Chapter 439 "They've been looking for me!"
(Thanks to Yuanfengcaichen for casting a monthly vote.)
Li Wangzheng, who was being thought of by Zheng Meiniang and her two daughters, as well as Li's mother and Li Shiyue, was sitting in the courtyard he had been assigned, intently watching the ants moving their nests on the ground.
If the ants are all moving house, it means it's going to rain soon.
Youzhou is not dry at all, let alone drought-stricken.
It's only early August, and Youzhou has already had two rain showers.
If this rain comes down today, it will be the third rain of the month.
The woman inside felt that it was getting dark outside, so she finished mending the jacket, put the needle and thread back in the basket, and then went out of the house.
"Honey, it looks like it's going to rain soon. Don't sit in the yard, come inside."
The woman may have spoken too softly, or Li Wangzheng was so engrossed in watching the ants move that he completely ignored her calls.
Before the woman could take two steps forward, a person ran into the courtyard.
A person who would shock Qin Tao and her family of three, who were far away in Andong!
Li Wangtian, who had a limp, limped into the yard with a happy expression. He called out to Li Wangzheng, who was looking down at the ants carrying their food, "Brother, I heard from Shanzi that there's news from our hometown!"
Upon hearing Li Wangtian shout this, the woman withdrew her steps from Li Wangzheng.
She watched as Li Wangzheng raised his head, looking at Li Wangtian, who was running at the door, covered in sweat and barely able to stand, with a troubled expression, and remained silent.
"Big brother?"
Li Wangtian took a few steps forward, his heart filled with anxiety.
Otherwise, even a lame man with an injured leg couldn't run much faster than he usually does with his limping gait.
"Brother, why aren't you saying anything?"
Tell me quickly, what's the news? Have they found someone from our village?
Have you heard anything from my wife and kids?
My home...
Before Li Wangtian could finish speaking, raindrops began to fall from the sky.
At first, it was just a drop or two falling on people's noses, but in just a few breaths, large raindrops began to fall from the sky, pattering down on people's faces.
"Uncle, come inside first. It's raining so hard, you might catch a cold."
The woman spoke these words to Li Wangtian, but her eyes were fixed on Li Wangzheng, who was still sitting in the courtyard.
Perhaps Li Wangtian's loud shouts snapped Li Wangzheng out of his fascination with watching ants move, or perhaps the large raindrops stung Li Wangzheng's face.
Anyway, Li Wangzheng stood up at that moment, stepped forward to support the unsteady Li Wangtian, and pulled him into the house.
The three of them then went inside, and the rain started to fall even harder.
In just a few breaths, the low-lying areas of the courtyard had already accumulated water and formed puddles.
As the woman watched Li Wangzheng pull Li Wangtian to sit down at the square table, she considerately took the kettle from the table and poured a cup of tea for each of them.
"Uncle, try this. It's barley tea that I made myself."
Turning her head, the woman picked up a swaddled baby from the bed, which was less than ten feet away from the square table. She went forward, untied the swaddle, and touched the baby. The baby was dry, which meant that the sleeping baby had not wet or soiled himself. She then picked up a wide cloth and tied the swaddled baby to her back.
"Honey, Uncle, you two talk, I'll go to the kitchen and make you two side dishes."
There's still some wine left over from last time, so you two brothers finally have a break, why not have a good drink?"
With that, the woman, carrying her infant child on her back, walked through the rain and into the kitchen.
While Li Wangtian verbally responded to the woman's words, his eyes remained fixed on Li Wangzheng, who had not uttered a single word.
"Big brother, what's wrong?"
"Say something!"
Li Wangtian stretched out his hand and gestured a few times in front of Li Wangzheng, who was still in a daze, "Big brother? Big brother?"
"Tianzi, my hometown, my hometown..."
"What happened to our hometown? What happened? Brother, tell me!"
Seeing that Li Wangtian was so anxious he was about to cry, Li Wangzheng looked down at the cup of barley tea in his hand and started talking to Li Wangtian.
"...Because I became a brigade commander and recently received an award from General Li, I've gained some fame here..."
The man had posted a portrait in the shop. It was when Shanzi's wife went to the shop to buy some things that she noticed the person in the portrait looked about five-tenths like me. She asked the shopkeeper about it, and that's how she found it!
At this point, Li Wangzheng's dark face immediately turned into a bitter expression. "The merchant said that his boss was asked to look for someone here, and they've been searching for five years!"
Li Wangzheng could no longer hold back. He lowered his head, covered his face with his large, fan-like hand, and tears streamed down his face.
The old man was a tough guy. He was drafted into the army by lottery and never cried. He didn't cry when he was almost chopped off on the battlefield for the first time. He still didn't cry when he was risking his life to kill people on the battlefield.
But at this moment, accompanied by the "splashing" sound of the torrential rain outside, he was crying his heart out.
With Li Wangzheng crying like that, how could Li Wangtian possibly bear it?
Seven years! Seven years!
They have been away from their hometown for seven years!
Even though the sound of rain was obstructing the view and the kitchen was some distance from the main room, the woman sitting in front of the stove with her baby on her back could still hear Li Wangzheng's suppressed yet unrestrained crying.
"Plop," a crystal tear fell onto the rotten wood in front of the stove, splashing wood chips that stained the hem of the woman's dress with a grayish-black hue.
The two men, Li Wangzheng and Li Wangtian, were crying loudly in the main room, while the woman was sobbing silently in the small kitchen.
As the rain subsided, the woman prepared three side dishes, baked soft pancakes, and found the little bit of wine left in the house.
Standing at the entrance of the kitchen, the woman saw that the two people in the main room had stopped crying, and then she carried the tray covered with a curtain and jogged into the room.
After setting down the tray and placing all the items on the square table, the woman only said one sentence: "Husband, Uncle, you two can drink and talk at the same time."
Then the woman turned and left with the curtain and tray.
Looking at the food on the table, Li Wangzheng had no appetite to pick up his chopsticks.
He simply picked up the small bottle and poured a glass for himself and Li Wangtian, who was sitting opposite him.
The liquor was yellowish and not particularly spicy, but after just one sip, Li Wangzheng felt like crying again, even though he had just wiped the corners of his eyes.
"Tianzi, your sister-in-law and the others have been looking for me for five years!"
They've been looking for me!
They've been looking for me!
Li Wangtian calmed down faster than Li Wangzheng. He picked up the rough porcelain cup that had been filled with barley tea but was now filled with a yellowish liquid and drank the whole cup in one gulp.
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