Time flies and it is July 23. Ah Lu has been in the city for half a month and should be back soon. At noon, Chen Ming would sit under the tree and weave baskets, looking east from time to time. He would only go inside to take a nap during lunch break and then come out to continue looking. It was not until the sun set that he returned to the house disappointedly, knowing that they would not come back.
Chen Afu's heart also began to lift. He would look eastward from time to time. Even Chen Dabao, who was walking his bird and collecting firewood at the west end of the village in the afternoon, would take Qiqi and Huihui for a walk eastward before going home.
At the beginning of the si hour on the 24th, Chen Ahfu was making a mattress on the kang, and Chen Dabao was practicing calligraphy. Suddenly, they heard Chen Ming, who was sitting under the eaves, asking, "Who are you looking for?"
A strange man's voice asked loudly, "Excuse me, where is Chen Dabao's home?"
Chen Afu looked out the window and saw a carriage parked at the door. Yang Chao was sticking his head out of the window and looking out.
She thought to herself, that Uncle Yang was really rude. She didn't have any close relationship with him, so why did he really let his son come?
But a visitor is a guest, especially a child of a business partner. She got off the kang and said to Dabao, "Son, hurry up, Yang Chao is here."
After hearing this, Chen Dabao quickly put down his pen and ran out, shouting, "Brother Yang Chao."
Yang Chao got out of the car and said with a big grin, "Dabao, I miss your family."
Chen Ming was still in a daze, wondering how his grandson knew the young master of a rich family. Chen Ahfu also came out and said with a smile, "A distinguished guest is here, please come in." He also told Chen Ming that the child was the young master of the Xile Restaurant.
After hearing this, Chen Ming quickly stood up to greet him.
Accompanying Yang Chao were a teenage servant named Li Dong and the old man Yang Bo who was driving the cart. They were carrying two pieces of meat, four pig's trotters, two bags of candy, and a large basket of grapes.
It seems that they will have lunch at home.
Chen Dabao asked, "Why don't I see Sister Qian?"
Yang Chao said, "My father was worried about my sister coming, so he let me come alone." He then said honestly, "If I have fun this time, I will bring my sister next time."
Chen Afu asked Dabao to accompany them to play in the new yard. Qiqi and Huihui were waiting for their little master there and were so bored that they jumped around on the shelf. Jin Yanzi was not at home and had gone to the mountains again.
Chen Afu cooked hawthorn soup for them, washed the grapes and brought them over, then started cooking, and Chen Ming helped to light the fire.
When Yang Chao saw Huihui and Qiqi, he liked them very much. Especially when he saw Qiqi, his eyes lit up and he said, "Qiqi is really pretty, as pretty as my sister."
He stroked Qiqi's fur and said, "I asked my dad to buy two parrots, but after teaching them for a long time, they still can't speak. They are far worse than Huihui and Qiqi."
Chen Dabao was even more proud and said, "Qiqi, recite 'Du Kang'."
Qiqi shook her head and shouted, "The only way to relieve worries is Du Kang." Her voice was the same as Chen Ming's.
Huihui was not willing to be outdone, and jumped up and down and shouted, "Dabao wants to pee, Dabao wants to pee." The voice was the same as Dabao's.
Dabao blushed and Yang Chao laughed so hard that his stomach hurt.
While they were playing, Xiao Shitou came to deliver milk. His family's yellow cow gave birth to a calf the day before yesterday. When Chen Afu heard about it, he went to Wu's house and asked Changgen's wife if he could buy some milk every day for Alu to nourish his body after he came back.
Changgen's wife said angrily, "What good stuff is that? Why do we need to buy it? No one in our family likes to drink milk. They don't like the smell. I'll ask Xiao Shitou to bring some to you every day. That kid has eaten a lot of good stuff in your house."
These two days, Xiao Shitou would come to deliver a small gourd of milk every morning.
Afterwards, Chen Dabao took Yang Chao, Xiao Shitou and Li Dong to the east of the village to "walk" the birds. Two birds flew in the sky, and three people chased them on the ground.
Sometimes they ran in the woods, sometimes they ran on the ridges of the fields. The ridges were narrow, so Lidong would take Yang Chao for a jog.
Under the blue sky, the two birds sometimes circled low and sometimes flew high. When they were approaching Tangyuan, Chen Dabao shouted, "Don't go there, come back."
Qiqi and Huihui made a detour and flew back.
When several people returned home, they were all sweating profusely.
Chen Afu had already prepared hot water, bathed Yang Chao and Dabao, and changed their clothes. He also wiped the sweat off Xiao Shitou and invited him home for lunch.
For lunch, I made braised pork, braised pork slices, stir-fried cabbage, pickled eggplant, and pig's trotter soup. I also made a dessert, fried pumpkin pancakes with milk flavor.
A table was set up under the tree in the new yard. Chen Afu brought Dabao, Yang Chao and Xiao Shitou to eat here, while Chen Ming accompanied Old Uncle Yang and Lidong to eat and drink in the old yard.
Yang Chao exclaimed that the food here was better than the food in his restaurant. His mouth was greasy after eating the food. He especially liked the pumpkin pie.
Chen Ahfu smiled and said, "If you like, come to my house more often and Auntie Chen will make it for you."
Yang Chao nodded unceremoniously and said, "Okay, I'll bring my sister with me next time." He then said, "Aunt Chen, my sister loves delicious snacks the most. Can you bring some pumpkin pie back for her?"
Chen Ahfu nodded and smiled, "Okay."
Chen Dabao ate the braised pork, while Xiao Shitou kept gnawing on the pig's trotters. These two guys really indulged their craving for meat.
After dinner, Yang Chao didn't want to leave and said he wanted to play for a while. He couldn't bear to leave Dabao, and even more so Huihui and Qiqi.
Old Uncle Yang advised, "Master told you to leave after lunch. If you don't listen, you won't be able to come again. If you listen, you can come again next time."
Then, Lidong carried the crying Yang Chao into the carriage.
Chen Ahfu took a basket of freshly picked vegetables and a paper-wrapped pumpkin pie onto the carriage and said, "These are freshly picked vegetables. Let's eat them fresh."
When Xiao Shitou left, Chen Afu packed a small bag of candy and a bag of pumpkin pie for him to take back.
After a whole morning of fighting, Chen Ming and Dabao were a little tired, so they went to rest on the kang. Chen Afu cleaned up the kitchen, rubbed salt on the remaining piece of meat, and put it under the eaves to cool.
As soon as she finished doing all this, she saw an ox cart driving towards her door. Wang was sitting on it and A Lu was lying on it.
A Chenfu shouted excitedly, "Dad, my mom and A Lu are back." Then he ran to the door.
She helped A-Lu off the cart and took down the packages on the cart. Wang gave the driver two hundred coins for the fare and asked Da-bao to bring him a bowl of water before sending him off.
Ah Lu was able to walk with crutches. Chen Ah Fu held his face and looked at him. He was thinner, his eyes looked bigger, his dimples were deeper, and his face was a little pale, but he was in good spirits.
If he was Chen Dabao, Chen Afu would definitely give him a kiss. But the child was already ten years old, and Chen Afu was afraid of scaring him, so he just gently rubbed his face and said distressedly, "Alu is finally back. Sister has missed you so much these days."
Ah Lu's face turned red with embarrassment, and she whispered, "Sister, I miss you, Daddy, and Dabao, too."
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