Chapter 32 Ahhh, he seems to really like Gu Wan! What should I do?
Xie Ci, who was standing before him, was wearing a brown bamboo hat and a half-worn straw raincoat. Cold dew and mist fell on his body in the middle of the night, wetting his gray boots stained with yellow mud and his navy blue cotton shirt.
Most of his face was exposed under the bamboo hat. The handsome and high-spirited face of the young boy in the past was now rugged and tough in the corners of his eyebrows and eyes. His eyes suddenly became calm, just like an adult, and he had grown up in an instant.
The beginning of spring has long passed, the frost and snow have melted a lot, the wind is no longer biting, and the tender shoots of early spring grass have quietly peeped out.
But at this moment, he is still stuck in the cold winter, with an air of depression that cannot be dispelled from the wind and frost.
Madam Xun, Sister Xie and Sister Xie felt tears welling up in their eyes when they saw the thank you speech, especially Madam Xun. But she had to hold it together, blinking back the tears and putting on a smile: "My little fourth child has grown up so much."
Mrs. Xie sighed and said with a smile, "Come in! What are you standing at the door for?"
The atmosphere suddenly became cheerful.
Gu Guan clapped his hands. Niuniu, who had already taken on the task, and Xie Ersao's son Mingyu, a four-year-old and a six-year-old, cheered and ran down the corridor, "Fourth Uncle, Fourth Uncle, you're back!"
"We've been waiting for you for a long time!"
There were two revolving lanterns hanging under the corridor of the main house. When the wind blew, they started to spin "guluo". The little figures and the peach fairy dew inside cast yellow light circles on the ground, which were spinning flutteringly.
The courtyard was filled with roasting racks, vegetarian wine, vegetables, preserved fruits, various types of washed and thinly cut beef, pork, and mutton, as well as fruit juice for the children, all served in milky white porcelain basins.
But before the barbecue, there is another very important activity.
Two little kids dressed like fairies, one on each side, ran over, laughing and chattering, dragging Xie Ci into the yard. The warm yellow light completely covered him, as if driving away all the coldness and frost.
Although this was a temporary inn, rented for only one or two nights, the Xie family had meticulously decorated it. The cobwebs, accumulated water, and dust on the eaves and tiles were cleaned clean. Strings of revolving lanterns, star-shaped lanterns, and other small paper lanterns, the kind children play with, were strung together under the eaves, on the branches of small trees, and on and under the veranda. These twinkling lights made the entire courtyard feel incredibly warm and inviting.
There are red paper-cuts of all sizes on the walls and windows, pictures of magpies perching on branches, happy new year, and family reunions. There are big and small pictures, some pasted straight, and some pasted crookedly by children.
Niu Niu dragged out her big rooster, which was made of bamboo strips and covered with a red comb and green paper. It looked like a tumbler and looked very cute. It was a New Year's toy bought by her family for the youngest Niu Niu. She said that her fourth uncle didn't even see it and carried it out from the small mountain village seventy or eighty miles away.
The two children whispered and discussed for a long time, and finally put it by the door at the end of the corridor.
Xie Ci walked and looked as he went. For a short distance of just over ten steps, he looked back with every step and looked for a very long time.
There had never been such a lively atmosphere around him. His family surrounded him, laughing and talking, and he was overwhelmed. After carefully looking at Niuniu's big rooster, he turned around the main door and what caught his eye was a very large round table, which was filled with dishes sticking out of the dishes.
Gu Wan was lighting the lamps, one yellow lamp after another. She turned around and smiled widely. The small living room suddenly became bright. On the first seat to the right of the main seat, there was a bowl of steaming longevity noodles!
Mrs. Xie placed the freshly prepared longevity noodles in front of his seat, topped with green chopped green onions and a pair of big poached eggs.
Xie Ci was stunned. The people around him suddenly laughed and said in unison: "Happy birthday to my uncle, Little Fourth!"
——This turned out to be a birthday party held for Xie Ci.
It was Xie Ci's seventeenth birthday, and he had just met Xun Rongbi. He was all alone, with only Gu Wan by his side.
