Chapter 56 An An He wanted to see her, to see their daughter...
After coming out of Luo Wuniang's house, Chen Lianxiu, holding An An in one hand and carrying a small basket in the other, passed by Zhou Linjin as if she didn't see him.
Zhou Linjin stood at the door, watched her enter the house, close the gate, and then go into the house.
He stood there for a while, then opened the gate and went in.
Chen Lianxiu was cooking in the kitchen, sitting An An on a small stool at the kitchen door. Occasionally, she would go into the kitchen, then come out and sit back on the small stool without running around.
She was still playing with the clay figurines in her hands. When she saw Zhou Linjin come in, she waved the colorful figurines in front of him.
Zhou Linjin hadn't originally planned to get too close.
He didn't sleep again last night. He kept thinking about the past love and affection between him and Shen Lianxiu, the last words he said to Shen Lianxiu five years ago, An An, and her dim figure sitting at the wonton stall.
He didn't know how she had gotten through the past five years, but he could imagine that she must have suffered a lot, and he couldn't force her anymore.
So early in the morning, he did not appear in front of her immediately, but asked Bi Cha to wait first, as a buffer, and only used a little trick in the carriage, but he did not prevent her from returning home and forced her to stay, so it was within her acceptable range.
He should have stood outside, but he couldn't bear not seeing her for a moment.
He wanted to see her, see their daughter.
Zhou Linjin walked over to An An, squatted down and looked at her straight in the eyes, and asked, "Why are you sitting here alone?"
There are also many children in the family. Zhou Linjin feels that these nephews and nieces are noisy and never quiet for a moment. Even Zhu'er, who is considered to be well-behaved, often pesters him and Zhou Yishao.
An An said: "You can't run far."
Zhou Linjin just listened to it and let it go at first, but after a little thought, he suddenly realized that it was because Shen Lianxiu was alone and she couldn't always look after the child because she had to do things, so she could only let the child sit here and not run around.
If he were here, this wouldn't be the case.
Zhou Linjin raised his hand and placed it on his daughter's head. He felt a warm sensation and her hair was fluffy, something he had never felt before.
From the time they met last night until now, Shen Lianxiu had not even told him her daughter's name.
"What's your name?" Zhou Linjin's eyes were slightly hot as he touched her thin and soft hair and asked.
An An blinked and answered loudly: "An An."
The voice was so soft and sweet that Zhou Linjin felt like his heart was melting.
When they were in love, they had said they wanted to have a daughter, and now, they really have a daughter.
But he almost missed An An, he almost never saw her in his life, or even knew she existed.
"An An..." Zhou Linjin choked in his throat and murmured her name.
When Shen Lianxiu came out after cooking, Zhou Linjin was playing with An An at the kitchen door.
In fact, Shen Lianxiu heard them talking in the kitchen just now, but she did not move and just pretended not to hear.
At the moment, she still chose not to see or hear anything, and called out to An An, "An An, wash your hands and have dinner."
An An went over to wash her hands in the basin prepared by Shen Lianxiu, then ran into the house to eat. Faced with the temptation of eating, she no longer remembered Zhou Linjin who had just played with her.
Chen Lianxiu used the dishes Luo Wuniang gave her to make stir-fried vegetables, winter melon and salty pork soup, and braised pork. Although it was simple, it was just enough for her and An An.
An An climbed onto the stool, picked up the chopsticks, and directly poked a piece of braised pork into the bowl with the chopsticks, and began to eat happily.
The mother and daughter were very quiet while eating. Halfway through the meal, Zhou Linjin finally couldn't help but come in.
Chen Lianxiu didn't even raise his eyelids. An An raised her head from the bowl and looked at him. Then she remembered that there was someone outside. But she was very hungry today and was only thinking about eating. In addition, Chen Lianxiu didn't say anything, so after taking a look, she was very obedient and didn't say anything.
Zhou Linjin's face looked a little ugly for a moment. Even if he was kicked out, he still had to say something. However, Chen Lianxiu seemed to have not seen him at all. No matter what he was asked to do or what he said, it was useless.
It was already noon, and he originally thought that Shen Lianxiu would give him a meal no matter what, but now that he was here, she didn't show any reaction. Did she want him to beg for food himself?
Zhou Linjin has never encountered such a thing since he was a child.
As a result, Chen Lianxiu acted as if nothing had happened and left him aside until he finished his meal.
She told An An to go play in the yard or go next door to play with her friends, and then she started to clean up the things on the table.
Zhou Linjin followed her to the kitchen and finally couldn't help but said, "I haven't eaten all morning."
Shen Lianxiu seemed to be deaf and did not respond at all.
She started to fetch water and wash the dishes.
Zhou Linjin stood there, watching her get a bucket of water from the water tank, then he realized that he wanted to help her fetch the water. But just as he walked over and stretched out his hand to take it, Chen Lianxiu nimbly dodged to the side, and Zhou Linjin didn't catch it.
It was only a few steps into the kitchen. After seeing Shen Lianxiu avoid him, Zhou Linjin poured water into the basin and started washing dishes.
Zhou Linjin was silent for a while, then said, "Ayuan, please at least say a few words to me."
Shen Lianxiu remained silent.
"Not long after you left, my eyes healed. It was you who cured them. When I could see Shen Wuyu's face, I finally understood. It turned out that what I liked was not that face at all. What I wanted was you who always stayed with me. Everything was because my obsession was too deep."
"They said you were dead," Zhou Linjin pursed his lips, speaking with some difficulty. "I went to your stepmother's farm several times, sometimes secretly, but I couldn't find you. I also searched the road from the capital to the farm, but they insisted they couldn't remember the place. I simply... Do you really not want to tell me what happened back then? You don't want to tell me what happened over the years?"
