When the mountain flowers bloom, she laughs in the bushes.

Shen Jiming stood outside the courtyard gate, looking at Lu Nong who turned around and raised a smile of the same arc at the corner of his mouth.

"Come in, why are you standing at the door in a daze?" Pei Zheng patted Shen Jiming's shoulder and took him to the yard.

Shen Jiming suppressed the smile on his face and followed Pei Zheng into the yard.

"Sister Nongnong, Aunt Wu, nice to see you again." Shen Jiming greeted them with a smile, but this smile was slightly different from the one he had when he was standing at the door just now. Pei Zheng frowned.

When Mother Wu saw Shen Jiming, she cried out "Ouch!" in surprise. Xiao Huai imitated Mother Wu's cry, which caused Pei Zheng to wink at him.

"Shen Jiming?" Lu Nong was surprised and not surprised. Shen Jiming was the second male lead in the novel, the male protagonist's partner in life and death. When the male protagonist went to the countryside, he followed him there not long after.

But after the Shen and Pei families fell out, Shen Jiming still followed Pei Zheng as usual, which surprised Lu Nong.

Shen Jiming still had that gentle expression on his face, "Yes, I signed up to go to the countryside after graduation, and I'm in the nearby Qingshui Brigade."

"What!?" Lu Nong exclaimed, how come Shen Jiming became the first one to go to the countryside?

Pei Zheng thought that Lu Nong didn't understand why Shen Jiming went to the countryside, so he explained for him: "The capital is too chaotic, and the Shen family has offended many people, so Jiming went out to avoid the limelight."

This is a very normal thing. People with foresight and courage have already arranged a retreat before the turmoil begins. They make decisive decisions, give up their bright future, go to the countryside or settle down in a corner and wait for the opportunity.

The Shen family fell, and the Pei family also moved to the south. Shen Jiming was alone in the capital and surrounded by enemies. It was better for him to avoid the whirlpool and go south to seek his future.

But logically speaking, Shen Jiming should be with his parents, right?

But thinking about how Shen Jiming also ran towards Pei Zheng in the original novel, Lu Nong felt relieved again. They were indeed good friends.

"Come in quickly, come in quickly. Xiao Shen will stay at home tonight. Grandma Wu will make braised pork for you." After everyone exchanged greetings, Grandma Wu invited Shen Jiming into the house.

Lu Nong handed Xiao Xia to Pei Zheng, "You carry her inside first, I'll pick some flowers and take them back."

Pei Zheng took it with reluctance on his face, but he was delighted in his heart. He carefully let little Xia baby lie on his shoulder. The soft and tender little Xia baby smacked his lips and threw the flower in his hand into Pei Zheng's clothes.

Pei Zheng pretended to be angry, "Old Third, you did such a good thing!"

Little Xia tilted his head and slapped Pei Zheng's face and mouth with his little hands.

Pei Zheng: “…”

"You dare to hit me? Third brother, I am your elder brother, and you hit my elder brother, you, you are such a heartless person!"

In response to Pei Zheng, Xiao Xiazi turned his head away mercilessly and blew bubbles.

Pei Zheng turned Xiao Xiazi's head around and said seriously, "If you hit me again, I won't hug you next time!"

Shen Jiming smiled, "Didn't they say she was Daji?"

Pei Zheng: “Humph.” What do you care?

Gu Xiaohuai, like a little adult, put his hands behind his back and sighed helplessly, "My sister can't understand what big brother says, and she can't speak either. Big brother is so stupid."

Pei Zheng squinted his eyes, "I wonder who is teaching Xiao Bai all day long."

Gu Xiaohuai said seriously: "Xiaobai can understand what I say."

Pei Zheng: "The third brother can also understand what I say."

Shen Jiming was speechless and decided not to get involved in the childish and meaningless bickering between the Pei brothers. However, this little girl really deserved to be called Little Daji, because she could actually see these brothers quarreling in her lifetime.

He turned and looked toward the garden.

In the garden, Lu Nong picked flowers with scissors and a bamboo basket. There were too many roses and Chinese roses in the garden. If he didn't pick them, they would just wither in the garden.

