After leaving Old Zhang's house, Zhou Chenyu went straight back to Zhoujia Village.
Because I was in a great mood the whole way, I smelled the strong fragrance of osmanthus flowers by the roadside, so I climbed up a tree and picked a few osmanthus branches to take home and keep by the window.
Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and everyone has stopped working outside to take a few days off and enjoy the festival. As a result, there are almost no farmers weeding and fertilizing in the paddy fields.
Holding a branch of osmanthus, Zhou Chenyu admired the scenery in the rice paddies as she walked towards her doorstep.
Before she even got home, Huangdou smelled her scent and ran out to greet her.
Soybean, with its fluffy head, kept rubbing against her leg. After eating and drinking well in the mountains for more than ten days, its fur was bristling like a golden lion's mane, and of course, its size was getting bigger and bigger.
Zhou Chenyu found it quite difficult to pick it up, so he could only pat its head vigorously.
"You really are like a dog, with such a keen sense of smell. You came out to greet me before I even got home. It was worth raising you."
Zhou Chenyu and Huang Dou were having a great time when a cheerful laugh suddenly rang out beside them, "Chenyu, are you playing with the dog?"
Is that... Chen Cuiping's voice?
How could that old woman Chen Cuiping speak to her in such a tone?
Zhou Chenyu thought she had misheard. Half-believing, she looked up and saw Chen Cuiping indeed standing at the door with a squinted smile, accompanied by Zhou Wanqiu.
Ever since the Qingming Festival, she publicly humiliated Chen Cuiping and also sowed discord between her and her daughter-in-law. After that, whenever Chen Cuiping saw her, she would either give her a cold shoulder and pretend not to see her, or she would verbally abuse her in a sarcastic manner.
Why did she give me such a worthless smile when I saw her today?
Has the sun risen in the west?
One shouldn't hit a smiling face, especially with Zhou Wanqiu present. Zhou Chenyu replied politely but coldly, "Yes."
Chen Cuiping saw the osmanthus branch next to her, leaned forward and smelled it, "Oh, your osmanthus smells so good, it would definitely taste especially good if used to make osmanthus cake."
Zhou Chenyu pointed to the hillside, "I picked them up on the road to the market. There are many more there. If you want, you can go and pick them up yourself."
"Really? Then I'll go take a look when I have time another day. Wanqiu, let's go home." Chen Cuiping said with a smile, and waved to Zhou Wanqiu, who had been silent.
Zhou Chenyu pursed her lips and looked at her. Come to think of it, it had been quite a while since the sisters had met.
Zhou Wanqiu walked over timidly, clutching her hands, "Sister Chenyu, I..."
Chen Cuiping rushed forward, blocking Zhou Wanqiu's face, grabbed her hand tightly, and warned her with a smile:
“We’ve stayed at your aunt’s house long enough. If we don’t leave soon, we’ll have to ask them to stay for dinner, which would be so embarrassing. You’re all grown up now, you should be more sensible. Let’s go home!”
Chen Cuiping grabbed Zhou Wanqiu's hand, and before leaving, she smiled and said, "Chenyu, Auntie is going back now. I'll come see you again tomorrow."
Will you come again tomorrow?
Zhou Chenyu watched the mother and daughter walk away, "Is this old woman really not sick?"
After they left, Baoyu, who had been eavesdropping behind the door, rushed out and exclaimed, "Sister, you're finally back!"
Zhou Chenyu looked at Baoyu, who had been home the whole time and must know something. "Hey, what did Chen Cuiping do at our house? Why is she all smiles? Did she take the wrong medicine?"
Baoyu pouted, still worried about this matter. "Sister, isn't it strange that Auntie willingly returned our one-acre paddy field?"
"What?" Zhou Chenyu's eyes widened in disbelief. "Really?"
Baoyu affirmed again, "How could this be false? The land deed is in Mother's hands now."
A mu of land can fetch several taels of silver on the market, equivalent to an average family's annual income. So Chen Cuiping willingly returned the land deed?
Zhou Chenyu rolled her eyes, thinking of Qian Rushan, and smiled coldly, "That day, Qian Rushan came to our house to atone for his sins and caused such a commotion. Chen Cuiping probably saw this, which is why she was willing to return the item to its rightful owner."
Baoyu put on a sour face and spat, "I knew it! They colluded to seize our family's land back then. They went through so much trouble to take it, how can they just return it like that? It turns out it's because of Qian Rushan. Mother shouldn't have given her a nice look just now. The thought of having to deal with their family more often in the future makes me feel nauseous."
Zhou Chenyu frowned. If it were only for this reason, that would be fine.
However, considering that Qian Rushan is harassing her today, I'm afraid that these two cobblers have made some shady deal behind the scenes.
Zhou Chenyu smiled and picked up the osmanthus branch on the ground. "What's with all this talk about being disgusting? Tomorrow's a festival, we need to save our stomachs for good food. Come on, let's go home."
Overnight, the desolate autumn scenery behind Zhoujia Village and the rice paddies at the entrance turned even more golden.
Zhou Chenyu celebrated her first Mid-Autumn Festival here.
Since it was a rare holiday, Li Xiuju took a break and slept in a little longer with her two children.
Around noon, the family of three had a casual breakfast and lunch together, took a short nap, and then began preparing for the evening's feast.
Li Xiuju and Baoyu caught the fat chickens they wanted to eat and the leftover rabbits from the henhouse. Zhou Chenyu lit a fire in the stove when a deafening firecracker suddenly went off from some direction, startling her.
Smelling the firecrackers, Li Xiuju busied herself while glancing outside. "That day I told you to call the young scholar over. Did you speak to him?"
Baoyu muttered, "Mother, of course we told him. If Brother Tongsheng doesn't come, my sister and I will go to his house to find him."
As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Tongsheng, carrying a basket of things on his back, appeared at the door and said with a smile, "Yes, here I am!"
When Li Xiuju saw him, the blood still flowing from the chicken's neck hadn't dried yet. She could only look at him with a smile on her face, "Why don't you go and help?"
"Hey!" Baoyu hurriedly let go of the wild rabbit and chased after him to help. He saw the basket full of fruit and said, "Brother Tongsheng, you've come all this way, why did you bring so much stuff?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Chenyu took out the brewed tea, poured him a cup, and teased him with a smile:
"Tch tch tch, peaches, oranges, star fruit, mooncakes—it's just a meal, and you're acting like you're going to eat us out of house and home? Aren't you tired?"
Hearing this, Li Xiuju helplessly came up and patted Zhou Chenyu's head, "Tongsheng, don't pay any attention to her."
Chen Tongsheng didn't take it to heart, and with a simple smile, he took the teacup, put his arm around Baoyu's shoulder, and said, "I'm giving this to my godmother and to my beloved younger brother Baoyu. What does it have to do with you, little girl?"
Having gotten a good deal, Baoyu pretended to be innocent, saying, "Oh, that's right, sister, you don't need to eat anymore."
Zhou Chenyu took the blow, snatched his water glass, and refilled it. "Since you drank my tea, of course it has something to do with me."
Li Xiuju looked at the three young people with a mixture of helplessness and amusement, and urged, "Hey, you two siblings, stop arguing and get to work."
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