Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 332 - 331

Chapter 332: 331

The servants who arrived earlier had already reserved a two-inlet small courtyard at the post station. The guards and some male servants stayed in the guest rooms in the front yard, while the master, a few close guards, and maidservants stayed in the inner courtyard.

Chen Afu and Chu Lingxuan stayed in the north room of the east wing, while Mrs. Wei and Li Xuan stayed in the south room. The old master and Master Chu stayed in the main room, and Wang Cheng’s family stayed in the west wing.

After settling their belongings in their rooms, they went to the main room for dinner. Seeing the master and grandson of the Chu family made Wang Cheng’s family nervous. They couldn’t eat their fill at the same meal, so Chen Afu had their food delivered to the west wing and added a pot of wine for Wang Cheng.

What Chen Afu didn’t know was that during their few days at the Marquis’ Mansion, Wang Cheng and his wife didn’t eat much. Suddenly entering an affluent household terrified them, especially when people made unpleasant remarks behind their backs. Although those few people were punished with beatings and sold off thereafter, Wang Cheng and his wife felt extremely guilty for causing trouble for Chen Afu.

Plenty of food was delivered every day, but they didn’t want to eat too much for fear of being laughed at by the servants and causing Chen Afu to lose face. Aside from their younger siblings who ate their fill, they only ate enough to stay a bit hungry. Chen Afu also gave them many nourishing supplements for Mrs. Wu to restore her health, but they didn’t dare to use the small kitchen to make them.

Now the only servant left in the room was Mrs. Tan, who Chen Afu bought for them. Without any of the Chu family’s servants, even though the food on the table wasn’t as abundant as at the Marquis’ Mansion, the family enjoyed their meal. Wang Cheng also drank heartily.

Thinking that he would finally see his sister the day after tomorrow, Wang Cheng began to tear up as he drank.

Mrs. Wu smiled as she comforted him. She then offered a suggestion, "...Our family can’t always live in my sister’s house, and we can’t always rely on Afu’s support. Although Wang Cheng earns one to two taels of silver every month, I can’t do the embroidery work now, and since our younger brother is so old, he should attend school for a couple of years to prepare for his future. Afu gave each of the children 20 taels of silver before we left, and Mrs. Chu and aunty each gave us 50 taels of Silver as parting gifts. With the money from selling our house, we have a total of 148 taels of Silver. We spent five taels of silver buying tea and candies for my sister’s family, so we still have 143 taels of Silver. We could buy 20 acres of land to lease out, and with the rent and Wang Cheng’s military salary, we’d be living quite comfortably. We could use the remaining money to build a house; we’d have everything then."

Wang Cheng nodded in agreement, "I was thinking the same thing."

The two brought out the nourishing supplements that Chen Afu gave Mrs. Wu, among which a ginseng root was the most valuable. They wrapped it together with the tea and candies to gift to the sister’s family.

Mrs. Wu regretted that she didn’t know she’d be seeing her sister so soon; otherwise, she would’ve made clothing for her sister and Afu.

Wang Cheng withheld telling her that Mr. Chu had already promised him a government position once the matter was fully investigated. He laughed and said, "You needn’t have regrets. After I get a promotion for performing well, we’ll have money, and we can express our gratitude adequately then."

Mrs. Wu scoffed and laughed, "Wang Cheng becoming a government official? You’re going to make me die of laughter!"

Even Wang Xiaodi and Wang Xiaomei burst into laughter.

Wang Cheng retorted in self-satisfaction, "You all just laugh; you will see."

While the west wing room was filled with laughter, the east wing room was not so jovial. Li Xuan, who hadn’t seen his parents for a long time, began to cry incessantly at night. Both Chen Afu and Mrs. Wei failed to soothe him despite alternating attempts to hold and comfort him.

Chu Lingxuan looked at the loudly crying Li Xuan, feeling incredibly helpless. A new rival for Afu had arrived at home, in addition to the young master.

Chen Afu had to bring out a small piece of agarwood and place it at the head of his bed. The soothing fragrance permeated the room, and with Chen Afu’s "lullaby", the little one eventually fell asleep.

This piece of agarwood was Chen Afu’s. She had tactfully returned most of the agarwood that Princess Rui had gifted her to Mrs. Chu.

After settling Li Xuan, Chen Afu sat by the window waiting for Jin Yanzi, who didn’t return after a long time. She wanted to pinch her left palm to summon it back, but she was afraid that it might disrupt its fun, causing it to throw a tantrum.

Late into the night, the spring rain began to fall, trickling onto the rooftop and making Chen Afu even more restless.

In the morning, when she woke up, the rain had already stopped. Opening the door, a gust of refreshing air greeted her. The stone path in the courtyard was still wet, with many small puddles. Occasionally, droplets fell from the eaves. Grandfather Chu and Master Chu were practicing their fist techniques under the eaves.

In the courtyard was an old acacia tree, its branches already adorned with new leaves. Several birds chattered from it. Their calls were not only those of sparrows but also of swallows.

Suddenly, Chen Afu heard an intimately familiar call among them—"Mommy, Mommy".

Chen Afu was overjoyed. Lifting her skirt, she ran towards the tree and called out, "Is that you, Jin Bao? Have you come back?"

A small black bird suddenly flew down from the tree and perched on her collar, calling out with a laugh, "Mommy, it’s me. I’ve taken revenge for you."

Chen Afu pulled it down and held it in her hands. She leaned forward and planted two kisses on its small pointed beak, whispering a laugh, "Hmm, hmm, Mommy notes, thank you."

Jin Yanzi stuck out its small tongue to lick its beak and happily chirped, "Oh my, oh my, Mommy kissed me several times."

Chen Afu raised her voice again and laughed, "Oh my, it’s Jin Bao, it’s really Jin Bao. What a coincidence, to bump into you here."

Chu Lingxuan was amused initially. He believed that she was merely overcome by her wishful thinking that any swallow she would encounter would be Jin Bao.

After hearing Chen Afu’s words, the old master, Chu Lingxuan, and other people familiar with Jin Yanzi, such as Xia Yue and Chu Huai, all hurried over.

Seeing the bird’s slightly golden plumage and smaller size, they confirmed that it was indeed Jin Yanzi.

"Ha-ha! It’s really Jin Bao." Grandfather Chu laughed heartily.

Xia Yue couldn’t help but ask, "How did Jin Bao know that Grandma is here?"

Chu Huai speculated, "Could it be that Jin Bao couldn’t find its way home and happened to fly here?"

No matter what they said, Chen Afu happily brought Jin Yanzi back to the east wing.

Li Xuan, awakened by the noise outside, began to cry again. Chen Afu brought Jin Yanzi to his room. Seeing Jin Yanzi stopped Li Xuan from crying. Still teary, he muttered the classic phrase, "Birdie laughed."

After breakfast, everyone got on the carriage to go to the wharf. After boarding the boat, they waved goodbye to Master Chu, who came to see them off.

Thanks to Jin Yanzi’s entertaining antics, the time on the boat flew by. Not only did Li Xuan stop crying and asking for his mother, but even the shy Wang Xiaodi and Wang Xiaomei emerged from their quarters to watch the fun.

At dusk, the ship reached the canal wharf outside Dingzhou. Everyone disembarked, and Chief Steward Yang from the senator’s mansion was already there with his men to receive them.

By the time they returned to the senator’s mansion by carriage, it was already dark.

This time, Chen Afu was returning to the senator’s mansion, not as a needlework master but as the head of the household.

Outside the main gate, many servants were standing to welcome them.