Chapter 2: The Father of the Cuomo Family

"Dad, the meal is ready..."

Fang Zhiyue took a Hu pancake and a bowl of wild vegetable soup and placed them in front of the old man of the Si family.

The pancakes were baked in the morning, and the wild vegetable soup looked light and clear, with only a few green leaves floating on it.

As for meat, it was a dish that was only served on the Si family's dinner table during festivals and holidays. They only ate it a few times a year.

Now only Si Dad and Si Yao are left in the Si family.

Their daily income came entirely from the laundry work done by the father of the Si family for the wealthy families in town. For the past six months, Si Yao had also supplemented the family income by copying books for a bookstore. Combined with his frugal lifestyle, the father of the Si family had managed to save half a guanzi (approximately 20 yuan) of cash.

only……

The old man of the Si family glanced at Fang Zhiyue and said, "What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and bring Yao'er some food. I can't waste my half a coin!"

Fang Zhiyue was awakened by his harsh voice.

He quickly returned to the stove, carrying the pancakes and wild vegetable soup and walked towards Si Yao's house.

He walked to the door and knocked twice, then pushed it open and walked in.

Looking at Si Yao who was sitting in the house, he whispered, "...Sister Yao, I'm here to bring you food."

Fang Zhiyue didn't dare to look around, and walked straight to the table and put down the two pancakes and wild vegetable soup in his hands.

He added in a muffled voice, "Just call me when you're done eating, and I'll serve it."

After saying that, he walked out of the house without even looking up.

Si Yao put down the book in his hand and looked at the steaming soup noodles on the table. He looked at the two noodles in the bowl and raised his head to glance at Fang Zhiyue's departing figure.

If she remembered correctly, three pancakes were left this morning.

Si Yao slowly withdrew his gaze, with no unnecessary expression on his elegant face.

Then he picked up a pancake and started eating it, reading the book in his hand.

At the stove, Fang Zhiyue was holding a bowl of wild vegetable soup and drinking it in small sips.

Although the taste was bland, he was very satisfied with the meal.

Yao Jie'er is a scholar and is in the growing period, so she should eat more to get more nutrition.

Since he has married into the Si family, he will definitely take good care of his deceased father-in-law and the daughter she left behind.

Fang Zhiyue is a bit stupid and stubborn.

Although he and Si Wen had not even married, he already considered himself a member of the Si family in his heart.

He drank the wild vegetable soup in the bowl and thought about it expectantly.

I don’t know when Sister Yao will be able to call him dad.

As Fang Zhiyue imagined the scene, he couldn't help but slightly raise the corners of his lips, revealing two faint dimples.

Si Yao happened to see this scene when he walked over with a bowl in his hand.

She paused, then put the empty bowl in her hand on the stove.

Fang Zhiyue was awakened instantly——

"Yao, Sister Yao, why did you bring the bowl out by yourself? Why didn't you call me?"

He stammered.

He wanted to look but didn't dare to, so he quickly glanced at Si Yao's face.

He stood by the stove stiffly like a child who had made a mistake.

Si Yao ignored him, put down the bowl, and turned away.

After she walked a little further away, Fang Zhiyue dared to look at her green back, feeling both relieved and a little lost.

Just at this moment, the father of the Si family also came over with a bowl.

Seeing him standing stupidly at the door, he immediately scolded him with a grim expression: "Hurry up and wash the dishes! What are you standing here like a wooden stake for? Have you cleaned the house? Have you washed the clothes? Have you chopped the firewood? There are still a lot of work waiting for you. Are you really going to let an old man like me do it?"

The old man of the Si family started yelling at everyone.

Fang Zhiyue quickly took the bowl from his hand and said, "I'll go wash it right away..."

He had just finished washing the dishes and had not yet breathed a sigh of relief when the old man of the Si family ordered him to clean the house.

As long as Fang Zhiyue showed the slightest sign of slackness, the Si family's father's small eyes would pierce him like sharp blades.

Look at him, his nose is not a nose, and his eyes are not eyes.

After working all day, Fang Zhiyue finally breathed a sigh of relief when the old man of the Si family went back to his room to lie down at night.

He sat by the stove and squeezed his sore arms, then stretched his knees and tapped his thighs.

After doing all this, he added another piece of wood to the stove.

This was the last task given to him by Si's father before he entered the house, to boil a pot of bath water for Si Yao, who always loved cleanliness.

After adding the wood, the fire instantly became more intense.

The smoke made his little face red, and even his eyes looked brighter than in the daytime.

Si Yao walked in at this time.

Seeing Fang Zhiyue sitting in front of the stove, he paused.

Fang Zhiyue heard the noise behind him and immediately turned his head: "Yao, Yaojie, the water will be ready soon, just wait in the room. I'll call you when the water boils."

Facing Si Yao alone, he couldn't help but feel nervous, so his speech became halting.

Si Yao looked at her mother's new husband in front of her.

He was still wearing the same cloth shirt that had been washed to a pale color. He was as thin as a bamboo. He wanted to look at her but didn't dare to, and looked timid.

She couldn't help but frown.

Two days after returning, Fang Zhiyue finally said the first words: "You go back to the house, I'll watch the water."

