Chapter 234: Brother and Sister Seeking Their Father
Seeing that both of them had accepted happily, only then did Wen Yao take out the pearl hair flower intended for Wen Di.
“Sister, this is for you,” Wen Yao said as she sidled up to Wen Di’s side.
Ever since being instructed by Nanny Shi, Wen Di’s bearing increasingly carried a touch of a young lady from a prestigious household. Old Madam Luo also knew this granddaughter’s temperament; once the working hands at home were able to support the household, she no longer let this granddaughter work in the fields, only letting her properly follow Nanny Shi to learn embroidery and etiquette.
Now that she didn’t have to go out in the wind and sun or do coarse labor, this granddaughter grew more and more delicate and precious. A few days ago, someone had even inquired with Old Madam Luo about Wen Di’s marriage.
Perhaps having been brainwashed a lot by Wen Xiuyi and Wen Yao, Old Madam Luo actually felt that it wasn’t a good thing for these children to start a family too early, so she casually muddled it through.
Wen Di had originally thought she was just called over to join in the excitement, after all, Wen Yao liked to bring her along. She hadn’t expected that she would have one too.
“I—I have one too?” Wen Di spoke even more gently than before now. Hearing it made Wen Yao’s heart melt, wishing she could move out the hidden ones to give to her as well.
“Mm, it’s for you. Let me put it on for you,” Wen Yao said as she placed it on her.
Wen Di quickly dodged slightly. “Yao’er, don’t. This is too precious, keep it for yourself.”
“I still have more, don’t worry about it. Don’t move, or I’ll pull your hair in a bit,” Wen Yao threatened, and Wen Di didn’t dare move recklessly anymore.
Two pearl hair flowers were put on Wen Di, one on the left and one on the right. Wen Yao stepped back a few paces to admire: “It’s so beautiful. As expected, one really must dress up. Grandma, Second Aunt, Third Aunt, look, doesn’t it look beautiful? My sister is even prettier than those wealthy young ladies in the city.”
It had to be said that there were no ugly children in the Wen family. Especially now that days were better, each of them had developed their own distinct characteristics.
Wen Di looked exactly like one of those gentle-as-water older sisters.
If she weren’t afraid of getting beaten, Wen Yao would definitely lean in close to cuddle with this pretty older sister.
The three women, including Old Madam Luo, nodded. “It is beautiful, truly beautiful.”
Wen Di’s face flushed red, still wanting to take them off, but her hands were pressed down by Wen Yao. “Keep them on. Dress up like this from now on, the Eldest Miss of our Wen family.” As she spoke, she even winked at Wen Di, making Wen Di blush while wanting to laugh.
Once they had enough of laughing and playing, only then did Wen Yao say to Lady Li, “Second Aunt, I’ll give Ying’er her share when she grows a bit older. She’s still too small right now, she won’t keep it on.” Wen Yao feared Lady Li might have thoughts, so she quickly explained a sentence.
Lady Li hadn’t thought in that direction at all. Hearing her words, she even blanked out for a moment. “Ah? Ha, what did I think it was? That girl is like a monkey, she’s not fit to wear this. It still looks best on our Wen Di. Yao’er, what about yourself?”
“I still have more, Second Aunt shouldn’t worry about me. You two should quickly put yours on to see too.”
Only then did Lady Li and Lady Cai huddle by Wen Yao’s mirror to put the earrings on. Looking left and right, they couldn’t be happier.
When the few of them came out of the room, Lady Li walked with her head held high.
“What are you doing? Walking like a rooster.” Wen Xiuzhu looked at his wife acting this way, finding it a bit strange.
The spring-breeze-like face of Lady Li instantly covered over with frost. “Wen Number Two, try saying another word.”
Wen Xiuzhu shrank his neck. Lady Li simply sidled up right in front of him, standing firmly with a huff.
Wen Xiuzhu stared for a long time, but still couldn’t see what was wrong with this person. He could only ask, “Father and Mother are both here, what kind of fit are you throwing again?”
Lady Li: “…”
Old Madam Luo held her forehead. This son, how could he be so wooden?
Having no choice, she had to speak up to back her up: “Yao’er gave her Second Aunt and Third Aunt a pair of earrings each, did you not see?”
Wen Xiuzhu had a dull face. “Ah?” He hadn’t seen it.
The third brother and his wife to the side were much more harmonious. Wen Xiuqing was not good at expressing himself, but he still said in a low voice by Lady Cai’s ear, “Wife, it’s truly beautiful.”
