Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 140 - 139: Applying Makeup

Chapter 140: Chapter 139: Applying Makeup

The children were all very engaged in the performance.

Chu Lingxuan, who was inside the room, stood in front of the window, his eyes wide open and his mouth agape.

What was this? It was so strange, so much fun. That Chen Afu was indeed a peculiarly wonderful person!

Even though Chu Lingxuan found it all common, childish, and somewhat inexplicable, he couldn’t deny that the children were thoroughly enjoying it. Especially his own daughter, who was even laughing out loud. When she said "No opening, no opening, wait for daddy to come back and open," her eyes even turned his way. He, as the father, felt a sense of pride too.

In the midst of the laughter and joyful chatter, it was quickly midday.

It was not just the children who hadn’t had enough, even Chu Lingxuan, who was enjoying the spectacle, hadn’t had enough.

Eagerly, Chu Lingxuan went outside, picked Chu Hanyan up and said, "Daddy just realized what a capable girl you are."

He also said to Chen Afu, "Master Chen’s method is not bad, it may be strange but it certainly catches the children’s attention."

Madam Luo led people to deliver lunch.

Usually, Chen Afu led the two children to eat at the table in the hall, while Er Gou and Er Niao ate on the floor of the hall. Today, since Chu Lingxuan was present, Madam Luo moved Chen Afu and his children’s meal to the side room.

Chu Hanyan saw her father sitting in front of her and saw Auntie and Dabao heading towards the side room. She was not willing to be left behind and pouted, "Auntie, Dabao."

Er Gou and Er Niao were also not accustomed to this. Er Gou howled at him while Qi Qi and Hui Hui also jumped and shouted, "Mom, Dabao..."

Chu Lingxuan felt uncomfortable being so rejected. He instructed the maid to invite Master Chen and his children to eat with Hanyan, while he went to eat in the outer court.

After the meal, Mrs. Song took a drowsy Chu Hanyan to the bedroom, while Chen Afu and Dabao, along with Er Gou and Er Niao, left Yiran Courtyard.

When they arrived at the Outer Court, they found Manager Luo waiting for them.

Manager Luo handed a package to Chen Afu saying, "These are some specialty items the master bought from a frontier town in the north. The master says he will rest another day tomorrow. You can rest at home this afternoon and tomorrow; you’ve worked hard these past days." He smiled and added, "The master particularly enjoys the Luwei you make. Could you make extra this afternoon? Someone will pick it up before dinner."

As he spoke, he pointed to a bucket on the ground filled with pork, rabbit, and duck.

The carriage took Chen Afu and his son home.

Chen Afu carried the bucket into the kitchen, and heard Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang in the West Room talking about Alan’s marriage.

Chen Alan was to be married in two days. The groom was a young lad from Guqiao Village. It was said that his family was well off; they owned a large tile-roofed house and over twenty acres of farmland, which made them one of the wealthier households in the countryside. This marriage between the two families could be considered a good match.

Chen Afu and Dabao greeted them before heading back to the New Courtyard.

Upon opening the package, they found a small bag of black fungus, a small bag of pine nuts, a small jar of cheese curds, and a three-inch long agate carp ornament.

Chen Afu held the cheese and chuckled happily, looking forward to making more tasty snacks. She picked up the carp ornament and admired its vivid and glossy appearance. It looked quite valuable.

The chairman was truly generous with the employees, rewarding them lavishly. A generous leader was truly a blessing for the staff.

Dabao also picked up the ornament and smiled, asking, "Mom, this thing is quite valuable, right?" He then continued, "It’s so beautiful; it must be valuable. I’ll study hard, become a scholar in the future, and buy you even more beautiful things."

Chen Afu chuckled and said, "Good, I’ll be waiting. Son, go rest on the bed. Once you wake up, there will be delicious food."

Hearing this, Dabao went to the bed. He took off his cotton jacket and pants and placed them on the quilt before climbing into bed. The bed was cold as it hadn’t been heated during the day, making him shiver.

Chen Afu took the mushrooms and pine nuts to the old yard and filled two pots with soup. After returning to her room and stuffing the food into her quilt, she took a rest on the bed. Later, she got up and went to the old yard kitchen to make Luwei, with Mrs. Wang helping her stoke the fire.

While they were busy, Mrs. Gao came and told them that she would be busy preparing for Chen Alan’s wedding tomorrow and couldn’t come. She had to work extra hard today.

Mrs. Gao left the door of the east room open while she worked, carrying on a conversation with Chen Afu and her daughter. It seemed like they had proposed a few potential matches for Chen Aju, but none had worked out. The families they liked did not have the same feelings about them, and vice versa.

Chen Afu, hearing this, felt indignant for young Afu. She chided, "Initially, Big Aunt and Aju declared me a fool and adopted a son, blocking Aju from finding a good mother-in-law. Now that I’ve recovered from my illness and established my own household, it looks like she hasn’t found a great mother-in-law. Humph, they always attribute their problems to other people."

Mrs. Gao didn’t know how to respond and merely smiled. She continued, "Today at midday, I brought home one or two taels of silver, and my family was overjoyed. They couldn’t believe I had earned so much money in a month. My mother-in-law wanted to take it all, but my husband insisted that I leave some for my two older children. My father-in-law also said that this was appropriate. In the end, we split it fifty-fifty; I got five hundred cents, and my mother-in-law got five hundred cents."

What she left unsaid was that Chen Aju had claimed she deserved a share as she had helped out in Mrs. Gao’s absence. However, she backed down after being glared at by Chen Ye, even shedding a few tears in the process. Originally, she wanted to give Aju fifty cents, but Chen Agu didn’t allow her to do so, saying they shouldn’t indulge her anymore...

When the Luwei was almost done, Afu began to fry pine nuts on a small stove. Once they cooled, she used a pebble to crack open the pine nuts, feeding some to Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Gao, and saving some for Dabao and Alu.

Around early evening, Luo Yuan came to collect the Luwei.

After dinner, the family of five went to the main room to deliver Chen Alan’s dowry. They also brought a packet of soft pastries for the elderly lady.

They went straight to the parlor, surprising to find that Hu Laowu’s entire family of four was already there.

This was Chen Afu’s first time seeing Hu Laowu’s wife, Mrs. Fu. Mrs. Fu, in her thirties, wore a silk padded robe and silver hairpin and was adorned with gold earrings, giving off an ostentatious landlady vibe. She laughed exaggeratedly and kept calling Mrs. Wang ’sister-in-law’, making Mrs. Wang feel quite uncomfortable.

Even Hu Cuicui’s demeanor changed; she sweetly called Chen Afu "sister Afu". She let go of Chen Aju’s hand and reached out to grab Chen Afu’s. Afu dodged away; she truly didn’t like this girl, who used to bully little Afu with Chen Aju.

But, the lascivious look in Hu Wei’s eyes was particularly repulsive to Chen Afu. It wasn’t until Hu Laowu coughed heavily that he lowered his eyes.

Hu Laowu’s family also came to contribute to the gift money. Two bolts of cloth, one calico and one silk, were displayed on the table, along with two strings of large coins worth 200 cents- an impressive contribution for a rural area.

Seeing the radiant smile on Chen Ye’s face, it was clear he was thoroughly pleased.

After exchanging pleasantries, the three families of the Chens also presented their gift money. Chen Ming’s family donated two bolts of silk purchased from the provincial capital and some silver, while Chen Afu and her son presented six chrysanthemum cuttings and a set of comb and mirror made of pine wood. The comb and mirror, a set of six, were housed in a round, red painted box with flowers etched on them, looking extremely delicate and beautiful.