The voice was clear and cold, without any emotion. It was like a cold spring in winter, refreshing the heart.

Fang Zhiyue was somewhat happy.

Seeing Si Yao's gaze on him, he stood up suddenly, even knocking over the small stool under his butt.

"No, it's okay. Go back to your room and study. I have nothing to do anyway."

He put his hands together and squeezed them hard.

Si Yao's inky black eyes were fixed on him, and he stood there without moving.

Didn't say anything either.

Fang Zhiyue's fingers stirred a little harder, and seeing this he had no choice but to walk out slowly.

"Okay then, I'll go back to my room."

Si Yao didn't look at him, picked up the stool and took his place.

Fang Zhiyue slowly stepped over the threshold, turned his head to look at her again, and then went back to the house.

The house he lives in now belongs to Si Wen, and there are still many traces of her presence in the house.

There were bloodstains beside the bed, tattered armor at the foot of the bed, and some of her old belongings.

After Fang Zhiyue closed the door, he looked around the room and did not approach the bed. Instead, he walked towards the small bamboo couch in the west corner.

This is one of the few pieces of furniture in the house.

The small bamboo bed was very rough and simple, made of just a few bamboos tied together casually, and it looked like it would fall apart at any time.

The collapsed floor was only large enough for one person to lie down, and even turning over was difficult.

Fang Zhiyue sat on it very contentedly.

He fished out a small bundle from under the small bamboo bed. This was all the belongings he brought with him when he married into the Si family.

Fang Zhiyue cherishes and loves her very much.

He slowly opened the bundle, revealing what was inside.

A small file, a small chisel, a small carving knife and a few wild peach pits.

Fang Zhiyue took out a small carving knife and a half-carved peach pit, and began to carve it seriously in the dim candlelight.

This is a family craft. Before his mother died, she gave him these three tools and asked him to keep them well.

Fang Zhiyue likes to play with these little gadgets.

It’s a pity that his aunt and uncle didn’t like him carving these junky things.

He hadn't touched it in a long time.

Now that she has married into the Si family, these things have been brought with her. She never expected to find the opportunity to touch these things again.

Fang Zhiyue was very happy.

The moonlight was as bright as a flower, and the bright moonlight slowly poured in through the window and hit him, but was occasionally obscured by dark clouds into a black shadow.

Fang Zhiyue was not affected at all, and just stared at the object in his hand.

His hands holding the small carving knife moved skillfully and smoothly, and soon an eye appeared on the wild peach pit.

After Fang Zhiyue finished carving, he stopped and looked at it, then nodded and continued.

Time passes by little by little.

A rabbit head appeared on the wild walnut, so lifelike that it seemed to come alive.

Fang Zhiyue looked at it again and again with satisfaction.

Then he stopped and stuffed the things back into the small bag, and then stuffed it back under the small bamboo bed.

He lay contentedly on the small bamboo couch and slowly closed his eyes.

The next morning, before dawn, the old man of the Si family knocked on the door.

He yelled, "The chickens in the village have all crowed, and you lazy bastard are still sleeping! Hurry up and get up and work for me, an old man!"

The old man's voice was so sharp that it could cut a person's ears.

Fang Zhiyue, who was in the house, quickly climbed up from the small bamboo couch, hurriedly put on his clothes, and ran out in a panic.

As soon as he opened the door, he met the unfriendly eyes of his boss's father.

Then a bamboo basket was stuffed into his arms. "Hurry up and go up the mountain! There are not many wild vegetables at home. Do you want Yaoer and I to starve to death?"

This wild vegetable grows in the back mountain, and it is usually the father of the Si family who goes to look for it.

Now that there was Fang Zhiyue in the family, he naturally gave the job to him.

The old man of the Si family suddenly pulled him out and gave him a strong push: "Hurry up! Mr. Chen's clothes haven't been washed yet. If you can't hand them over to Manager Wu on time, I will make you pay!"

Mr. Chen is a wealthy man in the town. He is very wealthy and kind-hearted.

In order to help the poor families, he recruited farmers from the surrounding villages to wash clothes for the people in his mansion.

Of course, the clothes handed over to these farmers were not those of the masters of the mansion, but the clothes of the servants who followed the masters of the mansion.

I was given one penny for every ten pieces.

The old man of the Si family always asked the manager Wu for thirty pieces, which cost three cents.

Although three cents is nothing, for an elderly man like the old man of the Si family, washing clothes is a good job.

He got the job thanks to his sharp tongue.

Thinking that there are only three days left before leaving town.

The old man of the Si family frowned and urged, "Why are you still standing here? Your brain is not working well, maybe your ears are not working well either!"

Fang Zhiyue quickly ran out holding the bamboo basket.

The sky was just getting brighter, and the darkness had not yet completely faded.

Every household in the village was very quiet, as if they were still asleep.

Fang Zhiyue pursed his lips and walked towards the back mountain, feeling lucky that he had been there yesterday when he buried Si Wen.

The back mountain is connected to the end of Xingyu Village.

The mountains were filled with fog, and the moisture quickly soaked Fang Zhiyue's trouser legs.

The weather in February is still very cold.

Fang Zhiyue could only walk forward while rubbing his palms and breathing out.