Old Friends (1)

Jiang Ru heard the voice, but she was dazed for a moment, unable to recognize who it was.

She stood up to open the door, and upon seeing two simply dressed girls standing at the courtyard gate, she was slightly stunned. It took her a moment to realize they were the original owner's high school classmates, one of whom was even from the same village as her.

Of the two female classmates, one was named Zhang Ping, and the other was Huang Qingqing.

The girl named Zhang Ping had short, ear-length hair and a round face. Seeing Jiang Ru come out, her lips curved into a smile: "Xiao Ru."

Huang Qingqing, the girl from the same village, had long hair tied in a ponytail, revealing a slightly broad forehead. She didn't speak, her eyes first sweeping over Jiang Ru twice, finally resting on her round belly with a hint of disdain in her eyes.

After all, Jiang Ru came from a police academy background. Even though she had changed bodies, she was still extremely sensitive to other people's gazes and expressions.

She could feel that this girl from her village wasn't very friendly.

She didn't say anything either, only looking toward Zhang Ping and speaking warmly, "Why are you guys here? Come in and sit."

Zhang Ping was carrying a mesh bag of pears. She followed behind Jiang Ru into the yard with a bit of restraint. The two of them had been desk mates since middle school, and although they weren't in the same class in high school, they had shared a dormitory and had the best relationship.

Therefore, there was less formality in their conversation. She poked her head into the house to look around and asked Jiang Ru in a low voice, "Is that person not home?"

There was no need to ask who "that person" referred to.

Seeing her cautious look, Jiang Ru couldn't help but laugh: "Don't worry, he's not home."

Hearing this, Zhang Ping grinned, and her whole body relaxed a bit: "We just started our summer break today. I came to visit you first, planning to go home this afternoon."

A few days ago during the college entrance examination, the tenth and eleventh grades had been given time off, so they had gone back to school for a few more days after the exam ended.

Jiang Ru led them to sit under the tree. There was an apricot tree in the yard, and although it didn't bear fruit, it provided good shade.

There weren't many other things in the Li family home, but furniture and materials were abundant. The storage room next to the kitchen was packed with all kinds of furniture left behind by Li Xiao's grandfather, mostly tables and chairs.

Over the past few days, Jiang Ru had dug out a few usable pieces, cleaned them up, and even found a swing. She had dragged the swing under the tree.

When she had nothing to do, she would sit on it and swing a bit, holding a cattail leaf fan, with a cup of brown sugar water beside her.

Needless to say, life was incredibly comfortable.

The baby in her belly liked it too. Every time she drank brown sugar water, the little one would lively kick her a few times.

Perhaps because she had been eating and drinking well these past few days, or because her mind was leisurely and at ease, when she looked in the mirror, she could clearly see her complexion had improved. Her chin was a bit fuller, and she looked much healthier.

Zhang Ping also noticed this. In the past, Jiang Ru was pretty, but she was so thin that a gust of wind could blow her away, and she always wore a miserable expression with her head bowed low.

Now, seeing her clear eyes and gentle smile, Zhang Ping almost didn't dare to recognize her for a moment.

Before Zhang Ping arrived, she had a lot she wanted to say, but now she didn't know how to bring it up. Whether a person was living well or not could be seen just from their appearance.

On the other hand, Huang Qingqing didn't have such reservations. After sitting down, she said as if casually, "Jiang Ru, did you know? Wen Yang also took the college entrance exam this year. He's so smart, he'll definitely pass."

Jiang Ru was going inside to get clean cups for them. Hearing this, her footsteps paused slightly as she recalled who the "Wen Yang" in her mouth was. He was the study commissioner in the original owner's class, with excellent academic performance. It seemed he had liked the original owner, but his family background wasn't very good.