The two siblings cried loudly. Yang Chao cried as much as he wanted, but the boys were beaten roughly. Yang Qian cried so hard that her eyes were wet with tears. Chen Afu could not bear it any longer, so he went into the house and brought her a little chicken doll. The doll was about 20 centimeters long, with a yellow body and a red comb. Its two little feet were running one after the other, and even its little wings were standing up. She was going to take it to the capital to sell.
The little girl stopped crying after holding this extremely beautiful doll. She said with tears in her eyes, "This runaway chicken is so cute. Sister Qian likes it. Thank you."
Chen Afu smiled and pinched her little face.
Wang also took a food box of osmanthus glutinous rice dates, a basket of fresh dates, and two baskets of fresh vegetables onto the carriage.
Yang Chao even got on the carriage, and he stuck his head out and cried, "I will ask my father for mercy and stay at your house for a night."
The Chen family expressed their welcome.
After seeing the two siblings off, the Chen family became quiet again.
Chen Ming, A Lu, and Da Bao, who were already sleepy, went to take a nap. Chen A Fu and Wang Shi salted the remaining one and a half pieces of meat and hung them in a well-lit and ventilated place to dry. The weather has turned cooler now, so if you add more salt, it can be kept for two days. This much meat will be saved for the Mid-Autumn Festival the day after tomorrow.
Chen Ahfu started making sweet-scented osmanthus glutinous rice dates again, which were sent to Steward Luo's family and eaten by himself. Although Steward Luo sent Chu Hanyan to the capital, Aunt Luo, Steward Xiao Luo and their two children were still in Tangyuan.
After Dabao got up, he asked him to lead Zhuifeng to deliver a large bowl of rice to Tangyuan, and also a small bag of fresh dates. He put the two things in a small backpack and asked him to carry it.
Chen Afu didn't teach the little boy how to speak. Dabao's little mouth was as sweet as the osmanthus glutinous rice dates, and he always spoke nice words.
About two quarters of an hour later, Dabao came back, followed by a little girl of about eleven or twelve years old. Her name was Xiaoqing, and she was a maid in the house of Luo Guanshi, and she looked very smart.
She said her sister and brother liked the snack very much. Her wife was very happy and said thank you. She specially asked her to send Dabao back and also sent a big bowl of braised pork. The big bowl that Dabao took was also filled with crabapple preserves.
Chen Ahfu thanked him, poured out the braised pork, and washed and dried the huge wooden bowl. Thinking about the bowl of crabapple preserves that Dabao brought back, it would be bad to let Xiaoqing take an empty bowl back, right? Aunt Luo was really a wonderful person.
Chen Afu felt a little amused, and put in the remaining glutinous rice and dates for his family, barely filling a bowl.
While doing these things, she also prepared a small dish of glutinous rice dates for Xiaoqing to eat. After Xiaoqing finished eating, she filled a purse with fresh dates for her, and then let her take the big bowl of osmanthus glutinous rice dates back to Manager Luo's house.
Xiaoqing was still a child. She ate and took the food, smiling with her eyes curved. After saying thank you, she skipped back to Tangyuan with the bowl in her hand.
Look at that big bowl of braised pork, dark red and shiny, with a lot of fat. Chen Ming smiled and said, "Send this meat to your uncle. It's autumn harvest time now, they are working hard, they need to eat more fat. Also, send them half a goose, for your uncle and Agui to drink with."
Originally, he wanted to give some rare mooncakes and apples to the old lady, but he was afraid that Mrs. Hu would often come to ask for them, so he decided to wait until the Mid-Autumn Festival to give them to her.
Corn and sweet potatoes have been harvested in the past few days. Chen Ming's three acres of land were cultivated by Chen Ye and his son. No, it should be said that they rented it to the first wife. But Mrs. Hu always said that the first wife helped the second wife to cultivate it.
There was a lot of meat, so Chen Ahfu poured out a bowl for himself, and asked Dabao to send the remaining half to the first room. He also told him to tell the truth when he got to the first room, saying that the goose was sent by Young Master Yang and the braised pork was sent by Mrs. Luo.
Mrs. Hu only took in things but never gave out anything. She brought so many things to the eldest wife's house but didn't give any gifts in return, and she still felt that it was their duty to show filial piety.
When Dabao came back, he found that the big bowl was still half full of lotus root stewed with meat. He said that since Mrs. Hu was not around, his aunt and aunt Lan had prepared it for him. He also said, "My aunt and aunt Lan said thank you, mother. They really like the satin."
Then he took out a handkerchief and a small bellyband for a child from his bulging arms. The handkerchief was given by Chen Alan to Chen Afu, and the small bellyband was given by Gao to Dabao.
