Chapter 2: The Beautiful Landlady (Part 2)

  Wang Haodong carried a wild rabbit into Zhang Shufang's home and glanced around.

  The Zhang family's house faces south and sits north, with three rooms in the main hall and two rooms on the side. There is also a small courtyard outside, which is very large, covering an area of over 200 square meters. This is common in rural areas, but if it were in the city, it would be very valuable.

  Zhang Shufang stood beside Wang Haodong and introduced, "At home, there are only my sister and I. Her name is Zhang Qian. I sleep in the east wing, she sleeps in the west house, and the middle one is the living room. In our countryside, it's called the main hall."

  When Zhang Shufang introduced herself, Wang Haodong recalled the information that Wang Xin had told him.

  Zhang Shufang and Wang Xin were classmates, she is twenty-five years old this year, at that time was the first beauty in the village, also the first girl in the village who had read high school, she did not take the college entrance examination, originally wanted to go out to work, but the elderly parents passed away, the younger sister who studied needed to be taken care of, so stayed at home.

  Wang Xin only said that Zhang Shufang was not married yet, otherwise he would not have arranged for Wang Haodong to come here to rent a house. Whether she had a boyfriend or not was still an unknown number.

  Liujiayuan Village is a poor place. In the past, villagers relied on farming for a living and could barely make ends meet after a year of hard work. In recent years, the world has changed rapidly. Some villagers went out to work and some did well outside, but most were unwilling to return. After all, compared to a small mountain village, the outside world is too colorful.

  "There are two more rooms in the yard, divided into four small rooms. One is a storage room for storing grain and miscellaneous items, one is a kitchen, one is a bathroom, and the last one is the empty room I cleared out for you."

  After a pause, Zhang Shufang asked Wang Haodong: "Rent, did Wang Xin tell you?"

  Wang Haodong nodded and smiled: "The rent for a month is one hundred yuan, I have no objection."

  Zhang Shufang nodded, actually the rent was agreed upon by her and Wang Xin, this price is not expensive, Wang Haodong can accept it, and in rural areas, such a price is also very good, after all, outsiders won't come here, empty houses can't be rented out.

  Zhang Shufang took Wang Haodong to see the house, his room was not very big, about twenty square meters, with only some simple furniture, a bed, a long table, an old wardrobe, two broken chairs, and nothing else.

  It's already May, and the weather is gradually getting hotter. On the bed, there was a cooling mat laid out, with a thin quilt and a pillow on top. It was obviously prepared by Zhang Shufang for Wang Haodong. This time, he only brought some spare clothes and accepted it with a smile.

  "If you're satisfied with the house, just pay two months' rent first. Things are simple and straightforward in rural areas, no need for any agreement."

  Wang Haodong nodded and directly handed over the two hundred yuan rent to her. After that, he put his luggage on the bed and said: "I caught a wild rabbit, let's stew it for dinner tonight."

  Zhang Shufang saw the blood-stained wild rabbit and wasn't afraid, asking in puzzlement: "Where did you come from, wild rabbit?"

  "I caught it on the way here, it's very fat, enough for three people to eat a meal. You hand me a knife and I'll skin and clean the rabbit."

  Upon hearing this, Zhang Shufang went to the kitchen and took out a knife.

  Wang Haodong took over the knife and was busy in the yard.

  Creaking, the door opened and a girl pushed her bicycle in.

  "Sister, there's someone at home!"

  Wang Haodong took a glance, the girl was about ten years old, with a big braid, black hair, white and tender face, with a moving luster like white jade, tall and slender figure, looking very pretty, wearing a school uniform, looked very innocent.

  "Let me introduce you: this is my sister Zhang Qian, Qianqian. And he's Wang Haodong, I told you about him."

  Zhang Qian hummed softly, her dark eyes staring at Wang Haodong for a while before she smiled and said: "Oh, so you're Wang Xin's friend."

  "Hello, I'm Wang Haodong."

  Wang Haodong smiled and greeted her, Wang Xin had told him that Zhang Qian was seventeen years old this year, a third-year high school student with excellent grades, and had the opportunity to take the college entrance exam. Her eyes were bright and intelligent, and she looked very smart. She was also beautiful, no less than her sister, and could be called a pair of beautiful sisters.

  "Hello, Brother Wang."

  After greeting each other, Zhang Qian parked her bicycle and walked to Wang Haodong's side. Without being shy in front of a stranger, she pointed at the wild rabbit and asked, "Did you catch it?"

  "Yes, I'll give it to you, and get your sister's consent, tonight we can also eat wild rabbit meat together."

  "Welcome welcome."

  Zhang Qian said: "There are some wild game in the mountains, but it's not something that women like us can catch. Being able to eat rabbit meat is all thanks to you."

  "Is there a restaurant here?"

  "There is a small business, it's not doing very well."

  Wang Hao Dong nodded and said, "Oh, I'm here with no relatives or friends. Because of Wang Xin's relationship, I can get to know you all, which is also fate. I don't cook either, so I'll just join in. I'll pay the food expenses to you, okay?"

  Zhang Qian didn't say a word, this kind of thing had to be decided by her sister. Zhang Shufang thought for a moment, nodded and said: "Okay, but the countryside is poor, there's nothing good to eat, it's all home-cooked meals, don't be disgusted."

