyu smiled at the thought of the mini pig.
“Good.” Wang Cheng was mainly afraid they would somehow raise the stupid pig into poor condition. If Boss suddenly remembered it one day and asked for his pig back, Wang Cheng would be in trouble if he could not produce it.
That night, Wang Cheng and Wang Ning’an shared a room. The bed was the one Papa Wang had made before. It could fit two grown men, but only barely. In winter that would have been fine, but in summer it was too hot. Wang Cheng offered the bed to Eldest Brother, since he had slept on floors up on the mountain before, but Wang Ning’an refused. After the two argued for quite a while, Papa Wang came in with a sleeping mat and settled the issue. Days when the whole family was together were rare for them. They stayed up making noise until eleven before finally returning to their rooms.
Wang Cheng came out to use the bathroom. As he passed his parents’ room, he heard the two of them speaking quietly inside. Mama Wang seemed to say that she hoped the whole family could always stay together like this in the future, and Papa Wang comforted her by saying they would. Wang Cheng could not hear what they said after that.
When he returned to the room, Wang Ning’an had already spread the sleeping mat on the floor and was inflating it.
The sleeping mat had actually belonged to Eldest Brother since his university days. Back then, he had attended an outdoor training camp, but after he returned, the mat had been put away and forgotten until now. It had not been used in years, yet it still looked almost new.
Wang Cheng took a pillow from the cabinet and handed it to his brother. He had used it himself before, and Mama Wang had stored it away too.
Wang Ning’an switched off the overhead light, plunging the room into darkness. One brother slept on the bed, the other on the floor, and neither spoke. Just when Wang Cheng thought Eldest Brother had already fallen asleep, his voice came through the darkness.
“Chengcheng, I heard the day before yesterday that something happened at Huaying Real Estate. It didn’t affect you, did it?” Several days had already passed and public interest was fading, but Wang Ning’an had still heard about it.
“Of course not. My coworkers are all smart. They already knew who the real mole was and dragged them out that same day.” Wang Cheng deliberately downplayed the matter and did not mention that someone had tried to frame him. It was over, he had suffered no loss, and Tang Sisi had received the punishment she deserved.
“Changde Real Estate is the company that bribed your mole and tried to bring Huaying Real Estate down, right?”
“How did you know, Eldest Brother?” Wang Cheng looked surprised. That detail had never been made public. Everyone knew someone had targeted Huaying Real Estate, but without concrete evidence, Huaying could hardly announce that Changde was the force behind it.
“I have my sources.” Wang Ning’an clearly did not want to discuss that point and changed the subject. “Judging by what you’re saying, you still haven’t heard what happened to Changde Real Estate?”
“What happened to Changde Real Estate?”
“Read the news more often. Properties under Changde Real Estate have recently been exposed one after another for quality problems. The relevant authorities have already begun investigating. I heard the head of the company was taken in, and Changde’s share price keeps falling. The company is in serious danger. Someone is obviously going after them.”
“Who would that be?”
Wang Ning’an did not answer immediately and seemed to hesitate. “Changde Real Estate has offended plenty of people before, but if any of them had the ability to deal with Changde, they wouldn’t have waited until now. Changde only made a move against Huaying Real Estate recently, and then trouble hit them a few days later. So the most likely person is your boss.”
“I wouldn’t know.” Wang Cheng shrugged.
“Do you usually have much contact with your boss?” There was a faint note of probing in Wang Ning’an’s question.
Wang Cheng did not notice it. “Contact? Not really. Is there a problem?” Hitching a ride with the man twice hardly counted as anything special. Besides, now that Eldest Brother was back, Wang Cheng would not need to ride with his boss anymore.
“No. I was just asking. Go to sleep.”
“Good night, then.”
A pale light had begun to show in the east, though the sky was not fully bright yet, when Wang Cheng opened his eyes. He slipped quietly out of bed. Eldest Brother was still asleep. He usually woke early for work, but on days off he slept until eight or nine, and sometimes even ten.
Mama Wang was already up. Hearing him, she saw who it was and told him to wash up before coming to eat breakfast. There was congee, eggs, and scallion pancakes. Just smelling them made his stomach rumble.
Wang Cheng immediately darted into the bathroom. Wang Ziyu usually woke early too and would probably come fight him for it soon. Men were not like women, who had to put this and that on their faces after washing. He finished in no time, relieved himself, and came out just as Wang Ziyu got up. The girl was still bleary-eyed and yawning.
“Morning, Second Brother.”
“Morning. Hurry up and wash.”
At eight-thirty, Wang Ning’an was awake too. Papa Wang and Mama Wang had already gone to the new house, where the renovation was gradually entering its final stage and moving much faster than they had expected.
After breakfast, they once again left Wang Ziyu at home to watch the house, while the brothers went to the new place to find Papa Wang and Mama Wang. It was close enough that they did not bother driving.
The previous day had been overcast and oppressively hot, but a heavy rainstorm during the night had cooled everything down. The sun was hidden, and many villagers who would normally stay indoors to avoid the heat had come out for walks. Most did not recognize the two brothers well enough to approach them. Only when someone who knew Wang Cheng passed by did people realize they were the sons of Wang Hongxin, the third Wang brother. They had long heard Wang Hongxin had an eldest son, and he really was an impressive-looking young man.
When they reached the new house, the workers were laboring hard to finish the job. Papa Wang and Mama Wang did not want their sons staying there, but since they could not chase them off, they let the two help a little.
The new house had two floors. The first held the living room, dining room, kitchen, and bathroom. The second contained the bedrooms, four in total, along with another bathroom. By now, the renovation was nearly finished.
Back when they chose the house, Papa Wang and Mama Wang had deliberately selected a larger one because they had three children and wanted to avoid problems when both sons were home at the same time. The current plan was for each child to have a room.
Wang Cheng went upstairs to look at their rooms. They were not as large as he had imagined, but there was more than enough space.
Wang Ning’an had no complaints either. He worked away from home and was busy most of the time, so he rarely returned and did not require much from a bedroom.
Wang Ziyu would be living in the capital for the next four years and probably would not come home very often either. That meant Wang Cheng was actually the one most likely to live here long-term. His job at Huaying Real Estate was never meant to be permanent.