But no one has forgotten his birthday, even the Lantern Festival. He had long ignored the New Year and Lantern Festival in the past. There were big bowls of pork elbows, goose meatballs, dumplings, a big bowl of brown sugar Lantern Festival, and his longevity noodles.
There was a big bowl of thin noodles with egg, a bowl of yellow sugar rice dumplings, and a full bowl of big dumplings. The air was filled with steam. Xie Ci was surrounded and sat down. The heat made his eyes suddenly feel hot.
He lowered his head to eat, and a tear fell into the soup bowl, but he quickly blinked it away.
"Don't just stand there, eat your food."
He heard Gu Guan's laughter. The whole family sat around a full table, picking up food with chopsticks and passing it around.
After the meal, everyone laughed and rushed out to the small courtyard to continue barbecuing. Most of the people here were young people and children, and they all had a big appetite. The sound of "sizzling" barbecued meat, and the fat falling on the charcoal fire raised a puff of green smoke and a burnt aroma.
Mrs. Xie and her three sisters-in-law skillfully grilled the meat without Xie Ci and the others having to do anything. Xie Ci held Niuniu in his arms and sat on a low stool. He touched the little girl's arm and hurriedly asked Niuniu, "Does your hand still hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore. I even help my mother carry firewood!"
The little girl lay in her fourth uncle's arms, looked up and told her fourth uncle in a very cheerful tone. Her little smiling face was not at all gloomy, but full of sunshine.
As she said this, she raised her little hands to indicate that she moved it with both hands.
In the past, this little girl was the most spoiled. She was born prematurely and was prone to minor illnesses. She was also the first child of her third brother and sister-in-law, and she was in great pain. She was shy and timid by nature, and she didn't even dare to walk on the ground when there were many people around. But now she is lively and cheerful, coming and going like the wind, and helping her mother and aunt with the work with her brother.
She spread out her five small fingers, which were still white and tender, but no longer as delicate and weak as before. They were healthy and strong.
Xie Ci looked at the pair of small hands, then looked up at his family members who were busy and smiling.
His heart was in turmoil. On this early spring night when the weather was still cold and the winter snow had not yet melted, he suddenly realized with great clarity that he had never been alone, and his whole family had been working hard together.
He was trying hard to protect them, but they were also trying hard to protect him.
"Slurp, slurp." Gu Guan poured the vegetarian wine into an open small bowl, took a sip from the bowl, and the warm wine flowed from his mouth into his stomach.
Looking at the warm and joyful scene before her, she sighed in her heart, what a wonderful family, so full of positive energy.
She poured two bowls of wine and pushed one in front of Xie Ci. A child squatted beside each of them, talking in clear voices. Xie Ci looked over, curled his lips, smiled and raised the bowl.
But she didn't know that her pupils were reflecting two small flames, which suddenly caught his eyes. At this moment, her smiling face was reflected in the yellow flames, and her pair of almond-shaped eyes were breathtakingly beautiful.
——Of course, the Xie family's love for him couldn't be more sincere, and Xie Ci knew this. He also knew who arranged all this.
There is no one else, it can only be Gu Wan.
The night was cold and the journey was long, but she prepared a family reunion for him who was exhausted from the wind and frost.
At this moment under the night sky, family members became the background. There is a saying that goes "one look at a glance is a lifetime". At this moment, her slightly smiling face and the two little fires in her pupils suddenly struck his heart.
Xie Ci's heart suddenly started beating wildly.
For a moment, he couldn't take his eyes off it.
He could even smell the breath she exhaled when she came close, the faint scent of grass with a hint of orange.
Xie Ci was a little at a loss. He hurriedly grabbed the bowl and drank it all in one gulp.
But he drank so fast that he choked and coughed, causing some of the wine to spray out of his nose.
Gu Wan: “…”
She laughed, "...You don't have to drink so fast, do you?"
Xie Ci's skin, which had already turned a light wheat color, quickly turned red, and a hint of crimson spread to the corners of his eyes. His handsome face rarely showed the gorgeous and gorgeous color it once had.