Lu Nong is a worldly man, so of course he would not waste it so much, and he would definitely make the best use of these flowers.

She hummed a song as she picked a few flower buds and put them in a basket. The unopened buds can be dried and used to make rose tea.

Rose tea has the effects of beautifying the skin and helping sleep, and is especially friendly to women. Drinking rose tea regularly can warm the heart and nourish the body.

A few days ago, Lu Nong and Mother Wu picked a lot of flowers and placed them on the windowsill at home to dry. Now seeing the full flower buds, she couldn't help but pick a few more.

After picking the flowers, Lu Nong returned to the living room with a basket, but no one was there. Mother Wu came out of the kitchen with a fruit plate. Lu Nong asked, "Mom, where is she?"

"He's in Xiao Zheng's room upstairs. Xiao Shen is not a stranger. As soon as he arrived, he was pulled upstairs by Pei Zheng. I'll go bring some fruit to them." Mother Wu said.

Lu Nong put down the basket and found that the crib in the living room was also gone. "Did they take Xiao Xia away too?"

Mother Wu said happily: "Are you not happy to let you take care of the child?"

Lu Nong was silent, but she was still happy about it. She just didn't expect that Pei Zheng liked not only Xiao Huai, but also Xiao Xiazi. She could only say that her initial guess was right, Pei Zheng was a cub-con.

Mother Wu carried the water tray upstairs, and Lu Nong found some jars and bottles that could be used for flower arrangement at home. After careful selection, she finally chose a dark ceramic jar. She cut off the thorns and most of the leaves on the rose branches, and inserted the roses into the jar at an angle, with the flowers arranged at different heights and in an orderly manner.

Lu Nong had never learned flower arrangement, so her arrangement was very casual, but it looked very carefree and beautiful. She admired herself for a while, then cut the branches and leaves of the remaining flowers, piled them one by one on one side of the flower basket, and placed the flower basket on the shoe cabinet at the door.

Just as I put it away, I heard someone knocking at the door, "Is anyone home?"

Lu Nong pushed the door open and walked out. She walked to the gate of the yard and looked out through the gate. She saw a young woman outside whom Lu Nong did not recognize. She pulled out the bolt, opened the door and asked the young woman, "Who are you?"

The young woman stared at Lu Nong blankly, unable to come to her senses for a long time. Lu Nong patiently called her several times before the young woman blinked and came to her senses.

The young woman was the teacher's daughter, Li Li. Li Li was shocked in her heart. She had little education and could not speak nice words. The only adjectives she knew were "beautiful", "handsome" and "good-looking".

She is really beautiful. The skin of her face is as tender as peeled egg white, her facial features are nice, her nose is a nose, her eyes are eyes, and her mouth is a small mouth. Her hair is dark and shiny, her figure is slim, but her chest is plump. There is really not a single part that is not pretty and not a single part that is not beautiful.

Today I finally opened my eyes. No wonder they said that the child in Deputy Commander Pei's family is a fairy from heaven. It is not an exaggeration at all.

Comparing people will make you die, and comparing goods will make you throw them away. Li Li complained in her heart, tell me, we all grew up eating the same food, so how come some people are not only good-looking, educated and cultured, but also marry well?

"You must be Comrade Lu Nong, right?" Li Li introduced herself with a smile, "My name is Li Li, and I live next door to you. I was busy at home and didn't have time to come visit my new neighbor."

Next door? Lu Nong looked in the direction she pointed. Isn't that the teacher's house?

Her surname is Li and she lives in the teacher's house. I heard that the teacher has a son and a daughter. Is Li Li the teacher's daughter?

"These are red sausages given to me by an old classmate of my girlfriend. My mother asked me to bring two to your house for you to taste." Li Li said as she took out the sausages in her hand and handed them to Lu Nong.

"Thank you so much." Lu Nong took the red sausage and heard some movement behind Li Li. Li Li then reacted and said "Oh" and pulled her lady Xianglan out from behind her.

"Why don't you come out and say hello to Aunt Lu? Child, why are you shy?" Li Li pulled Xianglan out, and Lu Nong was sure that Li Li was really the daughter of the teacher and Director Leng.

