Chapter 21 Mother and Daughter In the early morning, before daybreak, Old Farmer Chen had already put on his clothes...

Early in the morning, before daybreak, Chen Laonong got up and put on his clothes.

He carefully arranged the vegetable baskets on the cart, which were filled with fresh vegetables picked last night.

After everything was ready, he slowly pushed the cart, ready to go to the market and start a new day of business.

The moment the door opened, something unusual came into view——

There was an exquisite little cloth bag hanging on the door handle, which looked particularly out of place.

Chen Laonong was puzzled and carefully took off the cloth bag and untied the knot.

As the bag slowly opened, a beam of dazzling light overflowed from it, and it turned out to be full of heavy gold ingots!

He was so shocked that he could hardly believe his eyes.

"Whose...whose is this?"

He hurried out of the yard and looked around.

But the dirt road was empty and quiet in the early morning, with only the occasional crowing of chickens and barking of dogs in the distance, and no one else.

Laonong Chen felt uneasy and confused. How could such a huge sum of money appear in front of his door for no reason?

He stood there, feeling extremely terrified. The money came from unknown sources, and he didn't know what to do for a moment.

In the end, he decided to wait there, hoping the owner would come back to look for it.

So he paced back and forth in the cold wind with his cloth bag.

His eyes kept scanning the street, afraid that he would miss the owner.

At this time, at the corner of the dirt road not far away, Lin Xiangli and her maid Yan'er were quietly observing this scene.

Looking at the old man who insisted on waiting in the wind and snow, Lin Xiangli's heart was deeply touched.

She originally wanted to use these gold ingots to make up for her apology to Chen Weiyu, but she never expected that this would bring trouble to Chen Laonong.

"Miss, looking at the old man's attitude, I'm afraid he won't accept this gold."

Yan'er reminded softly.

Lin Xiangli sighed softly, feeling even more regretful.

She increasingly realized that her actions had been too hasty, and that she had not fully considered the temperament and character of the Chen father and daughter. How could this father and daughter, with their simplicity and integrity, easily accept money from an unknown source?

Never mind, I was not thoughtful enough...

"Yan'er, go and claim that bag. Tell them you accidentally left it there."

*

In the prefectural government office.

Shi Ying was just reporting today's schedule to Zhou Jin and waiting for his decision.

After a moment, Zhou Jin finally raised his head from the mountain of documents.

He put down his pen and breathed a sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted off his shoulders. Then he looked up at Shi Ying.

"Shi Ying, let the deputy governor handle the morning government meeting and the afternoon reception of the envoys. As for the water conservancy inspection and the meeting with merchants, let's postpone them to the day after tomorrow."

When Shi Ying heard this, although he had some doubts in his heart, he still responded respectfully, "Yes."

He turned around and prepared to leave the study, but was stopped by Zhou Jin.

"Shi Ying, wait a moment. I have something important for you to do."

"Please speak, sir."

Zhou Jin stood up and began to tidy up his official uniform, as if he was going to change into more comfortable casual clothes.

As he walked into the compartment, he said to Shi Ying,

"I received a letter from home recently, informing me that my parents will be visiting in person soon."

"The Master and the Madam are here in person? This is a great joy!"

Shi Ying said.

"Indeed, they set out three days ago and are expected to arrive around noon. I must go and greet them in person to fulfill my filial duty."

Zhou Jin changed into light clothes while giving Shi Ying a task.

"Hurry and prepare a comfortable carriage and select reliable personnel to accompany you. Also, prepare some refreshments that the master and his wife will enjoy, and have the guest rooms properly tidied. Make sure they are comfortable."

"Okay, I'll get ready right away."

*

Outside the city gate, the guards and attendants were already lined up waiting. When they saw Zhou Jin coming, they all saluted.

Zhou Jin dismounted lightly, nodded gently in response, and signaled them to keep a low profile and not disturb the people around them.

He walked to a high ground near the city gate and looked into the distance through the bustling crowd.

Not long after, a blue-gray carriage slowly came into his sight.

Zhou Jin's eyes suddenly lit up as he recognized the familiar carriage and the logo on it.

When the carriage stopped at the city gate, he quickly stepped forward and lifted the curtain, only to see an elderly but spirited couple sitting inside the carriage - his parents.

"Father! Mother!"

Zhou Jin's voice was full of joy as he carefully led his parents out of the carriage.

"Jin'er!"

Zhou's father and mother held Zhou Jin's hands tightly, and were also full of joy.

Zhou's mother looked at her son carefully and said distressedly,

"Jin'er, you've lost weight. Being an official isn't easy. You must take care of yourself."

Zhou Jin felt warm in his heart and quickly comforted his mother.

"Don't worry, mother. I will take care of it. But you have lost weight too. It is my fault for not being able to serve you two elders by my side." Mother Zhou shook her head gently.

"You are busy with work, so taking good care of yourself is the greatest comfort to us. Don't worry about your parents, we can take care of ourselves..."

