Eighties Sweetheart Wife
Chapter 186 Eating the Charm of the Countryside_1

Chapter 186: Chapter 186 Eating the Charm of the Countryside_1

Old Master Ji arrived at Erdao River Village on the third day after Song Yunuan sought him out.

The old master had visited before, so he naturally knew what the village looked like.

Thus, when he first entered the village, he paused in surprise.

The bumpy roads had become smooth and clean.

The houses were still those thatched-roof cottages.

But the yards inside and out were swept very clean.

Clusters of wildflowers had suddenly bloomed at the base of each family’s fence wall.

Some fence walls even had tender green willow branches inserted into them.

The village remained the same, but it suddenly felt as if it had gained a touch of poetic charm.

Old Mr. Ji blinked his eyes.

The jeep stopped in front of the brigade’s gate.

Then he saw Chu Zizhou.

Chu Zizhou greeted him with a beaming smile, and Old Mr. Ji, uncharacteristically wearing a smile, said to Chu Zizhou, "Young man, not bad at all, you haven’t disgraced your grandfather, this village is visibly getting better and better."

Chu Zizhou had just finished inspecting the village on his bicycle.

For some reason, he felt that Erdao River, with its newly planted wildflowers and smoothed roads, had suddenly transformed.

He found it quite magical himself.

He chuckled. Everyone likes to be praised, but he humbly said, "I still have a lot that I haven’t achieved, I am working hard."

Then he added that he wanted to thank Little Nuan for giving him lots of suggestions.

Old Mr. Ji nodded in understanding.

No wonder.

It must be said that with such renovations, the face of the village had changed dramatically.

Old Master Ji, along with Yingying, made his way to the Song family’s house.

Old Man Song didn’t go anywhere today.

Old Mr. Ji had called in the morning, saying he would come over later to go fishing together.

Old Man Song had made preparations in advance.

There was still a small portion of goods at home.

Song Liang, driving a horse cart with Xia Guilan, went to sell the goods, and Old Mrs. Song felt that everyone should be given the chance to practice.

Old Mrs. Song and Lian Xiang were at home preparing the midday meal.

Song Yunuan said she was not an outsider and there was no need for extravagance, as eating in the countryside was all about rural charm.

Old Mrs. Song pursed her lips, rural charm?

To put it plainly, it was just a meal prepared in a large rural iron pot.

Hearing that people in the city cook with electricity and gas and the pots are not large, she felt nothing could beat the fragrance of rice cooked on a wood fire.

Once the guests arrived, Asheng, holding Yingying’s hand, went off to play with the village children.

Before fishing, seeing that it was just him and Song Yunuan, Old Mr. Ji took out a rectangular wooden box from his bag and handed it to Song Yunuan, saying, "There are instructions inside, just take it as directed."

Song Yunuan accepted the box.

After opening it, she saw a piece of paper, and lined up next to it were ten medicinal pills.

To her surprise, they were for her young uncle.

Although her young uncle wasn’t completely deprived of sunlight, his exposure to it was different from others.

He had a skylight in his room controlled by the guards, which they would open daily, letting a beam of light stream in.

Shangguan Heng was cruel and inhumane. One of the punishments for her young uncle’s resistance was not opening the skylight.

Lately, it had been on and off.

He didn’t grow up normally like other people.

These pills were specially made to replenish her young uncle’s health.

Song Yunuan’s eyes sparkled with a smile, "Second Grandpa, you must have stayed up all night making this, right?"

Old Mr. Ji waved his hand indifferently, "Go put the medicine box away and come with us fishing."

Song Yunuan felt a warm glow in her heart.

There’s no need for thanks, she happily placed the medicine box in her bedroom.

Her bedroom was lovely and tidy.

On the desk was a canned jar with a bunch of wildflowers in it.

Song Yunuan, with her bag slung over her back, followed her grandfather and the others to go fishing.

Chu Zizhou was also going with them.

