The beginning of autumn has passed, and the air already has a bleak feel. People who are afraid of cold should put on an extra layer of clothes in the morning.

But Zhao Luochuan's head was covered with a layer of fine beads of sweat. Seeing him standing in the yard, he raised his hand and shook the basket in his hand at him: "You're up, have you washed up?"

Yang Donghu quickly handed him a handkerchief and stared at the basket in his hand curiously: "Where have you been?"

"The last time I went into the mountains, I found a wild hawthorn tree. I figured it would be ripe in the next couple of days, so I went up the mountain early this morning and picked some."

Yang Donghu leaned over to look and saw that the basket was full of red fruits. He remembered the sour taste of hawthorn and swallowed involuntarily.

Last night, in the middle of the night, Zhao Luochuan vaguely heard a sobbing sound coming from the east room, and he knew that he was unhappy.

He doesn't know how to coax people, and doesn't know how to make Dong Hu happy.

The children in the village have limited snacks, and his aunt's younger brothers and sisters love to pester him for delicious food. The fruits brought down from the mountain always make the children happy for several days.

He thought, maybe wild fruits could also make Donghu happier.

Zhao Luochuan went up the mountain to look for wild fruits before daybreak. He searched for a long time but found many of them were not ripe.

Just when Zhao Luochuan thought he would get nothing today, he saw a tree full of red fruits in the distance. He was so happy that he almost plucked all the fruits off the tree.

Zhao Luochuan took out two hawthorns from the basket and handed them to him, muttering, "You just woke up and haven't had time to eat yet. Eating hawthorns on an empty stomach can easily make you uncomfortable, so you can only eat these two."

Yang Donghu reached out to take it, looking at the hawthorn in his hand, his heart was also warmed by the touch of red.

Zhao Luochuan watched him secretly rub the hawthorn on his clothes twice and put it into his mouth. Wild hawthorn is three times more sour than hawthorn. Looking at his face wrinkled by the sourness, he couldn't help laughing.

"We picked a lot today, and we can't finish it all. After we finish eating, we can send some to my aunt's house. I'll take you to visit her."

Yang Donghu felt a little embarrassed by his laughter. He responded, went away to wash his face, and went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

After dinner, the two of them knocked on Zhu Cuilan's door with a basket full of hawthorns.

The one who opened the door was a handsome boy, about fifteen or sixteen years old. When he saw Zhao Luochuan, his eyes lit up and he called him "brother" sweetly. Then he turned around and shouted towards the yard: "Mom, Brother Chuan is here."

Yang Donghu followed Zhao Luochuan into the yard.

Zhu Cuilan was washing clothes. She didn't stop working when she saw them coming. She said to the boy, "Fang Chu, go into the room and get two stools for your brother to sit on."

Zhao Fangchu didn't even need his mother's instructions. He happily went into the house and moved out a stool. He liked Zhao Luochuan's visit the most and he always brought a lot of delicious food.

Zhao Fangchu put the stools away and warmly invited the two to sit down.

Although Dayang Village and Zhaojiazhuang are not far away, Yang Donghu rarely went out before. Even when he went out, he had various housework to do and had no time to wander around.

Therefore, Zhao Fangchu had never met Yang Donghu and was very curious about the stranger who suddenly visited his home.

"Brother Chuan, who is this?"

Yang Donghu didn't know how to introduce himself and remained silent.

Zhu Cuilan didn't know how to explain the relationship between the two. If they were husband and wife, they hadn't even arranged a wedding, but if they were not, they had already made it public. For a moment, she couldn't come up with an explanation.

"This is my husband." Zhao Luochuan seemed oblivious to the inquiring gazes from all around him as he continued to speak to Zhao Fangchu, "He's older than you, so just call him Brother Dong."

Yang Donghu looked at him in surprise, as if he was a little surprised that he knew his age.

Zhao Luochuan seemed to read his mind: "The letter of severance of marriage has your birth date written on it."

Zhao Fangchu opened his mouth in surprise.

It’s not his fault that he didn’t know. Zhu Cuilan was exhausted yesterday. She went back to her room to rest without even having dinner.

Besides, Zhu Cuilan treated him as a child who had not grown up, so she naturally wouldn't say much to him about such things.

Zhu Cuilan stopped what she was doing, looked between the two of them, and asked Zhao Luochuan, "Have you really thought it through?"

"I've thought it through."

"Not changing it anymore?"

"No change."

Zhu Cuilan sighed. She always felt that Zhao Luochuan should be paired with a better girl. Forget it, children and grandchildren have their own blessings, so let him be.

Since they were all family, she was afraid that saying anything more would make Dong Hu suspicious, so she simply stopped asking and looked at the basket he was carrying before changing the subject: "Where did you get so many hawthorns?"

"We picked it from the mountain. We can't finish it all, so we thought we'd send some over to you."

Although wild hawthorns don't taste as good as cultivated ones, they are larger and have red, plump skin. Furthermore, wild hawthorn trees grow deep in the mountains and are not easily found. Apart from hunters like Zhao Luochuan, most people wouldn't actively seek out these wild fruits, as it's not cost-effective.

Zhu Cuilan pondered for a moment and said, "We definitely can't finish all these hawthorns. While sugar is cheap, let's add some sugar and make candied haws to sell. Children don't have many snacks this season, so there will definitely be people buying them."

Zhao Luochuan nodded. He didn't know much about this, so he just did what his aunt said. "Okay."

Zhu Cuilan looked at Zhao Fangchu who was still in a daze and slapped him on the back: "Don't stand there like an idiot. Go wash the hawthorns."

Zhao Fangchu finally stood up, his lips moving as if he wanted to ask something, but in the end, he kept silent. He picked up the basket and started walking towards the well behind the house. After two steps, he turned back and asked Yang Donghu, "Do you want to come with me?"

Yang Donghu was feeling uncomfortable, and it was nice to have something to do at this moment. He nodded repeatedly and followed.

When they arrived at the well, Zhao Fangchu poured the hawthorns into a large wooden basin and added water.

Wild hawthorn is not difficult to wash. Just clean the dust on the surface, remove the hawthorn stems, and wash it twice. It is not a big deal.

Seeing that Yang Donghu was a little uneasy, he took the initiative to pull him aside and said, "How old are you this year? Brother Chuan said you are older than me, but why do I think you are younger than me?"

Yang Donghu felt that he was easy to get along with and was willing to talk to him more. Although this body looked small, he was eighteen years old, so he answered honestly: "I am eighteen this year."

"Then you are indeed older than me. I am only sixteen."

He is a talkative person, usually chirping like a little bird. Wherever he is, the atmosphere is always lively.

Without caring whether Yang Donghu would respond, he continued, "What a pity to have so many hawthorns. Mom said to make candied haws. I can't eat any of them."