CH 17

The sun has just set, half of the sky is full of crimson clouds. In the current weather, although it's hot during the day, it's cool in the morning and evening. The evening breeze blows across the paddy field and the seedlings in the field swayed.

Wei Yuanhang jumped and walked in front. He couldn't bear it at home just now, so he kept urging He Xiaoyun to take him to go with Wei Jianwei in the movie. Feng Qiuyue was left behind to finished cleaning.

Wei Jianwei is carrying a long bench in his hand. One stool can fit a family of three. Those who go to the movies have to bring their own chairs.

"Mom and Dad, hurry up!" The child ran for a while, when he turned around, he saw that his mother and father were walking slow, he couldn't help but urge. He Xiaoyun walked two steps and said: "Don't run around, come over and I will lead you."

Wei Yuanhang let out a cry and ran over to hold her hand, and without taking a few steps, he took Wei Jianwei with his other hand and said, "Mom, I want to fly!"

"No flying." He Xiaoyun refused without even thinking about it. She had just taken a shower, she didn't want to sweat.

Not discouraged, the little boy let go of her hand, turned to hug Wei Jianwei's legs, and said, "Daddy, hug." He was very shrewd, knowing that his mother said no, he didn't make trouble, instead, he went straight to his father.

Wei Jianwei stretched out one hand to hug him but He Xiaoyun said, "There's no hug either."

Wei Jianwei stopped his movement and looked up at her. He Xiaoyun looked back: "He says he wants to hug so you really went to hug him? It will become a habit. Next time you're away, who will hug him?"

Regarding educating the child, Wei Jianwei naturally lost his right to speak because he wasn't at home all the time. He had to obey her words obediently. At further thought, his father was really unreliable, Wei Yuanhang pouted.

He Xiaoyun held him again, pointed at the other children on the road, and said in a slow tone: "Look, everyone else walks by themselves. Is Xiaoyuan lazier than them?"

The child can’t listen to this kind of provocation and immediately said, “I’m not a slacker!”

"Yes, Xioayuan will walk by himself, right?"

Wei Yuanhang nodded vigorously, holding his chest up, and began to walk vigorously.

When they arrived at the threshing floor, the big screen of the movie had been set up, and there were four or five rows of people close to the screen. They arrived neither early nor late and sat in the middle.

There are more and more people, almost half of the brigade is here, there are also people from other teams. He Xiaoyun took a look and found that most of the people from other teams were young people, and they seemed to come on a blind date. Several young girls got together, pointed at the boys on the other end, whispering around at each other from time to time, and letting out a few sweet laughs.

In a row in front of them, two women were sitting. After He Xiaoyun sat down, the women turned around and looked at them a few times.

He Xiaoyun thought for a while and found that the women had some feasts with the original owner in the past. The original owner has a bad personality and can’t get along with many people. It’s just that during this period, except for work and returning to her family’s home, she didn’t go out much and didn’t meet them. In today’s movie, people gathered whether they wanted to meet or not.

"Isn't that Teacher Zhang?" one of the two women said suddenly, her volume wasn't low, as if to let someone hear on purpose.

He Xiaoyun looked up and found that several educated youths on the team were not far away. The teacher Zhang in their mouths, as Wei Jianhua mentioned earlier, was Zhang Yurong who had been Wei Jianwei's blind date. When the original owner forcibly lied to the Wei family, everyone in the brigade knew that even Zhang Yurong had suffered and became the object of people's gossip for no reason, saying that she was robbed of a man by the original owner.

Another woman echoed: "It's Teacher Zhang. Teacher Zhang is a good-looking woman and has a kind heart. It's a pity that she hasn't gotten married yet."

"Isn't it? At first, I thought she could marry. Who would have thought she would be robbed by others." The other woman echoed before the two looked at He Xiaoyun from the corner of their eyes.

He Xiaoyun pretended not to hear. She glanced at Wei Jianwei. He was giving Wei Yuanhang candy. He noticed her sight and handed her one, "Eat?"

He Xiaoyun didn't want it, but when she thought that someone(gossipers) was staring at her, she deliberately took it, peeled the candy wrapper, and stuffed it into her mouth, with a bulge of her cheek.

"Mom also eats candy?" Wei Yuanhang sat between the two, looking at her with a little surprise. In his impression, adults don't eat sugar, only children eat it.

"Yes, I also eat sweets." He Xiaoyun lowered her head and pinched his cheeks, "After eating this one, don't eat it again at night, otherwise your teeth will fall out."

Hearing this, the child quickly covered his mouth and murmured: "I don't want my teeth to fall out!"

The child thought that there were still candies in Wei Jianwei's pocket, so he turned his head and said generously to his father: "Dad can eat the candies, I won't eat it anymore."

