“Mother is doing well! We planted some fruit trees on the mountain near our house recently. Because of the lotus flowers in the pond, we even attracted ladies, young ladies, and young gentlemen from the county town to come to our house. Before they came to see the flowers, they had the pond surrounded and a pavilion built. They said they would build a pavilion in the middle of the pond in the future just to see the lotus flowers.”
Before we arrived, the magistrate took away all the things my mother grew that I'd never seen or heard of before—things like watermelons, eggplants, and flat beans—saying they were to be sent to the capital.
For reasons unknown, Lin Chaobei recounted everything that had happened to Lin Chaodong from the moment the people from the county town came to build the pavilion until they left, down to the smallest detail. A young woman beside him added her own comments from time to time, making Lin Chaodong feel even more regretful.
If he hadn't insisted on staying in the prefecture, if he had stayed at home, then he would have been the one experiencing all of this, and he might even have gotten to know the young masters of the county town and traveled around with them.
That's a huge mistake!
Lin Chaodong now felt as if he had missed out on a hundred million, and regretted it as if a thousand ants were gnawing at his heart.
Seeing Lin Chaodong's increasingly grim expression, Lin Chaobei's mood improved, and his smile grew even brighter.
Serves him right! He got completely lost after just one trip out of the house, and he even had the nerve to write home asking for money to buy a house. What a fool he is!
After breakfast, Lin Chaodong stayed home to take care of the children and the sick, while Lin Chaonan and Lin Chaobei took Xiaoman'er out for a stroll and some snacks, skipping lunch altogether.
The three of them didn't get home until it was dark.
"Why are you only getting back now? Dinner was ready ages ago, I've been waiting for you!"
Lin Chaodong looked at the various bags and packages carried by the two adults and one child. Most of them appeared to be food, while a few were wrapped up, so he couldn't see what was inside.
"Oh, brother, we're all full! Our bellies are still bulging!"
Lin Chaobei patted Lin Chaodong's belly, making a loud thud.
Lin Chaodong was taken aback, stopped looking at them, and opened the pot lid to scoop out rice.
His feelings at that moment were complicated, a mixture of envy and bitterness.
He's been in the city for two months now, but he hasn't had a chance to go out and explore, let alone have the means to spend a whole day eating and shopping.
But his two younger brothers and daughter could.
It's not hard to imagine that they must have saved a lot of money at home. Their mother must have given them quite a bit for this trip. As the saying goes, "A poor family needs to be rich on the road," so their mother would always give them extra money whenever they went out, like giving them twenty taels when they asked for ten.
Now, he's so poor he can't enjoy that kind of treatment anymore, since he's not even home. He can only sit here, feeling envious and sour inside.
"Da Niu, time to eat."
Fortunately, he had Da Niu for company.
"Hey, these all taste pretty good, try some!"
Lin Chaonan placed all the food he was carrying on the table.
"Sigh! It's all because my stomach is too small! My digestion is too slow! There are just too many delicious foods in this city! Da Niu, are you feeling better yet? Let's go shopping together tomorrow!"
Lin Chaobei extended an invitation to Da Niu, but not to Lin Chaodong, which made Lin Chaodong feel even more bitter and resentful.
However, this cannot be blamed on Lin Chaobei. Who knew that they had been in the city for two months without going out shopping? They couldn't have just been going to see a doctor, could they?
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