Chapter 76 Winter Snow
The courtyard was filled with humid water vapor. Su Wanwan wore a slightly thicker dress. When she heard the doorman's words, she was not surprised and asked, "General Weiyuan? Husband, is it the General Weiyuan who just returned to the capital yesterday?"
Pei Changfeng's face didn't look very good. He was worried that General Weiyuan would do something that would make Su Wanwan think too much.
"It's him. He may have something to talk to me about," Pei Changfeng tucked her collar, "Hurry up and have breakfast. I'll go over to see what the general wants me to do."
In fact, Su Wanwan also wanted to go, but she was in the capital now and could not do as she did in the village. There were some etiquettes for meeting a man from another world at this time. She touched her stomach and went to have breakfast.
Pei Changfeng straightened his clothes, feeling annoyed. He hoped that General Weiyuan was not here to act as a matchmaker for his daughter. He felt that there was nothing good about him. At most, he had a decent appearance, which was not enough to make the now famous general suffer like this.
He took a deep breath and decided to go to the temple after his day off to see if anyone had set him up with some strange romance.
Su Cha looked at the main hall of the Pei family and felt that it was a bit shabby. It was not even as big as the toilet in the house given to him by the emperor. It was really an injustice for his daughter to live here.
Seeing Pei Changfeng coming, Su Cha unconsciously put on the airs of a father-in-law, "Why did you take so long to come?"
Pei Changfeng didn't even want to give him water to drink. He lifted his robe and sat down. "I wonder why the general came here?"
"Nothing, I just came to see you," Su Cha stroked his chin, "Your house is too small, can your wife live in it? You are a scholar who has won the third place in the imperial examination, why do you live in such a shabby place?"
Pei Changfeng stared at him silently for a while, "The housing prices in Beijing are very expensive."
Su Cha couldn't help laughing out loud, "I thought you scholars didn't talk about money. The house prices are high and you can't afford it. Aren't you afraid that I will laugh at you if you say it out loud?"
Pei Changfeng poured himself a glass of water and said, "This is just a fact. If the general is alright, then I will not keep him any longer."
Although ordered to leave, Su Cha was not angry. He sat leisurely and drank tea. Finally, he saw a black coal ball running in the front yard. He looked closely and wondered why it looked so much like his son.
Su Cha hesitated for a moment, then tentatively called out, "Su Chaochao?"
Pei Changfeng looked over. Su Chaochao was stunned for a moment while holding the ball in his hand. He looked at the person who called him and then screamed, "Ghost!"
Su Cha smiled, took two or three steps forward and picked up the boy, "Look carefully to see if your father, me, is a human or a ghost."
Su Chaochao was so scared that her nose was bubbling. She trembled and took a look through the gaps between her fingers, then reached out and poked Su Cha's face, "Dad? You're not dead!?"
Su Cha's eyes were red, "You little brat, aren't you happy that your father is alive?"
Su Chaochao hugged Su Cha's neck and cried, "Dad, I miss you so much!"
Su Cha wiped away his tears and said, "Okay, I get it. Stop being so hypocritical. You're crying like a real man."
Pei Changfeng now became serious, realizing that this erratic man who was almost driven out by him was his father-in-law.
"General, father-in-law," Pei Changfeng quickly changed the subject, "Wanwan and mother-in-law are having breakfast. You came here after having breakfast. Would you like to have some with them?"
Su Cha snorted, "You're smart."
Su Cha carried Su Chaochao and walked in front, while Pei Changfeng winked at Xingzhou from behind. Xingzhou understood and hurried to the kitchen to ask for more delicious dishes to be prepared at noon to entertain the guests.
Su Wanwan and Widow Liu didn't know what happened in the front yard. Widow Liu kept asking Su Wanwan to eat more. "Look how thin you are. You can't be like this. You have to eat more so that you can give birth to a big fat boy or girl."
Su Wanwan drank a bowl of fish porridge and was now feeling nauseous. She quickly ate two sour apricots to suppress her nausea. "No, no, no, it's nauseating."
Widow Liu saw this and was anxious, "Eat another meat pie."
The two were eating breakfast here, unaware that there was someone watching them not far away.
Su Cha coughed, and Su Wanwan and Widow Liu both looked over.
"father!"
"Lao Su!"
They both said in unison, neither of them realizing what was happening.
Su Wanwan stood up, swayed and almost fell.
Su Cha ran over quickly, "My daughter, you have suffered!"
Su Wanwan finally realized that she was not dreaming. She burst into tears, "Dad, where have you been all this time? We all thought you were dead!"
Su Cha held Su Wanwan in one hand and Widow Liu, whose skin was as tanned as Su Chaochao's, in the other. He almost burst into tears, especially when he saw how thin Su Wanwan had become. His heart ached.
