148 He’s Very Strange
Poor Li Shouji. He had to work so hard for Jiang Danhe.
Just like that, before Li Shouji left the house, he prepared a big gift for Jiang Danhe. “Didn’t you want to go shopping in a warm moment? In that case, I’ll send more warmth your way.”
Li Shouji rode quickly to the palace and picked up Crown Prince Shao Yi.
Actually, it wasn’t that difficult. As soon as he spoke to the emperor, the latter agreed. In any case, the crown prince had been kept indoors for too long. It would be good for him to go out and play. Moreover, he was following Jiang Danhe, so it was very safe.
It was even simpler to persuade the Crown Prince. Li Shouji only said the words, “Zhuang Zhuang, out of the palace”, and Shao Yi immediately stopped eating. He threw down his chopsticks and got someone to dress him and prepare the carriage.
Back to the other side.
Li Shouji, who had just sneezed, chuckled slyly. “Jiang Danhe must have received his big gift from me. Enjoy it while I let you torture and exploit me.”
The two adults and two kids sat on the carriage and arrived at the busiest street in the capital.
Xiaoguo had just lifted the curtain when she realized that she had been wrong. She had been terribly wrong.
When she first arrived, she had said that the capital was no different from other places. But now, Xiaoguo had to admit that she was ridiculously wrong.
What was the difference? There was a huge difference. This line kept appearing in her mind, “The capital was indeed the capital!”
On both sides of the street, there were quite a number of hawkers selling things that were not limited to food and drinks. There were also rare leather goods, quirky clothes and accessories.
The street extends to the east and west. There was a constant stream of pedestrians on the street. Some were carrying baskets and doing their marketing, some people were out for a stroll, some were rushing along with goods on their carrying poles, some were driving carriages to deliver goods, some were hauling goods with the help of donkeys, some were sitting around the stalls and eating, and some were sitting in tall teahouses while admiring the scenery and chatting with friends.
With the tall gate tower as the center, there were houses lined up on both sides.
There were countless shops selling tea, wine, meat, cosmetics, garments and so on.
Xiaoguo was overwhelmed by the sight. She couldn’t stop looking around.
When she was there the other day, the convoy had traveled along the edge of the city with the coffin in tow. The streets were deserted then, so Xiaoguo had thought that there was nothing much in the capital.
Now that they were in the center of the capital, Xiaoguo was extremely excited. Her eyes were completely overwhelmed by the sights. Together with Zhuang Zhuang and Xiaoyi, the three of them kept looking around and exclaiming in surprise whenever they saw something interesting.
Jiang Danhe looked at Xiaoguo’s childish behavior lovingly and couldn’t help but smile. She was really too cute.
Xiaoguo and Zhuang Zhuang had never seen such a lively and exciting street. It was the same for Xiaoyi. When he was in the other counties, he rarely stepped out of his residence. After he came to the capital, he never had the chance to come out. He was cooped up in the palace day and night.
At this moment, Zhuang Zhuang suddenly pointed to a place and exclaimed loudly. He asked Xiaoguo and Xiaoyi to take a look. Immediately after, the three of them exclaimed at the same time.
Xiaoguo didn’t expect to see a street performer. She watched as the young lady did a series of stunts and somersaults. She couldn’t help but exclaim again.
A burst of laughter suddenly came from behind.
Xiaoguo subconsciously turned around and saw Jiang Danhe looking at her with adoration in his eyes.
Her heart skipped a beat, then it started thumping loudly. Xiaoguo was afraid that Jiang Danhe would hear her heartbeat, so she immediately moved to the side until she was right beside the carriage.
Xiaoguo did not dare to look up at Jiang Danhe. At that moment, Zhuang Zhuang and Xiaoyi discovered something interesting. They called out to Xiaoguo to take a look. Xiaoguo felt relieved and immediately looked outside.
