Chapter 68 What a coincidence!
Although she was worried, after hearing what Wenzai said, Grandma Guo knew that Guo Banshan was also a strong-willed person.
So they waited for several more days, and finally, unable to contain themselves any longer, they took the opportunity to ask Yang Qiaomai while she was washing the pudding dishes in the kitchen.
According to him, Guo Banshan left early and returned late every day for the first few days.
I didn't look well when I came back a few days ago, and every time I saw them, I could only force a smile.
But the day before yesterday, he suddenly became happy. Not only did he return home early, which was unusual for him, but he even bought them half a pound of braised tofu to bring back.
Nowadays, even half a pound of dried tofu isn't cheap.
Then, recalling what he said earlier, he hadn't brought any money with him to the county town.
Since she was able to buy dried tofu to bring back, she must have already found a suitable job.
Upon hearing this, Grandma Guo felt much more at ease.
Although she felt like she had forgotten something, she noticed that there weren't many customers at that time, so she checked the store's inventory and thought that when she had another day off, she would take some things back to Guojia Village to check on things.
Yang Qiaomai finished washing the dishes and came to the front to help watch the shop. Grandma Guo then took out the book that Guo Baiwen had ordered for her.
Although she couldn't write complicated characters, Guo Baiwen specially prepared large and small tables for her on the front of each sheet of paper.
The first line of each row of squares is a drawing of the raw material. For example, honey is drawn as a bee, brown sugar as a black block, white sugar as a hollow block, and rock sugar as a square with water inside.
Grandma Guo marked the amount of materials remaining for the day behind the different patterns, but after looking for a long time, she couldn't find where the milk powder was.
As she glanced at the blank space below, pondering whether to draw a cow or a bowl of noodles, she heard Yang Qiaomai suddenly speak up: "Grandma Guo, it seems like a guest who doesn't look like a guest has come over."
Upon hearing this, Grandma Guo no longer cared about the patterns on the notebook.
He put down the pen and paper he was holding and peered out from the front row of wooden planks of the candy shop.
I spotted the person Yang Qiaomai was talking about right away.
No wonder they say it's like a guest who doesn't seem like a guest.
Although it's not yet the height of summer, the weather is getting hotter every day.
But this person was wearing something on their head that looked like a winter fur hat—or was it just a decoration?
They were quite far away, and most of her face was blocked, so it was impossible to see her clearly.
But the direction the man was heading with his basket on his back and his head down was indeed the location of his own shop, which was quite good.
No wonder Yang Qiaomai said earlier that a guest who didn't seem like a guest had arrived.
Grandma Guo thought for a moment, then suddenly realized.
After figuring out who the visitor was, she told Yang Qiaomai to quickly brew a pot of hot tea. She then straightened the apron she was wearing and hurried to greet the visitor at the shop entrance.
"Why did you bring so much stuff this time?" Grandma Guo helped take some things down, watched the person enter the shop, put down the basket on her back, and took off the hat covering her head.
After removing the sweltering hat, the person couldn't help but let out a long breath. When they looked up again, a familiar face was finally revealed.
If it's not Chen Youtian, then who else could it be?
If we count the days we agreed on when we parted last time, it's been about these last two days.
She almost forgot about this because she was worried about Guo Banshan.
Fortunately, I didn't lose my manners.
In the backyard, Yang Qiaomai came over with freshly brewed hot tea.
Upon entering and seeing Chen Youtian, he remembered that Chen was an acquaintance the shopkeeper had met on his first day of trial work at the shop.
It's his fault; he didn't realize it at first.
The steaming hot tea is clearly made with high-quality tea leaves.
But Chen Youtian, who had just worked up a sweat, could only manage a bitter smile as he looked at the rising steam. "Do you have any cold tea?"
Serving cold tea to guests may be impolite, but it's certainly more effective at quenching thirst.
Grandma Guo hurriedly picked up her pot of chrysanthemum tea, which she had brewed that morning and was now long gone.
I picked it up and weighed it; there was only about half a pot left.
Fortunately, Chen Youtian wasn't the type to care about this matter.
After picking up the rough porcelain teacup and chugging down three cups of tea in a row, he seemed to come back to life and gently leaned back in his chair.
Seeing how tired he was, Yang Qiaomai asked curiously, "Uncle Chen, why were you wearing a winter hat when you came here on such a hot day?"
Chen Youtian gave a wry smile. "When I came down from the mountain this morning, it was hailing up there."
"Hail?!" Yang Qiaomai exclaimed, clearly not expecting it to be because of this. He was simply shocked, "It's hailing in this weather?!"
Summer is almost here!
“I live high up in the mountains. I was supposed to come yesterday, but I couldn’t leave because of the heavy rain,” Chen Youtian explained. “The rain finally stopped today, and I thought I’d take advantage of the good weather and go down the mountain as soon as possible.”
