Chapter 47: Being a Guest

Time flies and it is July 23rd. A Lu has been in the city for half a month and should be back soon. At noon, Chen Ming would sit under the tree to weave baskets and look east from time to time. He would only go into the house to take a nap during lunch break and then come out to continue looking. It was not until the sunset that he returned to the house disappointedly, knowing that they would not come back.

Chen Afu's heart was also lifted, and he would come out from time to time to look east. Even Chen Dabao, who was walking his bird and picking firewood at the west end of the village in the afternoon, would take Qiqi and Huihui to walk around the east before going home.

At the beginning of the Si hour on the 24th, Chen Afu was making a mattress on the kang, and Chen Dabao was practicing writing. Suddenly, they heard Chen Ming, who was sitting under the eaves, asking, "Who are you looking for?"

A strange man's voice asked loudly, "Excuse me, where is Chen Dabao's home?"

Chen Afu looked out the window and saw a carriage parked at the door. Yang Chao was sticking his head out of the window and looking out.

She thought to herself, that old man Yang is really rude. She didn't have a close relationship with him, so why did he let his son come?

But the visitor is a guest, not to mention the child of a cooperative business. She said to Dabao while getting off the kang, "Son, hurry up, Yang Chao is here."

Chen Dabao quickly put down his pen and ran out, shouting, "Brother Yang Chao."

Yang Chao got off the car and grinned, "Dabao, I miss your family."

Chen Ming was still in a daze, wondering how his grandson knew the rich young master. Chen Afu also came out and smiled, "The distinguished guest is here, please come in." He also told Chen Ming that the child was the young master of the Xile Restaurant.

Chen Ming also got up quickly to greet him.

Accompanying Yang Chao were a teenage servant Lidong and the old Yangbo who drove the car. They carried two pieces of meat, four pig's trotters, two bags of candy, and a large box of grapes.

It seems that they will have lunch at home.

Chen Dabao asked, "Why didn't I see sister Qian?"

Yang Chao said, "My father was worried about my sister coming, so he let me come alone." He said honestly, "If I have fun this time, I will bring my sister next time."

Chen Afu asked Dabao to accompany them to play in the new yard. Qiqi and Huihui were waiting for their little master there, and they were bored, jumping around on the shelf. Jin Yanzi was not at home, and went to the mountains again.

Chen Afu cooked hawthorn soup for them, washed the grapes and brought them over, and started cooking, and Chen Ming helped to light the fire.

Yang Chao liked Huihui and Qiqi very much. Especially when he saw Qiqi's eyes shining, he said, "Qiqi is really pretty, as pretty as my sister."

He wiped Qiqi's fur and said, "I asked my father to buy two parrots, but they can't speak after teaching them for a long time. They are far worse than Huihui and Qiqi."

Chen Dabao was even more proud and said, "Qiqi, recite 'Du Kang'."

Qiqi shook her head and shouted, "How to relieve worries, only Du Kang." The voice was the same as Chen Ming's.

Huihui was not willing to be outdone, jumping and shouting, "Dabao wants to pee, Dabao wants to pee." The voice was the same as Dabao.

Dabao blushed, and Yang Chao laughed so hard that his stomach hurt.

While playing, Xiao Shitou came. He came to deliver milk. His family's yellow cow gave birth to a calf the day before yesterday. After Chen Afu heard about it, he went to Wu's house to ask Changgen's wife, saying that after Alu came back, could he buy some milk every day to replenish his body.

Changgen's wife said angrily, "What good stuff is that? Why do we need to buy it? No one in our family likes to drink milk, and we don't like the smell of mutton. I'll ask Xiao Shitou to send some to you every day. That kid has eaten a lot of good things from your family."

These two days, Xiao Shitou would come to deliver a small gourd of milk every morning.

Afterwards, Chen Dabao took Yang Chao, Xiao Shitou and Li Dong to the east of the village to "walk" the birds. Two birds flew in the sky, and three people chased them on the ground.

Sometimes, they ran in the grove, and sometimes they ran on the ridges of the fields. The ridges were a bit narrow, so Li Dong would lead Yang Chao to jog.

Under the blue sky, the two birds sometimes circled low and sometimes flew high. When they were about to approach Tangyuan, Chen Dabao shouted, "Don't go there, come back."

Qiqi and Huihui made a detour and flew back.

When the few people returned home, they were sweating profusely.

Chen Afu had prepared hot water, bathed Yang Chao and Dabao, and changed their clothes. He wiped the sweat off Xiao Shitou and asked him to stay for lunch.

For lunch, he made braised pork, braised pork slices, stir-fried cabbage, pickled eggplant, and pig's trotter soup. He also made a snack, fried pumpkin cake with milk flavor.

A table was set up under the tree in the new yard. Chen Afu led Dabao, Yang Chao, and Xiao Shitou to eat here, while Chen Ming accompanied Old Yang and Lidong to eat and drink in the old yard.

Yang Chao exclaimed that the food here was better than the food in his restaurant. His mouth was greasy after eating, and he especially liked pumpkin cakes.

Chen Afu smiled and said, "If you like, come to my house more often. Auntie Chen will cook for you."

Yang Chao nodded unceremoniously and said, "Okay, I'll bring my sister with me next time." He added, "Auntie Chen, my sister likes delicious snacks the most. Can you bring some pumpkin cakes back for her?"

Chen Afu nodded and smiled, "Okay."

Chen Dabao ate the braised pork, and Xiao Shitou kept gnawing on the pig's trotters. These two boys really had enough meat.

After dinner, Yang Chao didn't want to leave and said he wanted to play for a while. He couldn't bear to leave Dabao, and even more so Huihui and Qiqi.

Old Uncle Yang advised, "Master asked the young master to leave after lunch. If the young master doesn't listen, he won't be able to come in the future. If the young master listens, he can come next time."

Then, Lidong carried the crying Yang Chao into the carriage.

Chen Afu took a basket of freshly picked vegetables and a paper-wrapped pumpkin cake onto the carriage, saying, "Freshly picked vegetables, eat fresh."

When Xiao Shitou left, Chen Afu packed him a small bag of candy and a bag of pumpkin cake to take back.

After a morning of hustle and bustle, Chen Ming and Dabao were a little tired, so they went to rest on the kang. Chen Afu cleaned up the kitchen, rubbed salt on the remaining piece of meat, and let it cool under the eaves.

As soon as she finished doing all this, she saw an ox cart driving towards her door. Wang was sitting on it and A Lu was lying on it.

Ah Chenfu shouted excitedly, "Dad, my mother and A Lu are back." Then she ran to the door.

She helped A Lu get off the cart and took down several packages on the cart. Wang gave the driver two hundred coins for the fare, and asked Dabao to bring him a bowl of water to drink and send him off.

A Lu was able to walk with crutches. Chen Afu held his face and looked at him. He was thinner, his eyes looked bigger, his dimples were deeper, and his face was a little pale, but he was in good spirits.

If he was Chen Dabao, Chen Afu would definitely give him a kiss. But this child was already ten years old, and Chen Afu was afraid of scaring him, so he just gently rubbed his face and said distressedly, "Alu is finally back, sister has missed you so much these days."

Alu's little face blushed, and she whispered, "Sister, I miss you too, and miss dad and Dabao."

Thanks to Hera x-on:Qianlin for the purse, and skyblue08 for the peach blossom fan. "Farmer Girl Jinxiu" was finally revised yesterday, and I hope it can pass the publisher's requirements in one go. After discussing with the editor, this article will be published on May 1st, inverted V. Don't worry, dear friends, before it is published, most of the time it will be updated twice.