However, for some reason, when she was faced with the exciting performance outside again, Jiang Danhe’s gaze kept appearing in her mind.
Xiaoguo felt like she had really gone crazy. She looked at the scene outside distractedly and deliberately avoided looking at Jiang Danhe.
Jiang Danhe was delighted to see Xiaoguo’s reaction. It seemed that his wife was not a hard nut to crack, he just had to be more proactive.
The four of them decided to come down and take a stroll. After all, sitting in the carriage could not compare to coming down in person to experience the vibes on the street.
Jiang Danhe got out of the carriage first.
When Xiaoguo came out, the first thing she saw was Jiang Danhe’s big hand. It was as reassuring as ever.
Xiaoguo’s heart skipped a beat. What was she thinking just now? Reassured? She actually felt at ease when she saw Jiang Danhe?!
“Crazy, crazy. I must be crazy.”
Xiaoguo decided to stop thinking about it and alighted by holding on to his hand.
Jiang Danhe did not know what she was thinking. After seeing that she was safe, he carried the two little fellows out of the car.
Because of his yearning for the street market, Zhuang Zhuang happily nestled in Jiang Danhe’s arms in order to get out of the carriage. After alighting, he ran to Xiaoguo’s side and held her hand. He remembered his mother telling him to hold her hand tightly when it was crowded or when they were outside.
Zhuang Zhuang held Xiaoguo’s hand tightly and called out to Xiaoyi, who had just gotten out of the car.
“Quick, hold my mother’s hand.”
Hearing this, Xiaoyi took Xiaoguo’s other hand.
When Zhuang Zhuang saw that Xiaoyi was holding hands with Xiaoguo, he said to his friend, “Xiaoyi, Mother said that when you are in a crowded place or when you are outside, you must hold the hands of the adults around you. Do you understand?”
Zhuang Zhuang knew that Xiaoyi did not have a mother, so he rephrased what Xiaoguo had taught him and replaced the word “mother” with “adults”.
When Xiaoyi heard this, he nodded seriously. Then, he imitated Zhuang Zhuang and held Xiaoguo’s hand tightly.
This time, Xiaoguo’s hands were held by both children. Jiang Danhe looked at them with a depressed expression. He wished he could get rid of one child and make room for himself.
However, they were in a public place after all, and there was a lot of traffic. It was safer for the two adults to walk with the two little children in the middle. Therefore it was better to have one adult holding on to one kid.
Zhuang Zhuang wanted to hold his mother’s hand, but considering that it was Xiaoyi, he gave in.
Xiaoyi carefully took Xiaoguo’s hand and looked happily at Zhuang Zhuang, expressing his joy towards him.
Zhuang Zhuang responded with a happy expression. Then, he turned around and glanced at Jiang Danhe bitterly. He was unhappy that he could only hold hands with him.
Although Jiang Danhe had objections to not being able to hold his wife’s hand, it was not bad holding his son’s hand.
Moreover, he felt that Zhuang Zhuang was also looking forward to holding his hand.
“Why else would he have arranged for Xiaoguo to hold Xiaoyi’s hands? If this wasn’t intentional, what was? This kid was quite thoughtful. If he wanted to hold his father’s hand, he could just say so. Why was he so shy? Sigh! As a father, he should take the initiative.”
Jiang Danhe smiled, looking like he had just gotten a bargain. He grabbed Zhuang Zhuang’s small hand and squeezed it hard to express his love for him. When Zhuang Zhuang looked up at him, Jiang Danhe winked at him, trying to imply that he could express his love for his father without worry.
Zhuang Zhuang frowned and lowered his head. “Why was he blinking? Strange.”
Also, why did he suddenly squeeze his hands just now? It hurt a little. He looked up to see what Jiang Danhe was doing, but he didn’t expect him to blink at him. He was really strange.
Zhuang Zhuang looked at the two figures walking happily in front of him and thought to himself, “Xiaoyi, I have suffered because of you…”