"You are clever." He Xiaoyun couldn't help laughing. The few gossips that she had just heard were thrown behind her mind in a blink of an eye. Wei Yuanhang was still forcing Wei Jianwei to eat the candies, "Daddy can eat one, one for father, one for mother, one for me."

He stretched out a fleshy palm and counted with his fingers, he somehow became happy, clapped his hands, and said happily: "Let's eat sweets together!"

He Xiaoyun wanted to see Wei Jianwei's funny appearance eating candies with bulging cheeks, so she followed the child's words: "Just eat it to make your son happy."

"To make him happy, or to make you happy?" Wei Jianwei raised his eyebrows and slightly to look at her.

He Xiaoyun pretended to be indifferent, "What am I happy about you eating candy?"

"Daddy, eat quickly..." Wei Yuanhang urged. Wei Jianwei looked at the two of them and finally ate it. He peeled off the sugar paper, stuffed the sugar into his mouth, and pressed it on his tongue, so there was no such funny scene that He Xiaoyun expected.

She didn't give up, and bowed her head to coax Wei Yuanhang, "Xiaoyuan, have you seen Dad's candy? Can you see it?"

The child stared at his father's mouth and didn't find any trace of the candy, so he said, "Did Dad swallow the sugar in his mouth?"

"I don't know, go and touch his face."

Whatever his mom said, Wei Yuanhang would obediently do. He stretched out a chubby finger and poked one side of his dad’s face, then poked the other side, and said strangely: "Dad, what about the candy? You can’t swallow it, dad. Spit it out."

Wei Jianwei didn't bother much and stuck out a tongue with the candy on it to show the child. The little kid saw his father still holding the candy in his mouth, and thought his father didn't know how to eat it, so he taught him like an adult, "You can't be like children, dad. You have to be like this..."

As he spoke, he opened his mouth to reveal the sticky candy ball in his mouth, and pressed his small tongue to make his cheeks more prominent. Wei Jianwei looked at him and then at He Xiaoyun. The mother and son looked at him with puffed cheeks and round eyes, like two dogs, one big and one small.

Finally, he moved his tongue, pushed the candy to the side of his mouth, and bulged his cheeks.

"That's it, Dad is so smart!" Xiaoyuan clapped his hands to encourage him.

He Xiaoyun suppressed a smile and quickly turned her eyes away, but within a few seconds, she turned back, staring at him with a rare and funny look. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a camera at hand, otherwise, she can take a picture and hang it on the wall to enjoy it in the future.

The family of three had a good time, the two women in front of them who were gossiping before were ignored, they angrily kept their mouths shut. This scene also fell in the eyes of Zhang Yurong and others further away. A little girl next to her said: "Sister Yurong, look there."

Zhang Yurong looked over, her expression remained unchanged, and turned her head back. The little girl was rather angry, and said, "What is she laughing about! She had snatched from someone else."

"Don't talk nonsense." Zhang Yurong stopped her. The little girl curled her lips reluctantly. As the sky gradually darkened, He Xiaoyun saw Feng Qiuyue and Wei Jianguo arrived at the threshing floor, but because they came late, they were placed in the back row and had some distance away from them.

Everyone was buzzing and talking, after waiting for a while, the movie finally started. Tonight is an old military movie. Many people have already watched it, but they still watch it with gusto. 

Wei Yuanhang sat on a chair. Because he was short, he stretched his neck and was still blocked by the person in front of him. He could only hear the sound but couldn't see the pictures. He became anxious and said, "Mom, I can't see."

He wanted to get up and stand on the bench. He Xiaoyun was afraid that he couldn't stand still and was worried that he would block others, so she took him to sit on her lap, the child settled down and watched intently. Someone came over and asked her: "Xiaoyun, can I sit on your other stool?"

She turned her head to see that it was someone familiar with the team. She probably came to watch the movie and didn't bring a chair. Seeing that there was an empty space between her and Wei Jianwei, she came to ask. People wanted to borrow a seat, and she happened to have it, she couldn't help but gave it to him to sit there, He Xiaoyun had to hold Wei Yuanhang and next to Wei Jianwei.

"Thank you." The woman sat down and thanked her a few times before turning around to watch the movie. The other party is a bit fat. It's okay to sit on this bench with their family of three. After all, Wei Yuanhang doesn't take up a lot of space. Now that three adults are sitting on it, it's a bit crowded.

He Xiaoyun felt the side of her leg lean against Wei Jianwei's thigh. The clothes she was wearing were of thin fabric, his body temperature was constantly transmitted from the place where the two of them touched, making her feel uncomfortable for a while. She couldn't help whispering in her heart, saying that the body temperature of a normal person is about 37 degrees Celsius. Why is it that he's like a stove that people can't ignore even if they want to ignore it?

