The next day, as dawn broke, Yunling was awakened by Tang Ling. Because she had been busy until the early hours of the morning, she was barely able to get up. However, with Tang Ling's reminder, she remembered that she could catch up on sleep on the boat, so she reluctantly got up to wash up.
After having breakfast, everyone packed their things, tidied up the house one last time, and then headed to the dock with their bags and packages.
Springtime weather is still somewhat damp and cold, similar to the bleak and chilly autumn. But thankfully, they arrived in Bianjing during the cold winter, and now that they are returning to Pingcheng, it will be the hot summer.
Yunling thought she could finally cool off on the ice from the fruit boat, but because the Lu family trading company had a lot of goods to carry, they switched to a larger boat. The heavy cargo was pulled on by planks, which was quite impressive.
Yunling looked at her two hundred pounds of wool, which looked like an insignificant speck of dust huddled in a corner. If she didn't know it was wool, she would have thought it was some unwanted waste.
No wonder Lu Yinghuai couldn't estimate the cost; it's such a small thing, he'll probably just give a random price and call it a day.
The cargo was loaded onto the ship with a rumble, and an hour later, the ship officially departed from Bianjing Wharf. Yunling and Gangzi stood on the deck, reluctantly bidding farewell to Bianjing for the last time.
The boat sailed downstream. Ten days later, Zhang, who was far away in Pingcheng, received a letter from Yunling. She learned that Yunling had set off to return. She was so happy that she didn't even know if there was salt in the soup. She put down the spatula and went to the courtyard to talk about it.
"Ling'er is finally coming back. I won't have to work alone anymore. I just don't know if she has bought the cotton-padded coat I wanted."
Old Lady Yun slapped Yun Ruoxia on the back of the head, put her other hand on her hip, and her legs started shaking.
"Are you tired of hearing this? Just now, Brother Hua said that Sister Ling bought all the things we wanted. Poor kids, it's not easy to go out like this, and she still has to think about buying things for each of you."
Yun Ruoxia barely managed to refrain from rolling her eyes, and joked:
“Mother, you started this whole thing by suggesting that Ling’er buy some kind of Hongqiao sausage. But with the weather like this, and summer just a month away, the sausage will probably be spoiled by the time Ling’er comes back.”
"What nonsense are you talking about? Ling'er was on a fruit boat before, and she'll probably be on a fruit boat again when she comes back. There's ice inside to keep the fruit fresh, so what's the harm in my few sausages?"
Unlike the eloquent conversation between Granny Yun and Yun Ruoxia, Zhang took the letter from Yun Shenghua and read it. After listening to Yun Shenghua read the letter aloud, her brows furrowed slightly.
Yun Shenghua, not knowing what was wrong with Zhang, put his arm around her shoulder and said with a smile:
"That little girl Ling'er does know how to think of her father and grandfather. She still has some conscience. It's not for nothing that we've worried about her for so long."
"But don't you think Ling'er is being a bit too talkative this time? This isn't like her. Do you think she might be in some trouble or sick and not feeling well, which is why she's so worried about home?"
"Probably not. Ling'er is so intelligent and knows medicine. She can treat herself when she's sick. Besides, she has Young Master Lu with her, so she'll have someone to look after her."
Yun Ruoxia quickly chimed in:
“Sister-in-law, brother is right. Ling’er must have had a great time playing outside. Now that she suddenly has to go home, she’s just a little homesick. It’s nothing to worry about. When Uncle Cao wrote to me, he was all smiles. Nothing will happen to her.”
Zhang's anxiety eased slightly, and Old Lady Yun quickly changed the subject to prevent Zhang from overthinking.
"Hey, when do you guys think Chun-jie will come back? She hasn't been back since she came back to move into the new house. She's been busy running around during the New Year. I wonder what she's been up to?"
Yun Ruochun, who was squatting in the wild, suddenly felt a strong itch in her nose. Afraid that sneezing would disturb the thieves, she had no choice but to pinch her nostrils tightly.
This action led Qin Yu to misunderstand. His stomach was already a little uncomfortable, and he had been squatting for a while, so he was bound to feel the urge to defecate. Therefore, he suspected that Yun Ruochun had smelled the stench coming from his buttocks, which was why she pinched her nose.
Qin Yu felt very embarrassed, so he had no choice but to stick his butt out to the other side. But after squatting for a long time, his legs would easily get sore. As soon as he moved, he felt like he had lost his support and swayed until he sat down on the ground, making a sound.
Yun Ruochun quickly pulled him back, while keeping an eye on the situation outside, and asked softly:
Are you alright?
Qin Yu was very excited to receive this care and quickly shook his head, but he couldn't help but complain to Yun Ruochun in a low voice:
"Is this really it? Why hasn't anyone come yet?"
Yun Ruochun felt that the man's voice was too loud, so she covered his mouth and then focused her attention on listening.
The wind was blowing fiercely that night, whistling through the tall grass as if it were playing a melody. Recently, many bandits had abducted young women into this sorghum stalk tent. Some were lucky enough to escape, while others were doomed to die here.
Yun Ruochun despised these beastly bandits, so she followed Huang the moment he received the report and has been squatting there since sunset. As long as she thought about bringing the thieves to justice, she didn't feel sleepy or tired.
The wind picked up again, but amidst the whistling sound, there was also a faint sound of footsteps and a muffled sobbing.
Yun Ruochun cautiously peeked out and could vaguely see one person dragging another. But when she peered out again, trying to get a clearer view, the person had already slipped into the green gauze curtain.
"Awoo~ Awoo~ Awoo~"
After Yun Ruochun sent out the signal, she soon received a wolf howl in response, just like Huang Butou's, indicating that she could take action.
She released Qin Yu's mouth, gripped the knife handle, and crawled into the bushes.
Although Qin Yu couldn't see the thief, seeing Yun Ruochun take action, he couldn't stay still, so he gripped the hilt of his knife and crawled inside as well.
Because of the obstruction of the grass, visibility was even worse at night, and it was not advisable to light a tinderbox for fear of disturbing the thieves, so they could only rely on their senses to decide the direction of their journey.
Yun Ruochun pressed her ear to the ground, but because Huang Butou and his men had also started to move, the sounds coming from the ground were coming from all directions, making it difficult to judge for a moment.
Yun Ruochun was somewhat at a loss, so she called out casually a couple of times to see if there was a response from Constable Huang, but this time she changed the way she called out.
"Meow~ Meow~ Meow~"
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