Then Xie Ci got up and left.
Damn, that's so embarrassing.
…
But after feeling so embarrassed and ashamed, the last bit of gloom in his heart disappeared.
Xie Ci stood on the way to the toilet and couldn't help but look back. Gu Guan was twirling Niuniu's pigtails with one hand and glancing at him sideways. The beautiful face with a bright smile and the red bonfire shone straight into his heart.
He also laughed unconsciously, and after a moment, he turned around and rushed out.
After finishing the bonfire feast, it was already late at night. Xie Ci quietly returned to the room he had rented in the front yard and left the inn at dawn the next day. After walking for a while, he said that he wanted to be alone for a while and sent Zhang Qing and Zheng Ying away.
After that, he quietly returned to the inn.
Mrs. Xun, Mrs. Xie and the others had already packed up their things and loaded them into the car. Adults and children were riding horses or carts, and were waiting at the fork in the road heading east, carrying the large and small daily necessities they had bought in the county town yesterday.
Mrs. Xie put on a mustache to pretend to be a man. As soon as Xie Ci jumped onto the cart, she shouted in a hoarse voice: "Let's go!"
The mule cart wobbled as it headed east along the loess post road, then turned from the main road into a small road, and then from the small road back to the main road, finally returning to their new home in the evening.
Zhendian is a medium-sized mountain village located in a mountain valley. There are twelve large and small villages nearby. The population is not small, but the terrain is relatively complex. Lingzhou is located at the border. Once something happens, they will have a buffer time to hide in the mountains. This is the wisdom of the villagers who have lived here for generations.
But it is not really that narrow-minded. Seeing that the war is breaking out again, many people are looking for houses to move in, so the Xie family's relocation is not surprising at all.
The house is not very big, with a small two-courtyard structure. Each courtyard has a main room, two side rooms and two wings. The rooms are not big, but they are simple and regular.
The diligent Xie family had already swept the yard clean and made the beds and bedding. Once they moved the purchased iron pots, large vats and other items in, they would be able to start cooking immediately.
Everyone greeted their neighbors and prepared a warm meal. Xie Ci walked through the courtyard in the afterglow of the setting sun. He was really happy and said to Gu Wan, "Thank you for your trouble!"
You can imagine how much effort Gu Wan put into finding such a great place.
"What's this?"
She didn't care.
There was still remnant of snow on the mountain, but the stream had been broken through the ice and was flowing behind the house.
The two walked along the stream for a while, then turned back and went back into the yard through the back door. Mrs. Xie had already washed the two naughty monkeys clean. The two younger children had changed into dry clothes and were following the older child with blushing faces, busying around helping to move things.
When Third Sister Xie saw them coming back, she turned back to her room and brought out two stacks of clothes, pursing her lips and smiling: "Fourth Uncle, Sister, would you like to change into this?"
Each person had three or four sets of clothes sewn with fine cotton cloth stitch by stitch. Mrs. Xie was very young. She was the daughter of a civil servant and could not bear the consequences, so she was responsible for the family's clothing, mending clothes, and all other housework.
She used to be the daughter of a high-ranking official, but now she wears a straw hat and a cloth skirt, and has washed away all the makeup. She is very beautiful and rarely goes out. Niu Niu used to be like her mother. She was shy by nature and sewed carefully with every stitch. When the whole family made new clothes, they never forgot Xie Ci and Gu Wan who were not at home.
In the setting sun, she smiled shyly, her eyes and eyebrows filled with gentleness like water, as if she was walking into a water town in the south of the Yangtze River.
Xie Ci was moved and hurried forward, carefully taking the pile that belonged to him, "Thank you, Third Sister-in-law."
"I have so many too?"
Looking at the fine and dense stitching, one could imagine how Mrs. Xie had carefully sewed it stitch by stitch under the lamp. Gu Wan was also a little touched. She took the clothes and exclaimed.
She couldn't help but sigh that this family was so nice. If they continued like this, she would probably be able to slowly let go of her past life.
