Chapter 119 The Fairy's Country Life (Part 1) "My mother is really..."
As dawn broke, Mu Chuan's convoy entered Linjia Village and headed towards the mansion nestled against the mountain.
Lin Daiyu was awakened by the barking of dogs all around, but remembering that she couldn't let her third brother see her unwashed face, she turned over and buried her face in Mu Chuan's shoulder, her voice muffled: "Have we arrived?"
"Not yet." Mu Chuan pulled the blanket up a little higher. "Go back to sleep."
Mu Chuan also liked her self-deceiving manner, and he assured her that the fairy was peaceful and serene when she slept, and each of them was beautiful in their own way. However, he said that this should be said some time later, when the two of them were an old married couple.
For now, let's just pretend we know nothing.
The carriage entered the old house and headed towards the main courtyard.
When the carriage stopped, Mu Chuan dismissed everyone and carried the person inside, blanket and all.
She was truly awake now. But as soon as Lin Daiyu realized what position she was in, she stretched out a pink arm from under the covers and touched Mu Chuan's face.
"Third Brother, you've worked hard."
"If you keep doing this, I'm going to carry you around and show you off to the whole village."
Lin Daiyu laughed and placed her hand on Mu Chuan's face: "Third Brother's face is a little cold. Let me warm it up for you."
After passing through the three courtyards, Mu Chuan placed the person on the kang (a heated brick bed): "It's not bad. Although no one lives here yet, I told them to bring a brazier so we can warm the room every other day, so it's not damp inside."
Before living together, Lin Daiyu discovered that her third brother was extremely sensitive to dampness, and even his bedroom had to be on the second floor. Thinking of his injuries, Lin Daiyu decided that she too would be sensitive to dampness, so that her third brother could take good care of himself.
"Is this a heated kang?" Lin Daiyu asked. "I've never slept on a heated kang before. Shall we light one and try it tonight?"
Mu Chuan laughed and said, "Then we'll really be roasted like human jerky. It's only the end of July, and the White Dew hasn't even arrived yet. There's also a heated kang bed in the Zhongyong Earl's mansion, in the east wing. We'll sleep in the east wing in the winter."
To be honest, let alone the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion, Lin Daiyu hadn't even seen all of the main courtyard, which consisted of fourteen two-story main rooms, let alone the side rooms and so on.
So what have they been doing these past few days?
That's so hard to guess.
With the arrival of the main character, the Mu family's old house in Linjia Village quickly came alive. Before long, maids and servants came in carrying things to help Lin Daiyu wash up, while Mu Chuan watched from the side.
His wife, who was as beautiful as an angel, did not become a different person after dressing up; rather, they each had their own unique style.
She's just too thin-skinned right now—
"Third brother, turn around and don't look at me. Go to that room to wash up."
While she was changing her clothes and combing her hair, Huang Guihua had already sent someone over: "There's newly harvested spring corn; we'll have corn dumplings for breakfast."
Once everything was ready, Mu Chuan and Lin Daiyu came out together. Mu Chuan asked, "Have you tried Bao Gu Zhen?"
Lin Daiyu thought for a moment: "It's probably corn porridge? I've had it before. In the past, we would always drink this for a few days whenever there was a major festival. My grandmother said that this stuff can cleanse the intestines and stomach."
But after she finished speaking, she felt that something was off about her third brother: "You don't know where the dining room is, do you?"
“I’ve only been back once,” Mu Chuan said. “What do you mean you don’t know? The dining room and kitchen are probably all over there. You see that place where the smoke is still coming out?”
Lin Daiyu laughed: "You said you wanted to be frank, but how come you're even deceiving yourself?"
Mu Chuan said in a serious tone, "I'm not lying to myself, I really don't know. I'm just lying to you here."
But all the mansions were pretty much the same size, and the two chatted and laughed all the way there.
The rest of the Mu family waited, and Huang Guihua said to Mu Dazhuang, "Should I hide? What if my daughter-in-law feels embarrassed if she sees us waiting for her?"
