Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 138 - 137: Daddy’s Return

Chapter 138: Chapter 137: Daddy’s Return

Luo Yuan pulled out a wallet from his bosom, handing it to Chen Afu. It contained ninety-six taels of silver. Ninety taels were for the design fees, and six taels were for the workmanship.

He also said that Manager Luo gave her a few pieces of silk and satin, more than a dozen pieces of fine cloth and velvet, as well as some threads for embroidery. These materials were not only for designing clothes and crafting dolls, but also for making clothes for the young lady. These supplies would be transported back to her home by carriage when Chen Afu returned.

The winter nights were short, and by the evening, it was completely dark. Chen Afu finished her work and went home by carriage with Dabao, Er Gou, and Er Niao.

She first went to the New Courtyard to store the materials, and then went to the Old Courtyard.

Mrs. Wang had already set the dinner on the table.

Chen Afu gave Mrs. Wang five taels of silver and asked her to pass one tael to Mrs. Gao.

Mrs. Wang said, "Agui’s wife has been excellent, diligent and eager to learn, and she has helped me with many things. Give her two taels of silver, and I’ll be fine with two taels. Afu should also have two taels since you also did the work, and in fact, you did most of the tailoring."

Chen Afu shook her head and replied, "Mother, you used to be a seamstress and should know the huge gap between doing complex embroidery work and simple one. You used to work all day and night on embroidery, yet only earned a few hundred wen a month. Giving Mrs. Gao one tael is barely enough. Clear calculations make for good relations between siblings. If you feel sorry for her, bring her out to do more complex tasks in the future and earn more money. As for me, I’ll take at most one tael as a labor cost, and the rest of the money will be considered as a fee for making clothes for Yan."

Most of the task of making clothes for Ms. Chu was given to Mrs. Wang. Last month, Mrs. Wang took some time and, together with Chen Afu, made two sets of outerwear, two cotton sleepwear, and two pairs of cotton slippers for the young lady.

Mrs. Wang smiled and said, "You just said that siblings should settle accounts clearly, why are you paying me so much for making those few pieces of clothing?"

Chen Afu laughed and replied, "The rest is a form of filial respect for mother."

Mrs. Wang laughed as she packed away the five taels of silver after hearing this.

Chen Ming teased, "Nowadays, Mother is becoming more and more capable, earning five taels of silver a month. Unlike me, who is always busy but has not earned even a single wen."

This made the whole family burst into laughter.

The night grew darker, and the snow fell heavier.

Seven or eight men on horseback arrived at the gate of Tang Garden. One of them dismounted from his horse, knocked on the gate, and said, "Open the gate quickly, the lord has returned."

A voice came from inside, "Coming, coming."

The gate was opened, and several people walked in.

Chu Lingxuan, who was covered in dust and dirt, went straight to his room to bathe, not even bothering to eat. He quickly headed towards the back yard. He bumped into Manager Luo who had rushed over after hearing the news, and said, "Uncle Luo, wait a moment, I want to see Hanyan first."

At this time, his daughter should be preparing for bed, but he was anxious to see her.

He pushed open the bedroom door, and a warm wind with a faint fresh scent hit him in the face. He saw his daughter standing in the middle of the room, holding a large Yanzi doll, her large black grape-like eyes staring at him.

Her black hair fluttered down, a crimson silk ribbon tied around her hairline and then tied into a small butterfly flower on one side of her head. She was wearing a Consort Yang-colored long quilted dress to her ankles and a pair of odd-looking Consort Yang-colored cotton slippers. The chest and vamp were sewn with the same cat face, strange but attractive in style.

He has not seen his daughter for almost a month, and she seems to have grown taller. Her eyes seemed brighter than before, and she seemed... even more beautiful.

Chu Lingxuan squatted down, looking at her beautiful face with a smile, and asked, "How did my dear daughter know that daddy is home and is waiting here?"

"Sound..." Chu Hanyan said in a soft voice.

This was the first time his daughter had answered his question so clearly, that made Chu Lingxuan overjoyed. He picked her up immediately, saying, "Hanyan heard Daddy’s footsteps, so you were waiting here for Daddy?"

Chu Hanyan didn’t answer this time, but she patted the Yanzi doll in her hand and recited, "Little Yanzi, wears a floral dress, comes here when spring arrives... Yanzi says, spring... is even more beautiful."

Although her eyes were only on the doll, not on him, he knew she had deliberately recited this for him.

He was so surprised that he was stunned for a moment before reacting and said, "My daughter is so capable, even can recite... um, recite poems."

"Auntie... said, recite, Daddy... hear... happy," Chu Hanyan stuttered.

"Daddy does hear it, Daddy is really happy," Chu Lingxuan quickly said.

His voice was trembling with excitement. He once thought that he would have to hide his daughter in his other courtyard for a lifetime, and she would be ignorant and foolish for a lifetime. But now, his daughter can recite nursery rhymes and communicate with him.

Just as that woman said, his daughter is smart, it’s just that she needs to be allowed to step out of her world...

Encouraged by this, Chu Hanyan continued to recite, stutteringly, "Little rabbit... obedient, open... the door, not...open, Daddy... returns... open..."

The last word was drawled out for a long time.

What was this? Chu Lingxuan’s eyes were wide open in surprise.

The nursery rhyme "Little Yanzi" was normal, but this "Little Rabbit" was too... amusing.

Chu Lingxuan burst into laughter. After laughing, he was stunned. This heartily laughter from him probably dated back to the time before things went wrong at home, right?

Chu Hanyan, who saw her daddy laugh like this for the first time, also started to giggle.

Chu Lingxuan jubilantly said, "My daughter is so good, only opening the door for Daddy and not for others."

Chu Hanyan added another sentence, "Big grey wolf... don’t...open."

Big grey wolf?

Although Chu Lingxuan found it a bit confusing, he felt incredibly elated. He sat on the edge of the bed with his daughter, chatting with her. Although most of the conversation was led by him and his daughter only occasionally said one or two phrases, it was something beyond what he had dared to imagine before.

Chu Hanyan’s eyes began to droop with sleepiness. Mrs. Song, who was standing by, took her, took off her long sleepwear, untied the hairband on her head, and put her on the bed.

Only after seeing his daughter fall asleep with the Yanzi doll in her arms did Chu Lingxuan quietly leave the bedroom.

He came into the living room and heard Mrs. Song reporting several updates about his daughter’s daily life. He learned that those strange clothes and shoes his daughter was wearing were made by Chen Afu, named Lucky Cat Sleepwear and Lucky Cat Cotton Slippers, and his daughter liked them very much. He also knew that his daughter was now able to play with other children and diligently recite nursery rhymes every day, wanting to recite them to Daddy...

Chu Lingxuan walked on the road with a joyful heart, the corners of his lips curled upward.

When he returned to his study outside, the dining table had been set with food and drink. As he ate and drank, he listened to Manager Luo report the current situation of his daughter and the affairs of Tang Garden.

Although he found Chen Afu’s teaching method peculiar, the undeniable reality was that it was extremely practical.

When he heard that the first time Chu Hanyan went to Chen Afu’s house, Manager Luo had brought so many people with him to serve her, which caused a disturbance in her house for a day and scared Chen Afu, he couldn’t help but laugh again.