A single sentence made Lady Cai’s face flush incredibly red. She quickly told him to shut up, lest Second Sister-in-law hear it in a bit and beat Second Brother again.
Lady Li huffily went to the kitchen to tidy up. Wen Xiuzhu was kicked by Old Madam Luo and quickly followed in to coax her.
Only at this moment did the group of children dare to burst out laughing, laughing non-stop with a hahaha.
Old Man Wen was deeply afraid he would be scolded, so he quickly praised Old Madam Luo’s hairpin for looking nice.
Old Madam Luo touched the hairpin on her head, rarely giving a gentle and pleasant chide: “Does that even need you to say it? Don’t even look at who sent it.”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
The moonlight ascended, and as everyone dispersed, the large courtyard slowly quieted down as well. Datou and the other few were driven back to their rooms to sleep by Wen Yao, leaving only the brother and sister pair in the courtyard.
“Brother, what do you think Dad is doing at this moment?” Wen Yao rocked the rocking chair, looking at the moon in the sky. There weren’t any phones or anything here, which was really inconvenient.
It had been many days since Wen Xiuyi left, and she didn’t know what the situation was like.
Wen Jun sat on a stool, peeling sunflower seeds for Wen Yao. Once peeled, he placed them in her hand for her to eat herself, replying at the same time, “Don’t know. Don’t know if the Prefectural Governor will make things difficult for Dad either.”
With a hula, Wen Yao sat up from the reclining chair.
“Brother, let’s go find Dad.” Since they were worried, then they might as well go take a look. It just so happened they could wander around the prefecture seat and check out their small, broken house.
Wen Jun paused. It seemed it wasn’t impossible either.
“Then I’ll tell Master tomorrow.”
“OK.”
The next day, when Old Madam Luo learned that the brother and sister pair intended to go to the prefecture seat to see Wen Xiuyi, she immediately brought the newly made clothes for Wen Xiuyi from the house for Wen Yao to take along. She also wanted them to take Xun Feng along, fearing the brother and sister pair might encounter some trouble on the road.
Wen Yao refused using the reason that Xun Feng needed to watch over Datou and the others. In any case, it wasn’t as if Wen Jun didn’t know how to drive a horse carriage.
If they let Xun Feng follow, how could the brother and sister pair cook up their private stash?
Listening to Old Madam Luo’s nagging, Wen Yao truly understood what it meant by ‘when a child travels a thousand miles, the mother worries,’ even if this was the eldest son.
Giving Dr. Jin a word, they then went to Deng the middleman to rent a horse carriage, and the brother and sister pair set out just like that.
Along the way, potato chips, spicy strips, and beef jerky—Wen Yao’s mouth never stopped once.
While eating, she also muttered and whispered with Wen Jun: “Brother, when our chili peppers are sufficient to use, do you think if I make some small spicy strips to sell here, they can be as wildly popular as they originally were for us? Also potato chips, these are all must-haves for binge-watching and chatting.
Beef jerky is out of the question, killing cattle is illegal here. But a pork shop can be dabbled with instead.
Oh right, our family has so many ducks. Brother, do you think I can also start some kind of ‘Wen Taste Duck Neck’ or something?”
Wen Jun had to look after the horse carriage to ensure it didn’t veer off course while also listening to her rambling mutterings. It was fortunate this was his own younger sister, otherwise, Wen Jun would have long since been unable to take it and thrown the person off.
“As long as you can manage the busyness, it’s up to you how you make it. Stop eating, how many snacks have you eaten along this journey?” Wen Jun doted with complete helplessness.
Wen Yao didn’t care at all. “If I can’t manage the busyness, I’ll just give the recipe to Sister Qiu. Regarding the matter of making money, she will definitely be willing to do it.”
Wen Jun smiled helplessly, reaching out to pinch Wen Yao’s cheek, which was stuffed full from eating, looking at her mouth that moved non-stop like a hamster: “You, tossing everything to Madam Xie. Aren’t you afraid she’ll find you annoying?”
Wen Yao was rather confident: “That won’t happen. Sister Qiu likes making money even more than I do.”
Amidst the brother and sister’s rambling talk along the way, the two finally saw the city gates of the prefecture seat. As soon as they entered the city, the two headed straight for the prefectural office.
Since it was the Prefectural Governor who invited Wen Xiuyi to come, then looking for someone at the prefectural office absolutely couldn’t go wrong.
