Volume 1 Chapter 1 Good News

  Chu's family was strong, but he lost his spirit and trudged back to the rental house with a tired body. This place is deep in the city village, but the rent is still as fierce as a tiger, a single room of 20-30 square meters costs 400-500 yuan.

  Looking at the cold and quiet house, Chu Jiaqiang sneered and picked up a photo of two people from the table. He looked at it and various emotions flooded his mind: happiness, pain, anger, disappointment, helplessness... Finally, he threw it into the trash can and fell onto the bed weakly.

  Chu Jiaqiang, 25 years old, 1.7 meters tall, with slightly dark skin, but still quite handsome. A rural person, but has received higher education, and is the first university student in Chujiacun Village in nearly ten years.

  He lost his parents at a young age and finally completed his university studies with the support of his second uncle. In fact, since his sophomore year, he has been diligent in his work and study, not only receiving sufficient scholarships but also going out to earn some extra money from time to time, and even being able to give his second uncle some grocery money at the end of the year.

  During his university days, Chu Jiaqiang was not only talented and ambitious, but also carefree. He had a girlfriend who looked pretty good. The two made a pact to work hard after graduation, be frugal, and try to save enough for the down payment on a house within two years, then get married.

  Reality often makes people feel helpless. It has been more than a year since graduation, and Chu Jiaqiang and his girlfriend Cai Zhixuan work together in a well-known company, living separately but envied by others.

  But this was just an illusion. Faced with the huge living disparity every day, Cai Zixuan finally couldn't take it anymore. During the day, she went to work in a modern and beautiful company, surrounded by urban beauties and successful people; at night, she returned home to a old, narrow and small house, where she saw migrant workers and struggling men. With the soaring housing prices, paying the down payment in two years was like a crazy dream. In the end, they broke up decisively, and she got into her young and wealthy boss's car.

  "Never mind, can't share the joys and sorrows with oneself, it's not one's own dish, why be so heartbroken?" Chu Jiaqiang comforted himself.

  He lay for a while, but still felt annoyed and restless, unable to calm down. At this time, his phone rang. Chu Jiaqiang picked it up and muttered to himself, "What does this kid want?"

  The person who came was none other than Chu Jiaqiang's best friend from his childhood, Chu Jiahao. He was tall and strong, with well-developed limbs but a simple mind. After graduating from elementary school, he didn't continue studying. During the busy farming season, he helped out at home, and usually worked as an apprentice to a master builder in the village, just making ends meet.

  "Hey! What's up with you?" Chu Jiaqiang asked directly.

  "Big brother, is that you? It's like this, on the eighth of July, I'm getting married. Big brother, are you coming back?" A loud and clear voice came out.

  Chu's family was strong and suddenly bitter smile: I broke up, you got married! Isn't it the will of heaven to play with people? However, this brother's marriage is a big deal, and no matter what, he has to go back and celebrate.

  "Haha! Which village girl? Actually took a liking to our village's Ah Xiong, this is great news! Hmm! Tomorrow I won't be back, the day after tomorrow I'll definitely be back, in any case I'll make it home before your wedding." Chu Jiaqiang said with a half-joking tone.

  "Alright, let's wait for Big Brother to come back. The girl is from the neighboring village, you also know her, Wang Lan, our former elementary school classmate, do you remember?" Upon hearing Chu Jiaqiang's affirmative response, Chu Jiahao was overjoyed.

  A girl suddenly appeared in Chu's mind, a bit blurry, with long hair tied up in a ponytail, big eyes, and wearing a pair of large shoes.

  "It's been a bit fuzzy, it's been too long. Since someone is willing to be with you, you should treat them well in the future. By the way, getting married costs a lot of money, do we have enough? If not, I can help out a bit." Chu Jiaqiang really did regard Chu Jiahao as his younger brother.

  Chu Jiaxiong is four years younger than Chu Jiaqiang. When he was young, he often followed behind Chu Jiaqiang and almost lived at his house every day until mealtime, when his family members would chase him away with a whip.

  In rural areas, getting married now generally costs around 30,000 yuan to be barely decent. Apart from giving the bride's family around 10,000 yuan as a gift, although it feels a bit mercantile and gives people the feeling of selling their daughter, this is also a rural tradition that can't be avoided. Then you have to spend over 10,000 yuan decorating the new house, which is necessary whether in rural areas or cities. Finally, you have to spend over 10,000 yuan on banquets, giving red envelopes and so on.

  "No, no! Brother, you need money more in the city. I have enough money, I saved 30,000 to 40,000 yuan a few years ago and my dad is keeping it for me, which should be enough for this wedding." Chu Jiaxiong repeatedly said no need.

  Chu Jiaxiong, although not well-read, is a straightforward and sensible person. Most of the wages he earns are handed over to his family. In recent years, construction work seems to be in high demand, with good pay, due to the simple reason that older generation construction workers are gradually retiring, while many young people are unwilling to take on such hard work, resulting in a shortage of construction workers and naturally higher wages. It was precisely this situation that allowed Chu Jiaxiong to earn a decent income.

  "Alright, nothing else for now! I still need to take a leave." Chu Jiaqiang didn't force the issue either. He had 700,000 to 800,000 yuan in his card, which was all his savings from the past year. In the past, he cared about the money in his hands, but it wasn't necessary now. He even had an urge to spend all of it.

