When Yue Zhongyao came back, it was July and the hottest period of midsummer had passed.
After entering Qingchuan City, he didn't even rest, and ignored Shopkeeper Wang's plea to stay. He paid the money and took a smooth ox cart back to Xiahe Village.
He was covered in dust and his face was black and gray.
The color of his clothes, shoes and socks was no longer distinguishable, and his hair was covered with floating dust. He only carried a medium-sized bag on his back. He was shirtless, showing his dark and shiny strong arms, and his face was also sunburned.
I'm a little darker and a little tired. It seems that I have suffered a lot from traveling all the way.
Yue Zhongyao did not enter the village, but went to Qiao Mingjin's house first.
The further away we are, the more I miss them. During this nearly month of traveling, I have been thinking about my wife and daughter at home all the time.
I don’t know if mother and daughter have been doing well in the past month, or if my mother has made her angry.
Yue Zhongyao returned home like an arrow.
When he stood in front of Wan'er like this, Wan'er was startled, and she still didn't dare to recognize him.
The little thing was playing with a few children of similar age not far from the courtyard gate, grabbing stones, with his back to Yue Zhongyao.
The kid next to her said her father was back, but she still didn't believe it. She twisted her little body and stared at Yue Zhongyao for a long time. It wasn't until Yue Zhongyao smiled at her and called her again that the little thing dropped the pebbles in his hands and rushed over.
.
Qiao Mingjin was surprised to see Yue Zhongyao like this. In less than a month, his whole body had turned dark, and his face was also tangled with beard.
Yue Zhongyao held his daughter in one hand and stroked the random beard on his chin with the other hand, and whispered: "On the way, I am just busy rushing, and I don't have time to take care of it..."
He knew that Jin Niang liked things clean the most, and Jin Niang would definitely not like his messy appearance.
"Wan'er, come down."
As soon as Wan'er listened to her mother's instructions, she hurriedly slipped out of her father's arms and struggled to the ground.
"Ask your dad if he's had lunch?"
"Dad, have you had lunch?" the little thing asked with his eyes flashing and his head raised.
Yue Zhongyao looked at Qiao Mingjin with bright eyes, smiled naively and shook his head.
Qiao Mingjin turned around and wanted to tell Mingqi to get another bowl of noodles. In a blink of an eye, she saw that Mingqi had already turned around and entered the side room, so she had to go by herself.
"Jin Niang."
Qiao Mingjin stopped and looked at him.
Yue Zhongyao took off the baggage on his back, took two steps, stretched out his hand and handed it to her.
"I bought some things for you, Wan'er and Mingqi."
Qiao Mingjin didn't want to take it, but looking at her daughter's look of anticipation, she thought about it and took it.
Yue Zhongyao grinned. He took out a purse from his pocket and handed it to Qiao Mingjin: "This is the hard-earned money from this pledge."
Qiao Mingjin shook his head: "I can't have this. You can take it home for your own use."
I left some at home, for you and Wan'er.
Qiao Mingjin shook his head.
"Let's go to the kitchen with mother, and let your father wash up first." He took Wan'er with the baggage and turned around to go to the kitchen.
Yue Zhongyao clutched his purse tightly and stared blankly at the mother and daughter walking away before putting the purse away. He turned around and went to the side room to pick up the clothes left there and go to the well to take a shower.
Half an hour later, after the noodles were cooked, Yue Zhongyao also took a shower. His hair was washed, his beard was shaved, and his clothes were washed and dried.
Wan'er looked at her new-looking biological father and ran up to hold Yue Zhongyao's hand with a smile.
Qiao Mingjin saw him sitting down at the dinner table, thought for a while, and unpacked the bag in front of him without moving away.
Wan'er also looked curiously.
In the baggage were several pieces of Yue Zhongyao's clothes, as well as trinkets bought for Wan'er along the way. Clay sculptures, wax figures, windmills, etc., as well as headdresses bought for Mingqi and Xiaoman, and several pieces of fabric.
They said they were making clothes for Jin Niang and Wu. They said they bought them at a low price from the owner of the pledge.
There are also several oil buns containing some Yongzhou specialties, such as sesame shortbread, dried meat, candied fruits, etc.
Qiao Mingjin only kept Wan'er and Mingqi's things, and only took a small part of the specialties. He didn't take the cloth, so he wrapped it again and asked him to take it back to his Yue family.
Yue Zhongyao saw it and said hurriedly: "The smoke-green cloth was bought for you."
Qiao Mingjin glanced at him and said, "I still have a lot of fabrics here that I won't use, so you can take them home. Xiaoman is getting married, so I might as well make some more clothes for her."
Seeing her saying this, Yue Zhongyao opened his mouth, but in the end he didn't say anything.
Wan'er looked back and forth between the two of them several times, held up the gadget that Yue Zhongyao bought for her, and happily leaned against Yue Zhongyao to tease her, making Yue Zhongyao happy again.
After eating two large bowls of noodles, Yue Zhongyao picked up his bag and went out.
Wan'er held his hand and walked him for a long distance, but she was afraid of the Wu family and did not follow him. She watched Yue Zhongyao walk away and then returned angrily.
Yue Zhongyao came back safely, and the Yue family was naturally happy.
Everyone gathered around and asked questions, and Yue Zhongyao also gave a general account of the situation on the road.
Mrs. Wu saw that his hair was wet and his clothes were freshly put on. He had obviously come back from Mr. Qiao's place. His face was pulled down again.
This is really like marrying a daughter-in-law and forgetting about the mother.
Yue Zhongyao saw Wu's unhappy face and hurriedly took out a purse from his arms and handed it to her: "Mom, there are three taels of silver here, which was given to me by the owner who helped pledge the goods this time. Mom, take it for home use."
Mrs. Wu felt happy again.
This is three taels of silver.
Originally, her son only had three taels of monthly income when he was promoted to a police officer. Although there was no tolerance in the yamen, she lost a lot of money, but now the third child has gone home to get money.
Why not make people happy?
Besides, her son still missed her and bought her fabrics and specialties from all the way back, which made her even more happy.
Then I thought about it, the third child came back from Mrs. Qiao. I was afraid that he had brought all the good things to Mrs. Qiao, but he asked Mrs. Qiao to pick out the good things first, and his face was full of anger.
"Third brother, tell me, did you bring anything good to Mr. Qiao? You actually put the good things away at Mrs. Qiao's place before coming back?"
Yue Zhongyao weakly wanted to touch his forehead.
"Mom, Jin Niang didn't take anything. She just took a few shortcakes and a few gadgets from Wan'er. She didn't even want the fabric."
Wu didn't believe it, and just as she was about to say something else, Lao Yuetou snorted heavily beside her, and she curled her lips and stopped talking.
I rummaged through the bag and concluded that Mr. Qiao must have left something good behind. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation.
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ps: Sorry for being late again today, this chapter is missing. I will definitely add an update tomorrow. Please click lightly.
