When Shuiqing returned home, she saw the carriage parked in the yard.
The room was bustling with activity, everyone eager to speak. Besides a few familiar voices, there were also two long-lost voices.
She immediately guessed who it was, and with a surge of joy, she quickened her pace!
Who on duty wouldn't recognize them? They would have simply opened the gate and let them in, which is why she didn't hear the gong.
Upon entering the main room, they saw Bai Manshan and Li Huyu, looking travel-worn and exhausted, yet their eyes still shone brightly.
Fan Jin and Hu's father were talking to Bai Manshan, while Hu's mother and Qin Yilin were secretly wiping away tears. Bai Ziqian, Xing Hui, Fan Jiang, Fan Hu, and several other children were surrounding Li Huyu.
When Shuiqing returned, everyone in the room looked over. Li Huyu's eyes welled up with tears. She strode forward, reached out and hugged Shuiqing, choking back tears as she thanked her, "Thank you all so much these past few days! Really."
They were already struggling in Nandu, and were on the verge of losing their lives, let alone Shuiqing and the others in the village.
In particular, Shanshui Village suffered two major attacks, which were even more dangerous than what they experienced in Nandu!
Despite the perilous situation, Ziqian suffered no external injuries and remained positive and optimistic. It was clear that Shuiqing and the others had taken good care of him, ensuring he wasn't living in fear.
Even in Nandu, if she and Manshan, as Ziqian's parents, were to stay by his side, they might not achieve the same effect.
"It's been so long, why are you being so polite?" Shui Qing hugged Li Huyu's noticeably thinner body back, fighting back tears as she teased her.
I only glanced at her briefly when I came in. Bai Manshan had changed the most. Her once round and plump face had become so thin that her jawline was now visible.
I thought Li Huyu was alright, but it turned out that her clothes were just too big. When I hugged her, I realized that the bones in her clothes were digging into her.
The two men were older than her, but their pampered and wealthy lifestyle made them look a few years younger than her. However, they were thinner, had more wrinkles, and looked more tired than ever before.
It's easy to imagine what kind of life the two of them have been going through lately; how could one not feel sorry for them?
Shuiqing could now understand why her mother and Aunt Ding were wiping away tears, and she herself couldn't hold back her own tears.
Li Huyu suppressed her tears, took a deep sniff, and forced a smile, saying, "Alright, I won't stand on ceremony with you. Come on, let's go to the tea room and chat for a while."
Yan Qiu immediately understood that she didn't want the children to know what she was about to say, mainly because she was afraid that Bai Ziqian would worry and feel sorry for her.
She said to the group, “Mother, you all chat in the tea room for a while. We’ll go make dinner. Ziqian, why don’t you come with us? It’ll be a good opportunity for Uncle Bai and Aunt Bai to try the food you’ve made yourself.”
Bai Ziqian really wanted to talk to his parents. In the past, he would never have wanted to leave and would have stayed to listen to what his parents had been saying about what had happened recently.
But he was no longer that ignorant boy. Before Aunt Shuiqing came, his father only talked about the flood and the village with his grandfather and Uncle Fan. His mother and the others did the same, not talking about Nandu at all, but about what happened to the Bai family. This was obviously because they did not want the children to know.
Or perhaps you don't want him to know!
When his parents didn't come, he would wonder why they didn't come in the quiet of the night. If he wanted them to come, why didn't he bring more people? Governor Ling is the best example.
But today they came. Just looking at his parents, he didn't need to say anything more. He understood, he understood everything.
Merchants are lowly; how can they be compared to officials of the second rank? And how can the servants in a household be compared to the guards of a governor?
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