Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 198 - 197: It’s Not a Great Gulf, It’s a Ditch

Chapter 198: Chapter 197: It’s Not a Great Gulf, It’s a Ditch

Hearing the children’s distress, Chen Afu’s heart ached. She asked, "Are they still in the east wing?" Seeing Mrs. Wang’s nod, she added, "Let them come to the door, I want to say a few words to them."

Mrs. Wang agreed and fetched the children. The sound of soft footsteps and Dabao’s boisterous voice echoed, "Mother, mother..."

Mingled in were a few sobs from Chu Hanyan.

Zeng Xiaoqing opened the bedroom door, and Mrs. Wang blocked the children from entering at the doorway.

"I want mother..."

"I want aunty..."

Upon finishing their pleas, Dabao and Chu Hanyan began to cry loudly.

It was the first time in days that Chu Hanyan had raised her voice. Despite the fact that she was crying, Mrs. Song, who was behind her, let out a sigh of relief. The whole family was terrified, afraid that their sister would regress to her past state.

Alu, teary-eyed, called out, "Sister."

Chen Afu looked at them compassionately. Dabao’s face had become pointed from crying, and Ms. Chu seemed pitiful. She gently said, "Dabao, Chu, Alu, please behave, don’t cry, my illness is almost over. Once I’m better, I will play with you again. Now, go back to the east wing. I don’t want you to get sick."

Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Song forcibly pulled the children away towards the east wing. Even when they had reached, cries could still be heard from Dabao and Chu Hanyan.

From that evening, Chen Afu would visit the space every night, not only because she was attracted by its aura but also because she was lucky enough to eat a small piece of green bird’s nest.

When she nervously reached out her finger to take the tiny piece from Jin Yanzi’s sharp mouth and placed it on her own tongue, she immediately felt an unprecedented sweet flavor spread on her tongue. The taste filled her mouth, and she felt so happy that she could cry.

In fact, she didn’t even mind Jin Yanzi’s insults.

Jin Yanzi, rolling her eyes, scolded her, "Stupid, if you feel bad, you should enter the space. What’s the use of drinking ginger soup? If you die, I don’t know where I’ll end up. I like it here, there’s nothing stronger outside the space. I don’t want to go to the world of immortals and fantasies, there are too many monsters..." She kept nagging Chen Afu.

At this point, Jin Yanzi wasn’t cute at all, she was more noisy than a sparrow, even swearing.

Chen Afu, with her good temper, explained, "I was faint at the time, I couldn’t think about it. Okay, okay, you don’t have to scold me anymore, I understand."

After Jin Yanzi had finished scolding, she covered her mouth with her wing and tittered, "Mommy, I feel you and Chu daddy are getting closer. The gap between you isn’t a chasm, it’s a small ditch that you can cross with one step. In such a short time, Chu daddy is being so nice to you. When you fell sick, Chu daddy was so worried. Gosh, even if I didn’t see it, I could feel it, he must be happier than a sparrow. Hee hee, he has passed my test."

If Chu Lingxuan heard Jin Yanzi comparing him to a sparrow, he would be fuming.

Chen Afu gave Jin Yanzi a look and nagged, "You even said daddy, but you still want to say dad?"

"What is dad?" Jin Yanzi asked in confusion.

Chen Afu ignored her and disappeared from the space.

Without Dabao, she didn’t put down the net tent. The bright moonlight outside the window penetrated the window paper and filled the room with a fuzzy glow.

She was not a simple girl: she could naturally feel Chu Lingxuan’s exceptional kindness towards her. Nor was she an inexperienced girl who would stupidly accept the kindness she did not deserve. The hurt from her previous life was evident, and in this life she did not want to be Cinderella again, trying to court an unreachable prince.

Chu Lingxuan, as well as the Chu family, valued her because of Chu Hanyan. Once Chu Hanyan fully recovered and returned to the nobility circle in Capital City, she would lose her value.

Even if she was recognized by Chen Shiying, or even recorded under Mrs. Chen Jiang’s name, her status would still not be worthy of Chu Lingxuan.

The situation of Chu Lingxuan was precarious, and it was likely that the Chu family would prefer him to find a noblewoman of equal status who could counterbalance Princess Rong Zhao and preserve his aristocracy.

Furthermore, she did not want to get involved in the family disputes of the Chu family. The death of Chu Hanyan’s biological mother wouldn’t be that simple...

It was all because of Jin Yanzi who stirred up her feelings, like a small stone dropping into the sea of her heart and causing ripples, preventing her from calming down.

Jin Yanzi had said these things before, but she hadn’t reacted to them. But now... could it be that she herself was also falling?

Thinking of this possibility, she forced herself to recall the scenes in her past life of Liu Xudong introducing his fiancee to everyone, the pity in their eyes when they looked at her, the moment of her in tears driving and being crushed under a large truck...

Those scenes faded in and out like a movie before her eyes blurring any previous stirrings, and finally, she calmed down.

She got up from the bed, lit a candle, and took the letter from the small drawer next to the bunk bed.

This was a letter written to her by Luo Mingyuan.

According to Mrs. Wang, Luo Yuan had returned on the ninth, bringing back two letters from Yang Mingyuan. One was for everyone at the original Xile Restaurant, and the other was for Chen Afu. Additionally, he had brought a few gifts for Dabao, Chu Hanyan, Alu, and Manager Luo’s two grandchildren.

Chen Shi’s family had returned to Dingzhou with Chu Lingxuan and Dr. Huang when they heard of Chen Afu’s improvement on the eleventh day. One managing clerk, three cooks, and three servers from the original Xile Restaurant, all agreed to work with Chen Shi at the Xinglong Wine Shop in Dingzhou, saying they would come to Dingzhou immediately after processing their personal affairs.

In the letter, Yang Mingyuan agreed to share the recipe for his Jiuyi Xuan marinade and the Gold Series made with "Xikang" with Xinglong Wine Shop without charging Chen Afu. He mentioned that the hot pot business was so good that he didn’t want to start any other businesses. After that, he wrote about many business matters and his personal circumstances. Finally, he praised Dabao lavishly, saying how much he and his children liked Dabao.

The last part was quite sudden, and it felt as if Dabao were ten years older, he would ask Dabao to be his son-in-law. Considering Yang Qian, he might mean it since ancient people liked to engage their children at a young age.

Yang Qian was indeed a loving child, but it seemed that Dabao had a better relationship with Chu Hanyan... Chen Afu wouldn’t let Dabao get ensnared at such a young age. Let Dabao deal with these issues in the future.

Maybe, Yang Mingyuan was implying something else?

It could be!

Yang Mingyuan, a merchant, did well in business, and he was good-looking and appeared to be good-tempered. However, she seemed to have no other feelings for him besides being business partners. Moreover, he would definitely not ask for her hand in marriage..."

Well, she might just keep him as a backup option for now.

Chen Afu thought about it all night before she fell asleep in a daze.

The next day, she let Xue Dagui and Chu Xiaoniu go and hire people to reclaim the five acres of wasteland they had just bought. The construction had begun in Fu Garden again, and the noise could be clearly heard in Lu Garden.