The content of the movie was not very interesting, Wei Yuanhang soon became unable to sit still, wriggling in her lap. He Xiaoyun was very fortunate to have him, otherwise, she would feel even more embarrassed. Seeing that the child wanted to slip down and play, she coaxed: "You can't play. You see it's dark everywhere. If you fall, I will not be able to find you. What would you do then?"

The sky was completely dark, and a small area in front of the movie screen was lit, making the surroundings even darker. The child looked around. It was as dark as his mother said. He didn't dare to go alone: "Okay then."

"Sit for a while, and we'll go home, okay?" He Xiaoyun coaxed.

Wei Yuanhang nodded and played with her hands boredly. It didn't take long for him to think of a new way of playing. He climbed from her lap to Wei Jianwei's lap. Before sitting firmly, he crawled back to her, using his parents' legs as cushions. The child had a great time.

He Xiaoyun was a little impatient when he was tossing around, she patted his little butt and said, "Be careful."

The child pouted and reached out for Wei Jianwei to hold him, "Daddy hug." Wei Jianwei didn't move but glanced at He Xiaoyun first. She snorted, "Look at what he's doing, since your son wants you to hold him, why don't you hug him?"

She didn't say that when the child asked him to hold him, and when he was about to stretch out his hand. Wei Jianwei thought somewhat helplessly and carried the child over. The little fat man reached his father's arms and turned his head to the other side as if pissed off his mother. He Xiaoyun ignored him and raised her head to concentrate on watching the movie.

After a while, she noticed that Wei Yuanhang hadn't moved for a long time, she turned her head to look.

"Fell asleep." Wei Jianwei said. He Xiaoyun touched the child's head and whispered: "Little troublemaker."

She asked Wei Jianwei: "Shall we go back?" The man nodded.

He Xiaoyun said to the person next to her: "Auntie, we have to go back first. The child fell asleep. We leave this stool for you." The other party looked at them and assured, "It's okay, I'll return the stool to you tomorrow."

Wei Jianwei hugged the child, and the two got up and left. He Xiaoyun also gestured to Feng Qiuyue, motioning that they will to go first, and then leave. Before going on the road back home, He Xiaoyun put on a flashlight, and a small piece of light fell on them in front of them. The night was quiet, only the crickets were noisy. He Xiaoyun turned her head and saw two long shadows behind her, following her all the way.

The next day, Wei Yuanhang woke up. He had forgotten the anger with his mother the night before. He Xiaoyun naturally didn't care about him. After breakfast, she went back to her room and changed her clothes, ready to go up the mountain.

"Going up to the mountain?" Wei Jianwei walked in from outside.

"Well, I go pick some tea."

She packed up, went to the kitchen to take a basket, and preached to Wei Yuanhang to follow his grandma obediently and not to be naughty, and then go out. As soon as she walked to the yard, she saw Wei Jianwei wearing a hat and waiting there with a hatchet.

"Are you going to chop wood?" He Xiaoyun asked him. He nodded. The two dropped in and went up to the mountain together.

The tea trees on the mountain are unowned and there are not many in number, but if they are found, they can be dried for a little half a year. After walking for half an hour, they found a tree on the mountainside. He Xiaoyun stopped, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and said to Wei Jianwei: "You go ahead first, I will finish picking here."

Many areas at the foot of the mountain and the mountainside were reclaimed into terraced fields, and the trees were scarce. What Wei Jianwei was looking for was the dead trees, which could only be found at the top of the mountain. He looked up, pointed to a small piece of wood near the top of the mountain, and said, "I'm going for that piece of wood."

"Well, then you go." He Xiaoyun said. There are no wild animals in the mountain. He Xiaoyun was left alone and didn't feel scared.

Wei Jianwei looked around the surrounding area before walking to the top of the mountain. The wild tea tree was as tall as a person. He Xiaoyun stood on tiptoe, pulled the tea branch with one hand, and pulled the leaves down, she quickly picked off the young leaves. After picking the leaves of a tea tree, it only filled a few centimeters at the bottom of the basket. As she searched around, she continued to move forward and found some wild vegetables such as purslane and fungus.

Wei Jianwei was almost at the grove. She looked over and saw only a small figure. Seeing that the other party seemed to be looking over, He Xiaoyun waved at him and then buried her head in looking for tea trees and wild vegetables.

They were in the mountain early in the morning, and when the sun was about to reach the top of their heads, He Xiaoyun's basket was full, she also picked it from the middle of the mountain all the way to the top of the mountain.

She found a shade of the tree and stopped, put the back basket down, sat on the stump, took out the kettle, and poured two sips of water, half of the heat subsided, the wind from the mountains blew on her face, cooling the rest of the heat

Wei Jianwei was not far away. He had already cut down two dead firs, cut the branches down, and then cut them into sections.

