When they returned to the village, they saw Dog's father, who was just about to pick up the child, coming back together. Dog's father said, "Thank you." This saved him the trouble of going there.
The little dog never felt satisfied with studying in the county. Back in the village, he would call all the children out, and they would run all over the hills and fields together. He even asked Xiao Heran to come out and play with him. Xiao Heran said, "No, I want to stay with my grandma."
Then she reached out her little hands to be hugged.
Qiu Yu carried the little boy off the carriage road, saying, "Grandma can't carry you, Grandma is too old."
Xiao Heran said "Oh," and they returned to their new home.
Xiao Heran thought everything about the new house was great, and he also discovered that the rabbit had given birth to many baby rabbits, which hadn't grown fur yet, and there looked to be at least ten of them.
Little He Ran jumped up excitedly: "Wow, my rabbit!" He Zifeng unloaded the goods, and Little He Ran ran around them.
As soon as Qiu Yu waved, the little guy ran over happily. Qiu Yu said, "Don't make a fuss, or you'll cry again if you fall." He also noticed the chicks and ducklings in the house. Little He Ran touched this one and that one with his delicate fingers, liking them very much.
He Zifeng said, "Grandma bought all of these."
Little He Ran skipped and hopped to Fang Shi's side, calling out affectionately, "Grandma."
Fang took out a jade safety buckle from her bosom: "Here, this is a gift from your grandmother."
Xiao Heran glanced at Qiu Yu, unsure whether to accept the gift. Upon seeing Qiu Yu, he said, "Since it's from Grandma, you should keep it."
There was a cord on the safety buckle, so it could be hung around the neck. Xiao Heran's eyes crinkled as he said, "Thank you, Grandma." Then he took Fang's hand and said he would make cakes for his grandma that night.
Fang was completely charmed by him.
The two went back inside to play, and people outside could hear their laughter coming from inside.
Even He Zifeng was impressed. Neither he nor Qiu Yu were particularly eloquent, so how did they end up with such a sweet-talking little rascal?
He Zifeng secretly hugged Qiu Yu's waist and said, "I wonder who this child takes after." But seeing his son return, he couldn't contain his joy. He planned to cook something delicious to treat the whole family today.
Qiu Yu said, "Mother has already made steamed egg custard. Tonight, we can just cook some rice."
He Zifeng knew Qiu Yu was saying that on purpose, so he bought fish and meat early and brought them home. He teased, "Is he even your own son? He finally comes back for a visit, and all you do is cook him some rice?"
Qiu Yu whispered, "I was just kidding." With a child at home now, intimacy isn't really convenient. She quickly finished the chores. The braised dishes and pork ribs they made daily were already cooked. Even the spice packets were prepared in advance. All that was left was a little bit of their old braising liquid.
Xiao He ran out and after a while picked a large bunch of small purple wildflowers. There were many of them on the mountain. Although they were inconspicuous little flowers, they looked quite pretty when placed in a small pot.
Grandma received the whole bouquet of flowers and hugged her, wanting to touch her face to hers.
Fang Shi had completely charmed him, and now that he knew he had a grandson, he wasn't shy at all when they met. He was very affectionate and loved to act cute, and everyone who was charmed by him liked him.
After a while, He Zifeng said, "Your little daddy is waiting to plant flowers with you. Are you going to go plant them or not?"
Upon hearing that flowers could be planted, the little guy dragged Fang Shi along to plant flowers too. They wanted to fill the entire area in front of and behind the house with them.
The three of them went all out.
He Zifeng had already spread the soil they needed for planting flowers over there early on. When it comes to spoiling children, he's no less than anyone else.
Everyone in the family went to play with the children. He Zifeng started frying fish. After all, he had been running a snack business for a long time, and he had become quite skilled. He could now make everything he couldn't before.
And he didn't think men shouldn't go into the kitchen. When the children came back, they were all dirty, with mud on their faces and hands.
He Zifeng brought out all the prepared food. He said to them, "Go wash your hands, change your clothes, and get ready to eat."
Xiao Heran gave a heavy "hmm".
They quickly gathered together and happily began their meal. Xiao Heran was studying in the county, and the food at Master Lin's house was so-so. The chili sauce that Qiu Yu had brought him last time was already gone. Fortunately, they only ate meat once every seven days, so everything at home was delicious. There was braised fish, stewed pork, stir-fried vegetables, and an egg custard. Even the rice was plain white rice.
Knowing her son was coming home today, Qiuyu stayed up all night and even fried some vegetarian meatballs for him. They could keep for over ten days in a cool, shady place. Qiuyu planned to give them to her son when she left.
"Thank you, little daddy," the son said immediately upon hearing the news.
Fang looked at the little boy from the side, a smile playing on her lips: "This child is so sensible."
A smile immediately spread across Xiao Heran's face. He Zifeng said from the side, "Mom, this little rascal just can't take praise. Don't praise him!"
Fang said, "Such a good child, I haven't seen one in so many years."
That night, He Zifeng let Xiao Heran sleep in his small room, since he was older now.