Mu Dazhuang glanced at her and said, "Just do what you're supposed to do. You didn't mean to make things difficult for her, so why pretend?"
"Then where's your pipe?" Huang Guihua glared at him.
“San’er said smoking is bad for your health,” Mu Dazhuang said loudly, his neck stiffening.
Huang Guihua snorted: "Yes, yes, I didn't detect a hint of guilt in my voice."
When Lin Daiyu and Mu Chuan came in, they saw a table full of people looking at her.
She paused, then slowed her pace considerably, taking a smaller step than before.
Not only that, Lin Daiyu also lowered her head slightly, even falling behind Mu Chuan by half a body length.
Although Mu Chuan also longed for a harmonious and happy family life, his mother and wife got along well, and neither of them pretended.
But this is the only time he'll ever see his wife looking like this in his lifetime, so...
Mu Chuan cleared his throat, pretending to be a clueless and insensitive straight man, and strode over, then called to Lin Daiyu, "Let's eat."
Not only that, he also specifically asked, "Can you get used to it? I heard that the corn porridge cooked in the city is made by peeling and crushing the corn before cooking. The one at my house is not peeled. Try it. If you don't like it, I'll ask them to make it separately for you."
The next second, he was pinched on the thigh by his gentle and frail wife.
But Mu Chuan was a strong man after all. His thighs were covered with large muscles and a layer of tough skin, and there were three layers of clothing in between.
Although the intention of this action was to pinch, it not only didn't hurt, but it also felt a little itchy.
Mu Chuan chuckled inwardly a few times, then said, "You don't use a spoon to drink corn wine; you just sip it from the rim of the bowl. Why don't you try?"
After saying that, he sighed. He had only said three sentences; he was still too soft-hearted.
Lin Daiyu sat next to him, and after hearing what he said, what was there that she didn't understand?
She lowered her hand again, seemingly unintentionally, and patted Mu Chuan's thigh lightly twice.
Mu Chuan felt a little uneasy and itchy. How did his wife want to punish him? Did she also want to kiss him to death?
The two of them were exchanging glances, which made Huang Guihua very happy. She smiled and said, "We'll have noodles with minced meat sauce for lunch, and I'll knead the dough myself."
Mu Chuan was about to speak when Lin Daiyu interrupted him: "This is a common dish. I remember it should be served with six kinds of side dishes, the more vibrant the colors, the better. But I don't like it too salty."
"Ahem," Huang Guihua laughed, "We used to have no choice but to use whatever we had. But now, we can have as many as you want, not just six, but twelve."
As the two were talking, Mu Dazhuang had already taken the bowl and squatted down on the threshold.
Huang Guihua rolled her eyes inwardly; he really did do whatever he wanted.
"Never mind him," Huang Guihua said with a smile. "He can't eat unless he's squatting down."
As she spoke, she urged, "Try these side dishes. Some are salty, and some are sweet. Da Chuan said you like sweet ones, so this braised bamboo shoots are sweet and salty, and the pickled radish is sweet and sour."
Besides porridge and steamed buns, each person had six side dishes on hand, three fresh and three presumably dried.
Mu Chuan also said, "Try this fried dried mushroom. It's delicious and chewy, and the more you chew, the more fragrant it becomes."
Lin Daiyu's nature was such that if someone treated her well, she would treat them even better. Mu Chuan treated her very well, and her mother-in-law's smile was also very sincere, as if she was afraid that Lin Daiyu would go hungry or be dissatisfied.
Under Huang Guihua's expectant and concerned gaze, Lin Daiyu ate everything she could find. Huang Guihua was satisfied, and Mu Chuan... well, it couldn't be said that he suffered.
“We’re not practicing calligraphy today,” Lin Daiyu said. “You don’t even know where the kitchen and dining room are in your house. Let’s take a walk around first.”
