Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 264 - 263: The Guest Arrives

Chapter 264: Chapter 263: The Guest Arrives

By now it was already very late. Chen Afu turned to Chu Lingxuan and said, "It’s late, sir. You should return to the Tang Garden and get some rest."

Chu Lingxuan nodded and said, "Let me know if anything happens." He tried to comfort her, "Don’t worry too much, get some sleep. The doctor said Dabao’s leg is fine, it must be."

Chen Afu agreed, then sent Mrs. Wang, Chen Ming, and Alu back to the Lu Garden. After washing up, she sat by the side of the bed, looking at Dabao who was fast asleep.

Xia Yue whispered softly, "Miss, you should get some sleep too. Otherwise, you will be exhausted tomorrow."

Chen Afu shook her head and said to Xia Yue and Qiu Yue, "I understand you two are exhausted as well. Please get some rest."

After sending the maids away, Jin Yanzi finally flew down from the tree branch and slipped into the room. It perched on Dabao’s pillow, its eyes swollen from crying, its small body trembling.

This little creature, its small pointed beak was sharper than an awl, but its heart was so soft.

Chen Afu was quite moved. She gently stroked its feathers and said, "Don’t be upset. The doctor said Dabao’s leg can be healed."

Choking on its sobs, Jin Yanzi said, "I just can’t bear to see children suffer. It cuts me even deeper when it’s stinky Dabao. Oh, my poor heart." As it spoke, it began to flap its wings against its little chest.

While they were talking, the courtyard door suddenly sounded. Qi Qi and Hui Hui flew in, craned their necks under the bed, and squawked at Dabao, "What happened? What happened? What happened?"

Chen Afu quickly shushed them, whispering, "Keep your voice down. Don’t make noise. Dabao is hurt."

Upon hearing this, Qi Qi and Hui Hui were quite dismayed and began to screech out their tears.

"Woof woof....woof woof...." This was Dabao’s crying sound.

"Cheep cheep....cheep cheep...." This was little Miss Chu’s sobbing sound.

"Quiet down," Chen Afu said anxiously. "Dabao just fell asleep."

The two little ones finally subdued their cries.

Zhui Feng, who was let in by old Mr. Zeng, also rushed into the room, lying under the bed silently shedding tears.

After they had finished crying, Chen Afu asked Xia Yue and Qiu Yue, who had come over when they heard the commotion, to give them a bath. After the bath, they came back to Dabao’s room to keep him company.

The second day, when Chen Afu woke up, she saw this scene: Dabao was still asleep, Jin Yanzi lay next to his pillow, wings spread with its beak slightly opened, sound asleep. Zhui Feng lay on its back on the floor sleeping, with Qi Qi and Hui Hui sleepily perched on its potbelly.

After Chen Afu got up, the animal house awoke as well.

Before any of them could make any noise, Chen Afu said in a low voice, "Whoever wants to noise can do it outside. We can’t wake Dabao. His leg hurts and he will be uncomfortable if he wakes up."

Jin Yanzi and Hui Hui covered their tiny mouths with their wings, Zhui Feng kept silent as it disliked making noise, only Qi Qi, knowing it was too noisy, flew out first to chat with the big tree, and only then did it come back in with its mouth tightly shut.

After breakfast, Dr. Jin came to treat Dabao and give him his acupuncture. Today Dabao was in a much better mood, he had eaten, talked a few words, and then went back to sleep. He didn’t even wake up when Chu Hanyan and Chu Lingzhi came to see him.

Chu Hanyan cried her eyes out. Knowing that she shouldn’t cry out loud, she covered her mouth with her chubby little hands, her sobbing was heartbreaking to see. She stayed for a while before Mrs. Song had to carry her out. Chen Afu heard that she had been crying for a long time in the Tang Garden, her eyes were all swollen.

In the past few days, not only did Chen Ming and his wife nearly always stayed here, so did Marquis Chu. Chu Lingxuan still came back every now and then. Only on the fifth day after Dabao was completely out of danger, was Dr. Jin sent back to Dingzhou.

In the meantime, Wang Laowu also came over once to visit Dabao, bringing two bags of candies with him.

Ever since he had started working as a long-term worker in Fu Garden, he had cleaned up a lot, but his teeth were still yellow and his clothes were not very clean. His body odor was noticeable from far away.

Not only Xia Yue and Qiu Yue disliked him, even Shan Zi didn’t like him. When he came, old Mr. Zeng was not there. Shan Zi wouldn’t let him in and said, "The food you brought is only fit for you to eat, no one else could stomach it. Just take it back and eat it yourself, that way our master won’t need to bother throwing it away."

As it happened, Chen Afu was coming out of the kitchen and heard Shan Zi’s words. She scolded him sternly, "Guests are guests. How could you stop a guest of Bao’s at the door? I am deducting a month of your pay."

Hearing this, Shan Zi began to cry. He opened the door to let Wang Laowu in.

With his face red, Wang Laowu bowed to Chen Afu and said, "Miss, I heard that Brother Bao got injured, so I specifically went to the county town to buy candies to see him. Don’t worry, the candies are from a pastry shop and the server packaged them. I only grabbed the string tied around the candy bag, I didn’t even touch the oily paper."

As he raised his hand, it was evident that he was indeed only holding the string of the candy bag between two fingers.

Chen Afu smiled and said, "Thank you for thinking of our Dabao. Please, come in."

Seeing that Xia Yue frowned and Qiu Yue was even covering her nose with her hand, Chen Afu glared at them, startling them into serving tea for Wang Laowu quickly.

Wang Laowu did not dare to enter the bedroom. He just looked from the door. Dabao was still asleep. After a few glances, he quickly left the room with his head down. Chen Afu guessed that he must have cried.

If this man really had come to protect Dabao, it showed that Dabao’s family did not abandon him, but Dabao must have had an unavoidable reason to leave home.

But if his family came to take him home, how could she bear it!

Just as she was thinking about this, she heard Xia Yue purse her lips and say, "That Wang Laowu didn’t even say a word after seeing Brother Bao and just left so casually. He’s not only dirty, but he has no manners at all."

Chen Afu said, "Wang Laowu is a long-term worker in our Fu Garden, and he works very hard. Don’t..." she wanted to tell them not to judge him, but suddenly remembered there were no glasses in this world. After a pause, she continued, "You should respect someone who works honestly and diligently. You are not allowed to be rude."

Xia Yue and Qiu Yue nodded in agreement after hearing this.

Peace was restored in Fu Garden.

After Dabao’s condition improved slightly, the gifts he purchased were delivered to Chen Afu, Mrs. Wang, Chen Ming, Chu Lingxuan, Marquis Chu, Mr. Liao, and Mrs. Chen. Everyone was deeply touched by these items which not only embodied Dabao’s effort but also his pain.

Now it was the hottest season of the year, cicadas ceaselessly singing in the trees, while bird songs became sparse. Occasionally, a few small birds flew into the courtyard, but they were foreign birds.

Jin Yanzi once again took Qi Qi, Hui Hui, Zhui Feng, and Wang Cai to the mountains. This time, even birds like Jin’er, Cui’er, Ge’er, and Qu’er who were kept in cages, were taken to the mountains by it for summer escape.

At this point, all the watermelons in Wangshan Village were harvested and those fields were re-prepared for growing autumn corn.

Accounting for the cost, the net profit from the watermelons was 2116 taels of silver. Since half of the six acres of watermelon fields belonged to Chen Ming’s family, Chen Afu gave Chen Ming 150 taels of silver.