Pei Changfeng just stood quietly by the side so as not to disturb their family reunion.
If it weren't for the fact that the sound of Su Chaochao sniffing was too annoying, it would have taken a while for the few of them to recover.
Su Cha looked Su Wanwan up and down, "You've lost weight, so thin!"
Su Wanwan quickly said: "I haven't lost weight, I've gained weight, but I just grew taller and look thinner. My husband treats me very well."
Su Cha's eyes were red again, "You've grown up, and your elbows have turned outward."
Su Cha glanced at Pei Changfeng and said, "If he treats you badly, Dad will tear this shabby place down and take you back to the General's Mansion. The General's Mansion is much more magnificent than this place!"
Su Wanwan spoke for Pei Changfeng, "Dad, my husband treats me very well."
Su Cha's heart ached again, "Stop talking, Daddy's heart is not feeling well."
Now that Su Cha is back, Widow Liu and Su Chaochao will naturally move back to the general's mansion.
Widow Liu pulled Su Wanwan aside, extremely anxious, "How would I know your father was still alive? Look how tanned I am. Your father can't even recognize me. What should I do?"
Su Wanwan recalled how Su Cha had looked at Widow Liu several times and then turned away during the meal, and she almost laughed out loud, "It's okay, we still have our foundation, even if we get dark, we're still a dark beauty."
Widow Liu was skeptical, "Is it true?"
Su Wanwan nodded, "Of course it's true."
The group had dinner at the general's mansion, and it must be said that the general's mansion was really grand.
After all this, everyone in the capital city knew that Pei Changfeng was lucky. How should I put it? He was an orphan whose parents had both passed away. Later, he passed the imperial examination and became the grandson of the marquis. Now he has entered the Hanlin Academy, is appreciated by the emperor, and has become the general's son-in-law! If this is not a good life, then what is it?
People in the capital spread this news, so Pei Changfeng gladly accepted it, saying that he could do whatever he wanted, he didn't care.
The general's mansion was not far from Pei Changfeng's house. Su Wanwan would go there every day and wait for Pei Changfeng to get off work before picking her up.
As my belly grew bigger and bigger, snow began to fall in the capital.
Pei Changfeng served Su Wanwan a bowl of mutton soup and said, "Eat some more."
After five months, Su Wanwan's appetite improved, she gained some weight and looked plump, but she didn't mind. She would try new and different ways to eat something every day. If she wanted to eat something, Pei Changfeng would naturally go find it. If he couldn't find anything, he would ask for help from the Marquis' Mansion or Su Cha.
But most of the time, Su Cha brought all the delicacies to him before Pei Changfeng even opened his mouth.
Su Wanwan took a sip of the mutton soup and began to think about what to eat tomorrow. "I want to eat shrimp. Can I still get the arm-sized shrimp I ate last time?"
"I can get it," Pei Changfeng thought for a while, "If you want to eat any other seafood, I'll ask someone to buy it for you."
"I want to eat more snail meat," Su Wanwan finished drinking the mutton soup, "Another bowl!"
Her belly was already six months pregnant and seemed bigger than that of an ordinary woman. Pei Changfeng had been worried that she would have a difficult time giving birth, so he asked the imperial physician to see her. The physician said that she just needed to wait until the baby was eight months pregnant and then control her diet, so he was temporarily relieved.
Snow was falling outside, the charcoal stove inside the house was making a hissing sound, and the aroma of mutton soup filled the air.
Just when Su Wanwan was drowsy, the doorman's voice came from outside the door, saying that Song Ming had arrived.
Su Wanwan rubbed her eyes, "What is he doing here now?"
Song Xiu was beheaded, and Song Ming's aunt was also dealt with by Zheng Rong. Song Ming had a very bad time during this period. He was like a rat crossing the street, and everyone was shouting and beating him. Soon he could no longer work in the government office, so he resigned from his official position and spent all his time drinking in the mansion.
Pei Changfeng was very happy to see him like this, but he didn't want him to get drunk to death, so he would occasionally ask someone to help him.
After all, there is still a long time to go, and some accounts need to be settled slowly.
Pei Changfeng went to the front hall to meet Song Ming. Song Ming was still wearing his brocade shirt, but his brows showed dejection, and he no longer had the vigor and vitality he had before.
Seeing Pei Changfeng, Song Ming rushed forward and grabbed his hand as if he had seen a savior, "Changfeng, Changfeng, I can't live anymore, only you can save me, please save me!"
After saying that, he squatted on the ground and started crying.
Pei Changfeng stood in front of him, like a god who could save him, but in fact he was a devil. The only door open to Song Ming was the door leading to the Palace of Yama.
