Chapter 157 I Do

Meng Yuchun stood up from the recliner and gave Meng Tang a look that said "look".

Meng Tang stepped forward and grabbed Wei Chuan's arm: "Stop making trouble and go to the station quickly."

"Who's arguing with you?" Wei Chuan smiled at Sister Fang who had just emerged from the vegetable garden. "Sister Fang, can I stay?"

Sister Fang already knew that they were in love, and she really liked Wei Chuan, the sweet-talking big guy.

Sister Fang passed by Meng Tang and said, "I've already cleaned up the room next to Xiao Tang's for you."

"Thank you, Sister Fang." Wei Chuan smiled.

Meng Tang turned away in disbelief: "Sister Fang, when did you clean up?"

Sister Fang pointed at Meng Yuchun and said, "Grandpa ordered us to clean it up."

"You're all just fooling around." Meng Tang was at his wit's end. "He has to go back to school for training on the 5th."

Sister Fang exclaimed, "Oh my!" "Today is only the 30th, let him play for two days."

Wei Chuan smiled proudly: "That's right, Sister Fang, I'll pack my suitcase first, and then I'll come out to help you pick vegetables."

"Go away," Sister Fang said, like chasing a fly. "If you want to eat on time, don't come and make trouble."

Wei Chuan responded and carried the box back to the room. His familiar look on his face stunned Meng Tang.

Meng Yuchun sneered: "You really treat it like your own home."

Although he said this, his tone was indulgent and doting.

Meng Tang also knew that the old man liked Wei Chuan's sunny and unpretentious personality.

Meng Huaizhang took it all in. He squatted beside the old man and asked, "Can a young man like this really accept living in such an old house?"

Meng Yuchun looked at him: "What do you want to say?"

"I always feel like I can't reach him." Meng Huaizhang said, "You probably don't know how powerful his family is in City Z."

"So what?" Meng Yuchun actually knew everything. "Is Meng Tang not worthy of him?"

Meng Huaizhang laughed dryly, obviously thinking so.

But it’s not that Meng Tang is not worthy of her, but that her family background is not worthy of her.

Meng Yuchun knew what he was thinking and said, "If you had known more when you were young, you wouldn't be so concerned about your family background now."

"I'm just expressing my thoughts," Meng Huaizhang said. "I've been there before. If they knew, would they still let their son talk to Meng Tang?"

The old man narrowed his eyes and was silent for a moment.

He needs to talk to Wei Chuan about this issue.

"Don't worry about it," Meng Yuchun said. "Just go to work. There's nothing else at home that needs you."

Meng Huaizhang gave a wry smile and turned to walk out the door.

Meng Tang packed her suitcase and changed into a comfortable white cotton and linen dress.

She tied up her long hair with a wooden hairpin, revealing a section of her white neck.

When Wei Chuan came out of the room, Meng Tang was sitting on a stone bench, asking Sister Fang what she planned to cook for her and Wei Chuan.

The dress was very loose, making her look heavy. Mottled spots of light fell on Meng Tang through the gaps between the trees, adding a touch of clear light to her whole body.

Meng Tang caught a glimpse of him from the corner of his eye, turned around and asked, "Would you like some chicken noodle soup? I just made it this morning."

"Eat." Wei Chuan said without any complaints, "Sister Fang's cooking is very good, I like it."

Sister Fang was coaxed into a state of excitement again. She peeled the cabbage and said, "I'll make it for you right away. Wait a moment."

"Sister Fang, wait a moment." Wei Chuan stopped her. "Meng Tang and I bought some things for you and Grandpa in Hong Kong. We came to see if you like them."

Sister Fang was stunned: "There are also mine?"

"Of course." Wei Chuan handed her two bags. "You and Meng Tang are family, and naturally you are also my family. These are just small gifts, don't be disgusted."

Sister Fang wiped her hands with her apron and said with a smile that Wei Chuan was being reserved.

There were bird's nests and a shawl in the bag. Sister Fang liked them very much and held Wei Chuan's hand and said thank you several times.

Meng Tang handed over the things he bought for Meng Yuchun, and the old man immediately began to study the tea set.

Meng Tang and Wei Chuan smiled at each other and sat down on the stone bench again.

He couldn't help but touch Meng Tang's wooden hairpin and then his earlobe. The old man rolled his eyes at him and said, "The axe in the backyard was just sharpened yesterday."

Wei Chuan withdrew his hand, turned around with a dry laugh and said, "Why are you staring at me instead of studying tea sets?"

The old man snorted and said, "Go to the backyard this afternoon and chop some firewood. We'll need it for the kitchen fire these next two days."

"Old man, you must have done this on purpose." Wei Chuan wanted to argue, "The kitchen clearly has a gas tank and an induction cooker, so why would we need to burn firewood?"

Meng Yuchun glanced at him and said, "I remember in the past, when a man and a woman confirmed their feelings, the man would go to the woman's house to do some chores. The more he did, the more popular he was."

Wei Chuan: "...I'll do it."

"Yes." Meng Yuchun nodded. "A rotten tree can be carved."

Wei Chuan turned his head with a look of grievance, trying to get Meng Tang to speak for him: "I am a dead wood?"

"No, no." Meng Tang patted his hand, "You are good."

Wei Chuan snorted, leaned closer to Meng Tang and said, "The old man definitely did it on purpose."

Meng Tang: “…”

You are touching someone else's granddaughter in front of her, and even God cannot tolerate it.

In the kitchen, Sister Fang spread the cooked noodles into a bowl, put two slices of cabbage hearts as the base, and poured chicken soup over it until it was 80% full.

She packed the tray and took it to the yard.

Seeing this, Wei Chuan quickly stood up and took it.

The soup base was very clear and the aroma was wafting. Wei Chuan swallowed his saliva, wondering how it could taste so good.

