Wang Xiaoqiang had just realized that not only did Zheng Ru have a pair of pretty hands, she also had a beautiful face.

"Brother Qiang, what are you looking at?" Feeling Wang Xiaoqiang's intense gaze, another layer of blush spread across Zheng Ru's face.

"Cough, cough... Nothing?" Wang Xiaoqiang awkwardly shifted his gaze away.

Zheng Ru had never been in a relationship before, and here in this foreign land, she couldn't find a suitable boyfriend, so she often felt very lonely. Sometimes, seeing Wang Xiaoqiang and Little Xu Xiaoya being so affectionate with each other, she envied Little Xu Xiaoya,

"Well, Little Ru, it's getting late, you should go back to sleep..." Wang Xiaoqiang, feeling a bit more relaxed, said to Zheng Ru.

"Brother Qiang, I, I can't sleep..." Zheng Ru said somewhat shyly.

"How can you not sleep? You've been working all day, aren't you tired?" Wang Xiaoqiang asked curiously.

"I'm not laboring in a factory, how could I be that tired? I can't fall asleep until midnight every day..." Zheng Ru said, her current job was indeed a relaxed one. Usually, she just managed the farm and did some statistical work. There really wasn't any heavy labor, and the salary was high, too. She was truly grateful to Wang Xiaoqiang for his care in everyday life. Sometimes she thought, if Little Xu Xiaoya hadn't come along, maybe she, Zheng Ru, would be the one pregnant by now.

Sometimes, she even fantasized about only her and Wang Xiaoqiang being together on the ranch, having married, with a bunch of kids, living a happy life.

"Um, then just sit for a while longer..." said Wang Xiaoqiang "I need to get back to sleep..."

As Wang Xiaoqiang spoke, he stood up.

Unexpectedly, Zheng Ru suddenly stood up and grabbed Wang Xiaoqiang's hand, "Brother Qiang, can you sit with me for a little longer, please?"

Her eyes were full of hope.

Zheng Ru's eyes sparkled in the night, and Wang Xiaoqiang saw that her look was not just hopeful but desperate, the kind of yearning that came from loneliness and solitude, the longing for companionship, for love.

Suddenly, right then, Wang Xiaoqiang's phone rang. The ringtone woke them both from their daze, and they immediately pulled away from each other in an awkward silence.

Wang Xiaoqiang took out his phone and saw it was Zheng Shuang calling. He felt a chill down his spine—could she sense that he was getting intimate with Zheng Ru, even from thousands of miles away in their homeland?

"Hello? What are you doing?" Zheng Shuang asked as soon as she spoke.

"No, nothing..." Wang Xiaoqiang said, feeling guilty.

"Nothing? Why do you sound so guilty... Have you done something to wrong me?" Zheng Shuang asked.

"What kind of thing would be considered wronging you...?" Wang Xiaoqiang replied.

"Like fooling around with other women, like having designs on my sister..." Zheng Shuang said matter-of-factly, as if she were Wang Xiaoqiang's rightful wife.

Wang Xiaoqiang felt even guiltier, but he tried to sound as nonchalant as a pig not afraid of boiling water... "Please, this is my private life, I can do what I want, and it's none of your business..."

"Hmph, it is my business, and I want to meddle. So what? I'm telling you, if you mess up out there, Zheng Ru will tell me, and then, I'll tell Xia Guifang, hmph..." Zheng Shuang said proudly.

"Alright, Miss, I concede to you. International calls are quite expensive, so let's not waste the phone bill. If there's something you want to say, just say it..."

"Well, I saw on the International Channel that you won the horse racing championship in Australia..." Zheng Shuang said.

"That's something everyone on Earth knows by now, you're a bit slow on the uptake..." Wang Xiaoqiang said disdainfully "Just get to the point..."

"Fine, originally I wanted to give you some praise, but now it seems you don't care, so I'll take it back... hmph," Zheng Shuang said.

"Hello, do you have anything important to say?"

"No," Zheng Shuang replied "If I really had to say something, it'd be to ask how my sister is doing over there. Have you been mistreating her…"

"Rest assured, I've been taking very good care of her. Uh, she's right here beside me, shall I let her talk to you for a bit?" Wang Xiaoqiang said.

"Sorry, but I'm running out of battery." Zheng Shuang hung up the phone.

Wang Xiaoqiang felt that Zheng Shuang's call was incredibly timely, abruptly interrupting the intimate moment he was having with Zheng Ru. He found it difficult to pick up where they left off. Wang Xiaoqiang glanced dejectedly at Zheng Ru and said, "Your sister sure has a knack for timing her calls...out of the blue and with nothing important to say..."

Zheng Ru gazed at Wang Xiaoqiang and said softly, "Brother Qiang, actually, you should have noticed... my sister, she likes you..."

How could Wang Xiaoqiang not have noticed? However, he thought that since they were now living far apart, Zheng Shuang's feelings for him must have faded a bit. It caught him off guard that Zheng Ru had noticed it too, and he felt awkward as he coughed and said, "Hey, Zheng Ru, don't talk nonsense..."

"I'm not talking nonsense. My sister told me herself," Zheng Ru said earnestly. "Actually, Brother Qiang, any woman would like a man as outstanding and kind as you, including me..."

Wang Xiaoqiang's heart skipped a beat, thinking, when did I become such a catch?

"Brother Qiang, starting tonight, I'll leave the door open for you..." Zheng Ru said, and then turned and walked away.

