Yang Donghu knew nothing about this. He didn't want to get involved with the Yang family and didn't take the initiative to inquire about the Yang family's affairs. However, this seemed like something Wang Dujuan would do.
Yang Donghu was extremely grateful for his tough attitude at the beginning. Wang Dujuan did not take advantage of him and came to him less frequently. If he had been entangled by her every day, he would have had no peace of mind.
Even though there was a happy event at home, Zhang Lanzhen did not show off outside. She still sat in the yard and busy herself with farm work. Only the occasional humming of a few tunes could show her good mood at the time.
"Aunt? Are you home?" The door of Zhang Lanzhen's house was closed. Yang Donghu walked up and knocked on the door and asked loudly.
Zhang Lanzhen was washing the vegetables to be cooked in the evening. They were all potatoes and radishes left over from the cellar during the winter. Her husband was not at home. Yang Anchen had been in town and had not come back. After taking care of the matter of delivering the marriage certificate, Yang Chaoren also went to town. It was a time of heavy work just after the Chinese New Year, so she could earn a lot of extra money.
Zhang Lanzhen looked up when she heard that: "I'm at home, the door is not locked, just come in."
The door creaked open, and two handsome young men walked in. Zhang Lanzhen smiled immediately: "So it's Dong Hu. He's here to look for An Jin. He's inside the house."
"Aunt is washing vegetables. Aunt Cuilan went to the mountain to pick some Chinese toon. They are still tender. I thought that you are the only one busy at home and you definitely don't have time to look for these things outside. You happened to get some today and asked me to send some over for you and Anjin to try." Yang Donghu tilted the basket slightly towards Zhang Lanzhen so that Zhang Lanzhen could see the Chinese toon inside clearly.
Zhang Lanzhen wiped her hands on her apron, picked up a Chinese toon and put it under her nose to smell it. "It smells so good, just like this. Your uncle is picky about food and loves it. I didn't get to eat it last year. I haven't been up the mountain for a long time, and by the time I remembered it, it was already past the time. The Chinese toon had already aged. I thought I wouldn't be able to eat it this year because I'm busy. I'm so glad your aunt still remembered it."
Yang Donghu smiled and said, "It's a coincidence. Chop up some Chinese toon leaves, add some peanuts, put them in a stone mortar and pound them for a while. Then add a couple of drops of white wine and mix them. It goes well with wine and won't spoil easily. It'll be enough to eat for a long time."
"This is a novel way to eat it. I'll try it later and send it to town when I'm done. That way, your uncle Chao Ren can have a few more bowls of rice."
Zhang Lanzhen took the basket and saw a boy standing next to Yang Donghu. She couldn't help but ask, "What is this?"
"This is Aunt Cuilan's son, Fang Chu."
Zhang Lanzhen slapped her thigh, uttered a cry, and took Zhao Fangchu's hand, saying, "No wonder he looked so familiar to me. Now that I see him, he does look a bit like his brother. Both are handsome."
Zhao Fangchu put away his noisy temper and spoke softly, "Auntie."
"That's great. Stop standing here and come inside and sit down for a while."
Yang Donghu waved his hand and said, "Aunt, let's not sit here anymore. We want to go see An Jin. We haven't seen him for a long time."
"That's fine, you guys go inside and talk, I'll go cook, you guys chat."
Yang Anjin heard the noise in the room and called them to come in quickly. Even though his personality was not as lively as Zhao Fangchu, he always felt suffocated when no one was at home all day. Finally, someone came to talk to him, and he couldn't wait any longer.
The cotton-padded jackets were taken off and the charcoal fire in the house was extinguished early. Yang Anjin left the window half open, otherwise the house would smell bad if it was closed all the time.
He was an adept embroiderer, and within a few days, the outline of the mandarin ducks on the wedding dress had already appeared.
Yang Donghu took the cloth in front of him and examined it carefully for a long time. He praised it, "It's really beautiful. You embroider it very quickly. It looks like you will be done in no time."
"Oh, no, it's still early. Look, this is just a pair of mandarin ducks. The wings haven't been embroidered yet. There are other flowers that need to be embroidered too. I need to change to colored threads and gold threads. It's very troublesome. Besides, that one hasn't been made yet." Yang Anjin blushed a little when she mentioned the other wedding dress.
There is no rule here that men and women cannot meet before getting married. After the engagement, it is common for you to give me a handkerchief today and I to return you a hairpin tomorrow. The villagers will not say much about it, at most they will make a few jokes.
Yang Anjin had to measure Zhao Fangyu's clothes himself, which was really embarrassing for a guy who had little contact with men.
The last time Zhao Fangchu saw Yang Anjin, they were just close peers. He had never expected that their status would change so quickly after not seeing each other for a few days. When facing Yang Anjin, he seemed a little steady for a moment: "Just take your time embroidering. If you feel bored, just tell us and we'll come over to talk to you."
Normally, Zhao Fangchu would have been yelling when they met, but today he was not only quiet, but also considerate of others. Yang Anjin glanced at Zhao Fangchu in surprise and said with a smile, "You've really grown up after the New Year. You've learned to care for others."
"Of course, Fang Chu specially left a lot of delicious food for you. It was not easy to resist your greed." Yang Donghu teased.
"Really? You're different when you're a year older. You were still a child on New Year's Eve, but you've become an adult after just a few days."
"Of course not."
Zhao Fangchu couldn't stand the two people's teasing, and Wen Jing was so anxious that she stopped pretending and revealed her true nature: "You two are so annoying. Why do you always criticize me? I won't leave any for you two. I'll eat it all."
Zhao Fangchu still felt comfortable watching him like this. Yang Anjin quickly stopped talking when he saw that he had made him angry, and said in a gentle manner, "I appreciate your kindness. When we have time, let's go to town and treat you to a delicious meal."
Everyone seemed to know the secret to appeasing Zhao Fangchu: if they pissed him off, they just had to take him out to eat something delicious, and sure enough, it happened.
"Okay, I'll buy more when the time comes. I'll buy whatever is more expensive." Zhao Fangchu snorted, refusing to talk to them, and picked up Yang Anjin's embroidery to look at it.
Yang Anjin stood up and poured them two glasses of water, then said with a smile, "Okay, any price is fine."
"By the way, has the Yang family looked for you recently?" Although Yang Anjin stayed in the house and did not go out, Zhang Lanzhen would talk to him about anything happening in the village. Wang Dujuan had made a scandal by letting her daughter steal money from her husband's family, and it had become a topic of conversation after dinner for several days. Wang Dujuan could not pay and wanted to play rogue.
But Yang Chunxiao's mother-in-law was a powerful woman. She threatened to report Yang Chunxiao to the government if he didn't get the money back, and she would also report the matter to the town, making Yang Yaoguang lose face. No one would have an easy life then.
Wang Dujuan took Yang Chunxue to the town to get some peace and quiet, leaving Yang Dali at home to take care of Old Lady Yang. As for whether Yang Chunxiao was dead or alive, she didn't care.
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