Chapter 20, "Good Waist," exploded in my mind like fireworks, my heart...
My mind was like a firework exploding, and my heart was pounding wildly.
Chen Gengnian bounced away with a thud, and the big, strong man fell straight into the ground.
Chen Gengnian's commotion really startled Lin Qingan.
Seriously? You get this shy just from a kiss on the ear?
He looked at Chen Gengnian's dark reddish-brown skin and found it utterly unbelievable.
So naive! No wonder she's so easily fooled; I feel so guilty about it.
Lin Qing'an let go of Bai Fu and walked over to help Chen Gengnian. Before his hand even touched Chen Gengnian, he suddenly bounced up like a trampoline and quickly stood aside, keeping a distance from Lin Qing'an.
Lin Qingan gave him a thumbs-up in admiration: "Great back!"
He couldn't tell if Chen Gengnian's face had gotten any redder; all he knew was that he was so nervous he was practically stuttering, taking a long time to get a sentence right.
"Um... Ah Qing, yes... I'm sorry, I... I didn't mean to just now, I..."
"Alright, alright." Lin Qing'an quickly raised his hand to stop him, and said nonchalantly, "It's alright, I don't mind."
His words clearly changed Chen Gengnian's expression once again.
However, Lin Qing'an saw through his little scheme at a glance, took a step over, grabbed Chen Gengnian's collar, and stood on tiptoe to poke at him just like on the day he was recruited as a husband.
With a soft "smack," a soft touch came over his lips, and Chen Gengnian staggered again. Lin Qing'an quickly helped him up, chuckling helplessly, "Brother Nian, with you being so innocent, what are we going to do in our wedding night?"
As soon as Lin Qingan finished speaking, a small clump of mud flew rapidly towards him, but fortunately Chen Gengnian caught it with quick eyes and hands.
The two looked in the direction and saw a dog and an eagle squatting to the side. The scene was strangely harmonious, as if the life-or-death battle had never happened.
Baifu was scratching himself, looking like he hadn't done it.
Ah Meng, however, looked at Lin Qing'an with great arrogance.
After making eye contact with Ah Meng's eyes, Lin Qing'an suddenly felt a little embarrassed.
After all, apart from being an animal, A-Meng is no different from a human, and even more so.
"Ahem~" Lin Qingan coughed twice and turned to Chen Gengnian, saying, "Brother Nian, let's go back!"
Chen Gengnian nodded, "Okay, let's go, dinner's ready."
Lin Qing'an walked in front, Chen Gengnian followed behind, while Baifu and A Meng leisurely followed at the very back.
As soon as the two entered the courtyard, Lin Yanfeng asked, "Brother-in-law, why are you covered in mud too?"
His brother was startled by Baifu and fell down. Could it be that his brother-in-law was also frightened?
"Uh...no, no, it's nothing..." Chen Gengnian started slurring his words again. Unable to find anything else to say, he turned around and went into the kitchen to get the dishes.
Lin Qingan watched his retreating figure and chuckled to himself.
Man, you've successfully caught my attention!
Lin Yanfeng and Abao looked at Lin Qing'an's lewd smile and had no idea what he was thinking at that moment. They just shivered silently.
After working hard for a while, Chen Yuetao prepared a very lavish meal, including two meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, and a pot of chicken soup.
Actually, she gets up early to prepare most of the things, thinking that the children are going to town to sell bamboo shoots and she doesn't know when they will be back, so she thinks that if she prepares them early, she can finish them quickly.
The sight of the dishes on the table made Abao's mouth water. He had never eaten such a sumptuous meal in his life, so his stomach started rumbling uncontrollably.
A rumble of hunger pangs erupted, and everyone at the table turned to look at A Bao.
Abao was a little embarrassed and explained, "I'm sorry, I... I..."
"Come on, eat, child."
Before A Bao could finish speaking, Chen Yuetao picked up a large piece of meat and put it into his bowl.
Looking at the piece of meat, Abao still looked at Lin Yanfeng with some uncertainty and asked in a low voice, "Brother Yan, is it really okay to eat?"
Lin Yanfeng nodded and picked up a piece of food for him, saying, "Eat slowly, your spleen and stomach are not good, you might have indigestion."