"What happened?" Pei Changfeng's voice was concerned, but his eyes were cold. If he was like Song Ming back then, it would have nothing to do with him, but in fact he was the culprit of everything.
This feeling is really special and very...refreshing.
Song Ming cried about everything he had suffered now, as if he had completely forgotten the identity of Pei Changfeng in front of him - he was a former victim, not only the current third place in the imperial examination, but also the one who almost lost his life because of him just because of a ranking.
But Song Ming knew about his current predicament and wanted Pei Changfeng to help him.
"Changfeng, I need money, a large sum of money, can you lend it to me?" Song Ming burst into tears and knelt down to beg him, "We were classmates and have known each other for many years. Now you are so successful, but I can't even survive. Please pity me and lend me money!"
Pei Changfeng seemed to be worried about him. "No matter how much you want, as long as I can afford it, I will give it to you."
Song Ming's eyes flashed with a gleam of light, "One thousand taels, no, three thousand taels, I know you can definitely come up with it, right? If it really doesn't work, you can go to the Marquis' Mansion to borrow, go to the General's Mansion to borrow, they are all your relatives, they will definitely be willing to help you!"
Three thousand taels...
Pei Changfeng smiled, "Of course, if you are in trouble, I will definitely help you, but I need some time to prepare so much money. You go back to Cangzhou first, and I will have someone send the money to your house in three days."
In order to show his sincerity in helping Song Ming, Pei Changfeng first gave him a silver note of two hundred taels, "Take this money for now."
Song Ming cursed him as a fool in his heart, and after taking the money, he cried, "You are the only one who is willing to help me now."
Pei Changfeng took his tears into his eyes, with a flicker of satisfaction in his eyes, "I will always help you, as long as you are still alive."
Song Ming vaguely felt that his words were a little strange, but he didn't have time to think about it, so he took the silver bills and boarded the carriage to flee to Cangzhou.
After Song Ming left, Su Wanwan came out from behind with her big belly, "Husband, what are you going to do?"
"It would be too easy for him to die. Living... I don't want him to live," Pei Changfeng held Su Wanwan's hand, "Let's not talk about this in front of the child, lest the child hears it and learns bad things."
"That's not called learning bad things," Su Wanwan retorted, "That's called means. If our child becomes a good person with excessive sympathy in the future, that's what we should be most worried about. People with means are not bad, they are smart."
Pei Changfeng touched her belly and said, "Yes, Madam is right."
It was snowing so heavily. Pei Changfeng recalled the winter of that year when he almost froze to death in the thatched hut that was leaking wind from all sides. He thought about dying, thinking about living like this, thinking about revenge, thinking about begging those people for hope of survival, but the only thing he never thought was that he could still live such a life, with a wife and children.
Pei Changfeng smiled and kissed Su Wanwan on the cheek.
Su Wanwan glared at him and said, "Stop making trouble, the children are watching us."
"What's wrong with watching my parents' love?"
Song Ming took the money back to Cangzhou. The Song family's property in Cangzhou had long been sealed up by the government. He had nowhere to go and could only hide in a small village. He planned to become a landlord after the limelight passed and live a wealthy life like ordinary people.
After getting his address, Pei Changfeng rode out of the capital at night on the agreed day.
Seeing him come in person to deliver the money, Song Ming was surprised and delighted, "Changfeng, why are you here in person?"
Pei Changfeng took off the hood of his cloak and said, "I won't be at ease unless I come and see it myself."
Song Ming thought he really kept this friendship in mind, and thought he was stupid, but also glad that he remembered it, so that when he needed help in the future, he could still go to Pei Changfeng.
"You don't know how miserable I am now."
Pei Changfeng looked around where Song Ming lived now. It was a blue brick and tile house with a charcoal fire burning and fresh meat on the plate. How could it be bitter?
Compared to his previous period, it was heaven.
Pei Changfeng thought so and said so.
Song Ming was surprised, "Have you forgotten what I was like before? Now I have a house that is not leaky and a plate of meat, and you think I am living a good life?"
Pei Changfeng smiled and slowly pulled out the rope from his waist, which he brought from the capital, "Isn't it?"
He threw the rope on the table. There was a thin glow on the rope. It was made of tiny needles, as small as cow hair. But if it touched the skin, it would feel like being pierced by thousands of needles.
Song Ming was a little confused, "What do you mean? What are you talking about?"
Pei Changfeng sighed and took off his cloak, "Song Ming, you don't really think that I don't remember it, do you?"
He took out the boning knife, "I'm sorry, but it was really fun when I played tricks on you."
There seemed to be some blood on the boning knife, and it smelled fishy. Song Ming's mind seemed to explode suddenly, and he collapsed to the ground. "You, do you remember everything? "
Pei Changfeng put his finger to his lips, "No, it should be... I have never forgotten, Song Ming."
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