Chapter 41 Orchid

"Father and Mother, we've arrived. How have you been feeling these past few days?" Mother Wei greeted them as she entered the courtyard.

"We're doing great! It's all thanks to your reminder, otherwise we would have run out of food long ago," said Grandma Yang, holding her daughter's hand with lingering fear.

"Oh! Fang'er is here too! Are these two your... your twins? They've grown so big!" Old Mrs. Yang was excited when she saw the mother and her two children following behind Wei's mother.

Seeing this, Song Yushu quickly came out to comfort the old man. It was no wonder that the old man was so excited. Since the original owner had given birth to two children, he had never been to his maternal grandparents' house. This was the first time that Zhou Chengyu and his sister had come to the Yang family.

"Wishing my great-grandfather and great-grandmother a Happy New Year, and wishing them good health and longevity!"

Zhou Chengyu and Zhou Chengzhu came out obediently and greeted everyone.

"Good! They are all good children." Grandma Yang and Grandpa Yang are getting old now, and they never expected to see their granddaughter bring the children to pay New Year's greetings this year. They smiled happily and even gave the two siblings red envelopes.

"I remember Fang'er married into the Zhou family. How has she been all these years?" Old Mrs. Yang hadn't seen her granddaughter for many years, so she naturally wanted to ask her in detail now that she had seen her.

Song Yushu didn't know whether he should tell Old Madam Yang that he had moved out and was living alone with his two children, fearing that the old lady would be too old to handle the shock, so he could only look to Wei's mother.

Seeing this, Wei's mother understood what she meant and didn't hide it from Old Madam Yang. She directly told Old Madam Yang that Song Yushu had divorced the Zhou family and was living with her two children.

"But the Zhou family bullied you? How are you and your two children going to live now?" Old Mrs. Yang's expression changed upon hearing this, but she did not blame Song Yushu for the divorce. She was only worried that Song Yushu would not be able to raise the two children on her own.

"Mother, don't worry, she's got a lot on her plate these days. She opened a restaurant in town, which is enough to support two children. Besides, I'm here to look after them, so please don't worry," Mother Wei comforted her.

“Yes, Grandmother, don’t worry. When spring comes, I will go to town to do business. All of this is what I earned from running a restaurant. Look,” Song Yushu took out the few bolts of cloth.

Grandma Yang could tell at a touch that the material was of good quality, and it must have cost a lot of money.

“You’re raising a child alone now, you shouldn’t spend so much money. Your grandfather and I are both nearing the end of our lives, it’s a waste for us to wear such fine fabric!”

“Where did I spend the money? I know the fabric shop owner well, and he sold me these bolts of fabric cheaply.”

Fearing that she wouldn't accept it, Song Yushu had to make up an excuse and plead with her for a long time before finally getting Old Madam Yang to accept it.

A group of people sat in the house and talked for a while. Before they knew it, the conversation turned to the current situation in the village.

“We live on the mountain, which is better than other families. Your uncle went down to investigate and found that several families in the villages ahead had starved to death. Fortunately, it rained a few more times, otherwise the situation would have been even worse…” Old Master Yang sighed as he spoke.

"Where is it not! Fortunately, the current magistrate is a good official. If it were the one from a few years ago, the people in the county would probably have to flee."

Song Yushu thought that since the drought, the county magistrate had done a lot of practical things and was indeed a good official. If it weren't for his help, those children in the orphanage probably wouldn't have survived to this day.

"You must be hungry after traveling for so long. Mother, quickly call your brother-in-law and the others over for dinner," Aunt Yang called out to the people inside the house as she had quickly prepared the food.

Although the Yang family had also prepared food in advance, it was not as plentiful as the Wei family's. However, since they were hunters, they had no shortage of meat. They cooked a plate of wild boar meat and two dishes of pickled vegetables. There weren't many dishes, but the portions were large.

By the time the group finished their lively meal, the moon was already high in the sky.

In previous years, because the two families lived far apart, Wei's mother would stay overnight when she came, so a room had been reserved in advance. However, they did not expect that Song Yushu and her two sons would come. Nevertheless, there was still room, and they settled down and rested.

When Song Yushu woke up the next day, Wei's mother and Old Madam Yang had already been chatting in the courtyard for quite a while.

I didn't see it clearly yesterday, but now I realize that the Yang family lives halfway up the mountain. The scenery is beautiful, and they even have a lot of flowers and plants in their yard.

“These were all dug up from the mountains by your eldest uncle. If you like them, you can take some back with you,” Aunt Yang said generously, letting the mother and her children choose from the flowers and plants in the yard.

"Mother! There are several orchids here, and they look even better than the one that our teacher at the academy cherishes!" Zhou Chengyu suddenly exclaimed.

“Look carefully, there are many different varieties of orchids,” Song Yushu said, his heart stirred, but he was also afraid that Zhou Chengyu had misjudged and would be disappointed.

“You’re not mistaken. I used to visit Master Xue often, so I’ve seen that orchid in Qingsong Hall many times and can recognize it,” Zhou Chengyu confirmed again.

“Aunt, did you hear that? If Chengyu is not mistaken, these orchids are worth a lot of money. If Uncle has time, he can bring one to town to find us. Maybe the teacher at Chengyu Academy will be willing to buy it,” Song Yushu reminded him.

"Can these flowers really be sold for money?" Aunt Yang never expected that the "wildflowers" her husband had dug up might be a treasure, and she stared at the orchids with burning eyes.

"It can't be confirmed yet, but it won't be difficult for my uncle to take me down the mountain."

"Your eldest uncle will take the hunted animals to town to sell anyway, so it's fine. It's best if he can make money, but it's not much trouble if he can't," said Old Mrs. Yang, worried that her daughter-in-law might be too serious and feel bad if she couldn't make much money. So she could only say some comforting words first.

“Your aunt also wants to save enough money to buy some land as soon as possible. Your uncle has had a lot of hard work hunting these past few years and has many hidden injuries. If we have the money to buy land, we can move down the mountain to farm and we won’t have to worry about them being in danger when they go into the mountains…”

It was only then that Song Yushu noticed that although the scenery on Yangjia Mountain was beautiful, the surrounding walls were also very solid, presumably to prevent wild animals from disturbing them. Therefore, compared to the tranquility on the mountain, they actually preferred to live a peaceful life down the mountain.

Since returning from the Yang family, Song Yushu had hardly left the house. This year was unusual, with hardly anyone visiting, so he enjoyed a period of peace and quiet.

It wasn't until March that many villagers began to walk around in the fields.

Early in the morning, Wei's father went out to inspect the Wei family's land and returned with a joyful expression.

“We can farm normally this year. After a while, the village should be able to start farming as well.” Due to the previous drought, no one had enough grain to raise pigs, so the Wei family can no longer sell pork in town. They can only shift their focus to farming, at least to have some security.

"Yes, someone even came to borrow the oxcart today! I didn't dare to agree, afraid that if too many people wanted to borrow it, it would delay your daughter's business trip to town," Wei's mother chimed in, seeing his happiness.