Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty-Chapter 51 - 50 Forever together

Chapter 51: Chapter 50 Forever together

Chapter 51 -50 Forever together

After hearing Mrs. Chen’s words, everyone refrained from saying much. It wasn’t that the teacher was failing at his job, it was quite clearly that Chen Agu was struggling with studying.

The sourc𝗲 of this content is freēwēbηovel.c૦m.

Chen Ming laughed and said, “Learning depends on one’s diligence and comprehension, not every child is able to grasp it. When Alu’s leg fully heals in a few months, he can go to the Private School to study. If he manages to pass the civil service exam and become a scholar that would be great, but even if he doesn’t, he should at least learn enough to be literate.” Noticing Dabao’s eager expression, he added with a smile, “Dabao is still too young, let’s wait until he turns five next year.”

Mrs. Changgen smiled as well, “Perfect timing, Shitou will turn six next year and should also start school, then they can accompany each other.”

The boys were thrilled by the conversation, particularly Alu, grinning ear to ear.

Mrs. Chen was curious again and asked, “I heard that the master of Tang Garden hails from a distinguished family in the Capital City, how affluent are they exactly?”

Mrs. Changgen shook her head, “I’m not sure about the specifics, but my father-in-law said that the Chus are an influential, long-established noble family from the Capital City. Madam Chu’s maiden name is Luo, and her family is a high-ranking official family in the Provincial City.”

When Mrs. Changgen was leaving, Afu gave Xiao Qing a small chick toy. The cute little yellow toy amused Xiao Qing making her giggle uncontrollably. Mrs. Changgen complimented, “Wow, Afu created such an adorable little chick toy. It’s so charming…”

Afu also gave a chick toy to Chen Daya for Mrs. Chen to take back. Afu appreciated the kindness shown by Chen Agu and Mrs. Gao, but she also didn’t want to impose on them, especially Mrs. Gao, hence maintaining a respectful distance.

The family of Chen Ming had dinner at the New Courtyard too, finishing all the leftover dishes from noon. They discussed and decided that both families should have meals together in the old house going forward. Afu added that she and her son will contribute 200 cents each month for shared meal expenses.

Mrs. Wang disagreed, saying, “Where have you ever heard of a daughter paying meal expenses when she comes home to eat? Besides, you often buy meat and vegetables, and might be spending even more silver than us.”

Chen Ming also chimed in, “Yes, plus you’ve given us so much silver already, we’re not short of money.”

Afu shook her head and chuckled, “Order should come first and prevent disorder in the future.”

After a long discussion, Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang finally agreed, seeing their daughter’s persistence.

It was complete darkness outside, all the stars scattered across the sky, the singing lark finally taking a rest when Chen Ming and his family finally got up to return to the old house.

Afu walked them to the old house, locked the small door, then looked around the small courtyard.

Under the starlight, the courtyard appeared smaller, the broad, leafy tree obscuring half of it. The yellow earthen wall, the yellow thatched roof, and the dim light leaking out from the window.

This was her home, no matter how small, how simple, it was the place offering her shelter from wind and rain.

At that moment, Dabao was staring at Afu with wide eyes. With the starlight reflected in his eyes, they sparkled beautifully.

He murmured, “Mom, now there are only two of us left.”

Afu chuckled, lifting him up and kissed his little face, “Yes, that’s right.”

Dabao hugged her neck and whispered in her ear, “Mom, from now on, we need to stick together, never split up.”

“Sure.” Afu agreed.

He insisted, “Remember, never split up, never separate, whether I marry or you marry..” Given his raised voice, his exhaled breath tickled Afu’s ear.

How precocious he was.

Afu patted his little bottom, saying, “Nonsense, mom has registered a female household, I’m not going to marry.”

He said seriously, “No matter what, we should never separate. I don’t want to be like grandpa, living separately from my mom. You have to promise.”

“Okay, I promise.” Afu concurred.

Having received his mom’s solemn promise, Dabao’s face beamed, brighter even, than the Milky Way up in the sky. He kissed Afu twice, pressing his little face against hers. Now, expressing his love to his mom in this way seemed very natural to him.

After giving Dabao a bath in the kitchen, she took him to the bed and warned, “Stay on the bed, don’t go outside.”

The boy nodded, saying, “Son won’t go out, if I do, I will get conjunctivitis.”

Afu added warm water to the big wooden tub and enjoyed a blissful bath. Although it wasn’t the ideal big bathtub she had hoped for, it was still the most comfortable bath she had had since crossing over.

The new mattress on the kang bed was fluffy and had a pleasant smell of cotton. Dabao was sniffing it contentedly with his small bottom up in the air.

Afu lay on the bed, burying her face in the mattress, sniffing it for a good while. It smelled great. For once, she was free of the constant smell of urine.

The mattress had been prepared a while ago, but Dabao insisted on not using it until they moved to the new house. He was becoming more assertive and strong-willed, probably because he felt more confident since his mother had become smarter and better.

Afu believed boys should have their own opinions and be somewhat assertive. As long as Dabao’s views were reasonable or bearable, she would listen to him.

With wet hair, Afu propped herself against the cabinet on the kang bed and began telling Dabao stories. He didn’t enjoy the fairytale stories by Hans Christian Andersen or the Brothers Grimm. Later, she racked her brain to recall stories from “Journey to the West” and “Arabian Nights.” Although she couldn’t remember all the details, it was sufficient to fool a child.

Sitting on the new mattress in their new house, both the mother and the son were extremely excited and stayed up late telling stories.

In the middle of the night, a sudden downpour started with flashes of lightning and thunder, scaring Dabao who hurriedly crawled into Afu’s arms. Afu was also worried in her sleep — Jin Yanzi, Qi Qi, and Hui Hui hadn’t returned home yet.

In her sleep, Afu felt someone scratching her face. She thought it was Dabao, waved her hand, and mumbling, “Stop it.”

Jin Yanzi whispered, “It’s me, I’m back. And I brought you a little bodyguard, so you no longer have to depend on people all the time.”

Afu opened her eyes, wondering what kind of creature Jin Yanzi had brought this time. She immediately came to her senses and said hastily, “Don’t bring anything scary into my house.”

Afu quickly got up and lit the small oil lamp, seeing Jin Yanzi, all drenched, with water still dripping from her feathers. She took Jin Yanzi off the bed and asked, “What bodyguard?”

Jin Yanzi replied, “It’s the son of the most powerful wild dog in the forest. Its mother fought a tiger for half a day before being eaten. I snatched it from the tiger’s mouth. Although it’s small now, it’s going to be fierce when it grows up.”

It turned out to be a puppy, which Afu found acceptable.

Afu gave it a thought and asked, “Are there even dogs in the deep forest?”

Jin Yanzi impatiently said, “How would I know? It just looks like a dog. Maybe it’s the hunting dog left behind by a hunter.”

Jin Yanzi flew out of the window again and returned with a rope in her beak, dragging it into the house with all her strength.