Sister Fang laughed and handed him the chopsticks: "Try it, I made the soup base with ham, scallops, and pears."

The pear had a sweet aftertaste. My aunt at home also made soup in this way. Wei Chuan picked up a chopstick of hand-rolled noodles and gave Sister Fang a thumbs up: "Delicious."

Meng Tang also nodded.

After she entered university, she spent more time at school and always missed Sister Fang's craftsmanship.

The two of them ate their chicken noodle soup slowly and leisurely, as quiet as a painting.

After dinner, Meng Tang washed her face with water and said to Meng Yuchun, "Grandpa, I'm going to the backyard."

Meng Yuchun nodded in response.

Wei Chuan followed Meng Tang to the door of the backyard and suddenly asked, "Why is your father not at home?"

Meng Tang said: "He has a job now, at the lumber mill. Grandpa asked him to go there."

Wei Chuan nodded and said, "I was wondering why he disappeared. I asked Sister Fang to put the things I brought for him in his room."

"Yeah." Meng Tang responded, "I'm going to pick up some wood. Do you want to follow me?"

Wei Chuan said, "Can't I follow?"

Meng Tang: "Okay, I'm just worried that you'll be bored. You can go to your room and rest for a while."

"I don't want to go." Wei Chuan said, "I want to see you work."

Meng Tang laughed: "What's so good about this? I've lived such a boring life since I was a child."

"But I haven't seen it." Wei Chuan said, "Every time I receive a finished product, I want to see the process of the creation of a work of art."

Meng Tang pushed open the heavy camphorwood door, turned slightly and said to Wei Chuan, "This is the timber warehouse. There are a lot of valuable wood stored there."

Wei Chuan didn't understand at all. He just thought that these pieces of wood were the same color as girls' lipstick, with no difference.

"How do you choose from so many similar woods?"

Meng Tang laughed, and ran his fingertips across the wooden frame: "Look at the three souls and seven spirits."

It may sound bluffing at first, but in fact, the selection of materials must follow the steps of observing the shape, listening to the sound, and smelling the marrow.

Meng Tang knew he didn't understand, so he took a piece of wood, knocked on it three times, and said, "Listen, isn't the sound very dull?"

Wei Chuan nodded.

Meng Tang added, "Actually, this piece of wood has been placed vertically for too long. It's not suitable for carving. You should choose one that's placed horizontally, as the wood is more stable."

"Why can't we just put it vertically? Why do we have to do it this way?" Wei Chuan was a little confused.

Meng Tang explained: "There is too much wood. The newly arrived wood is placed horizontally for three months to release the pressure. After long-term storage, it will stand upright and needs to be rotated regularly."

Wei Chuan said, "I understand. It's just like rotating the bottle of red wine."

Meng Tang laughed: "You are quite good at describing things."

Wei Chuan snorted arrogantly: "Then what do you want to carve? What material do you want to choose?"

"Year after year of abundance." Meng Tang took a piece of wood from the shelf, looked at it for a while, and touched it again. "This is it. The wax seals on both ends are intact. It's well preserved. It's not heavy to the touch, and the density is good."

Wei Chuan looked at the ugly wood and still found it hard to imagine how exquisite it would look after being carved.

After choosing the material, Meng Tang returned to her room to draw a sketch. Wei Chuan did not follow her in. Instead, he lay on the window of the crabapple tree and looked at her from outside.

Seeing Meng Tang waving the rice paper and ink, Wei Chuan laughed and said, "You want to write calligraphy?"

Meng Tang raised his eyes, and the wind blew the leaves down, just passing by Wei Chuan's ears.

At this time of year, the crabapple trees are at their peak nutritional value and do not shed their leaves easily.

Her eyelashes trembled slightly, and she took the rice paper to spread on the table again, dipped the wolf-hair brush in ink, and wrote two lines of poetry in vivid running script - When the wind blows through the window, people and crabapple trees are light.

Wei Chuan asked, "What did you write?"

Meng Tang said, "Come in and take a look."

Wei Chuan entered the room and saw clearly the two sentences written by Meng Tang.

The wind blew the crabapple blossoms, and Meng Tang's heart was moved by his smile.

"Give it to me." Wei Chuan hugged her waist from behind, "Go back and frame it. What else do you have that I don't know about? Your calligraphy is so beautiful."

Meng Tang rolled up the rice paper and gave it to him: "Okay, I really have to do something, don't bother me anymore."

Wei Chuan understood the other person's intention and was about to kiss her excitedly, but Meng Yuchun suddenly walked past the window and coughed violently twice.

"Fuck." Wei Chuan was shocked and didn't dare to do anything to Meng Tang again.

This old man is like a ghost. When did he come here?

Seeing that the fool didn't catch up, Meng Yuchun turned around and looked back.

Wei Chuan stayed by Meng Tang's side and did not leave, so Meng Yuchun coughed twice again.

Meng Tang raised his eyes: "Grandpa, what's wrong with your throat?"

"You've drunk too much tea." Wei Chuan deliberately embarrassed the old man, "You're still not satisfied?"

Meng Yuchun pointed at him and said, "Come with me."

Meng Tang thought the old man didn't want Wei Chuan to interrupt her business, so she raised her hand and nudged him: "Go ahead."

Wei Chuan put Meng Tang's calligraphy on the table and turned to leave Meng Tang's study.

Passing by the crabapple tree, he picked up another leaf out of impulsiveness.

Meng Yuchun was speechless: "You really deserve it."

Wei Chuan smiled awkwardly, threw away the leaves, and went into the backyard with Meng Yuchun.

Wei Chuan thought he was being asked to come over to do something, so he asked directly: "What's the matter? Just tell me."

Meng Yuchun said, "I called you here because I want to ask you something. Please sit down first."