Gu Wan's eyes were a little red.
Mrs. Xie hurriedly shook her head: "No need to thank me! Really." She looked at the two people seriously: "You are the ones who have worked so hard."
She warned seriously and quietly: "You must be careful outside, and our family must be well."
"Um!"
"Uh-huh."
Xie Ci nodded vigorously, and so did Gu Wan.
Mrs. Xie pursed her lips and smiled. She went to the kitchen to help cook. Besides the children of all ages, there were only Xie Ci and Gu Wan in the backyard.
Xie Ci blinked hard, and when he turned his head to look at Gu Wan, he found that her eyes were also a little red.
"What are you looking at?"
Gu Wan would never tell him that he remembered his past life.
She glared at him, put her clothes in the room, and quickly went to grab the bathroom.
After successfully seizing the opportunity, she was very proud and turned around to smile at Xie Ci.
Then he got in.
But she didn't know how beautiful she was in the sunset.
Xie Ci stood in the corridor, following her intently, until her purple figure, as fluttering as the wind and snow, disappeared behind the half-worn pine door.
After thanking her for a long time, he slowly withdrew his gaze. But he couldn't help but look back and surveyed every inch of the courtyard she had carefully prepared, his home, with his heart filled with joy.
"Hey, Xiao Si, what are you laughing at?"
Mrs. Xie, dressed in men's clothes, came in hurriedly. As soon as she came in, she saw the corners of Xie Ci's lips raised, and a sweet feeling seemed to be about to overflow.
She clicked her tongue, leaped onto the corridor, and put her arms around Xie Ci's shoulders. Xie Ci then realized that he was smiling. He quickly curled the corners of his lips downwards, pretending to be serious. Just as he was about to ask Second Sister-in-law Xie what she wanted from him, Second Sister-in-law looked him up and down for a long while, then suddenly leaned in to his ear and said, "Little Fourth, did Sister-in-law not coax you back then?"
Coax him?
What are you trying to coax him about?
But almost like lightning, Xie Ci immediately understood the implication of Xie Ersao's words.
A flush suddenly welled up on his face, and he quickly glanced at the bathroom behind him, then quickly pulled Mrs. Xie to the other side.
Xie Ci was anxious, "Second sister-in-law! What nonsense are you talking about?"
He whispered under his breath.
Mrs. Xie couldn't help laughing. Was she so nervous? Well, it seemed she didn't need to worry about it. She winked at Xie Ci: "Am I really talking nonsense?"
It seems not?
…
Although this new home is not big, it has rooms for Xie Ci and Gu Wan, just like every place before.
The two of them lived in the left and right wing rooms in the backyard respectively.
Under the moonlight, after everyone in the family had gone to sleep, the two sat under the wooden porch and each drank a bottle of vegetarian wine.
The drink was local fruit wine with a very low alcohol content, but Xie Ci felt waves of hot flashes rushing up his face.
The room was clean and tidy. There was a square table, bookcase, and a weapon rack where he kept his silver spear. There was a brand new bunk bed made of natural wood and painted with varnish. It was covered with thick layers of clean and delicate cotton bedding. Xie Ci lay on the bed and he could smell the scent of sunshine.
It was cold, damp and gloomy in late winter and early spring, and it was really hard for his family to provide him with such a dry and cool place in the sun.
In this house filled with the smell of sunshine, he felt full of strength, and Xie Ci felt that he could do it again!
Su Zhen, Chen Yan, Kou Wenshao and others are nothing!
But at this moment, Xie Ci was not thinking about these big things.
Xie Ci reached out and opened the window latch. The moonlight cast a faint light on his bed curtains. He rolled over on the curtains, holding his pounding heart.
Ahhh, it seems like he really fell in love with Gu Wan!
what to do?
The author has something to say:
The sweet love line is here, and the love line has actually been going on all the time haha!
However, we will focus on pushing a wave of emotional lines next~
Heart to heart launch!! See you tomorrow, dears~ (づ￣3￣)づ
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