"Hello, Aunt Lu." Xianglan looked up at Lu Nong, then lowered her head shyly.

"Hello." Lu Nong smiled.

Li Li was completely stunned. She had just said that her daughter was shy just to show off in front of Lu Nong, but she didn't expect that her daughter was really shy.

Is her daughter a shy person? Definitely not. When this little girl gets hot-tempered, even her mother can't control her. If she finds out that she is a little partial to me, it will be a disaster.

Li Li could only smile awkwardly, "Ahaha, the child is young and doesn't understand..."

"Come in and talk." Lu Nong knew that Li Li would not come to her just to give her sausage.

"Okay, let's go in." Li Li said.

From the front door to the house, all the way there was a dreamy garden, a clean and beautiful house... Li Li and Xiang Lan's eyes were overwhelmed, and Xiang Lan kept exclaiming "It's so beautiful".

Li Li became more certain of her inner thoughts.

The three of them sat down on the sofa, and Lu Nong brought them some tea: "Comrade Li Li, have some tea."

"Okay, I'll drink it." Li Li picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea, then got to the point, "Sister Lu, I'm a few years older than you, so I'm flattering you by calling you Sister Lu. I came here today to ask you for a favor."

Lu Nong put down his teacup, neither agreeing nor refusing, and still addressed her as Comrade Li Li, "Comrade Li Li, please tell me."

Li Li said, "It's like this. I want Xianglan to learn something from you. No matter what it is, just let her follow you. Don't worry, Xianglan is a hardworking child. She will do whatever you tell her to do."

Li Li said this for her own reasons. She understood best the power of "teaching by words and deeds". Children will unconsciously imitate the adults they grow up with. Although Li Li favors boys over girls and thinks sons are more important than daughters, it's not that she doesn't love her daughter and she will make plans for her daughter.

Ever since she heard that Lu Nong graduated from university that day, she has always had this idea in her mind. Today, when she brought Xianglan to Pei's house, Li Li thought she had gained some experience. Seeing the fresh and exquisite decoration of Pei's house, she became more convinced of her idea.

Lu Nong's heart almost burst. What did she hear?

Xianglan follows her? She is so diligent and does whatever she is told to do?

Does Li Li know what she said?

According to Li Li, she actually wanted Xianglan to be Lu Nong's apprentice. Lu Nong would be responsible for teaching Xianglan knowledge, and Xianglan would repay him with her own labor.

It sounds fine, but modern society believes in faith. If she really agreed to Li Li's proposal and recruited a young girl to serve her, and the news got out, it would be feudal exploitation and she would be criticized.

Besides, Xianglan is the daughter of a teacher, and the daughter of a teacher went to work at the deputy teacher's house... Li Li could open her mouth without any shame, but could Lu Nong really summon her?

He had to redirect Li Li's words and turn the apprentice into a master and apprentice.

But why should she do that?

It can't be taken lightly or seriously. She has definitely brought back a child who needs care. She already has her own children, so why should she be a mother to someone else's child?

"I'm afraid I don't have time. I will have to go to work in the publicity department in a few days, and my own children will be left to the care of the elders at home, let alone taking care of Xianglan." Lu Nong refused tactfully and directly.

Li Li changed the subject and said, "Didn't you want to be a primary school teacher before? I have a way to make you a teacher. The condition is that we let Xianglan follow you. Don't worry, we will not learn in vain. We will pay the tuition, one yuan per semester. What do you think?"

Lu Nong: “…”

Even Director Leng said that she needed to take an exam when he wanted to introduce her to a job. However, Li Li's daughter said that she could be directly arranged to be a teacher. Does she know what she is talking about?

"I'm sorry, Comrade Li Li," Lu Nong said with a smile, "The reason I went to work in the Propaganda Department is because I found that I am not suitable to be a teacher. Thank you for your kindness, but I still want to go to the Propaganda Department. As for Xianglan, letting her go to school normally and learn knowledge from the teacher is better than anything else."

Li Li didn't expect Lu Nong to refuse so bluntly. Her face suddenly turned bad. She didn't understand why Lu Nong insisted on refusing when it was obviously a matter that benefited both of us.