After receiving Lin Yanfeng's affirmation, A Bao cautiously picked up her chopsticks to eat. As the aroma of meat filled her taste buds, tears silently streamed down her face.
He didn't even realize that it was rolling into the bowl, drop by drop.
Seeing this scene, Chen Yuetao knew without asking that A Bao had gone through a lot in the past, and her eyes immediately welled up with tears.
Abao's appearance instantly reminded her of Chen Gengnian during the famine years. People who were used to living in luxury had once gone hungry like this child.
Chen Yuetao's tears triggered everyone's tears as well, and Lin Qing'an and Lin Yanfeng also couldn't hold back, making the atmosphere heavy.
Chen Gengnian quickly reached out and patted his mother's back. He understood the source of her grief and hurriedly comforted her, saying, "Mother, today is a joyous day."
"Yes, yes, yes." Lin Qing'an hurriedly chimed in, "Everyone should be happy. Today is the day Nian-ge and I return to our parents' home. We should be smiling and cheerful."
After saying that, he confidently declared, "No matter what kind of life you all lived in the past, the future will definitely be better. I will make sure you eat meat every meal!"
Lin Qing'an spoke with great emotion, and Ah Meng, who had seen pyramid schemes before, thought it sounded like a pyramid scheme manager shouting something.
The meal didn't take long; sometimes we'd chat for a bit, and sometimes we'd just tease Ah Meng.
After serving food to A Bao, Lin Yanfeng then served food to A Meng, but Lin Qing'an insisted on using his chopsticks to cause trouble.
Ah Meng wasn't angry. He treated Lin Qing'an like a child and didn't hold it against him. He leisurely squatted on the table and ate his food.
It's certainly acting like a human now, while Baifu is still acting like a dog, guarding its own territory and eating from its own dog bowl.
For so many years, only she and her son had eaten at this table, and it was always quiet and deserted. But today, she was overjoyed by the lively atmosphere.
“Ah Nian, when you have some time, please make a bigger table for us. This table is a bit cramped.”
Chen Gengnian nodded in agreement.
After the meal, the whole family helped clean up the dishes, but Chen Yuetao was left out in the cold.
Lin Qingan said, "We dishwashers don't like to need help from adults."
Chen Yuetao wasn't annoyed at being forced to sit down in a chair. She looked on with a smile as she watched everyone busy at work, her slightly wrinkled face beaming with happiness.
After everything was tidied up, the family sat in the yard drinking tea and enjoying the cool air. Baifu and Ameng also lay lazily on the ground, feeling somewhat drowsy.
Chen Gengnian told Chen Yuetao the whole story of what had happened that day.
Chen Yuetao was both angry and heartbroken, and she took Lin Yanfeng and A Bao's hands and kept rubbing them.
Only after she had calmed down did she ask, "Where will Ayan go to school from now on?"
No one would think that Lin Yanfeng's intelligence and talent should be overlooked.
“I’ll go to town and see the village head tomorrow,” Chen Gengnian said first.
"ah?"
Lin Qingan and Lin Yanfeng exclaimed in surprise at the same time.
Lin Yanfeng was surprised by the idea of going to school in town, while Lin Qing'an was surprised that Chen Gengnian had the same idea.
At the time, he did intend to ask the village head for help by asking Chen Gengnian for a favor at the academy, but he never had a chance to discuss it with Chen Gengnian. He just thought he would ask Chen Gengnian later that evening when he had some free time.
Lin Qingan looked at Chen Gengnian, her eyes filled with even more curiosity.
For some reason, he still felt that the person in front of him was not as simple as he appeared.
"What's wrong?" Chen Gengnian asked.
Lin Yanfeng suddenly stood up and asked, somewhat at a loss.
"Brother, will I be a burden you can't afford?"
"No," Lin Qingan said bluntly, "Your brother has plenty of money!"
Chen Gengnian hurriedly said, "Ayan, just focus on your studies and don't worry about anything else. Your brother and I will definitely help you get out of trouble."
Having said all that, and knowing that passing the imperial examinations was the whole family's wish, Lin Yanfeng naturally couldn't say anything more. All he could do in return was to study hard and bring honor to his family in the near future.
