Chapter 162: Brought Them Home
Along the way, Wen Yao also asked about the family’s details.
The eldest old man was named Lu Feng. His two sons were Lu Jiang and Lu He. The old woman was commonly called Lu-shi, and the daughter-in-law was called Lu Dajia-de. As for the two children, the boy was Lu Bing and the girl was Lu Hua.
The name immediately brought to Wen Yao’s mind a well-known song, The Lu Bing Flower.
As it turned out, Lu Bing had been born in the winter, hence the name Bing, which meant ice. Little Hua’er, on the other hand, had been born in the spring when wild flowers covered the hills, so she was named Hua, which meant flower.
Throughout the journey, the seven members of the Lu family came to realize that their new masters were exceptionally kind people—both the master and the young mistress. This allowed their suspended hearts to finally settle completely.
No matter what they were put to do, as long as they kept to their place and did their work well, life wouldn’t be hard.
Wen Yao was truly afraid that the unevenly balanced weight on the two sides would flip the ox-cart, so she secretly filched two pieces of candy from her space and waved at Lu Bing and Lu Hua.
The two children looked at her with curiosity mixed with a bit of fear. But children were children after all; seeing Wen Yao smiling like a gentle spring breeze, their courage grew a little.
“Lu Bing, Hua’er, come over to my side.” Wen Yao waved again. This time, Lu Feng hurriedly urged his grandson and granddaughter, “The young mistress is calling you. Go quickly.”
Only then did the two timidly and slowly shuffle over to Wen Yao. To prevent them from falling off, Wen Yao lifted them up—one in each hand—and sat them down securely on either side of her.
This gave Lu Feng and the others quite a fright; they almost stood straight up in the cart. Left with no choice, Wen Yao could only shoot them a glare.
They behaved themselves immediately.
Sigh, why must they be like this, really.
Retracting her gaze, Wen Yao turned back into a beautiful older sister. With a flick of her delicate hands, a colorful, very pretty fruit candy appeared in the center of each palm.
She had originally gotten these to coax Datou, but ever since Datou tasted Alpenliebe, he no longer cared for this kind.
“One for each of you. Go ahead and eat,” Wen Yao smiled.
Children after all, their eyes lit up the moment they saw the beautiful candies they had never seen before. Lu Bing was somewhat better; being slightly older, he understood some principles and knew that they were now slaves and Wen Yao was the master. Even though he yearned for it, he still held back.
But little Hua’er was just a three-year-old toddler. How could she control herself when seeing something beautiful that smelled sweet and fragrant? She stole a few glances at Wen Yao, and seeing that she didn’t seem angry, she carefully extended her little hand.
“Hua’er!” Lu Feng barked in anxiety, scaring little Hua’er so much that she snapped her hand right back.
Wen Yao simply pried open both of their hands and stuffed the candies straight into their palms. Only then did she look at Lu Feng and say, “Uncle Lu, there’s no need to be so tense. We are actually just an ordinary farming family; we don’t have that many rules.” With that, she looked at the two kids. “Eat. Why aren’t you eating?”
Lu Bing remained hesitant, but little Hua’er could no longer contain her curiosity and popped the candy into her mouth.
“Mmh, so sweet!” A massive smile blossomed on the little girl’s face from the sweet candy. Her utterly satisfied look was incredibly adorable. Three years old was such a soft and cute age; Wen Yao couldn’t help but reach out and pinch her little cheek.
Lu Bing hesitated a bit longer. Seeing that Wen Yao really didn’t blame them, and looking at his grandfather and the others, he finally plucked up the courage to put the candy into his mouth. At that moment, he felt the world before his eyes light up.
This was the most delicious thing he had ever eaten in his entire life.
Seeing that they were no longer so tense, Wen Yao finally felt at ease.
The ox-cart ambled along for a long time before slowly returning to Gutong Village.
A good number of villagers were still sitting at the entrance of the village. They greeted Wen Xiuyi and Wen Yao when they saw them return, but the moment they saw the completely unfamiliar family sitting in the cart, the flames of gossip that had died down in everyone’s hearts instantly flared up again.