  "I'm just an ordinary person, nothing special." Wang Haodong smiled and took out 500 yuan, "Here's the money first, if it's not enough, ask me again later."

  Zhang Qian stared at the red banknotes, directly stunned, while Zhang Shufang took them over. This action meant that Wang Haodong had settled down here, found a place to live and eat, and didn't have to worry for the time being.

  After chatting for a while, Zhang Shufang went to cook, Wang Haodong opened the wild rabbit and cleaned it up, handed it over to her to cook, and soon, a strong fragrance came from the kitchen.

  When she was cooking, Wang Haodong chatted with Zhang Qian to understand the situation here. After about an hour, the dishes were ready, and he went to help serve them, but was politely declined by Zhang Shufang. The reason is that men in Liujiayuan Village do not enter the kitchen unless there are no women at home, and of course, guests do not need to lend a hand either...

  Wang Haodong listened to her words and gave up, went straight to wash his face, and waited for dinner.

  Dinner was rich, in addition to the braised wild rabbit, there were three other dishes, namely celery stir-fried with rabbit meat, stir-fried lettuce and cucumber salad.

  Dinner was in the main room, with three people sitting around the dinner table. Zhang Shufang's family had wine and brought out a bottle of Shandong Daqu.

  Zhang Qian was still a student and didn't drink baijiu, so she went straight to eating. Wang Haodong and Zhang Shufang were adults, each of whom drank some.

  Zhang Shufang's cooking skills are excellent, and they suit Wang Haodong's taste perfectly. He eats with great relish and can't help but praise: "Sister Shufang, your dishes are delicious, I haven't had such a good meal in years."

  While chatting, Wang Haodong learned that Zhang Shufang was one year older than him and shamelessly called her "sister".

  Zhang Shufang was flattered and delighted, while Zhang Qian smiled and said: "Brother Wang, you're really sweet-tongued. We've just met and you're already calling me sister."

  Didn't you just get to know me and call me Brother Wang?

  Wang Haodong muttered to himself, saying: "From now on, we'll be living in the same courtyard, this is a rare opportunity, and we should take care of each other. I think you're all very good, and we'll become good friends in the future. When she's tired from cooking, it's only right to call her sister."

  "Are you calling every pretty girl 'sister' whenever you meet one?"

  "This is a sharp remark, Wang Haodong scratched his head, "How could that be, hehe..."

  Zhang Shufang's face turned red, and under the light, she looked beautiful and charming. Afraid that her sister would talk nonsense again, she hurriedly said: "Nonsense, let's go eat quickly, don't talk about it."

  Zhang Qian stuck out her tongue and giggled, "Hehe, I'm shy."

  Wang Hao Dong originally called Zhang Shu Fang "Sister Shu Fang" and didn't think much of it, but after being stirred up by Zhang Qian, he felt the situation was somewhat ambiguous and added a hint of awkwardness, so he quickly changed the subject.

  After dinner, Wang Haodong wanted to help with the cleaning, but was politely declined by Zhang Shufang. He didn't insist and took his change of clothes to prepare for a bath.

  Entering what was called a bathroom, it turned out to be just a small room of over ten square meters. There were no solar water heaters or electric water heaters commonly seen in cities, only a few plastic basins and a wooden bucket about one and a half meters high.

  "How does one take a bath here?" Wang Haodong really didn't know what to do, so he had no choice but to come out and ask.

  "The blue plastic basin is what I bought this afternoon, you use it for washing up, the others are used by me and my sister."

  After Zhang Shufang's explanation, Wang Haodong finally understood that taking a bath required going to the kitchen to heat up water, pouring it into a plastic basin and wiping himself clean. He thought about how simple the conditions were here and that he was just an evacuee who didn't need to be so particular, so he followed her instructions and took a simple bath before returning to his room to rest.

  Wang Haodong wanted to call Wang Peng to report his safety, but unfortunately found that he had run out of phone credit and was disconnected. He put down his mobile phone, made his bed, and went back to sleep.

  Zhang Shufang gave Wang Haodong a new quilt, which still had a faint scent of soap.

  Wang Haodong lay down and fell asleep, but was suffocated by urine and woke up. He turned on the light and got out of bed to go to the toilet.

  The yard outside was still lit by a lamp, and the bathroom emitted a dim yellow light. Wang Haodong had just walked into the yard when he heard a creaking sound, and the bathroom door opened. Zhang Shufang came out from inside.

  Zhang Shufang's hair was wet and dripping, looking like she had just taken a bath. After bathing, she wore a beige nightgown, her full-bodied figure enough to bury any man's grand ambitions.

  Liu Shufang was stared at by Wang Haodong's scorching gaze, her face turned red, and she forced a smile, hastily hugging the plastic basin, and returned to the house.

  "Wang Haodong, Wang Haodong, you're really embarrassing! Haven't you ever seen a beauty before? Always staring at people like that, scaring them off and leaving a bad impression, what's to be done?"

  Wang Haodong scolded himself and slapped his own face, as a form of self-punishment.

  When he first arrived, Wang Haodong asked about the direction of the toilet. He knew that in this village, most toilets were on the south side of the house, and Zhang's family was no exception. So he went out the door and headed south, where there were still words on the wall. With the light from his mobile phone, he could make out "men to the left" and "women to the right", so he wouldn't accidentally enter the women's toilet.