Chapter 78
The weather in Fangyuan County this year is quite unusual.
It will either go for more than a month without a drop of rain, or it will pour down for three days in a row.
The path down the mountain was slippery from the rain, but fortunately, after agreeing to the marriage, Xun Yi would get up early every day to fetch water for Shu Wanxiu.
If there's one person whose plans were delayed by this rain, it's Xun Ai, who was eager to return home.
Since she was diagnosed with pregnancy last year, she has only visited her parents' home once, after she was three months pregnant.
As her belly grew bigger day by day, she became less mobile. After finally giving birth and finishing her postpartum confinement, she spent a day preparing everything she needed to go home to visit her family, only to be delayed again by this heavy rain.
The rain had just stopped and the sun seemed about to peek out, but she couldn't sit still and insisted on going back to her parents' home.
“My children, the road is difficult to travel. Tell your father to borrow a donkey cart, and you can drive it.” Xun Ai’s mother-in-law said.
The Wu family was wealthy, but they only raised cattle and not donkeys.
Ox-carts are slower, so when people need to travel, they usually rent a donkey cart from a family in the village that raises donkeys.
She would do anything to let Xun Ai return to her parents' home.
So, after borrowing the cart, Xun Ai, holding the child, sat on the donkey cart that had two quilts laid out on it.
“The sun should be out later, but you and the baby shouldn’t be exposed to too much cold wind since you just finished your postpartum period.” Her mother-in-law took out a thin blanket, unfolded it, and draped it over Xun Ai and the baby.
"Take it off when it gets warmer later, you have to keep it covered up properly now."
Xun Ai kept assuring everyone that he would make sure he was properly covered with the blanket.
One of them had endless things to say and was always worried about the other, while the other seemed like an arrow released from a bow, his heart already far away.
"Haha!" Wu Zheng laughed heartily twice, took the reins, and plopped down on the donkey cart.
"Mom, please stop reminding me. I will take good care of your daughter-in-law and granddaughter!"
After saying this, he lashed the donkey's rump with a whip, urging the cart to move on.
Having not left the village for a long time, everything Xun Ai found new and exciting.
The little one in her arms was also leaving home for the first time since birth and riding in a donkey cart. Just like her mother, she opened her big eyes and looked around curiously.
Every time Wu Zheng looked back, he was amused by the way the mother and daughter were observing their surroundings with such fresh curiosity.
It would be one thing if it happened once or twice, but the fact that he laughed every time really annoyed Xun Ai.
She held the child tightly in both arms, her brows furrowed, and said, "Drive carefully, don't make us fall into the ditch!"
Wu Zheng loved her bright and cheerful appearance the most, and even after being scolded, he laughed even more happily.
But knowing that safety was the most important thing, he became much more restrained afterward.
When he was young, a flood destroyed the houses in Xun Ai's hometown.
More than ten years have passed, and the appearance of my home in the Central Plains has become a blur.
The place she's now getting closer to is the family home she remembers.
Once inside the village, Wu Zheng drove the car onto a small path.
But the donkey cart was wide enough to only reach the other side of the stream next to the Xun family's house; the wooden plank bridge was too difficult to cross.
Wu Zheng helped Xun Ai carefully get out of the car and settled her and the child aside.
“Wait a moment, or you can take the child and go first. I’ll tie the donkey securely and then carry these things from the cart over.”
Xun Ai doesn't plan to go back to her husband's house until evening.
The donkey cart was loaded with a lot of things, and the bedding laid on it also had to be moved into the house temporarily, as it couldn't be left on the roadside all day.
It would probably take one person three or four trips to move it.
Xun Ai couldn't wait any longer. Seeing smoke billowing from the furnace chimney but hearing no sound of hammering, she opened her mouth and shouted across the stream, "Brother—"
"Big brother—"
Xun Yi, who was standing by the furnace weighing the iron, was stunned.
When the first sound rang out, he thought he was hallucinating. Then he heard the second sound and, no longer caring about anything else, he dropped the iron and ran outside.
On the other side of the stream, Xun Ai called out twice and then stopped talking with great confidence.
As expected, almost as soon as she stopped speaking, Xun Yi ran out.
The siblings' eyes met, and Xun Ai flashed a smile as bright as the morning sun, "Big brother!"
Xun Yi excitedly replied, "Yes!"
After responding, Xun Yi rushed to Xun Ai and his little niece in just two breaths, like a gust of wind.
Seeing his sister's pleading look, he understood and stepped forward.
With one hand, Xun Yi took all the bedding from the nearly full cart, and with the other hand, he grabbed the diapers, clothes, and bibs that his little niece might need that day.
"Big brother."
How could you expect your brother-in-law to do something after just one meeting? Wu Zheng looked embarrassed, even his greeting was a little awkward.
Xun Yi nodded with a slight smile.
He's the kind of person who never cares about these things.
Xun Ai was relatively lively, and her daughter probably inherited her personality.
After the family entered the house, Xun Ai chattered incessantly, while the little child waved his hands up and down, occasionally making a "ee" or "hum" sound, or stretching and kicking his legs to attract attention.
She was originally being held by Wu Zheng, but she probably felt that staying on the side and watching Xun Yi and his sister chat was not part of the conversation, so she gradually started to whine and cry.
Xun Ai quickly turned around and snuggled up to her, coaxing, "Good girl, do you want your uncle to hold you?"
When her mother paid attention to her, she immediately stopped crying and her eyes started darting around again.
"If you don't say anything, I'll take it as you agreeing!" Xun Ai said with a smile, handing her to Xun Yi.
It's interesting that Xun Yi last held her when she was on her third-day-old birthday. After so long, she didn't cry when he held her again.
Even with his large frame, his arms were taut as he held the soft baby, making her uncomfortable and causing her to keep shifting.
Xun Ai patiently adjusted Xun Yi's holding posture for the child, and then she obediently lay down.
Under immense psychological pressure, Xun Yi slowly exhaled and concluded in his heart: Carrying a child is a more tiring job than carrying a blacksmith.
After a long pause, he finally asked, "How much longer do we have to wait to name Ni'er?"
Xun Ai and Wu Zheng exchanged a glance and answered in unison, "When he turns one year old."
In this dynasty, it was common to say that children who were named later in life were easier to raise. The couple didn't ask for anything else, they just hoped that their child would grow up safely.
Anyway, very young children don't understand, so we'll just call them "Ni'er, Ni'er" when they're little.
As the adults were chatting animatedly, Xun Yi suddenly felt a warmth from the hand that was holding Ni'er's bottom.
Before anyone could react, the quiet child suddenly burst into tears.
"Ah! I peed!"
With a gasp, Xun Ai ordered Wu Zheng to fetch a diaper, then questioned her little daughter, "Uncle was just holding you in his arms, how come you peed on him?!"
Xun Yi, who was covered in urine, still had to help his niece out of the predicament, saying, "It's nothing, it's just a matter of changing your clothes."
The lively and chaotic morning passed quickly.
Xun Ai, taking care of the child is really boring.
“I’ve been spending every day with this little devil for a month, so please let me take a break and do something else.”
She took the initiative to do the cooking.
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