However, none of them dared to come forward to pry. Who didn’t know that these two from the Wen family were the hardest to mess with? One was a former rogue, and the other was a current rogue.
“We’re here.” The moment Wen Xiuyi brought the ox-cart to a steady halt, Lu Feng and his two sons quickly leaped down. Lu Feng waited respectfully to the side, while Lu Jiang and Lu He hurriedly stepped up to take the whip and reins from Wen Xiuyi’s hands.
Looking at his empty hands, Wen Xiuyi truly didn’t know whether he had brought these people back to solve his troubles or to give himself more trouble.
“Leave the ox-cart for now. This cart doesn’t park in this courtyard. You all follow me inside first; I’ll show you where you’ll be staying,” Wen Xiuyi said. Waving his empty hands, he pushed open the gate.
At this hour, Old Madam Luo was bound to be messing around with her soybean paste with Little Old Madam Luo. Needless to say, Old Man Wen and the two younger brothers were definitely out in the fields. As for the two daughters-in-law and the two nieces, they could only be at the duck coop. There wasn’t a single soul at home right now.
Thank goodness this house had been built large; otherwise, he really wouldn’t know where to settle this entire family.
“These rooms by the front gate don’t even have beds or anything. What should we do?” Wen Xiuyi asked Wen Yao.
Because they hadn’t intended to use the front gatehouse rooms, they were left empty. When Carpenter Zhang made the furniture, he hadn’t made anything for this side.
Just as the father and daughter were at a complete loss, Old Madam Luo came marching in grandly while tying her apron.
She had been doing perfectly fine making her soybean paste at home when a villager suddenly told her that Eldest and Wen Yao had brought back a few people. This gave Old Madam Luo quite a fright, and she hurried right over.
“Eldest! Eldest!” Old Madam Luo started shouting the moment she stepped through the door, looking around for them.
Wen Xiuyi quickly poked his head out from the front gatehouse side and waved. “Mother, over here.”
Old Madam Luo hurried over, swinging her arms. The moment she arrived, she saw several people standing together. Before she could even see clearly what they looked like, the group knelt down in unison.
“Greetings to the Old Madame.”
Old Madam Luo was dumbfounded.
Wen Xiuyi pressed a hand to his forehead. We’re doomed.
Wen Yao secretly snickered.
After a long moment, Old Madam Luo finally recovered her wits and looked at Wen Xiuyi. “What is the meaning of this? What’s going on?” Then, seeing the people still kneeling, she hurriedly spoke up again, “Who are you all? Get up first before we speak.”
“Many thanks to the Old Madame.”
Old Madam Luo: “…” What Old Madame? When did she become an Old Madame?
Wen Xiuyi pressed his forehead helplessly, quickly pulled Old Madam Luo to the side, and explained the whole situation this way and that.
“What did you say?” Old Madam Luo dug at her ear with abnormal calmness, feeling that she must have misheard.
Wen Xiuyi pulled her hand down and said coaxingly, “Mother, the matter is just as it is. Whether you accept it or not, the people have already been brought back. Look at this…”
Old Madam Luo smiled. With lightning speed, she raised her hand and smacked Wen Xiuyi’s arm. Glancing at the family, she could only lower her voice and roar, “Look at you now, growing so capable! To do such a massive thing without even discussing it with us first!”
“Mother, I only did it because I felt bad seeing you all so exhausted,” Wen Xiuyi wheedled.
The seven members of the Lu family instinctively huddled closer together.
Seeing them like this, Old Madam Luo shot another fierce glare at Wen Xiuyi. No matter how much more she wanted to say, she couldn’t say it now. Since the people had already been brought back, she couldn’t make her son lose face in front of others.
“What are you standing around for? There isn’t even a single bed in these front gatehouse rooms; how are they supposed to sleep? Hurry up and take them to the old residence to fetch the beds of Wen Jin, Wen Fa, Ying’er, and Wen Di to make do for now.” Old Madam Luo gave Wen Xiuyi a fierce glare. “Just wait and see how your father handles you when he comes back tonight.”
