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After leaving the county town, the two took a bus to the entrance of the village, then rode a tractor into the village.

By the time they arrived home, it was around three or four in the afternoon.

At this time, Father He and He Da were not at home; they were working in the fields.

So, apart from the poultry running around in the yard and a few pigs soundly sleeping in the pigsty, it was very quiet at home.

"Brother, Dad and second brother have raised so many chickens and ducks, and there are quite a few pigs too!" He Zhilan smiled at He Teng and then pointed at the pigsty in the corner, saying, "Brother, your siblings!"

The corner of He Teng’s mouth twitched slightly as he glanced dismissively at He Zhilan, "They’re clearly more your kind."

He Zhilan was not offended and giggled, her eyes wandering around the courtyard. Upon seeing a few eggs in a haystack, she immediately squinted her eyes with joy, "Brother, there are eggs! Super fresh! Brother, I want to eat eggs poached in sugared water!"

He Teng frowned slightly in resignation. He thought that He Zhilan must have been bored and hungry after being cooped up on the train for so long, and that’s why she started causing a fuss as soon as they got back, right?

Sighing, with a twinge of indulgence in his eyes, He Teng picked two eggs from the haystack and went into the kitchen. He lit the fire and soon brought a bowl of hot sugar-water-poached eggs to the dining table and called He Zhilan to eat.

"Do you think Dad will notice that two eggs are missing when he gets back?

" He Zhilan asked, contentedly sipping her sugared egg water.

Eating eggs this way was unique to the village; the older generation always said this was the most nutritious way to eat eggs.

He Zhilan remembered when she was very young and the He Family was poor, if the family had an egg, Father He would poach it in water like this, then divide it between her and He Dongxue.

"Enjoy it, I’ll tidy up our room." He Teng gently patted He Zhilan’s head and carried their luggage to their room.

Their room had been unoccupied for a long time. In the village, since everyone was a familiar neighbor, there was no fear of theft, so the key was left hanging on a nail by the front door.

After He Teng entered the room, he saw how clean everything was.

It was clear that although he and He Zhilan had not been home, their father had taken the time to clean the room whenever possible.

There were no spider webs or dust layers.

However, the bedding had been tidied away, leaving the bed bare.

The room was clean, so there wasn’t much for He Teng to tidy up. He just needed to lay out the bedding from the wardrobe, and they could rest. Plus, the bedding even smelled of sunshine, probably having been sunned just a few days earlier.

In the living room, He Zhilan, after sipping the sugared egg water and exclaiming about the heat, somehow found a broken palm-leaf fan with two holes, and fanned herself all the way back to their room.

"You finished tidying up so quickly? That’s great! Brother, let’s take a nap and wait for Dad to come back!" He Zhilan scampered over, fawning and fanning He Teng, "Brother, you worked hard! The sugared egg water is really delicious! But, I forgot to save you a few sips!"

"It’s okay, go rest if you’re tired," He Teng said, slightly curling his lips, "But no whining about the heat; the straw mats haven’t been wiped down, nor have they been sunned yet."

He Zhilan really was becoming more and more delicate.

Moreover, they had been in a hurry buying train tickets and only managed to get soft sleepers, so the two had spent several days on the train.

He Zhilan hadn’t rested well for days, only managing to sleep a few hours on his lap when she was completely exhausted.

After waking up, her neck and shoulders would be sore.