Asheng, Yingying, and a group of children played various games; when they left, the children were playing their second game.

The children split into two teams.

Hand in hand, they stood in a row.

Then one by one, they chanted like antiphonal singing, "Straw stack, machete Mannie, let me choose your soldiers..."

It felt like a game that children from all over the South and North would play.

There was no internet then, but that never hindered the popularity of the games.

Yingying had grown up in the village too and immediately hit it off with the children.

Old Mr. Ji was relieved to let Yingying play with them. Song Yunuan carried the fish basket, while Chu Zizhou held a stool, talking and laughing, heading for the river bank.

Along the way, Chu Zizhou talked about how he received a call from his grandfather that morning, asking if they could weave some corn husk insoles.

He also told Old Man Song that the purchasing manager from the First Department Store had given him a call, asking if they could deliver ten thousand straw hats in half a month.

Song Yunuan said, "You’re so busy and yet you still have the leisure to go fishing, you should be rushing off to a meeting instead."

Chu Zizhou replied, "I’ve just received the call and was planning to discuss it with Uncle Song..."

Old Mr. Ji stopped in his tracks. "Wait, what are you calling me, lad?"

Chu Zizhou’s face immediately reddened.

Song Yunuan couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Chu Zizhou glared at her, quickly saying, "A slip of the tongue, a slip of the tongue, I meant to say Grandfather Song, to discuss the corn husk insoles with Grandfather Song."

Old Man Song had a hard time articulating his feelings.

If this young man wasn’t otherwise decent, he would have hit him with his smoking pipe a long time ago.

He said, "Corn husks are hard to find now, I never thought about making insoles out of them before, most of what could be burned has been burned, and what’s left is mostly unusable."

Chu Zizhou heaved a sigh of regret.

"Then we’ll have to wait until autumn. Luckily, the straw hats are woven in advance, so I guess it’s possible to complete them in half a month."

Old Man Song said happily, "I’ve saved up more than five hundred."

Chu Zizhou said, "Having more isn’t a problem, Director Ba said at least ten thousand pieces, and the more women’s straw hats we have, the better."

Song Yunuan, "Most of the straw hats my grandfather weaves are for ladies. Oh, I have a suggestion, do you want to hear it?"

Chu Zizhou, "Let’s hear it!"

Song Yunuan, "We don’t necessarily have to use corn husks to weave insoles. We could use grass instead, like the kind on the hillside or the Ula grass from the low-lying land. We don’t go for volume, we can go for customization."

Chu Zizhou looked at Song Yunuan, how come your head is filled with so many ideas?

Meanwhile, at the Xia family in Beidu.

Xia Bowen received a call from the person he had sent out.

Everything was going smoothly, and they should arrive in Beidu by tomorrow evening.

Xia Bowen wanted to ask something but couldn’t bring himself to do it.

The person on the other end was his trusted confidant. After thinking for a moment, he finally said with difficulty, "His health isn’t very good."

Anger filled Xia Bowen’s eyes.

There’s a saying, ’If you won’t respect the monk, respect the Buddha.’ Couldn’t they treat his son better for his sake?

Had he given the impression to the Shangguan family that, aside from the child born by Shangguan Yunqi, the others were no better than pigs or dogs?

Xia Bowen hung up the phone.

A gaunt Xia Ming stood at the door of the study: "Dad, Mom won’t turn herself in. She says if we pressure her any further, she’ll commit suicide!"

Xia Bowen looked gravely at Xia Ming, "You say, what should we do?"

Xia Ming ran his fingers through his hair.

Knowing Xia Xindong’s circumstances, he was acutely aware that unless Xia Xindong was exceptionally kind and could overlook past grievances, he would definitely not let the Shangguan family off the hook.

Yet, he still tentatively asked, "Dad, if he wants revenge, what do you think he’ll do? What kind of evidence could he possibly have in his hands? And if we give someone a heads-up, do you think they’ll take it seriously?"