Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 252 - 251: Return Gift

Chapter 252: Chapter 251: Return Gift

Upon hearing Dabao, Afu laughed heartily, seemingly looking forward to that scenario. She said, "Alright, your mother will look forward to that day. So remember, it’s not just your mom who will love you, there’ll be more than your sister and Chu... your father. There will be more and more relatives who love you and depend on you. Isn’t it?"

Dabao nodded his head and smiled even more sweetly.

After appeasing the mischievous child and coaxing him to take his nap, Afu picked up her things and prepared to leave.

Afu cleaned up, took some vegetarian snacks and dishes, and went to Lu Garden to prepare for the evening meal.

Just as she was about to leave, she saw a horse-drawn carriage pulling up in front of the house with Qingfeng stepping out of it.

She approached Afu and smiled, "The Master and Madam sent me to wish Eldest Lady a happy birthday."

Afu, laughing, invited her inside the house. She offered her a seat and poured her tea.

Qingfeng respectfully sat on a lower cushion, she took out the gifts sent by her masters.

Chen Shiying and Mrs. Jiang gave a pair of golden tassels embedded with pearls for the baby’s shake toy. Chen Yulan sent a delicate horn comb, while Chen Yuqing and Chen Yuxia each sent a handkerchief embroidered by themselves. The embroidery on the handkerchiefs was exceptional, and Chen Yuxia’s handkerchief seemed like Mrs. Lu had helped with the embroidery.

Afu thanked them with a smile, she asked Qiu Yue to accompany Qingfeng for lunch and arranged accommodation for them so that they could be sent off the next day.

Once finished, Afu headed to Lu Garden.

Inside Lu Garden, everyone was busy. Some of the women from every family had come to help. Mrs. Gao and Mrs. Wujia helped Aunt Mu with cooking, Chen Aju was stoking the fire, while Hu Laowu’s daughter-in-law, Junior Officer Gao’s daughter-in-law, and Mrs. Chen were all sitting in the yard, picking and washing vegetables.

As soon as Afu arrived, everyone welcomed her with joyous birthday greetings.

Afu responded with smiles and thanks.

Everyone in the courtyard was harmonious except for Mrs. Hu. She sat under a tree, her face betraying signs of discomfort, she was so grumpy Mrs. Chen and Hu Laowu’s daughter-in-law shot her annoyed looks.

Mrs. Wang filled the teacups on the stone table, laughingly saying, "Don’t just busy yourselves, pause and have some water." She then led Afu into the house and whispered, "That Mrs. Hu is really annoying, always pulling a long face. Hmph, the birthday gifts sent by your grandmother and the eldest house are quite a handful, if we don’t accept them, they’ll feel bad. But look at Mrs. Hu, she’s acting as if her face is going to fall off."

It turned out that Mrs. Chen, Chen Ye, and Afu discussed this for quite a while yesterday. They thought that the first house, which had earned quite a bit of money with Afu’s help and had also married into a good family, would likely help their house more if their relationship improved. So, they collectively decided to give more expensive birthday presents this time. The old lady went to town especially to buy a silver bracelet for 2.5 taels of silver. Along with the embroidered shoes Mrs. Gao made, they thought they had prepared a pretty good birthday present.

But Mrs. Hu was unhappy. She hadn’t worn a silver bracelet in her life. Besides, that girl and the second house were so stingy, they didn’t give anything back considering the eldest house only has a 10% share in the wine shop and the second house earned so much money. Yet they only bought them a cow. She grumbled, "I heard that girl is quite rich, so why does she need a poor person’s stuff. My husband slaved to raise the third uncle, and they haven’t even talked about giving me a bracelet yet."

Chen Ye and Mrs. Chen scolded her again. Mrs. Hu did not dare to make a sound but her unhappiness was evident and couldn’t be suppressed.

Chen Ming, who had just walked in, said, "My sister-in-law Wang is a foolish woman who only takes and gives nothing in return. Afu, don’t stoop to her level. Let it go for the sake of your mother and uncle." He then scolded Mrs. Wang. "Why would you bother your daughter with such petty matters?"

