Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 244 - 243: In a Hurry

Chapter 244: Chapter 243: In a Hurry

Mrs. Wang, seeing a resemblance between Chen Yulan and Chen Shiying during his youth, both in appearances and demeanor, had tears welling in her eyes. She said, "Good boy, please rise."

She felt that it was time to give him a welcome gift, but she didn’t expect Chen Shiying to have his son visit, let alone observing such formalities, so she wasn’t prepared with a gift and blushed in embarrassment. Suddenly, she recalled spending recent days sewing money pouches because her mind was filled with thoughts of her daughter. One of those pouches, which was intricately sewn, was intended for Dabao. She went inside the room to fetch the money pouch and handed it to Chen Yulan with a smile, "Good boy, this was hand-sewn by your aunt, please don’t find it lacking."

Accepting the money pouch, Chen Yulan replied with a smile, "It’s beautiful. My father told me about how skilled my Aunt is, and he was right after all." He then happily hung it on his waist belt.

Thereafter, he presented Chen Shi a gift list. Mrs. Jiang had sent some gifts to the households of Chen Shi and Chen Ming, namely fabrics, food, and school supplies.

Chen Shi was ecstatic, not because the gifts were extravagant, but because they were tokens from the house of the Governor.

Chen Afu genuinely felt that the child was well-taught and the behavior of Mrs. Jiang was remarkable. As such, Chen Shiying would appreciate her open-mindedness and wisdom even more. She managed to pacify the strained relationships between her husband, Mrs. Wang, and Chen Afu. At the same time, she somewhat made up for the negative impression caused by Mrs. Chen.

Busy with his governmental duties, Chen Shiying left the family matters to Mrs. Jiang, including the upbringing of their children. Chen Yuqing and Chen Yulan were raised in Mrs. Jiang’s courtyard since their early childhood, and both moved out when they were ten years old. Chen Yulan especially, who lived in the outer courtyard, still regularly returned to the main court to eat his meals. Chen Yuhui and Chen Yuxia were raised by their respective stepmothers; Chen Yuhui, especially, was favored as the oldest granddaughter by Mrs. Chen and spent much time in Hengshou Pavilion. By growing up under two ruthless people, she was instilled with malicious actions at such a young age. Chen Yuxia, on the other hand, grew up under the care of Mrs. Lu. As Mrs. Lu used to serve in Mrs. Jiang’s court, they had a close relationship. Hence, Mrs. Jiang also oversaw Chen Yuxia’s upbringing, resulting in the child turning out fine.

Afu was confused as to why Mrs. Jiang, a virtuous, generous, and intelligent woman, hadn’t taken the time to educate Chen Yuhui. After all, she was still a daughter of Chen Shiying. Perhaps, there were more complexities within the Chen family than she knew about.

Afu then asked Dabao, who was in her arms, to go and greet Uncle Lan. But Dabao steadfastly clung onto Afu, burying his head into her shoulder, almost ignoring everyone else. From time to time, he would whimper out "mother", as if scared that she might leave him again.

Zhui Feng, Qi Qi, and Hui Hui remained close to Afu, but acknowledging their status, they didn’t compete with their young master. At all times, Zhui Feng stayed near Afu, sniffing the hem of her trousers while Qi Qi and Hui Hui stood on Zhui Feng’s back, echoing Dabao’s calls for "mother".

Seeing their behaviour, the spectators could not help but burst into laughter, including Chen Yulan.

Only Jin Yanzi remained aloof from the fuss, standing on the windowsill watching the scene, and considering them childish.

Afu invited Chen Yulan to stay and have lunch at their house.

After lunch, Dabao, who had been clinging onto Afu, finally went over to Chen Yulan and gave him a formal greeting, calling out, "Uncle Lan."

Chen Yulan puffed out his chest, smiled like a little adult, and said, "Dear nephew, make sure you study hard. If you run into any problems, feel free to ask your uncle. If your uncle doesn’t know, you can even ask your grandfather." After saying this, he took a jade pen holder from a servant and gave it to Dabao.

Then, Chen Yulan got up to leave. Actually, he wished he could stay longer. He liked the two adorable parrots and the big dog; however, his mother had instructed him to return home right after the meal.

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Afu, holding onto Dabao, accompanied him up to the courtyard gate, and said, "Little brother, you need to respect and care for your father and mother. When you have time, come to play at Fu Garden in the countryside..."

Dabao replied, "Uncle Lan, my home is very fun, there are so many things to play with that Dingzhou doesn’t have."

Hearing this, Chen Yulan was extremely interested. He promised to visit during the long holiday of the Lunar New Year. He also suggested that Afu bring Dabao over to his home more often in the future.

With the return of Afu, Chen Ming and Wang, in a hurry, started packing up, intending to return to the countryside tomorrow. They didn’t feel at ease leaving Chen Alu at home by himself.

Auntie Zeng then quietly informed Afu that Zeng Shuang had indeed bought that shop, which was currently being renovated. It was Manager Luo who had provided the silver on behalf of Mr. Chu.

Chen Afu nodded. Had she been a little less stubborn in borrowing from Tang Garden at the beginning, maybe none of these events would have happened? It’s truly a case of the divine Lotus playing games; over less than ten days, so much had happened that made a return to her old life impossible.

Just before dinner, Chu Lingxuan and Chu Huai arrived unexpectedly. Dressed in their military uniforms, it was evident that they had come straight from their camp.

Chu Lingxuan glanced at Afu, and seeing that she looked healthy and hadn’t lost any weight, he felt at ease. He then smiled at her and saluted Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang, and Chen Shi by saying, "Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, Third Uncle."

His address made Afu blush – this man, he really was rushing things.

Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang were initially stunned as they didn’t expect him to refer to them as such. But upon recovering, the couple broke into wide smiles. Mrs. Wang, in particular, was very pleased with Chu Lingxuan – the more she saw of him, the more she liked him, and this made her laugh out loud.

The arrival of such an esteemed guest made Chen Shi, despite being well-traveled, a little flustered. He promptly asked Zhang, along with Chen Aman and Auntie Zeng, to prepare meals.

Feeling a little embarrassed, Afu also went out to help.

The kitchen was already crowded so Afu and Aman sat in the courtyard, picking vegetables.

Aman, stealing a glance at the main house, murmured into Afu’s ear, "Afu, you truly are fortunate. Who would have thought that the Governor would turn out to be your birth father, or that you are actually a lady of high birth. Plus, Mr. Chu, an important official and a handsome gentleman, is so keen on you. Wow, the two of you are just like those scholar-beauty couples in plays."

Afu laughed, "To tell you the truth, all this feels like a dream to me. Actually, um..." She didn’t continue, for this wasn’t a path she had chosen. She was unsure about what the future held. Although she was engaged to Chu Lingxuan and it seemed that his elders in the Chu family liked her too, she was scared. The saying ’Entering the family of an official is like stepping into the deep sea’ rang true in her ears, she was terrified of losing control of her own freedom...

Seeing Afu daydreaming as she looked at the sky, Aman asked, puzzled, "You have such a good marriage prospect, why are you sighing?"

When the dinner was ready, the table for the men was set up in the main hall of the upper house. Chu Lingxuan, accompanied by Chen Ming and Chen Shi, had his meal there while the rest of the family, consisting of women and children, had their meal in the east wing.

After dinner, Chu Lingxuan decided to leave. At this time, Chen Ming and the others understood without needing to be told and went back indoors upon accompanying him to the courtyard, leaving Afu leading Dabao to the gate to say their farewells inside the door.