Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 360 - 359: Take the Initiative

Chapter 360: Chapter 359: Take the Initiative

The next day, Chen Shi held a feast at Xinglong Grand Restaurant, inviting Wang Cheng’s family and Chen Ming’s couple.

At the banquet, Chen Shi sincerely apologized on behalf of Mrs. Chen to Mr. Wang and Wang Cheng. He also hinted awkwardly that Mrs. Chen often spoke without thinking, so they shouldn’t mention this to Afu.

Chen Ming also advised Mrs. Wang in private not to tell Afu about this matter, as it would only add to her worries and affect her relationship with Mrs. Chen and the main chamber.

Later, Mrs. Zhang couldn’t hold back and told Mrs. Wang about the conversation between Mrs. Chen and Chen Shi, which angered Mrs. Wang. She said, "Even my third uncle knows how my family is doing, but they keep lying. When I gave birth to Afu, nobody took care of me during my confinement period, it was me who used the few dozen money I had left to hire someone to help me wash clothes and diapers, and cook meals. Throughout that month, Mrs. Hu never came to visit. However, Mrs. Chen often came, but she behaved as if she didn’t see me or Afu, only cooking two eggs for my husband, or a bowl of meat soup. Afraid that my husband might try to keep some for me, she would insist on watching him finish eating before leaving. I was worried that he was concerned about us, so I lied to him that Mrs. Chen also cooked for me. My milk was insufficient, so Afu could only drink rice soup. But when I gave birth to Alu, Mrs. Chen kept sending chicken and eggs, afraid that my lack of milk would hinder Alu’s growth..." Thinking of those difficult days, Mrs. Wang’s tears began to flow again, she said, "I dare not tell Afu these things, I fear it would upset her. They have protected Afu several times, but they were actually helping my husband."

As it turned out, Mrs. Wang never mentioned about the issues Mrs. Chen and the main chamber caused. But this time, she was truly angry and couldn’t help but tell Afu when she got home. She only mentioned the most recent incident, and still dared not tell about the previous ones. She was worried that Afu would be upset and it might cause a rift between Afu and the main chamber which would put Chen Ming in a position.

Afu was at a loss for words, she really didn’t have much affection for the main chamber. The reason why she had always been decent to the main chamber was because of Chen Ming, she respected Chen Ming so she also respected his mother and brother.

Another reason was that there were three incidents that made her think highly of Mrs. Chen and Chen Ye. Two of these incidents involved them helping her when she was fighting with the villagers even though they were weak, they tried their best to help. Even though they were mainly helping Chen Ming, she still benefited from this and avoided suffering losses. In addition, Chen Shiying’s cruel mother wanted to bribe them to deceive her into the main chamber to sell her, but they didn’t let greed blind them and didn’t sell her. She felt that they had a moral bottom line, which was different from Chen Shiying’s vile mother. They just liked to take advantage of small benefits and were not bad people.

However, even after giving so much to them, they were dissatisfied and dared not vent their anger on her, instead they took it out on Mrs. Wang which caused Afu to become unhappy. Thinking about this, she decided that apart from the necessary exchanges of common courtesy, she would not provide them with extra gifts in the future, to prevent them from becoming too greedy.

Seeing that Afu was angry, Mrs. Wang regretted speaking out of turn and quickly advised, "Just forget it, we shouldn’t hold grievances against them, for the sake of your father."

She then had Afu stay for dinner and said they should invite Chu Lingxuan and his grandson over again.

Thinking about that incident, Afu shook her head and said, "No, they still have matters to attend to."

That night, it was once again Afu having dinner with her two children. It was said that Chu Lingxuan had to go out for an errand, while the old master was busy and didn’t come out for dinner.

After dinner, she sent away the children, closed the door to the room and entered the space. She had no choice but to talk with the little one about going north to find the three-color ball.

After entering the space, she saw Jin Yanzi holding Jin Bei and lying on the ground. Its small eyes were still swollen. Seeing Afu enter, it started crying again.

Seeing such a tender and delicate creature, Afu felt extremely distressed.

Watching it shed unending tears, Afu couldn’t open her mouth to speak. She was currently pregnant and couldn’t sit on the ground, so she had to exert effort to bend over and pick the two of them up, leaning against the agarwood, and wiping its tears with a handkerchief.

After a while, Jin Yanzi, with her swollen eyes, asked, "Mommy, why aren’t you telling me to go north to find the three-color ball? Isn’t that what you said to Chu Daddy?"

Afu replied, "Mommy is embarrassed to tell the baby." Her voice was choking, she continued, "Seeing the baby so upset, mommy’s heart aches. Actually, I also don’t want to see the baby suffer so much..."

Jin Yanzi replied, "For Mommy, it’s okay if I have to suffer a little more. But— I just can’t bear to part with those green bird nests." As she spoke, she opened her little pointed mouth and began to cry again. Her little pink tongue trembled, it was a heartbreaking sight.

After crying for a while, still unwilling to part with the green bird nests, thinking of the prospect of giving away so many bird nests made her feel physical pain. She said, "Mommy, I won’t let anything happen to you. If the Chu family really gets into trouble, you can hide inside the space, and I can bring you somewhere nobody knows you to start a new life."

Afu sighed, "What about Dabao, Yan’er, Daddy Chu, Grandpa Chu, and the twins in mommy’s belly? Should we leave them to their fate?"

"I can’t bear to part with them too!" The little creature said before bursting into tears again.

Hearing this, Afu was moved yet sad. The little one must have agreed to give away the green bird nests, but because it was too distressed, it kept crying, hence why it resorted to saying those insincere words. She too began to cry.

Seeing her cry, Jin Yanzi asked, "Why is mommy crying?"

Afu replied softly, "In mommy’s eyes, baby is like mom’s real son. Seeing the baby distressed, mommy’s heart feels like it’s breaking."

The affectionate words deeply moved the little creature, and through its teary eyes, it radiated admiration. It choked and said, "It’s strange, my previous four owners were all like my sisters and friends, so I called them sisters. But only you, Mommy, are truly like my mother, so I’m willing to call you ’Mommy’ and ’Mommy Fu’." It looked at Jin Bei in its arms and said, "I am very happy in this life, I have a mother’s love, as well as Beibei."

It stood up, wiped away the tears with one wing, put Jin Bei into a golden house, and came back to hang itself on Afu’s huge belly, saying, "I will go to the North to see if I can find the three-color ball. I shall go now; it will be too late otherwise."

After speaking, it spiraled once in the space and disappeared.

Afu didn’t expect that the creature would take the initiative to go search for the three-color balls even before she could speak. She was so moved that she felt like exploding, but she couldn’t be happy. The world is vast, she didn’t know where it would go to look for the balls, and whether there will be any danger; she was worried and distressed. She remained in a daze for a while before exiting the space.

Lying in bed, she tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep, staring blankly at the blurred ceiling. She thought to herself, what merits or abilities does she have in this life to possess a space - even though she didn’t have the ownership, she often also benefited from it. She also has the adorable and kind Jin Yanzi; Wu Zhi said she was blessed, and that blessing meant Jin Yanzi. Moreover, she also had so many relatives, including Chu Lingxuan, Dabao, Ms. Chu, Mrs. Wang, Chen Ming, Alu, and the twins in her belly...

She was still contemplating when Chu Lingxuan came back late into the night.