Cheng Ying rushed out, thinking what a careless kid that Chi Wu was, not to have been more careful with the old lady.

The old lady squinted, watching her granddaughter rush out, and snorted, "I'm bringing the chickens, I won't be short of feathers."

What a troublesome child, no foresight.

Chi Wu called out, "Yingzi, you’re here! Quick, come help me with this. These jars of wine are definitely supposed to go here, right?"

Cheng Ying retorted, "You only care about your junk. Do you know how hard it was for me to ditch the feather duster at home? And now Grandma is planning to make a new one tomorrow—isn't that just intentionally setting a trap to discipline me?"

Chi Wu shrugged. "Grandma hitting you doesn't hurt, why are you panicking?"

Cheng Ying blushed and glared. "I’m a grown woman now, I care about my reputation! You wouldn’t understand. Move aside. I need to clear out a room, otherwise, if I get beaten up later, I’ll have nowhere to run!"

Chi Wu, holding a wine jar, blocked the entire back room. "What are you talking about? Run to the west room, I can even help block a few hits for you."

Cheng Ying grinned foolishly. "Kid, you’re catching on. I’ll find you a pretty girl for a wife later."

Chi Wu pretended not to hear this, his good mood instantly gone.

He turned to Cheng Ying. "Where did you get that stone?"

Cheng Ying’s voice hitched guiltily. "What about it?"

This kid must have noticed too—that stone was from the big riverbank in our village. How sharp his eyes must be.

Chi Wu replied, "Nothing much. I was just looking around. Besides these few chickens in the backyard, there are those pots of grass, it looks quite empty. It would be nice to get another stone table like that one."

Cheng Ying let out a sigh of relief. "Wuzi, later I was thinking of putting up a transparent shed at Grandma’s entrance, so she has more space to move around in the winter. What do you think?"

Chi Wu countered, "Will Grandma agree? It’ll block the light."

Cheng Ying dismissed it. "Forget it. When these flowers and fish have nowhere to go, Grandma herself will start worrying about it."

Chi Wu snapped his fingers. "Exactly! I hadn't thought of that. Hey Yingzi, I’ll find someone to build it later, like a greenhouse. Grandma could even raise some scallions in there; she’d be much more comfortable."

Cheng Ying thought that if they did that, the yard would mostly be settled. "Don't make it too big. Just build one section attached to the eaves by the window of your west room. That way it won't block the light from the east room."

Chi Wu confirmed, "Got it, don't worry. I guarantee Grandma will find it pleasing to look at."

Cheng Ying scoffed. "Impossible. Anything that costs money, Grandma will find displeasing to look at."

Chi Wu insisted, "I'll pay for it myself." He then went out to move more wine jars.

Cheng Ying felt Chi Wu still didn't understand the old lady. No matter who paid, as long as money was spent, Grandma would feel the pinch.

Watching Chi Wu struggle to move the jars, she thought the kid was an idiot. He should have just gotten some empty jars, bought some fruit, and made his own setup at home—it would be so much easier than trekking all this way to dump things randomly.

But then she considered how much money would be spent on heating in the coming winter, and Grandma would surely fret again. Cheng Ying felt a pang of worry.

That evening, the three of them managed with a simple meal. Driving a long distance, or even taking the bus a long way, was grueling work either way.

The next morning, Cheng Ying got up, looked out the window, and saw the revitalized old lady outside tidying up the yard.

Moreover, she was bossing Chi Wu around, making him sweat early in the morning. Cheng Ying yawned and came out. "Grandma, what would you like for breakfast?"

The old lady turned, saw her granddaughter, and her expression soured instantly. "Oh, you hurry up and get out of bed! What is that thing? Even I don't know how to use it! And what about the stove fire? What did you do to this house? Quickly find someone to build me a proper stove fire! That’s the Kitchen God! How could you forget about that thing?"

Cheng Ying looked up at the heavens. It had been such a struggle to create a somewhat modern, integrated kitchen for Grandma, only for her to attack it for lacking a Kitchen God.

This truly made Cheng Ying want to cry; it was genuinely hard to install one now. Even with money, it was difficult. "Grandma, it’s fine, I’ll teach you how to use it."

Old Mrs. Cheng snapped back, "I don't need your teaching. I only use a stove fire. How can you live without a stove fire? You're just fooling around!"

Cheng Ying closed her eyes. The atmosphere in the yard felt so intensely familiar. This reaffirmed that she was her biological mother's daughter—she must have masochistic tendencies.

Chi Wu looked up. "Grandma, we don't have that much firewood here. We don't need a big stove anymore. We have smokeless ways to heat water, and heating radiators. If you find the smokeless setup inconvenient for cooking, I’ll get you a cold stove later."

He dared not mention things like gas canisters; he knew the old lady would never accept them and would complain about the cost.

The old lady was in a terrible mood. "Is this how city folk live? There's no foundation here at all. How can one live securely without that?"

Cheng Ying intervened, "Grandma, let’s not talk about that for now. I’ll make you breakfast first. What do you want to eat?"

The old lady huffed. "I don't want anything. Without a stove fire, how can life have vigor?"

Cheng Ying whispered to Chi Wu, "See? In Grandma’s mind, a lively life is cooked up by fire. No stove, no life. Quickly lead her to the backyard. I knew it—if we hadn't taken this apart, she would have tried to build one herself by tonight."