Mu Chuan looked at her suspiciously, teasingly but also reminding her, "You should take a walk. The dough my mother kneads is different from what you eat in the Rongguo Mansion. If you don't move around, you'll definitely have indigestion tonight."
Lin Daiyu snorted: "I remember there used to be hawthorn pills in the carriage. Go and get some."
When Mu Chuan first took Lin Daiyu out for meals and drinks, she would eat until she was stuffed every time. Later, hawthorn pills became a standard item, kept in the carriage for her to take as she pleased.
Seeing his slow pace, Lin Daiyu thought he was going to make fun of her again, and she became displeased: "Third Brother, are you telling me to go get it myself?"
"We're not riding in that carriage."
Like a bolt from the blue, Mu Chuan felt incredibly satisfied as he watched his newlywed wife's face become increasingly vibrant and expressive.
"It's not a big problem. I'll go find you some roasted malt. Hawthorn is for treating too much meat, but roasted malt is for treating too much grain."
Mu Chuan never got the chance to enjoy the pleasure of strolling around with his wife.
Not long after breakfast, the village chief arrived.
First, they were discussing the ancestral worship ceremony for tomorrow. Second, it had been almost a year since Mu Chuan returned, and Mu Chuan needed to make a decision on next year's development plan, including what to plant in the fields.
So when Mu Chuan returned, it was lunchtime again.
Mu Chuan didn't go back to his room. He washed his hands and went straight to the dining room. Perhaps he arrived a little early, because only Lin Daiyu was in the room, looking at a small piece of something with a complicated expression.
noodle?
Not only are they looking, they're also pinching them.
"What's wrong?" Mu Chuan asked.
Lin Daiyu was also a little incredulous about what she had experienced that morning. She said, "I wandered around for a while, then went back to see what to wear tomorrow. Later, I remembered that Mother said she needed to knead dough, so I thought I might as well come over—even though I can't help, I can still take a look." She wanted to spend some time together.
Lin Daiyu sighed, her hands still moving: "Later... I really didn't recognize anything. Perhaps Mother was annoyed with me, so she gave me a piece of flour and told me to go play somewhere else."
Mu Chuan said sourly, "Then my mother really likes you. This is grain. I remember when I was little, we didn't have many toys. Kneading dough was one of the few things we could play with. I once gave my little sister a small piece of dough to play with, and my mother even hit me a couple of times for it."
"What do you mean 'your mother' and 'my mother'?" Lin Daiyu stuffed the noodles in her hand into Mu Chuan's hand and laughed, "Good third brother, you can play with mine too."
With the dough in his hands, Mu Chuan suddenly felt that he could also sculpt something. With a little kneading and rolling, he sculpted big ears and a big nose, then rolled out short legs and a tail, and the pig was finished.
Mu Chuan placed the dough pig on the table, and Lin Daiyu smiled, revealing a row of small white teeth. Now she could openly tug at Mu Chuan's hand.
"I never expected that someone as big and burly as you could do such delicate work."
As the two were talking, more people arrived outside. Not only Mu Dazhuang, but also Mu Chuan's second uncle's family, Mu Chuan's younger brother's family, and Mu Chuntao also brought Yousheng along.
People bowed and greeted each other as appropriate. Although Lin Daiyu felt that meeting in the dining room was not very formal, her third brother introduced her to everyone quite naturally.
Anyway, everything is handled by Third Brother. It's just that his family members are strange. No matter who it is, they all have to say, "You are really good-looking."
When Lin Daiyu went to look at her third brother again, he had his head held high.
I don't know what he's so proud of.
Lin Daiyu also smiled, unlike her maternal grandmother, who said that it was not a blessing for a woman to be beautiful, and always said that she was not as good as Xue Baoqin.
But the third brother was different; he wanted everyone to know that his wife was the most beautiful.
"What are you laughing at?" After everyone was seated, Mu Chuan whispered in Lin Daiyu's ear.
Lin Daiyu reached out and hid the little pig behind the teacup, whispering, "I won't tell you."
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