Zhou Jin felt warm in his heart, and he hugged his parents as they walked towards the prepared carriage.

"Father and mother, the carriage is ready, and the family has prepared a sumptuous meal. Let's get in the carriage and go home."

However, Father Zhou gently held Zhou Jin's arm and looked towards the city gate, his eyes flashing with nostalgia and emotion.

"Jin'er, we want to take a walk and see this long-lost homeland."

"this……"

Zhou Jin hesitated.

Zhou's mother agreed.

"Jin'er, just listen to your father. We've been sitting in the carriage for a long time, so it would be nice to get off and take a walk."

Hearing this, Zhou Jin had no choice but to agree. He turned around to get cloaks for his parents and tied them up carefully.

In this way, the family of three slowly walked into the city through the city gate, and their followers kept a proper distance and followed silently.

Along the way, there are shops on both sides of the street, and people are coming and going, making it very lively.

Father Zhou was filled with emotion.

"It's really changed here. I remember it used to be a thatched house."

"Yes, I heard that this place was transformed into a commercial street five years ago."

Zhou Jin added.

Zhou's mother also recalled the past.

"And this stone road, it used to be a dirt road. I remember that every time it rained, Jin'er and Tiao'er would always come back with their feet covered in mud."

When Zhou Tiao was mentioned, the expressions of the three people all darkened and the atmosphere instantly became heavy.

Zhou Jin recalled a rainy day when his mother came to the school to pick him and his elder sister up after school after harvesting crops. However, there was only one rain hat available, so his mother took off the hat and gave it to him, and he and his elder sister ran back in the rain.

Zhou's mother was also upset, with tears in her eyes. She wiped her eyes gently, trying to hide her sadness.

Father Zhou beside him also sighed softly.

"We, after all, owe Tiao'er something..."

In order to ease this heavy burden, Zhou Jin forced a smile and suggested,

"Mom and Dad, I'm sure you're hungry too. How about we go try some street food first?"

Zhou's father and mother knew their son's painstaking efforts, so they followed his words and said,

"Okay, let's have some buns to fill our stomachs."

"I'll go buy it right away."

After Zhou Jin finished speaking, he quickly walked towards the bun shop not far away.

Zhou's father walked slowly along the streets, gazing at this land that was both familiar and unfamiliar, his eyes full of curiosity and emotion about this transformed street.

Zhou's mother stood there, her heart once again filled with guilt and longing for her daughter Zhou Tiao.

During the past ten years, whenever it was late at night and everyone was asleep, she would blame herself for the past.

Especially on the rainy day just mentioned, she seemed to see again the scene of herself handing the rain hat to her son and letting her daughter bear the wind and rain alone.

Such scenes seemed to have become the norm in her daughter's short life. Similar scenes played out over and over in her mind, and each time it made her heart ache.

She suddenly realized that as a mother, her love and care for her daughter was so lacking and missing.

It seemed as if she had never really given her daughter the warmth and protection she deserved.

Even after learning the news of her daughter's death in the capital, she did not have the courage to come back to face the cold tombstone and ask for her daughter's forgiveness for ten years.

Her son, Tiao'er, has lived a miserable life because of a mother like her...

Thinking of this, Zhou's mother's eyes couldn't help but turn red again.

Immersed in her grief, she did not notice that several children playing and running in front of her were about to bump into her.

"careful!"

Before the guards behind her finished shouting, the child had already rushed in front of her. Mother Zhou's body swayed, and at this moment, a girl passing by stretched out her arms in time to steady her body.

"Ma'am, are you okay?"

Mother Zhou was helped to steady herself in her trance. When she came to her senses and was about to express her gratitude to her benefactor, she froze the moment she saw his face clearly.

Tiaoer?!

This realization exploded in her heart like thunder, causing her body to soften involuntarily and she almost lost her support again.

Fortunately, the guard arrived in time, took over the girl's position, supported Zhou's mother firmly, and thanked her.

"Thank you, young lady."

The girl shook her head slightly, then turned and disappeared into the bustling crowd.

"Tiao'er..."

Mother Zhou wanted to break free from the guards' support and chase after the figure, but was stopped by them.

At this time, Zhou's father and Zhou Jin rushed over after hearing the news. Seeing Zhou's mother's disgrace, they couldn't help but feel puzzled.

"What's going on?"

The guards briefly explained the situation, but Zhou's mother looked at them with tears in her eyes and said in a trembling voice,

"It's Tiao'er, she just... she is Tiao'er..."

When Zhou's father heard this, his face darkened. He obviously did not believe this absurd statement.

"What are you talking about? Tiao'er has already..."

Seeing this, Zhou Jin hurried forward to comfort his mother and suggested to his father,

"Father, Mother looks tired. Let's go back in the carriage first. Once she's rested, I'll take you for a stroll another day."

Father Zhou nodded in agreement.

While helping Zhou's mother into the car, Zhou Jin couldn't help but look back at the direction his mother had been staring at, thinking to himself:

Could that girl just now be Miss Tang? ...