Earlier, Chen Ming had invited Manager Luo and his family, along with the servants from the Tang Garden who had good relations with the Chen family, Junior Officer Liu from Shangshui Village, Master Yu from Guqiao Village, and Junior Officer Yu all to the Lu Garden for a drink.

Chen Afu questioned, "It’s understandable if you’ve invited Manager Luo and his people, even if you didn’t, they might have come anyways. But why did you invite those junior officers and landlords? We don’t have much to do with them normally."

Chen Ming chuckled, "Our father didn’t plan on inviting them initially. But this morning, we heard that their people had gone around town asking about our feast. Father thought, since they want to come, we should take the initiative to invite them. These are all respected figures in the neighbouring area." He stroked his beard smugly. He, Chen Ming, had become a person that the esteemed figures around him now sought to befriend.

Chen Afu nodded, chatted for a little while longer, and then returned to the Fu Garden. She even invited Dahu and Daya to come and play with her in the Fu Garden. Chu Lingzhi had already arrived and was taking Dabao, who had just woken up, to the backyard. All the children headed to the backyard to play.

By late afternoon, the men began to trickle into the Lu Garden. The country folks had loud voices that could be clearly heard even from the Fu Garden.

Not long after, the Chu family also arrived at the Fu Garden. Old Mr. Chu heard the bustling noise from the neighbouring courtyard. Chen Afu informed him that those people had come to celebrate her birthday.

The old man said to Chu Lingxuan, "Afu is a young lady, and it is not proper for her to greet these men. We should go over and have a chat with them. Since Grandpa will stay in the Tang Garden for a while, it will be good to maintain good relations with the local forces."

Chu Lingxuan nodded, and took Dabao with him when he went over. Dabao was Chen Afu’s son who was going to join them later in the evening. Seeing this, Chu Lingzhi also demanded to go along.

When Marquis Chu and his gang entered, all the people stood up in fright. Apart from Captain Xia, Hu Laowu, Junior Officer Liu, and a few others, none of the others could barely find their words, including Chen Ming and Chen Ye.

Marquis Chu laughed heartily, made conversation with them, calmed them down and also expressed his gratitude for their care towards his future granddaughter-in-law, Chen Afu, and great-grandson, Dabao.

The old man decided to have dinner with Dabao there. Chu Lingxuan, who disliked such occasions, took Chu Lingzhi back to the Fu Garden.

Chen Afu apologized to Mrs. Chu, saying, "I know it’s a bit noisy here. I hope you are not discomforted, Madam."

Mrs. Chu, with her hearty laughter, replied, "When I was with Chu Lang at the border, those coarse soldiers were even more rowdy. I’ve grown accustomed to this kind of noise a long time ago."

In the evening, after seeing off the Chu family, Chen Afu began preparing return gifts.

Because she had left for the Chen’s Mansion on short notice, she had not prepared any polite gifts for Chen Shiying and Mrs. Jiang or any welcome gifts for Chen Yuqing and her two siblings. Now, she planned to send them all at once; embroidered satin slippers for Chen Shiying and her spouse, panda toys for Chen Yuqing and her sister, and a small satin dress for Chen Yulan. The slippers and toys were samples she had prepared for the Embroidery Workshop in the past. The dress was originally meant for Chen Alu. It was a bit too long for Alu, but it would fit Chen Yulan perfectly, who was half a head taller. Tomorrow, she would send some homemade pastries and cucumbers as well.

The dress that Chu Lingzhan had requested was ready, and she had made a matching wallet for him. Marquis Chu was still going to reside in the Tang Garden for a while, so she planned to make him a suit later. As for Mrs. Chu, a woman raised in the Imperial Palace would not lack quality items. After pondering for quite some time, Chen Afu decided to give her a stick of green leaf agarwood. A panda toy would also be given to Chu Lingzhi.

By the time she had prepared everything, it was already midnight.