Wang Xiaoqiang was stunned for a moment, looking at Zheng Ru's retreating figure as if in a daze. He suddenly felt like he didn't know Zheng Ru anymore. Was Zheng Ru still that reserved, mature girl from before? Am I still Wang Xiaoqiang? Why have I suddenly become so charming, so alluring to women?

However, Wang Xiaoqiang didn't go to Zheng Ru's room but returned to Little Xu Xiaoya's room instead.

Little Xu Xiaoya had become very tired since becoming pregnant. When Wang Xiaoqiang got back, she was already fast asleep.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning when he woke up, Wang Xiaoqiang noticed a faint look of resentment in Zheng Ru's eyes.

That evening, during dinner, Zheng Ru watched Wang Xiaoqiang as she ate, her eyes still filled with hope.

Little Xu Xiaoya was very careful about the baby in her belly. That night, she still wouldn't let Wang Xiaoqiang touch her. Seeing him tossing and turning unable to sleep, she said to him, "Go out for a walk. When you're tired, come back and sleep..."

Wang Xiaoqiang obediently went out, but he didn't go outside. Instead, he quietly made his way to the second-floor room of Zheng Ru.

In Zheng Ru's room, a desk lamp was lit, and Zheng Ru was sprawled on the bed reading. She wore a sleeveless short shirt and, somewhat surprisingly, a pair of red shorts.

Seeing Wang Xiaoqiang come in, Zheng Ru suddenly sprang up from the bed and, like a moth to flame, a butterfly fluttered.

In the time that followed, Wang Xiaoqiang kept Little Xu Xiaoya company while also being intimate with Zheng Ru. The three got along harmoniously, sometimes even traveling around Australia together for fun.

Anyone who has been to Australia can't help but praise its "picturesque" scenery, yet the most captivating feature remains the ubiquitous and ever-present lawns.

The use of double negatives here is deliberate, as the overwhelmingly verdant expanse underfoot creates an intense sensation; whether within parks, between towns, along streetsides, behind houses, or in private gardens, there's grass woven everywhere, a tapestry of green extending over the ground, with hardly an inch of bare earth to be seen. If you come from a dusty city,

the moment you step onto this "velvet carpet," you are bound to be entranced by the fresh grassy scent, "Wow, it's so fragrant, so beautiful, so comfortable, so relaxing..." until you exhaust your vocabulary and can't find another word to express your admiration.

The most majestic are naturally the park lawns for visitors to wander on. Were it not for the view-obstructing, cloud-like trees in the center and along the edges, you might well describe them as "endless." The Balmata Park near the residence is a town park known for its lawns, boasting broad and appealing expanses of grass. To walk from one side of a green lawn to the other takes at least half an hour,

and there are nearly ten such large lawns within the park, leaving us Chinese, who are used to crammed "bridges and flowing water" in miniature parks, tongue-tied. The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, on the other hand, presents another touching scene. Following the rising and falling slopes, a vast green carpet covers the entire park; and planted evenly across this "carpet" are various flowering and non-flowering trees and shrubs, tall and majestic with expansive canopies, resembling large green umbrellas casting shade after shade for visitors.

In comparison, Darling Harbour's circular lawn exhibits a more artistic craftsmanship; over half of the circle is a grassy platform lawn while the smaller half consists of tiered step lawns, both together forming a perfect "circle." A babbling stepped water channel winds around the "circle," alternating between fountains of water columns and curtains, overflowing steps into "waterfalls" and spilling over the edges into "streams." The charm of the grass is boundless, as is the charm of the water.

Australians adore their lawns, not only planting them on the ground but also on rooftops and inside windows. The Canberra New Parliament House is a reimagining of this artistic lawn philosophy. The pyramid-shaped, monumental roof is without a single brick or tile, but tightly covered in fragrant, verdant grass. Standing by the stainless steel flagpole on the rooftop and looking down, it resembles a lush, fuzzy pyramid.

This lawn is trimmed so smoothly and evenly, like silk or carpet; it's hard to imagine how the ground staff manage to maneuver the lawnmowers over such "steep slopes" to perform their horticultural skills. The Prime Minister's office, built on the Third Layer, goes even further, transplanting the lawn right in front of the desk into a miniature "garden," so the Prime Minister can lift their head after managing endless affairs and immediately see greenery, which is undoubtedly the best form of rest.

In fact, it's not just the lawns in parks and scenic spots that are so impressive and beautiful; driving around, you will see communal green spaces for rest and entertainment everywhere—in towns, schools, factories, and the countryside. These lawns, equipped with irrigation systems and specialized management, are as vast and magnificent as those in the parks. Western Sydney University is an open campus without walls, with low and outdated buildings (converted from a hospital) and no distinctive features, but the surrounding lawns are top-notch—not only broad, expansive, and flat but also exceptionally well-kept, soft to the touch like velvet carpet. Standing on the gentle slope of a lawn and looking around, one feels the sky's vastness and the broadness of one's chest, and the large trees fringing the lawn appear like low "fences" that have been grazed upon.

Although I haven't cycled around with bike number 11 to measure it, by our laymen's estimates, these flourishing lawns surrounding the campus must cover at least hundreds of hectares. Asking a campus security officer who drove to check the parking lot, "How big are the lawns, exactly?" he shook his head and said, "Don't know." He only knew that driving his old Jeep around the perimeter of the campus took him at least an hour. (To be continued. If you like this work, you're welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly passes at Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users can read at m.qidian.com.)

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