Not far away, Zhao Fangchu was still eating plums. He stuffed two of them into his mouth at once, making his cheeks bulge.
Yang Anjin couldn't help laughing when he saw his childish look: "It's strange, we are obviously not much different in age, but why does Fang Chu look like a child? If I say give him to someone else, no one would be willing to give him up."
Yang Donghu nodded in agreement: "That's right, I said that our family doesn't need Fang Chu to feed us, and it's no problem to support him for the rest of his life. But I dare not tell this to my aunt, otherwise she will nag me to death."
"We definitely can't stop them, but it would be great if we could pick a good one. It would be frustrating if we can't."
"The carpenter seems kind, and his son, though quiet, is very steady in his work. He wasn't shy when discussing business with Zhu Cuilan, and spoke logically, giving people a good impression. He's also good-looking, quite respectable. However, this is only our first meeting, so I'm still unsure about his character. Last night, I saw my aunt, and she seemed to think his family was decent. I wonder if she would consider Fang Chu."
"There's no rush. We need to get in touch with him a few more times. At least we need to see if his family members are confused. Otherwise, it won't work."
"Yeah, that's what I mean."
Zhao Fangchu's arms were a little sore from beating plums. He put down the stick and looked at the two people huddled together whispering to each other. He threw a plum in front of them with some dissatisfaction.
"What are you two talking about? Why are you still carrying people on your back?"
Afraid of saying this too much and making Zhao Fangchu shy, Yang Donghu and Yang Anjin exchanged a glance and tacitly didn't answer directly. Yang Anjin grinned and said, "Don't say anything. Just say I'll make some plum water but I won't give it to you to drink."
The two of them quickened their pace to pick plums. Zhao Fangchu was so angry that he stepped on a few rotten plums and crushed them. The juice got all over the soles of his shoes and dead leaves.
"Bad guys, you two are both bad guys, I just drink, hum."
Yang Donghu patted his head soothingly: "Alright, come pick it up quickly, or you'll be scorched to death when the sun gets strong."
Zhao Fangchu squatted down angrily and secretly shouted: "Humph, Yang Anjin is a big bad guy."
Except for him, the other two were laughing so hard that their shoulders were shaking. The three of them worked quickly and filled the basket of sour plums in no time.
The sun was out and I was sweating all over. I didn't feel it because of the trees in the mountains. But when I came down the mountain and walked on the road, it was scorching and I felt dizzy.
Yang Anjin said goodbye to Yang Donghu and Yang Donghu at the fork in the road and walked home alone. After not seeing Zhang Lanzhen for a while, he didn't know when she had returned. There were several men's clothes floating in the yard, and the washed sheets and quilts were fluttering in the wind.
Yang Anjin was overjoyed when he saw the familiar clothes and ran into the house.
"elder brother!"
Yang Anchen was sitting on the porch eating summer melon, Zhang Lanzhen was busy preparing lunch in the kitchen, and Yang Anjin put down the basket and surrounded his brother.
"Brother, why are you back?"
Yang Anchen smiled and handed him a piece of melon: "Master Zhang has gone out with the young lady and the young master to visit distant relatives. They won't be back for a few days. I have nothing to do in the Zhang Mansion these days, so I came back to stay for a few days."
There were snacks in the room that he brought back from Zhang's house. Yang Anjin opened it and took a bite immediately, smiling sweetly with his eyes curved.
Yang Anchen watched him unpacking the food, turned around and suddenly said, "Eat less. If you have friends, you should share some with them. You can't just eat it all by yourself."
Yang Anchen had never mentioned who he was leaving food for before. Although Yang Anjin was a little confused, he swallowed the crumbs in his mouth, drank a sip of water and said, "I don't have any good friends. I only have Dong Hu, and you know he doesn't care about food. Oh, no, there's another one. Yes, leave some for Fang Chu, he likes to eat this."
"Well, you can keep some and send it to his family when the time comes. Aunt Cuilan is a kind person and has sent many gifts to our family. We should also give something back to avoid being rude."
Yang Anjin felt that he was right and didn't think about anything else. Just at this moment, Zhang Lanzhen was shouting in the kitchen for the two of them to wash their hands before eating. Yang Anjin took the basin and scooped some water to wash his hands.
At the dinner table, Zhang Lanzhen was so disgusted by the sour plums outside that even her porridge tasted sour.
"Why are you picking so many sour plums in such hot weather? How can you eat something so sour? What made you think of picking these?"
"I didn't go there alone. Dong Hu and Fang Chu came to see me today. I was so bored staying at home that I went out to get some fresh air."
He picked up an eggplant with chopsticks and put it in his mouth. "Dong Hu said that if you pickle these plums with sugar and dry them in the sun, you can make sour plum water. It's delicious. He has already taught me how to make it. I'll pick it up and try it later."
She didn't understand what the children were doing, and Zhang Lanzhen didn't ask. She just hummed and said nothing more, "What is your Aunt Cuilan busy with at home?"
When talking about Zhu Cuilan, Yang Anjin remembered that Yang Donghu said she was worried about Zhao Fangchu's marriage, and talked about this with Zhang Lanzhen as gossip.
"Dong Hu said someone wants to see Fang Chuxiang, and Aunt Cuilan is worried about this at home."
Yang Anchen paused his chopsticks and raised his voice for a moment: "What are you looking for?"
Now not only did Yang Anjin notice something was wrong, even Zhang Lanzhen felt that Yang Anchen was a little baffling, and couldn't help but look at him a little more: "Why are you so excited?"
"I...I'm just asking casually."
Zhang Lanzhen glanced at him without saying anything. She had met Zhao Fangchu before and he was a very likable young man. She was also a little curious about who Zhu Cuilan had targeted, so she asked Yang Anjin: "Who said that?
"He seems to be the son of a carpenter. He's the right age and has good conditions. I heard from Donghu that he's quite handsome and a carpenter. He has skills and can make money. Although Aunt Cuilan hasn't given me a definite answer yet, if I find out more about his family and find out that they are really good, maybe Aunt Cuilan will agree to it."
"Well, it sounds like the conditions are good. The two are about the same age. If he is a good person, it would be rare. Let's wait and see. There is no need to rush."
Yang Anchen clearly didn't want to listen, and he rapped the bowl with his chopsticks, his expression no longer as gentle as when he first came back: "Don't talk while eating, and don't talk while sleeping. Talk less while eating. If you go to someone's house, you'll be accused of having bad manners."
Yang Anjin narrowed his eyes, sensing something was amiss at the quiet table. He carefully examined Yang Anchen for a moment, as if he had just met him: "Brother, you're not..."
Looking at Zhang Lanzhen's expression, it was exactly the same as Yang Anjin's.
Yang Anchen felt a little uncomfortable being stared at by the two of them. He covered it up by clenching his fist to his mouth and coughing twice, then turned his head slightly.
In fact, Yang Anchen is so old and a scholar, he should have gotten married long ago. How could Zhang Lanzhen not be anxious? She also tried to find a beautiful woman for her son, but Yang Anchen always looked indifferent and no one could approach him. No matter whether the woman was ugly or handsome, he was unwilling to look at her.
Although he had a mild temper, he would still lose his temper when pushed to the limit. After a few times, Zhang Lanzhen gave up on him. Thinking that he was a man of his own ideas, she let him go and waited for Yang Anchen to come to his senses.
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