Seeing this, Xiao Xianglan shrank back into the sofa. She understood that Aunt Lu didn't want to teach her and thought that she was unpopular, and her eyes turned red with grievance.

Lu Nong saw through the little girl's thoughts. She was not angry about the matter, but about the person. She still liked Xianglan, this lively little girl. She grabbed a handful of candy on the table and stuffed it into Xianglan's mouth. "Be good, eat the candy. Auntie can't be your teacher, but you are always welcome to come to my house to play."

Xianglan burst into laughter and shyly took the candy.

Li Li's expression softened, and she lost interest in sending Xianglan to Pei's house to live with Lu Nong. If she forced Xianglan to agree, she would feel uncomfortable. If she really let her daughter live with her in the future, let alone learn something from her, it would be good enough if she didn't have to torment her.

Li Li is not stupid. After she figured it out, she immediately changed her expression and said with a smile, "I originally thought that Lu Meizi liked children and wanted to be a teacher, so she brought Xianglan here to disturb me. I misunderstood. I won't mention it anymore."

Lu Nong breathed a sigh of relief and decided to give up the thought.

After staying for a while, Li Li and Xiang Lan were about to leave. Lu Nong took out the flower cakes and rose cakes he had made a few days ago. Since they brought red sausages, he had to give them a return gift.

There are too many foods made with flowers at home these days, including flower biscuits, rose candies, rose cakes, rose jam, and rose porridge. After eating them for a few days in a row, everyone in the family is a little sick of it, so we decided to give some away.

Li Li thanked again and again and took Xianglan away.

Mother Wu came out of the room where she was knitting socks. She heard Lu Nong and Li Li talking and said in confusion, "How can a mother treat her daughter like that? Send her to our house to work. Does Director Leng agree?"

Lu Nong thought to herself that they were not stupid. If they really sent their daughter here, would their family let a little girl work?

As for Li Li, if you say she is bad, she is not really that bad. But if you say she is good, she is selfish and only thinks about benefiting herself, without caring about the well-being of others.

Lu Nong: "Director Leng probably doesn't know. No matter what, I have already rejected it. Let's just pretend it never happened."

Mother Wu nodded and was about to speak when she heard a commotion outside. If she listened carefully, she could even hear the sound of firecrackers and gongs and drums.

"Is the Yangko coming? That's not right. It's been so long since the New Year." Mother Wu was puzzled.

Yangge is a New Year's performance in the north, but the army has many northerners, so they will also organize people to perform during the New Year.

Lu Nong suddenly stood up and said, "I'm back."

Mother Wu: "Back? Do you mean that my aunt is back?"

Lu Nong nodded, put on his coat and was about to go out.

Mother Wu also said hurriedly, "Then let's go pick him up right away. What should we bring? A grapefruit leaf to sweep the dark?"

"This is superstition. We can just do it at home and don't take it outside. Let's go. You don't need to bring anything." Lu Nong said.

When the two of them went out, they saw many military wives walking out of the mountain together, with Lu Nong and Mother Wu following behind them.

The crowd was noisy, soldiers in military uniforms returned home, wives of soldiers who found their husbands patted their husbands and cried with joy, and children were held in the arms of their fathers.

The military wives who didn't find him searched anxiously, fearing that they would miss him or hear bad news.

Lu Nong walked through the crowd but gained nothing. Just when she was disappointed, someone patted her shoulder from behind. Lu Nong turned around in surprise and saw that it was Director Leng.

Director Leng looked at Lu Nong with pity and said, "Xiao Lu, you should go back first. Deputy Commander Pei hasn't come back yet."

"What do you mean?" Lu Nong's voice was hoarse and his head was buzzing. He stared at Director Leng's mouth, afraid that she would say some bad news.

Director Leng said quickly: "Don't worry, Deputy Commander Pei is fine, he just got a little injured and is recovering in the hospital, you go home and wait..."

Lu Nong felt relieved. "Which hospital is he in? I want to go see him. I am his wife and I should take care of him."

Director Leng was embarrassed, "Xiao Lu, there is one more thing I want you to understand..."