When they returned to the village, they happened to catch Gouzi’s father just about to go pick up his child, but then he saw them all coming back together. Gouzi’s father said: “Thank you.” This saved him a trip.
Little Gouzi always felt unsatisfied studying in the county. When he returned to the village, he called out those children to run all over the mountains and fields together, asking little He Ran to come out and play with them. Little He Ran said: “No, I want to accompany my grandmother.” Then he stretched out his little hands wanting to be held.
Qiu Yu held the little cub and got off the horse cart, saying: “You can’t let grandmother hold you, grandmother is getting old.” Little He Ran made an “oh” sound, and they returned to their new home.
Little He Ran thought everything about the new home was wonderful. He also discovered that the rabbits had given birth to many little rabbits that hadn’t grown fur yet – there looked to be more than ten of them. Little He Ran immediately jumped up happily: “Wow, my rabbits!”
He Zifeng unloaded the goods while little He Ran ran around them. As soon as Qiu Yu beckoned, the little guy ran over joyfully. Qiu Yu said: “Don’t make a fuss, or you’ll fall and cry again later.” He also discovered the little chicks and ducklings at home. Little He Ran touched this one and that one with his tender little fingers, loving them immensely.
He Zifeng said: “These were all bought by grandmother.” Little He Ran bounced and jumped over to Fang Shi’s side: “Grandmother.” His tone carried intimacy.
Fang Shi took out a jade peace pendant from her bosom: “Here, this is from grandmother for you.” Little He Ran first looked at Qiu Yu, not knowing whether he should accept it. Seeing Qiu Yu say: “Since it’s from grandmother, you should keep it.” The peace pendant had a string that could be hung around the neck. Little He Ran’s eyes curved up as he said: “Thank you, grandmother.” Then he actively took Fang Shi’s hand and even said he would make cakes for his grandmother to eat in the evening.
This delighted Fang Shi beyond measure. The two went into the house to play, and from outside they could hear the laughter of both of them coming from inside. Even He Zifeng was impressed – neither he nor Qiu Yu were particularly eloquent, so how did they give birth to such a sweet-talking little bundle of joy.
He Zifeng secretly hugged Qiu Yu’s waist and said: “I wonder who this child takes after.” But seeing his son return, his heart couldn’t control its joy. He planned to make something delicious today to reward the whole family.
Qiu Yu said: “Mother has already made egg custard. Tonight we’ll just casually steam some rice.” He Zifeng knew Qiu Yu was deliberately saying this – he had already bought fish and meat home early, and said half-jokingly: “Is he your biological son? He finally comes home once and you’re just going to send him off with some rice?”
Qiu Yu said quietly: “I was just joking.” Now that there was a child at home, it wasn’t very convenient to be intimate. He quickly finished the household chores.
The braised flavors and braised big bones they made every day were already cooked. Even the spice packets were prepared in advance. They just needed to add some old braising liquid.
Little He Ran ran out and after a while came back with a large bunch of purple little wild flowers. There was a whole field of them on the mountain. Although they were inconspicuous little flowers, when arranged in a small jar, they looked quite nice. He gave this whole bunch of flowers to grandmother, and even hugged her, wanting to rub faces.
This delighted Fang Shi so much she didn’t know which way was up. Knowing she had a grandson who wasn’t shy at all when they met, loved to act spoiled, and charmed everyone into liking him.
After a while, He Zifeng said: “Your little daddy is waiting to plant flowers with you. Are you still going to plant them or not?” Upon hearing they could plant flowers, the little guy even pulled Fang Shi along to plant flowers, wanting to fill the front and back of the house completely.
The three of them had a big working session. He Zifeng had already scattered the soil they needed for planting flowers over there early on. When it came to spoiling children, he was no worse than anyone else.
Everyone in the family went to play and fool around with the child. He Zifeng started frying fish. After all, being in the snack business for so long, he had also practiced and learned – things he couldn’t make before, he could make everything now. Moreover, he didn’t have the idea that men shouldn’t enter the kitchen.
When the child and the others came back, they were dirty all over, with mud on their faces and hands. He Zifeng brought out all the prepared food and dishes. He said to them: “Hurry and wash your hands, change clothes, and get ready to eat.”
Little He Ran gave a heavy “mm” sound. They quickly gathered together and happily ate the food. Little He Ran was studying in the county, and the food at Teacher Lin’s house was average. The spicy sauce that Qiu Yu had brought last time was eaten up early on. Fortunately, he got to eat meat once every seven days, but at home everything was delicious.
Braised fish, stewed pork, stir-fried vegetables, and an egg custard, even the rice was pure white rice. Knowing his son was coming home today, Qiu Yu stayed up last night to fry vegetarian meatballs for his son. Kept in a cool place, they could last more than ten days. Qiu Yu planned to let his son take them when he left.
“Thank you, little daddy.” His son immediately said when he found out.
Fang Shi watched the little cub from the side, with some smile at the corners of her mouth: “This child is really sensible.”
Little He Ran’s face immediately beamed with smiles. He Zifeng said from the side: “Mother, this little cub just can’t handle praise. Don’t praise him!”
Fang Shi said: “Such a good child, I haven’t seen one in so many years.”