But just as they crossed one hill, it started hailing again.
He hesitated for a moment between returning the way he came and continuing down the mountain, and then continued on his way.
Fortunately, the further down the mountain we went, the hotter it got.
The annoying hail gradually disappeared.
However, because it delayed his journey considerably, he didn't rest much along the way in order to get to the county town as soon as possible.
That's how Kuku got here.
At the time, I thought it was because I was walking too fast that I felt so hot.
Once inside the city, when he saw passersby turning to look at him, Chen Youtian belatedly realized that he had forgotten to take off the hat he had been wearing to protect himself from the hail.
He raised his hand, intending to take it down amidst the whispers of others.
But then I thought about it again, and realized I'd been wearing this hat the whole way, so everyone else had already seen it.
Fortunately, the hat covered his face, so he would only get a few comments and that would be the end of it.
But if I take off my hat now, won't they see what this 'fool' who wears a hat in summer and winter looks like?
He just goes into the county town less often; it's not like he'll never go there again.
Moreover, Zhonghua had previously discussed with him that since they only had this one daughter, they should consider their family's assets and settle down in the county town together.
This will save the two families the trouble of having to travel over mountains and valleys to visit each other.
...So he hesitated for a moment, and only took off the hat after entering the backyard of the shop.
Fortunately, there weren't many people in the store at the moment.
Upon hearing that it was due to hail, Grandma Guo and Yang Qiaomai were surprised for a moment, and then stopped wearing their hats. The conversation quickly shifted to other topics.
Chen Youtian came here specifically to discuss matters between the two families.
Seeing that someone was coming, Yang Qiaomai went out to greet the guests, and he carefully took out the envelope that his wife had sealed for him from his bosom.
Along the way, there was both hail and profuse sweating.
However, because it was kept close to its body and carefully stored away, the writing on the outermost cover did not smudge.
My wife's handwriting is so beautiful.
Chen Youtian took one last look before carefully handing it to Grandma Guo.
Grandma Guo wiped her hands before taking the envelope. "Just Yue Liang's birth chart?"
“Yes,” Chen Youtian smiled, “Her mother specially wrote it on red paper yesterday.” As he spoke, he pointed to the back of the envelope, “And here, this is where our home is located.”
Grandma Guo only knew a few characters, but there were many words written on the back. She only glanced at them before happily sticking the envelope to her heart. "Good, good, good, so good."
Upon hearing this, Chen Youtian simply smiled and remained silent.
The mountain villages are hard to find, with lots of forests and forks in the road. I'm worried that even if the approximate location is marked, the Guo family won't be able to find it.
Chen Zhonghua also told him that if the Guo family was willing, they would have already prepared the betrothal gifts long ago. He would then find an inn in the city to stay for a few days so that he could accompany the matchmaker and the betrothal gifts back.
If the things weren't ready yet, he wouldn't have to wait in the county town.
I found some paper and pen, drew a rough map for them, and then I just needed to come back.
After drinking his tea and resting in the backyard for a while, he saw that Grandma Guo had accepted the envelope and hadn't mentioned anything else. He was just about to head out with the basket he had carried to town that day.
But before he could even get up, he heard the sound of someone opening the small door in the backyard.
This time, not only Chen Youtian, but even Grandma Guo couldn't help but look at the person outside the door in surprise and ask, "Why are you back so early today?"
It's not yet time for the academy to close for the day, is it?
Guo Baiwen never expected that his sudden return home would lead him to see Uncle Chen in the courtyard.
Although he was taken aback, he greeted Chen Youtian first before answering his grandmother's question, "I asked my teacher for leave today and came home early after school."
"What happened?" In that instant, Grandma Guo went through all sorts of thoughts, such as what trouble Wenzai had caused, what had happened at the academy, and so on.
Fortunately, things didn't turn out the way she expected.
Uncle Chen wasn't exactly an outsider, and there was nothing to hide about this. Guo Baiwen was quite happy, "Grandma, didn't you ask me to keep an eye out for suitable jobs for Brother Banshan?!"
What does that mean?!
Grandma Guo was initially excited upon hearing this, "Have you found someone suitable?" But then she quickly remembered something, "But I asked Qiaomai today, and he said that Banshan has already found a job."
I wonder if he will still be willing to work at the place Guo Baiwen mentioned.
Guo Baiwen didn't think there was anything wrong with it. He waved his hand and said, "Just let him know. Whether he goes or not is up to him."
He only heard the news today, and after telling his teacher, he rushed back in a hurry.
Unexpectedly, Uncle Chen was also at his home at that moment.
What a coincidence!
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Author's Note: I'm back! [heart emoji] Thank you all for the blessings, little angels! Mwah!
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