  Chu Jiaqiang is not one of those infatuated people who would lightly take their own lives, but he is also someone who values emotions deeply. This relationship, no matter how you look at it, has invested four years of time and effort, and suddenly losing it is heartbreaking. Of course, he doesn't hold any grudges; everyone has their own choices, respecting others means respecting oneself.

  Chu Jiaqiang hung up the phone and called a good colleague to ask for help, asking him to take four or five days off. He had originally wanted to take a week off, but such a long vacation would probably not be approved by the company.

  This colleague is called Li Quan, who worked with Chu Jiaqiang earlier. When Chu Jiaqiang first joined the company, he received a lot of care from this colleague. It wasn't until they met and introduced themselves that they realized they were fellow townspeople from the same city. However, Li Quan lived in the urban area, not in a backward mountainous area like Chujiacun.

  Li Quan also knew about Chu Jiaqiang's situation, and had just parted ways, thinking it was to clear his mind at home, so he agreed without saying much. At the same time, he kept comforting Chu Jiaqiang, saying things like "Where is there no fragrant grass in the world?" and "There's no need to hang yourself on one tree."

  Chu Jia hung up the phone with a mixture of laughter and tears, seeing that there was nothing else to do, she opened her computer and went online.

  Because he was busy with work and Cai Zixuan occupied the computer as soon as she got home, Chu Jiaqiang rarely went online. As soon as he logged on, QQ notifications kept popping up nonstop. Many were from classmates and friends asking questions like "Where are you making a fortune now?", "How have you been lately?", "When are you getting married?" and other unrelated trivial matters.

  Chu Jiaqiang replied one by one, and even the breakup didn't avoid it. Life has to be faced bravely!

  Browsed aimlessly through several websites, listened to a few songs, read a few news articles, Chu Jiaqiang felt bored and went offline, shutting down the computer.

  At this time, the phone rang again. It was a call from Old Three of the dormitory. In college, there are usually four people in one dormitory.

  When they first entered university, everyone followed the usual convention and lined up in order of age. Chu Jiaqiang was the youngest, so he naturally became Lao Xiao (the youngest).

  Lao Da Li is from the Northeast, and his family also engages in farming. Their situation is slightly better than that of the Chu family.

  Lao Er Ye Jisheng, a native of Guanghai, was the second generation of officials. According to his confession, his father was only a minor official, not worthy of entering the grand hall, and it is unknown whether the situation is true or not.

  Lao San Zhou Fu Rong, a chubby one, according to his boasting, several generations of his family have been teaching and educating people, with peach blossoms all over the world, and can be considered a teacher's family. Even in his generation, there is still an old brother who is preparing to read normal school, inherit the family business, and carry on the legacy.

  "Lao Ye! Don't kill yourself!"

  The Chu family was extremely depressed, and this guy not only didn't offer a word of comfort but also attacked him. But he was also clear about the guy's personality, who was always laughing and joking around without going through any real experiences. He also said in an ill-tempered tone: "Can you still make phone calls after attempting suicide? How ridiculous!"

  "Haha! Hearing you talk like this, I feel at ease. If someone is feeling down, just give me a call and I'll help you get rid of your worries." Fatso's words finally made some sense.

  "Hehe! My younger brother is getting married the day after tomorrow, I have to go back for a bit and take my mind off things. It's been over a year since I last went back, it's weird how much I miss it." Chu Jiaqiang only just realized that he hadn't returned to his hometown since graduating.

  "Whatever! Anyway, to make a long story short, I've got something to tell you guys. Stop being so stubborn all the time. By the way, I recently met some beautiful girls near the university town and they seem pretty good. How about I introduce two of them to you? Apparently..."

  Chu Jiaqiang's eyebrows slowly furrowed, this guy started talking and became abnormal again.

  "Get out!" Chu Jiaqiang immediately hung up the phone.

  Not long after, the other two brothers also called to comfort him at length. Although it was a bit tedious, hearing their words made Chu Jiaqiang's mood much better. Breaking up doesn't mean being alone, women are called a man's better half but can't replace everything.

  By the time it was almost evening, Chu Jiaqiang didn't feel like cooking himself either. When he lived with Cai Zixuan, household chores were basically all taken care of by Chu Jiaqiang. For someone from a rural background like him, this wasn't anything out of the ordinary. He went to a small stir-fry shop downstairs and asked the owner to stir-fry some cucumber and lean pork for him.

  "Ah, Qiang! Why didn't you come down with Zhi Xuan today?" The boss's wife was also from the same area as Chu Jiaqiang, and since Chu Jiaqiang would often bring Cai Zhixuan down to eat, they quickly became familiar with each other.

  "Let's split up, and from now on she won't live in these cramped and messy places like ours." Chu Jiaqiang felt that there was no need to hide anything.

  "Ah...... Oh! So that's how it is!" The boss's wife only then noticed that Chu Jiaqiang's face didn't look quite right, and immediately stopped talking.

  After dinner, Chu Jiaqiang did not return to his room immediately. Instead, he took advantage of the cool evening breeze and went for a walk outside, clearing his mind. In the past, whenever he was in a bad mood, he would choose to take a solitary stroll, feel the wind, and experience the natural world.

  Back to the rental house, took a bath first, then packed a few sets of clothes, ready to leave early tomorrow.