Chi Wu agreed. "I see clearly now. If we don't set up a stove fire for Grandma, she'll start building one herself before nightfall."

Cheng Ying nodded, then turned to start cooking.

She genuinely felt that using one eight-sided pot between two people was too inconvenient.

But it was Grandma’s habit. Shaking her head, she thought, as long as her old lady is happy, it’s fine. At worst, they could move to the backyard—they had already cleaned up the space; it would just mean rearranging the furniture.

Cheng Ying sighed, wondering if Grandma would ever enjoy the luxury of a modern kitchen with an electric rice cooker and microwave when she eventually installed them.

Cheng Ying confided in Chi Wu, "Thank goodness I insisted on selling the residential house. If we had bought an apartment, and Grandma insisted I install a chimney for her, imagine how difficult that would have been."

Chi Wu considered the old lady’s mindset—no stove meant disrespecting the Kitchen God. He couldn't help but chuckle. It was brilliant of Yingzi to think that far ahead. "You were thinking ahead of Grandma on this one."

Cheng Ying sighed dramatically. "Oh, my dear Grandma! Perhaps when I strike it rich in the future, I can buy a top-floor unit and negotiate with property management to install a fake chimney on the roof for Grandma." Chi Wu barely understood the second half of that sentence; the word "property management" was unfamiliar to him.

After breakfast, the old lady’s mood significantly improved, and she actually didn't criticize Cheng Ying's cooking.

However, she did issue an order. "Hey, Yingzi, when we weren't living here before, we couldn't tell if relatives were visiting or not. Now that we’ve moved closer, you should find a day to invite your mother, your father, Wuzi, and his grandparents over for a meal."

Cheng Ying replied, "Grandma, I know. Today I'll take you around the neighborhood first, get you familiar with our surroundings. We’ll invite everyone over on Sunday."

The old lady nodded. "You have to maintain social connections everywhere. Have you walked around the neighbors yet, Yingzi?"

Cheng Ying wanted to say that city people were different from the folks in the village—they were a bit colder; no need to walk around.

Looking at the old lady, Cheng Ying decided it was better to let Grandma explore on her own.

Although the area she bought was technically underdeveloped, it was still the city. Even though there were five mu of land attached, that was in the backyard. Along the street facing front, there were indeed neighbors.

Not all city areas back then were packed with high-rises. Land wasn't that valuable yet. Areas closer to the suburbs were quite open.

The old lady carefully packed ten of the fresh farm eggs she brought from home into a bag, grabbed the bag, and took her granddaughter and grandson out to visit neighbors.

It was the first time Cheng Ying realized her grandmother was such an adept social networker.

The layout of the houses in Cheng Ying’s neighborhood was generally similar.

When the old lady took the eggs into the adjacent yard, she realized that the house, which looked just like theirs, could house so many separate families.

This realization made the old lady think the eggs she brought were too few.

Seeing houses nearly identical to hers holding five or six households, the old lady looked down upon it. But it was far worse than living in their village house. So cramped!

However, the old lady was unstoppable when chatting; in no time, she had bonded with a retired woman next door.

After visiting two main gates, the old lady stopped. So many families behind just one entrance? These city people weren't living well at all.

And they were wasting eggs! The eggs the old lady brought wouldn't last if she kept giving them away like this.

When Cheng Ying and the old lady returned home, the old lady declared, "Sigh, life is hard no matter where you live. These city folk look glamorous, but their lives are truly tough. So many families squeezed into such a small courtyard—it just looked suffocating. And they don’t even have proper sanitation! What kind of life is that? It’s better back in our village, where we had such a large yard just for our single family!"

Cheng Ying tried to console her. "Grandma, city folk have their advantages. Even if they are squeezed in now, the workers might eventually get housing allocated by their units, and then they’ll have made it."

The old lady looked around their own yard. "My granddaughter is capable after all. No wonder this place cost tens of thousands of yuan. Seeing the neighbors, I finally understand."

Cheng Ying seized the opportunity. "Grandma, you finally see my good points! Let me tell you, our family doesn't just have this house. See that patch of land in the back? That all belongs to us too. Buying the house wasn’t too hard for me, but that piece of land in the back took me ages to secure. You don't know—even though this area is in the city, it’s still considered rural land. That plot was the private reserve land of over a dozen families. I wore my tongue thin just to buy it!"

The old lady waved it off. "What’s the fuss? Having a place to live is good enough."

Still, she was inwardly pleased; having a piece of land made her feel secure.

Cheng Ying pursed her lips, looking at the old lady’s expression, and knew she was secretly happy.

The old lady shook her head. "These city people have no foresight. Land is the foundation; how can they just sell it off so easily?"

Could Cheng Ying say that the old lady was right? Land would only become more valuable in the future. She had truly sharp vision.

Cheng Ying flattered her. "Grandma, you are the one with insight. You guide me, and I become insightful too."

Chi Wu added, "Grandma, no matter the location, it’s still all one village, formed by villages. Although this is the provincial capital and more people work in offices, there are still ordinary folks here. Compared to our village, it’s easier for the local people here to find work. For them, securing a stable job is more practical than farming. That’s why it’s possible to buy private reserve land now."

In essence, the city dwellers didn't value the land as much; they aspired more to the status of industrial workers.

Cheng Ying looked at Chi Wu. Even though the boy was young, his analysis was coherent and well-reasoned.