But when they finished their work and returned to the room with Qiuyu, they found that the neatly folded blankets he had made that morning were now a mess. There was also a large bulge in the middle of the blankets, just big enough to hide a small child.
Little He Ran probably wanted to give his father a surprise, but little did he know that He Zifeng was cunning and would not let the little guy have his way so easily. He deliberately gave Qiu Yu a wink.
Qiu Yu smiled too.
He Zifeng said, "Ranran has finally come back from the county town. I wonder if she'll be scared."
After saying that, I clearly felt the blanket move slightly.
Qiu Yu said, "Why don't we go and sleep with him? Let's go."
The blanket moved more noticeably, and little He Ran, who was hiding inside, was afraid that his two fathers would leave, so he lifted the blanket and said, "I'm here."
Xiao Heran has been hiding under the covers for a while now, and his forehead is covered in sweat. Qiu Yu held her son in her arms, took off his wet clothes, and put a red little bellyband on him.
Qiu Yu hugged her son and kissed him, saying, "Why don't you live by yourself?"
Xiao Heran said from the side, "I'm afraid Father will miss me." After saying that, she gave He Zifeng a wink.
He Zifeng said, "Go to sleep." After saying that, Qiu Yu changed into her sleeping clothes, and He Zifeng blew out the small oil lamp.
Little He Ran was so excited to see his two fathers after so long that he couldn't sleep. The little guy played hide-and-seek with them using his blanket, and laughed as soon as he was discovered.
He Zifeng was also at a loss with his youngest son. He said, "Was it the same with the teacher?"
Xiao Heran said, "No." He was simply too happy to see his two fathers!
He Zifeng reached out and his soft son snuggled into his arms, wrapping his arms around his neck, and said, "Go to sleep."
He Zifeng touched the back of his son's neck, which was a little sweaty. He gently patted his back, and the little guy soon began to breathe evenly after being comforted by He Zifeng.
He Zifeng saw that his son was asleep and placed him at the innermost part of the bed. The next morning, Fang Shi, unusually, didn't go to the stall with her son. She wanted to stay home and wait for her grandson to wake up; otherwise, the child would be frightened if he woke up to find everyone gone.
Little He Ran woke up groggily early in the morning, and as soon as he came out, his grandma had already prepared the meal. He washed his hands, brushed his teeth, and ate without crying or fussing.
Fang was still worried, so she explained to the child again, "Your father won't be back for a while."
Xiao Heran said, "Daddy needs to make money. Grandma, if you're not interested, Ranran can play with you." He was the youngest in the family, yet he was still trying to please others.
After a long time, Qiu Yu and He Zifeng returned. This time, He Zifeng brought some Imperata cylindrica root water, which was sweet and sold by someone from out of town. He knew his son would like it as soon as he tasted it, so he bought two big bowls and poured them into his small leather water bottle.
I brought it back for my son to drink.
"Ranran, look what good things I brought you," He Zifeng said.
As soon as the son heard the voice, he ran to the riverbank, calling out, "Daddy!" He Zifeng handed the leather water bottle to the child. The little guy looked at it curiously at first, then gulped it down. His eyes lit up when he finished drinking. Sure enough, he loved this kind of sweet thing the most.
There were four or five children outside who wanted to play with him. Xiao Heran was tempted to go, but then he looked at Fang Shi, afraid that she would lose interest if he left.
Fang felt a warmth in her heart and said, "This child." Then she invited them to go out and play.
He Zifeng's vacation is almost over. This time, the higher-ups were lenient and gave him so many days off, but thankfully, work isn't too tiring.
Qiu Yu said, "I asked Sister Liu to make you another set of clothes." Before, the family was poor and never had new clothes. Now that the family has some money, Qiu Yu is going all out to dress He Zifeng up. She's buying only the finest fabrics.
Sister Liu had made clothes her whole life, but she dared not use such fine fabric. She was afraid of ruining it.
He Zifeng changed his clothes. He already had a great physique, and the clothes made him look even more stylish.
Qiu Yu took one look and liked it very much. She looked at it a few more times.
He Zifeng said, "I have clothes to wear when I'm working, so I'll save these for important occasions."
Qiu Yu said, "You've already done it, so just wear it. Besides, what important day could it be? Ranran's marriage is still at least a decade away." He said it casually, but it made He Zifeng feel a little sad. He wouldn't give his precious daughter to anyone else. He was working so hard to earn money so that he could save up a fortune for Ranran and not have to suffer in the future.
When Ranran came back to drink water after running around all morning, He Zifeng held the little one in his arms and asked seriously, "Ranran, will you get married in the future?" Although it was still more than ten years away, he felt a little uncomfortable just thinking about it.
Xiao Heran said, "No, I'm just like Master Lin. I'm studying to take the imperial examinations." Although he was young, his ambition was high.
He Zifeng had been feeling down all morning, but hearing his son's words made him instantly happy, as if he had just drunk a mouthful of well water: "Good boy, you have ambition!"
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