A hint of frivolous smile flashed across Shen Lianxiu's face, but it was fleeting.
What else is there to say? He was the one who asked her to leave. What happened then was not important at all. Even she herself didn't take it to heart.
At the beginning, she had already admitted that she was delusional. In fact, she had deliberately stopped thinking about him and complaining about him for so many years. Now that they met again, it would be good enough to maintain the state when she left. Why bother to keep entangled with him?
Did he think that if he told her that Shen Wuyu had been sent back a long time ago and how desperately he had looked for her, she would fall head over heels in love again and go home with him in tears of gratitude?
Even if she didn't want to feel resentful, she already remembered the loss she had suffered.
Chen Lianxiu finished washing the dishes quickly, but Zhou Linjin still stayed beside her. Just as she was about to go out to call An An back for a nap, An An had already run back, sweating profusely.
"I'm sleepy." She rubbed her eyes.
Chen Lianxiu said, "Then let's go back to our room and sleep."
Zhou Linjin watched them leave him again, and after entering the main room, they closed the door completely, leaving him outside.
The midday sun was scorching. Zhou Linjin stood under the eaves for a long time and vaguely heard Bi Cha calling him from outside the yard.
Zhou Linjin walked out with unsteady steps. Bi Cha saw that he looked pale, so he quickly took him to the carriage to rest. He did not dare to ask what the two had said. After all, even in the eyes of the Zhou family, Zhou Linjin was recognized as having gone too far in handling the matter. Even Zhou Chang, who was far away at the border, wrote a letter to scold him for being extreme and ignorant after learning about it. Therefore, it was completely understandable that Chen Lianxiu felt resentful.
It was not until the sun began to set that the door finally opened again.
The carriage was parked at the gate of Yu's yard. Shen Lianxiu naturally saw it, but she was still the same as usual, pretending that she saw nothing.
She held a small hoe in her hand, and An An followed behind her holding a basket that was half her body tall.
It has been quite some time since she left home. Although she asked Luo Wuniang to help her take care of the herb garden, she still had to tidy it up after she came back. After all, Luo Wuniang only watered the plants.
The sun is not so strong now, so it's just right for weeding.
As soon as she came out, Zhou Linjin got off the carriage again.
He opened the gate with ease and followed them to the herb garden next to the house.
Chen Lianxiu squatted down and lowered her head to work, still ignoring him and not even looking at him.
Sure enough, a lot of small grasses and flowers sprouted next to the planted medicinal herbs. Chen Lianxiu first cut an unknown small wild flower for An An to play with, and then started to weed.
An An was playing with the wild flowers at first, but after a while she held the flowers carefully in her hand, and with her other hand she began to help Chen Lianxiu pick up the weeds on the ground and put them in the small basket she brought over.
Zhou Linjin stood beside her and couldn't help but call her, "An An."
An An squatted there with her little butt sticking out, knowing that Zhou Linjin was standing nearby watching them. When she heard the voice, she raised her head and responded crisply, "Hey!"
Chen Lianxiu turned her head and glanced at An An. Although she didn't say anything, An An keenly sensed something unspeakable in her eyes, so she just blinked twice at Zhou Linjin and continued to help Chen Lianxiu pick grass.
Zhou Linjin was a little discouraged, but he didn't walk away. He just continued, "Ayuan, I'm going back at night. Are you really not going to tell me anything?"
There was no movement from Chen Lianxiu. There was only the sound of a small hoe quickly and neatly cutting through the weeds. The "crunching" sound frightened Zhou Linjin.
"I'll come again tomorrow," he added.
He still had hope in his heart. It was still early before nightfall and he still had time. Although it would be the same if he came again tomorrow, he could not bear it if Chen Lianxiu did not speak to him for a moment. Perhaps he could still wait for her to speak today.
The sunlight gradually turned orange, and after being stretched, it shone on the farmer's fence. Chen Lianxiu rubbed her waist and finally finished taking care of the medicine shop. She was originally prepared to be annoyed by Zhou Linjin. Even if he didn't say anything, she would be annoyed just by standing there. But it was also unexpected. Later, Zhou Linjin didn't say anything, and her heart quickly calmed down, and she focused on weeding.
"Okay, let's get up." Chen Lianxiu got up first, and then lifted An An up from the ground.
Just as she was about to pick up the basket full of weeds, she heard Luo Wuniang calling her.
Chen Lianxiu looked and saw that Luo Wuniang had already walked to her door. She was calling her, but her eyes were staring at Zhou Linjin vigilantly.
Chen Lianxiu went to open the door, but Luo Wuniang didn't come in. She just stood at the door and talked to her. She lowered her voice and asked her, "Why hasn't this man left yet? Do you want to report this to the police?"
"No need to report to the authorities," Shen Lianxiu sighed softly, hesitated for a moment, and said to Luo Wuniang, "His family is in the capital. He has only come here recently on official business. He will be back in a few days. He won't stay long."
This was also what Chen Lianxiu thought in her heart. She had thought about it. Zhou Linjin would have to go back eventually. What's more, Pei Qian had been arrested and he had important things to do. He would probably leave soon. Anyway, she would not go with him. What else could he do to her? He couldn't tie her up and take her back!
Luo Wuniang heard this and said, "I was wondering if he looked different. Turns out he's from the capital."
After she finished speaking, she suddenly raised her voice again and said, "Ah Yu, I came here to tell you something else. The Wang family at the entrance of the village that I mentioned last time is still very interested in you. I'd like to ask you to mediate with them again."
Not far away, Zhou Linjin's eyes suddenly showed a chill.
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The author has something to say: First update [Dog head holding a rose]
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