After being busy all morning, Ren Chaomei felt that not only were her hands covered in dust, but her face was dusty too.
While washing her hands, she casually washed her face as well.
The weather was pleasant—not too cold and not too hot—so Ren Chaomei planned to let the water on her face dry naturally.
She didn’t mind, but Zhang Shujun couldn’t stand watching her like that. She immediately ran to her room and brought out a handkerchief for Ren Chaomei.
“Use this.” Zhang Shujun added, “It’s new. No one has used it.”
After wiping her face, Ren Chaomei was about to return the handkerchief, but Zhang Shujun avoided taking it.
“Don’t return it. Keep it and use it from now on.”
Things like tissues were consumables that people at this time couldn’t afford to use freely. Those who were particular about cleanliness usually carried handkerchiefs with them.
Cloth coupons were precious, so receiving a handkerchief as a gift should have been something to be happy about.
But for some reason, even though Zhang Shujun hadn’t said anything, Ren Chaomei felt that she might think used things were dirty and didn’t want to touch them.
Once she actually stepped into the Ye family’s room, Ren Chaomei suddenly understood.
Sure enough, Ye Changqing’s mother had a cleanliness obsession.
The entire room was clean and bright. Not only were all the walls covered with newspaper, but even the newspapers used to cover the walls had been carefully arranged, fitting together perfectly in neat, straight lines. There was hardly any dust on the floor, the tabletop had been wiped until it gleamed, and every item was placed exactly where it belonged…
“Wow~” Ren Chaomei exclaimed. “This is really pleasing to the eye.”
For such a small room to look so clean and bright without seeming cluttered, the woman really knew how to manage a household.
Compared with the Ye family, the Ren family’s messy home felt like a doghouse.
Before she traveled back in time, Ren Chaomei’s room could at least look presentable because of its polished floors, bright lights, and plenty of storage cabinets, making the house seem less cluttered.
After traveling back in time, she no longer had those conditions. The room was small, there were things everywhere, and two people had to share it. No matter how she cleaned it, it still looked hopeless.
Ren Chaomei wasn’t particularly hardworking, and she was highly adaptable. She could survive perfectly well in the countryside, but that didn’t mean she didn’t yearn for a better life.
“Auntie, you’re amazing. How do you manage to keep your home looking so nice? Teach me!”
Ren Chaomei genuinely wanted to hear her tips.
Whether she would actually put them into practice after learning them was another matter.
Being praised, Zhang Shujun couldn’t hide the smile spreading across her face.
“It’s nothing special. I just tidy things up casually. Sit down, child. Auntie will get you some water. What’s your name? Where do you work?”
“Auntie, I don’t have a job. My family is from the countryside.”
Zhang Shujun wasn’t deliberately being difficult by asking about her job. During this era, people without jobs generally had to go to the countryside as educated youth.
When she learned that Ren Chaomei didn’t have a job, she immediately tried to soften the situation.
“The countryside is nice. There’s no shortage of grain or vegetables. There are even things you can’t buy in the city no matter how hard you try.”
Seeing that Zhang Shujun and Ren Chaomei seemed to be getting along, Ye Changqing didn’t interrupt.
Compared with other homes, the Ye family seemed overly proper and rigid, with very little sense of everyday warmth. Many guests who came over felt extremely restrained.
And it wasn’t just the guests who felt uncomfortable. Zhang Shujun suffered too.
Whenever a guest left, Zhang Shujun would have to wash the stool they had sat on and the cup they had touched over and over again.
Cleaning was actually quite exhausting. Ye Changqing didn’t want to put his mother through that, so unless something important happened, he never invited friends home.
Today, someone was bringing him some documents, but he had gone to wait for them outside in the park to avoid causing his mother any trouble.
The people in the compound saw Zhang Shujun behaving this way and assumed she looked down on others. They secretly gossiped about her, saying that there was something wrong with her mentally.
Zhang Shujun herself had even gone to the hospital. The doctor said it was a psychological disorder and there was nothing they could do except tell her to overcome it herself.
Talking about it made Zhang Shujun upset too, and her eyes turned red.
Ren Chaomei nervously blinked.
They just met, and she’s already opening up about her deepest emotional wounds? She’s even more enthusiastic than me.
She quickly comforted her.
“Being clean is such a good habit! I hate people who don’t care about hygiene the most! It makes me uncomfortable just looking at them.”
Basic hygiene education would naturally be much better several decades later than it was now.
Just on her way here today, she had already seen several people wipe their noses with their hands and then wipe the mucus onto their clothes. Some even wiped their boogers onto themselves…
Compared with being attacked by other people’s nasal mucus, Ren Chaomei genuinely thought being clean was a good thing.
And because of the limitations of the era, Zhang Shujun’s cleanliness obsession wasn’t actually that extreme. At least she wasn’t following Ren Chaomei around spraying everything with alcohol.
As a modern person who had seen all kinds of things, Ren Chaomei was very respectful of Zhang Shujun’s habits.
She was even quite curious and asked, “You definitely wouldn’t eat a watermelon that fell on the ground. But would you pick it up, wash it, and give it to Ye Changqing to eat?”
“We can’t waste food…”
Before Zhang Shujun could finish, Ye Changqing, who had been quietly sitting there, interrupted directly.
“I have a younger brother and sister too.”
He had stopped eating things like that long ago.
Ren Chaomei gave a knowing grin.
Who hadn’t been subjected to something like that by their parents when they were little? She understood. She understood completely.
Ye Changqing gave her an expressionless look, glanced at his watch, and hinted, “It’s getting about that time…”
Time to leave.
He was hinting at Ren Chaomei, but Zhang Shujun answered instead.
“Yes, yes, it’s about that time. Changqing, hurry up and make lunch.”
Zhang Shujun held tightly onto Ren Chaomei’s hand.
“It’s already this late. Chaomei, you can’t leave. You absolutely have to stay for lunch.”
“No, Auntie, really, there’s no need…”
“Stay! You have to stay!”
As she spoke, Zhang Shujun’s eyes reddened again. With a choked voice, she explained, “Our Changqing is really a good man. We’re the ones who’ve held him back. His heart does have a minor problem, but we’ve had him examined at the hospital. We even took him to a major hospital in Beijing. The doctors all said that it wouldn’t affect his daily life. He just has to control his emotions and avoid suffering too much emotional distress.”
The first time Ye Changqing had trouble breathing, experienced chest tightness, and fainted was when his father died.
The second time was when he learned that one of his teacher’s manuscripts had been burned and the teacher had been driven to suicide. He had fainted and looked seriously ill at the time, but he recovered after resting in bed for a few days.
Knowing that he couldn’t experience overwhelming grief, Ye Changqing had spent the past two years trying to control his emotions.
He couldn’t completely control the turmoil in his heart, but Ye Changqing was very good at managing his expressions. He always looked calm and cold.
Faced with Zhang Shujun’s somewhat inappropriate and suggestive words, Ye Changqing calmly reminded her, “Mom, you misunderstood. I’m not close to her. We’re not in the kind of relationship you think we are.”
“Impossible.” Zhang Shujun was certain. “You would never treat an ordinary friend this rudely.”
Ye Changqing glanced at the innocent-looking Ren Chaomei and felt somewhat helpless.
When dealing with such a straightforward female hooligan, being too polite really didn’t work.
If he hadn’t taken her to the police station, he wouldn’t have been able to shake Ren Chaomei off at all.
And even after getting rid of her, it had only lasted for a short while. Ren Chaomei had quickly followed him all the way to his home.
This was truly the first time he had ever met such a lustful woman.