Chapter 774 - 398: Take It as It Comes (Part 2)

Chapter 774: Chapter 398: Take It as It Comes (Part 2)

Huai Zi nodded. "Then we’ll just get a few more dogs and raise them. Don’t you worry. I’m planning to build a courtyard on each side of this slope for the Wu and Wang Families. They can live there and watch over this forest."

Juhua agreed, looking at the hired hands from the two families busy in the fields below. She smiled lightly at Huai Zi and said, "In a little while, once the peanuts and soybeans have grown, we can come back and sit here. Looking down at that vast expanse of green will be so delightful!"

Huai Zi turned and said to her gently, "Once I’ve leveled and cleared this path, it’ll be much easier for you to come. You won’t have to worry about climbing the mountain."

After the one hundred mu of wasteland on the mountainside were cleared, a two-meter-wide mountain path was opened up in the middle. The fifty mu to the west were planted with bamboo, with chickens raised in the bamboo forest. The fifty mu to the east were planted with bamboo and oak trees, where a garden would be built within the woods in the future.

Watching the wasteland transform day by day, Juhua showered Huai Zi with praise.

Huai Zi was delighted to hear it. He looked at his dear wife beside him, his heart full of tenderness. ’I remember that year when I was helping the Zheng Family dig their fishpond,’ he thought. ’How I longed for the day she would bring our child, holding their hand, to the fields to bring me water and food. And now, I’ve finally married Juhua. She didn’t even wait for our child to be old enough to walk; just a few months old, and she’s already carrying them to the fields to see me!’

Juhua saw his surreptitious smile and asked, puzzled, "What are you laughing at?"

Huai Zi glanced at her, cleared his throat, and told her what had been on his mind back then. "I couldn’t quite picture what our child would look like," he added in a low voice, "so I just imagined a younger version of Yangzi. But our Banli really does look a bit like his second uncle."

Juhua didn’t know whether to laugh or be annoyed. "Nothing had even happened between us back then, and you were already thinking about having children?"

Huai Zi just pressed his lips together in a smile, too embarrassed to reply.

The couple walked hand-in-hand, lost in their intimate conversation. Their daughter, Cong, noticed that her father was looking straight ahead, only occasionally glancing down at her mother, but never at her. She reached out a tiny hand to touch his cheek and gave him an endearing smile. She smiled so hard that drool ran all the way down from her chest onto her father’s shirt.

Juhua looked up and saw this. "Oh, sweetie," she said quickly, "why are you drooling so much?"

Only then did Huai Zi notice. He casually pulled the handkerchief from her clothes to wipe her clean and said with a laugh, "Cong is starting to teeth. Once our little Cong gets her teeth, she’ll be able to eat roasted peanuts."

They soon reached the bottom of the mountain. Huai Zi said goodbye to Liu Heizi and the others, then headed home first with Juhua. Juhua sighed to herself. ’We’re finally enjoying the life of minor landowners,’ she thought. ’We don’t have to do everything ourselves anymore.’

Laughing and chatting, they passed by Li Changliang’s gate just as Liu’er’s mother was rushing out of the courtyard. Her face was grim as she sized up the couple. The sight of their intimacy was like a needle in her eye. She couldn’t help but let out a cold snort before turning and walking away.

These days, she got angry just seeing anyone from the Zheng Family. If Huai Zi hadn’t been by Juhua’s side, she might have started making some veiled insults. But Huai Zi’s cold stare made her deeply uncomfortable, so she didn’t dare start trouble or say anything out of line.

Seeing her leave unwillingly, Huai Zi’s face darkened as he warned Juhua, "From now on, don’t go wandering around by yourself. That woman is crazy."

Juhua nodded. "I know."

As they were walking, they suddenly saw someone hurrying toward them from up ahead. The person was shouting to all the courtyards, "To the ancestral hall! The village head is gathering everyone at the ancestral hall! The government office has an announcement!"

Huai Zi asked in surprise, "Uncle Jin, what’s happened?"

The farmer, whose surname was Jin, replied quickly, "I don’t know either. The village head just told me to call everyone. I’ve already told your father. You should hurry home and urge him to go to the ancestral hall first. He can have lunch when he gets back." With that, he hurried away.

Juhua’s heart skipped a beat. After the man left, she whispered to Huai Zi, "I’m afraid *that thing* from up high has happened!" As she spoke, she pointed a finger toward the sky.

Huai Zi furrowed his brow in thought, and then his eyes widened in realization. He quickly grabbed Juhua’s hand and hurried their pace toward home.

At the gate of the Zheng Family Courtyard, they ran into Zheng Changhe and Zhang Dashuan, who were on their way to the old part of the village.

Zheng Changhe stopped when he saw them. He waited for them to get closer, then grinned at Cong and said, "Cong’er, say ’Grandpa’ for me!"

Zhang Dashuan grabbed his arm and started pulling him toward the village road. "Let’s go, let’s go! The sooner we go, the sooner we’re back. We haven’t even had lunch yet," he said. "Besides, if Cong is going to call for anyone, she’ll call for me first. I hold her every day. How many times have you held her?" Then he turned to Juhua and added, "Hurry home. Banli’s crying. Your mother-in-law can’t get him to stop."

Juhua had already heard a baby crying from their courtyard but couldn’t tell if it was Jing’er or Banli. Hearing her father-in-law’s words, she quickly left Huai Zi behind and trotted into the courtyard.

Once inside, the crying grew even louder.

Under the eaves, He was bent over a worn-out basket, fiddling with something inside. In a small wooden cart next to her, Banli was crying his heart out, occasionally letting out a shrill cry in her direction to get his grandmother’s attention. Jing’er sat in another cart, staring dumbfounded and a little lost at the inconsolable Banli. Meanwhile, Grandma Liu and Pu Pao were crowded around Banli trying to soothe him, but their words were completely drowned out by his wails.

Juhua walked quickly up the steps and asked, "Why is Banli crying?"

It was a fair question. Although her son wasn’t as well-behaved as Hulu, he rarely cried, and it was even rarer for him to cry this hard.

Pu Pao quickly chimed in, "He wants a kitten. Grandma Zhang wouldn’t let him grab one, so he started crying."

Juhua paused. She turned and saw the basket in front of He. It was lined with a thick layer of straw, on top of which sat a piece of a torn pant leg. Huddled together and squirming were several kittens, no bigger than little mice. They were so frail and soft it tugged at her heartstrings; they had obviously just been born.

Forgetting about her crying son, she asked joyfully, "When were they born?"

(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian.com to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)