“Here it comes!”

Xiao Lai Fu held Sanlang's hand, and the two of them ran all the way back from the valley at the entrance of the village, shouting excitedly as they ran.

Upon hearing this, Dalang and Erlang, who were waiting in front of the stationery factory, were shocked and immediately ran back to the village entrance.

All I heard was Erlang shouting, "Uncle Awang, my mother and father are back!"

Awang and Yin Le, who were sitting and studying under the bronze bell in the village, stopped immediately and stood up.

Awang rang the bell to remind the villagers to gather.

Yin Le immediately picked up the banner on the stone table, took one side for himself and threw the other side to Awang.

The two men stepped to the left and right, and with a swish, a banner made of red cloth slowly unfolded.

Seeing the villagers quickly gathering with big drums and gongs, the two men looked at each other, raised the banners and walked forward to greet them.

"Ma'am, did you hear any noise?"

At the valley, Liu Ji, who was sitting on the shaft of the cart, twitched his ears slightly and asked suspiciously behind him.

Qin Yao was resting with her eyes closed in the car. When she heard this, she opened her eyes and listened carefully. The sound of gongs and drums was loud and getting closer.

After a while, the carriage drove out of the valley, and suddenly two rolls of firecrackers fell from the sky. The crackling sound of firecrackers startled the three people on the horse.

Qin Yao leaned out of the carriage, looked up at the place where the loud gongs and drums were happening, and her eyes widened instantly.

I saw shadowy figures in front of me, and from the looks of it, I guess all the people from Liujia Village, young and old, had gathered.

The first thing that caught my eye was a bright red banner that read: Welcome back home, scholar Gong Liu Ji!

Under the banner was a big drum that Qin Yao had never seen before. Dalang stood behind it. When he saw her looking at him, he banged the wooden hammer in his hand, and the sound of the drum shook the sky.

Behind the drums were people from the Liu family’s old house, holding colorful cloths and waving them vigorously.

The rest of the villagers gathered behind him and shouted the content on the banner: "Welcome the scholar Liu Ji back home!"

The loud voice stunned Liu Ji for a moment.

Then, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up wildly. Without thinking, he instinctively stood up from the shaft of the cart, waved his arms and responded enthusiastically: "Fellow villagers, I, Liu Laosan, am back!"

After getting the response, everyone became even more excited and wanted to dance with the colorful cloth in their hands until it was torn to pieces.

Song Yu accelerated the carriage and came in front of everyone. Si Niang rushed out with a bunch of wild flowers, handed them to her father with a smile, and then without even looking at her father's open arms, she jumped directly onto the carriage and threw herself into her mother's arms.

Qin Yao patted her little head and looked at Awang and Yin Le holding the banner high. The corners of her mouth twitched fiercely. She forced a smile to deal with the enthusiasm of the villagers, and asked in a low voice with gritted teeth:

"Whose idea was this?"

Si Niang whispered to A Niang: "We all came up with this idea, but it was grandfather who took the lead."

"Mother, the family has already prepared the feast. We didn't wait for you to come yesterday, so everyone has already eaten. My eldest aunt, my second aunt, and my grandmother's relatives are all here!"

As he spoke, he pointed at the big drum that his eldest brother hit so hard and made such a loud noise, and said, "This drum was borrowed from the village where my second uncle's wife came from."

"Mother, is my father really a scholar?" Si Niang asked in surprise, her eyes wide open with expectation.

Qin Yao nodded, her smile deepening, "Yes, last one."

Si Niang doesn’t care which rank he is, as long as my mother said it is, that means my father is a real scholar now!

The little girl leaned in her mother's arms, smiling as she watched the tall figure being surrounded by villagers and heading towards the village. She suddenly felt that her father today was more like a father.

"Village Chief, congratulations! You are now the wife of a scholar!"

Liu Dafu walked out of the crowd, came to the front of the carriage, and congratulated with a smile.

Many villagers who were familiar with Qin Yao followed closely and came over to congratulate Qin Yao. Soon, the carriage was surrounded by people.

Unlike Liu Ji who felt like a fish in water, Qin Yao was simply terrified of such crowded occasions. She responded with a few words, signaled Song Yu to drive, and fled home.

However, when I arrived at the door of the house, I found out what Si Niang meant by saying that the feast had been prepared at home.

The backyard of the house has been expanded, the wall has been built, the house is mostly built, and the rest is spacious open space.

At this time, there was not only a long buffet in the front yard, but the backyard was even more exaggerated, with three buffets, which shocked Qin Yao.

"Oh! The head of Liujia Village is here!"

I don't know who shouted this, but Qin Yao, who had just escaped from the village entrance, was instantly surrounded by relatives from other villages who stayed in the yard.

Si Niang looked at A Niang's stiff smiling face, covered her mouth and laughed secretly, then slipped out of the carriage and went to get help.

Because Qin Yao was driving the carriage, her speed was faster than Liu Ji and his group walking. At this time, Liu Ji and the Liujia Village group were still behind.

According to the rules, they were dragged to the ancestral hall by Old Man Liu and knelt down to worship their ancestors first. After completing the ceremony, everyone went to Qin Yao's house.

"Father!" Si Niang, relying on her small size, slipped into the crowd like a loach and came to the front of her father who was already too proud of himself. She tugged at his sleeve hard, and the old father then looked down and saw her.

Si Niang didn't say anything, just said: "A Niang is calling you!"

The old father sobered up instantly, and repeatedly waved his hands to refuse the villagers' invitation to his family to drink. He stretched out his hands to push away the brothers who were blocking the way, and ran towards home, shouting:

"Come on, come on, let's all go to my house. I'll bring out some good wine from my house, and everyone should get drunk tonight!"

Everyone laughed and followed in a mighty procession.

The children were the happiest. Dalang and Jinbao took the lead, followed by a long group of little ones, running around in the yard, not missing any delicious food.

The table was ready, everyone was present, He and Li wielded their big spoons and the feast began!

The half pork Qin Yao bought was not used at all, so Old Man Liu took out all his private money and bought a whole fat pig with as much meat and vegetables as he could.

Although Zhang complained about others' crazy behavior, Liu Ji really brought honor to the whole family this time, so let them be crazy for a few days.

The night Qin Yao was elected village chief was not as lively as today. Although she didn't have to worry about anything during the entire banquet, she was still in a daze.

It was not until midnight when everyone dispersed and the courtyard became quiet. Looking at the mess on the ground, I finally came to my senses.

Liu Ji was already drunk and unconscious. Awang carried him to the study, and with great difficulty helped the handsome man wash up before leaving.

After the banquet, there were a pile of pots and pans left. Awang cleaned up the front yard, Li was responsible for the backyard, Song Yu and Xiao Lai Fu also helped, otherwise they would never have been able to clean up everything.

Dalang and his two siblings had a blast with the kids in the village, and A-niang didn't even have time to come over to see them when she got home. Now the battery had run out, and she was sleeping soundly in her room.

After all, this was the first time in their lives that they felt the positive care brought by their father.

The villagers who once despised and looked down on them now praised them to the sky.

Suddenly faced with so much care and kindness, even a mentally mature adult would probably feel a little vain, let alone a few children who had suffered from exclusion before.

Qin Yao looked at the bright crescent moon outside the window, smiled faintly, placed the preserved fruits she bought on the children's bedside, and kissed their foreheads one by one: "Good night."