"Okay!" Lin Yanfeng stopped being coy and readily agreed.
Chen Yuetao, who had intended to say a few words of advice, stopped talking when she saw this. As long as the children were well and healthy, what did a little hardship and fatigue matter?
One of the two things I've been longing to do has been done; the only thing left is...
However, Lin Qing'an was not in a hurry at all; he was going to think of a way that would satisfy both sides.
As the sun set, and with poultry still at home, Lin Qing'an prepared to lead her two younger brothers back.
Looking at Chen Yuetao, Lin Qing'an felt a pang of reluctance. The old woman had many concerns, so Lin Qing'an knew that Chen Yuetao would not go back with them.
So he set his sights on Chen Gengnian and said to him, "Brother Nian, why don't you stay home and keep Mother company? I'm worried about her being here alone."
Chen Gengnian was taken aback; he hadn't expected Lin Qingan to ask him to stay.
Seeing this, Lin Qing'an added, "You should stay with Mom in the evenings for now, and do what needs to be done at home during the day. Once she gets used to it, she can come back. I will take care of the household chores as well, so you don't need to run back and forth every day."
Lin Qingan's words made sense, but Chen Gengnian still felt that something was not quite right.
Upon hearing this, Chen Yuetao became extremely anxious and hurriedly said, "No need, no need, Mother doesn't need anyone to accompany her. Before, this boy would go hunting for ten days or half a month at a time, and I was always home alone. Although things are not peaceful outside, our village is still very peaceful, so you don't need to worry."
Chen Yuetao rattled off a long string of words, still feeling it wasn't enough, and continued to use worldly pressure: "Besides, if you two don't live together right after getting married, people will gossip. How can a newlywed couple not live together!"
Before anyone could say anything more, Chen Yuetao shoved Lin Qing'an and Chen Gengnian from behind, urging them to leave.
"Let's go, let's go. Just bring these two boys up to town tomorrow."
The group was forced out of the courtyard. Bai Fu, who had been fast asleep, suddenly woke up and rushed out, but was stopped by Chen Gengnian as soon as he reached the threshold.
"go back!"
Bai Fu shook his head and wagged his tail.
Chen Gengnian grabbed the rope around his neck and dragged it aside to tie it up.
He instructed her, "Take good care of Mother."
Baifu barked weakly twice, as if it understood Chen Gengnian's words, and looked expectantly at Lin Qingan and Lin Yanfeng.
The group felt some sympathy but were powerless to help.
Lin Qingan walked over and stroked its fur, saying, "I'm sorry you had to suffer, Baifu."
After saying that, he walked towards Ah Meng, who was still fast asleep. He squatted down, flicked Ah Meng's head, and called out, "Let's go home."
Ah Meng stirred, half-opened his eyes to look around, then went back to sleep.
"Hey~" Lin Qing'an suddenly lifted it up. A Meng opened its eyes wide, but couldn't see anything in its dark pupils. Undeterred, Lin Qing'an shouted, "Do you still want to go home?"
A Meng shook his head.
Lin Qingan thought he had misread it, but the next second A Meng shook his head.
"Aren't you going back?" Lin Qingan asked.
A Meng nodded.
Lin Qingan found it unbelievable and asked seriously, "You really aren't going to reply?"
Ah Meng ignored him, struggled twice, flew out of Lin Qing'an's hand, and returned to his sleeping place.
Suddenly, A-Meng's voice appeared in Lin Qing'an's mind.
“I’ll watch over her here for you.”
These words were spoken in thought, and only Lin Qing'an heard them.
Lin Qing'an was speechless for a moment. He looked at A Meng and replied telepathically, "Thank you!"
His tone was more serious than ever before.
Just as the warm atmosphere was getting right, A-Meng said again through telepathy, "By the way, remember to tell your man that I've requisitioned his dog."
Lin Qing'an turned his gaze to Baifu again, but this time it wasn't out of reluctance, but out of a sense of unbearable pain.
Ren Linqing never imagined that his most ordinary trip home would lead to such an unexpected situation.
A note from the author:
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