The handkerchief and bellyband were made of fine cloth and embroidered with flowers. They were so kind, and Chen Ahfu accepted their kindness.
Gao and Alan are both good. If it weren't for Hu, their relationship with the second house would definitely be better.
Afterwards, Chen Ming asked Wang to cut two large bowls of rouge goose and pack two bags of crabapple preserves, and asked Dabao to deliver them to the five elders and the third grandfather respectively. The festival was coming soon, so it could be considered a gift from their family.
Chen Afu was secretly happy. His father was quite smart and knew how to maintain good relationships with the elders in the clan.
The rouge goose was big and there was a bowl left. Add to that the braised pork, lotus root stewed meat, and some leftover vegetables and soup from lunch, and it made for a hearty dinner.
While eating, looking at so many delicious dishes, Chen Ming said regretfully, "If I wasn't afraid that my sister-in-law would come and ruin my mood, I could have invited my mother and brother to drink with so many delicious dishes."
In the evening, Dabao and Alu were delighted by the mooncakes and apples, which they had never eaten before.
Wang smiled and said, "After eating so many delicious foods, you still want to eat more. You are not afraid of bursting your stomach."
Having said that, he still took out two mooncakes and broke them apart. The five people and two birds got a small piece each. Chen Ahfu tasted it and found it was made of five nuts and quite fragrant. Then he washed an apple, cut it in half, and gave another small piece to the family.
Zhuifeng was not interested in these and was still gnawing on goose bones on the ground.
After eating, A Lu and Da Bao counted on their fingers and found that they had eaten at least ten delicious foods today. They exclaimed that this was truly a life like gods!
The next day, when A-Lu was having breakfast, he did not get up. Chen A-Fu went into the room to ask him what was wrong. It turned out that his legs were hurting badly.
He must have played too much with those kids yesterday and moved his legs around.
After A-Lu came back, Chen A-Fu asked Jin Yanzi for a small piece of Yan Agarwood bark and put it into the medicine for A-Lu. When pouring out the medicine residue, he picked up the small piece of bark and boiled it with the medicine next time. A-Lu's leg recovered very well and he rarely complained of pain.
Chen Afu didn't let him get off the kang, and Wang brought him meals.
After dinner, Wang went to the county town to deliver embroidery work. She didn’t need to buy anything else because she had all the food for the festival.
Chen Afu went to the stream outside the village to wash the family's clothes. When he returned to the yard and hung them up to dry, he saw a well-dressed little boy wandering outside the fence, tiptoeing to look inside from time to time.
The little boy was about four years old, white and plump, wearing a brown satin long coat that reached below his knees and moon-white pants. He looked like a young master from a wealthy family. Although he looked unfamiliar, he felt familiar.
Chen Ahfu walked over and asked, "Who are you looking for?"
The little boy was not shy and said to her, "I'm looking for Chen Dabao. Is this his home? I heard that his yard is surrounded by a fence."
Chen Afu called out to Chen Dabao who was writing in the room. When Chen Dabao saw the little boy, he ran over and said, "Cheng, why are you here?"
Chen Afu found out that the little boy was Manager Luo’s grandson Luo Mingcheng. Cheng’er was four years old, a few months younger than Dabao.
Even though the Luo family was a servant, their children were precious. Unlike Chen Dabao and Xiao Shitou, who were country kids running around, what was he doing running around alone? To get here from Tangyuan, you have to cross a large rice field.
Chen Afu hurried out and led Luo Mingcheng into the yard, squatted down and asked, "I am Dabao's mother. What do you want to see Dabao for?"
Luo Mingcheng twisted the fat boy's finger and said, "I like to eat the sweet dates from your family. But my grandma asked my father to send all those sweet dates to the master in the city, and I only ate a few." The little mouth turned up, looking very aggrieved, and said, "My daughter is not in good condition, even my mother went to the provincial capital to take care of her.
Chen Afu thought that he was just like Yang Chao and his sister, thinking about Qiqi and Huihui, but it turned out that he was thinking about food. Also, what happened to the little girl Yan'er? Poor child, I hope she is safe.
She stood up and said, "Okay, I'll do it for Cheng Ge'er right away."
Dabao, who was standing by, heard that Chu Hanyan was not feeling well and became worried. He said, "Mom, sister Yan'er is sick again."
Chen Afu comforted him, "There is a good doctor in the city who will cure her illness." He also asked him to take Zhuifeng to Tangyuan to tell Aunt Luo that Cheng Ge'er was at his home and asked them not to worry.
Chen Afu went into the kitchen to soak the dates first, then took Cheng Ge'er to the new yard and asked Qiqi and Huihui to play with him.
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