Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 191 - 190: News

Chapter 191: Chapter 190: News

While the mother and daughter were in mid-conversation, Chen Ming returned. Seeing Mrs. Wang’s red and swollen eyes, he was startled and hurriedly approached her, asking, "Madam Juen, what’s wrong?"

Chen Afu felt that Mrs. Wang should have a private conversation with Chen Ming, so she left the main hall.

She moved to the south room in the west wing, where the three generations of the Chu family were sitting on small chairs, playing with building blocks on a little-legged table. They were all big lads, and Chen Afu was worried they might break the small chairs.

Seeing Chen Afu, the elderly Marquis Chu gave her a thumbs up and said, "Clever girl, even thinking of this method. This way, they can exercise their attention, patience, and observational skills."

These were new building blocks, not like those for making shapes of buildings, but like those for assembling a scene of a horse running on the prairie. After scrambling the blocks, the children had to figure out how to put them back to form the original scene. Not only the horse but also the grass and wildflowers were included, requiring the children’s full concentration, patience to accomplish.

Chu Lingxuan also agreed, "Hmm, indeed an ingenious idea. Master Chen Afu’s Danqing skills are also very good, as this horse is very eloquently drawn. But the paint is not very good, I will have someone find you some superior paint."

Chen Afu was in need of good paint, but she was reluctant to buy it since superior paint was too expensive. Paint should indeed be considered an educational tool, and it was only right the Chairman provided it.

She expressed her thanks with a smile.

As they were chatting and laughing, they heard the voices of Dabao, Alu, Luo Mingcheng and a few other children in the courtyard. They had woken up. Marquis Chu then got up and walked outside to call the boys to do squats and practice boxing.

With the old gentleman gone, Chen Afu and Chu Lingxuan could not remain alone in the south room. They got up and went to the hall, where they saw Ms. Chu coming out of the north room.

The young girl’s face was flushed, as if she had applied two rounds of thick rouge. Her eyes were still somewhat misty, seemingly not fully awake.

Instead of rushing towards Chu Lingxuan who had outstretched his arms to her, she rushed towards Chen Afu, clambering up onto her with her hands and legs. Chen Afu then picked her up.

The little girl said softly, "Auntie...pillow...scented, blanket...scented, sister...likes, want more..."

The girl’s innocent words inadvertently exposed the secret of Chen Afu’s "fragrant boudoir." Chen Afu felt somewhat embarrassed, and Chu Lingxuan felt quite awkward. He coughed and quickly stepped outside.

Chen Afu pretended to be angry and chided her gently, "Sister, remember not to talk about the things inside Auntie’s bedroom in front of others."

However, the young girl stubbornly replied, "It’s...Dad, not...others."

He is your father, but he is still a stranger to me. Really frustrated by her stubbornness, Chen Afu could not explain.

Chen Afu shook her head, put her down, and led her outside.

After playing with the children for a while, Chen Afu went to the kitchen to cook. Mrs. Song and Luo Mei took Chu Hanyan into the house to play with the building blocks, while Marquis Chu continued in the courtyard, teaching the boys to squat and box. Not only did the little boys enjoy the activity, but even Qi Qi and Hui Hui also enjoyed it, joining in.

The Chens treated the three generations of the Chu family to a satisfying meal before sending them home. Dabao still took Chen Afu to the door to "see off" the Chu family. That father and daughter still stopped and looked back at them from under the tree.

Dabao was so happy, he was waving and calling "Yan’er, Uncle Chu," and after greeting them, he pulled Chen Afu and said, "Mom, I saw Yan’er waving at us." Saying this, he jumped up in excitement.

Chen Afu also saw a little arm waving at them.

Once they turned around and left, Chen Afu took Dabao back to the main hall. Seeing Alu clinging to Chen Ming to ask for help with his homework, and a preoccupied Chen Ming seeming somewhat impatient with him, Chen Afu took Alu and Dabao to the west wing. They played until bedtime before allowing Alu to go to the east wing to rest.

The next morning, when Chen Afu saw that Chen Ming had returned to his usual demeanor, she finally relaxed.

People are such contradictions. Chen Afu did not want to see Chen Ming too happy, for that would make her think his love for money surpassed his love for Mrs. Wang. But she also did not want him to be too distressed, for fear that it would cause future conflicts in their life.

Very few men can be upright when faced with such a situation. Chen Ming indeed is a magnanimous and noble man. Mrs. Wang has truly found a treasure. Living with him for a lifetime is a lot better than living with Chen Shiying, at least life is peaceful and pleasant, without the need for jealousy. A gentle woman like Mrs. Wang, who would not love her?

It seemed as though Chen Afu had a standard for finding her other half, was this an "Oedipus complex"?

On the sixth day of the first lunar month, the Chu family shamelessly came to Lu Garden for lunch and dinner. The young girl even took a nap in Lu Garden at noon. On the seventh day, they came for lunch at Lu Garden, and the young girl continued to sleep in Chen Afu’s bed in the afternoon, while the grandpa and grandson returned to Tang Garden to rest, promising to come back for dinner. They mentioned that they would not come the next day, on the eighth day, because they were going to Lingyin Temple to burn incense, and then head to Yingxue Nunnery to visit Abbot Liao Chen.

The Chens breathed a sigh of relief, knowing they could rest for a day.

But in the late afternoon that day, Mr. Zeng and Xue Dagui returned from Xiaoli Village in Yi’an County, bringing back some unwelcome news.

They had found the family that bought Wang Cheng. They were not even allowed to enter the house, and were only told that Li Gousheng died in a battlefield at the frontier over a decade ago.

Unable to do anything, Zeng and Xue Dagui stayed in a local household, spending money to inquire about Wang Cheng’s whereabouts.

They learned that Wang Cheng’s adopted family’s name was Li, and after the wife had given birth to three daughters, there were no signs of more children. People started gossiping that she couldn’t have any more children, and so they let it be known that they wanted to adopt a clever boy. Around that time, an old woman visited their house, who happened to be the mother-in-law of He Houzi.

About half a year later, the old woman brought a little boy to their home. Wang Cheng was handsome and likable, and so initially, the Li family treated him well. They even gave him a new name: Li Gousheng.

However, the following year, the nearly thirty-year-old wife surprisingly got pregnant and gave birth to a boy in the third year. From then on, Wang Cheng’s hard life began.

He was underfed and underdressed, made to do everything, and if anything was not done well, he was beaten. His body was always bruised. His three sisters would often bully him too, pushing their chores onto him.

Doing so much work but eating so little, Wang Cheng once even fainted from hunger on the way to collect firewood.

Many villagers criticized the Li family for mistreating Wang Cheng. He had brought them fortune and a son, how on earth could they treat him in such a way.

The Li family would make promises when complained at, but as soon as the door was closed, they would beat him even harder. Eventually, these neighbors stopped complaining too. They felt sorry for him and would secretly give him some food, making sure the Li family wouldn’t find out. If they did, they would scold him for tarnishing their family name and would beat him again.