That evening, He Zifeng let little He Ran sleep in his own little room – after all, he was getting bigger. But when they finished their work and returned to their room with Qiu Yu, they discovered that the quilt he had folded neatly in the morning was now messy. There was also a big lump in the middle of the quilt, just the right size to hide a small child.
Little He Ran probably wanted to give daddy a surprise, but little did he know that He Zifeng was mischievous and wouldn’t easily let the little guy get his wish. He deliberately gave Qiu Yu a look. Qiu Yu also smiled with pursed lips.
He Zifeng said: “Ranran finally came back from the county town, I wonder if he’ll be scared.” After saying this, the quilt obviously moved.
Qiu Yu said: “Why don’t we go sleep with him, let’s go.” The quilt moved even more obviously. Little He Ran hiding inside was afraid the two daddies would leave, so he lifted the quilt and said: “I’m here.”
Little He Ran had been hiding in the quilt for quite some time already and was covered in sweat on his forehead. Qiu Yu held his son in his arms, took off his damp clothes, and changed him into a red open-bottom little bellyband.
Qiu Yu held his son and kissed him, saying: “Why don’t you sleep by yourself?”
Little He Ran said from the side: “I was afraid daddy would miss me.” After saying this, he gave He Zifeng a little look.
He Zifeng said: “Sleep.” After saying this, Qiu Yu changed into sleeping clothes, and He Zifeng blew out the small oil lamp.
Little He Ran hadn’t seen his two daddies for so long that he was really too excited and couldn’t sleep at all. The little guy played hide and seek with them using the quilt, and when discovered, he would laugh.
He Zifeng had no way to deal with his own little son either. He said: “Do you act like this at the teacher’s place too?”
Little He Ran said: “No.” He was just really too happy to see his two daddies!
He Zifeng reached out, and his soft son snuggled into his arms, putting both hands around his neck. He said: “Sleep.” He Zifeng touched his son’s neck and found it was somewhat sweaty, so he gently patted his back with his hand. The little guy was lulled by He Zifeng and soon even breathing sounds could be heard.
When He Zifeng saw his son had fallen asleep, he placed him on the innermost part of the bed.
The next morning, Fang Shi rarely didn’t go set up the stall with her son. She wanted to stay home and wait for her little grandson to wake up, otherwise when the child woke up and found everyone gone, he would definitely be scared.
Early in the morning, little He Ran woke up in a daze, and as soon as he came out, grandmother had already prepared the food. He washed his hands, brushed his teeth, and ate without crying or making a fuss. It was just that Fang Shi was worried and explained to the child again: “Your daddy will be back in a while.”
Little He Ran said: “Daddy has to make money. Grandmother, if you’re bored, Ranran can play with you.” He was the youngest in the family, yet he was comforting others.
After a long while, Qiu Yu and He Zifeng came back. This time He Zifeng also brought back imperata root water, which was sweet inside. It was sold by an outsider. As soon as he drank it, he knew his son would definitely like it, so he bought two large bowls and poured it into his leather water bottle to bring back for his son to drink.
“Ranran, look what good thing I brought you.” He Zifeng said.
As soon as his son heard this voice, he ran toward the river: “Daddy.”
He Zifeng gave the leather water bottle to the child. The little guy first looked at it curiously, then gulped it down. After drinking, his eyes lit up – sure enough, he loved this kind of sweet thing most.
Outside, four or five children wanted to play with him. Little He Ran wanted to go a bit, but then looked at Fang Shi, afraid that if he left, she would be bored. This made Fang Shi feel somewhat touched, saying: “This child.” Then she told them to go out and play.
He Zifeng’s vacation was also about to end. This time the higher-ups had shown grace and given him so many days off. Fortunately, going to work wasn’t tiring either.
Qiu Yu said: “I had Sister Liu make you another set of clothes.” Before, when the family was poor, there were never new clothes. Now that the family had some money, Qiu Yu tried his best to dress up He Zifeng. The fabric he bought was all of the finest quality.
Sister Liu had been making clothes her whole life, but touching such good material, she didn’t dare make it. She was afraid of ruining it and wasting this piece of fabric.
He Zifeng put on the clothes. He already had a good figure, and after putting on the clothes, he looked even more stylish. Qiu Yu took one look and really liked it. He looked several more times.
He Zifeng said: “I have clothes to wear when I work, so I’ll save this for important occasions.”
Qiu Yu said: “Since it’s already made, just wear it. Besides, what important occasions could there be? It’ll be at least more than ten years before Ranran gets married.”
He said this casually, but it made He Zifeng feel a bit uncomfortable. He wouldn’t bear to give his precious treasure to anyone. He was working so hard now to earn money just to save up a family fortune for Ranran, so he wouldn’t have to live a hard life in the future.
When Ranran ran back home thirsty after running around all morning to drink water, He Zifeng held the little cub in his arms and seriously asked: “Ranran, will you get married in the future?”
Although it was still more than ten years away, just thinking about such things made him feel uncomfortable.
Little He Ran said: “No, I’ll be like Teacher Lin. I’ll study and take the imperial examinations for official positions.”
Although he was small, his ambition was high. He Zifeng had been troubled all morning, but hearing his son’s words, he immediately became happy, like drinking a mouthful of well water on a summer day – refreshing: “Good child, you have ambition!”
R : 2 updates from now on finally ! (´⌣`ʃƪ)