"It's almost noon, shall we go back?" He Xiaoyun asked him after having enough rest. Wei Jianwei responded and tied up several pieces of wood with rattan. Suddenly, he seemed to have discovered something, and said to He Xiaoyun: "Come here and see."

"What?" He Xiaoyun walked over curiously. He kept his back to her, when she approached, he turned around abruptly, holding a snake in his hand.

"Ah!" He Xiaoyun stepped back in fright, stepping into the puddle formed by the mountain spring, her shoes and trousers soaked. With a smile in his eyes, Wei Jianwei slowly revealed the whole picture of the "snake". It turned out to be a cane with one end that looked like a snake's head.

He Xiaoyun's face was pale and her chest was violently heaving up and down.

Unexpectedly, He Xiaoyun had such a big reaction. Wei Jianwei smiled. He Xiaoyun stood up, turned back to the place where she had been resting, and left with her basket on her back. On the way down the mountain, she walked fast and without saying a word. When she returned home, she saw Wang Chunhua sitting at the door but she didn't say anything and rushed to their bedroom.

Wang Chunhua saw that her expression wasn't right, and asked Feng Qiuyue, "What's the matter?"

Feng Qiuyue shook her head, "Is she hungry?"

Wang Chunhua shouted to the room: "Xiaoyun, pack it up and come out for dinner!"

"Mom, you eat first." He Xiaoyun returned to the room. Wang Chunhua and Feng Qiuyue carefully identified her voice, lowered their voices, and discussed: "Did she cry?"

"It shouldn't be but it sounds a bit dull nasal."

"She's fine when she got out this morning."

"Why hasn't Jianwei come back yet?" Feng Qiuyue chirped. Wang Chunhua immediately found out the reason, "Could it be that he made her angry?"

While talking, Wei Jianwei walked in carrying the bundle of logs. Before he put it down, Wang Chunhua asked, "What's wrong with Xiaoyun? You quarreled with her?"

"Boom--"

Wei Jianwei unloaded the wood on the ground, glanced in the direction of their bedroom, and twisted his eyebrows slightly.

"You did." Wang Chunhua asked.

Wei Jianwei bent down and untied the cane from the wood, and handed it to Wang Chunhua, "She got scared."

The cane really looked like a snake. Wang Chunhua took a look and was also startled. She stared down and asked her son, "You use this to scare Xiaoyun?"

Seeing his silent acquiescence, Wang Chunhua felt angry and funny.

Her second son has been a good boy since he was a child and doesn't need others to worry about. When the boy became a teenager, he didn't tease girls all day. He didn't touch any of them. As a result, he grew up to 28 years old this year, almost 30 years old, and even had a child ran around before he started to tease his wife. This obedient son teases his wife to be angry! 

Feng Qiuyue also thought it was funny. She didn’t expect that her second brother would do this kind of thing privately. She said with a smile: “Xiaoyun will probably be angry for a while, we just need to wait. Mom, don’t worry."

Wang Chunhua guessed the same but still said to Wei Jianwei: "Go and coax your wife out for a meal. If she doesn't eat, it's your fault."

He Xiaoyun had already taken a shower in the room, changed into clean clothes, and was combing her hair in front of the mirror. When Wei Jianwei came in, she didn't even give him a glance at the corner of her eye.

She was really frightened. She grew up in the mountains and was used to seeing all kinds of small insects and small animals. He Xiaoyun is not afraid of anything else but snakes, because she was bitten once when she was a child, her family didn’t take it seriously. Her ankles, and feet were swollen for more than a month. During that time, she was afraid that she would become lame in the future. Even if it gradually recovered later, her trauma of snakes has continued to this day.

Others didn't know about this. Wei Jianwei didn't want to scare her, that was not his intention, but she just didn't want to talk to him right now. Between the two of them, she has always been the one who talks a lot, when she doesn't speak, the atmosphere became a little stagnant.

"Mom, it's time to eat!" Wei Yuanhang flopped in.

He Xiaoyun just combed her hair, washed her hands in the basin, and led him out, "Let's go."

The child passed by his silent father and raised his head, "Dad won't you eat?"

Before Wei Jianwei could answer, the child was led out of the room by his mother. In the hall, the food was already served. Seeing He Xiaoyun's face, Wang Chunhua didn't mention the matter before, thinking that the matter was over.

At the dinner table, as usual, He Xiaoyun served Wei Yuanhang with vegetables, listened to the child while eating and muttering, and also talked to Wang Chunhua about today's harvest in the mountains, chatting with Feng Qiuyue about last night's movie, but didn't look at Wei Jianwei's.

After eating, she spread out the picked tea leaves to dry, sorted out several wild vegetables, and chatted with her family for a few words, and then went back to the bedroom.

Wei Yuanhang was going to take a nap as usual. He Xiaoyun leaned on the bedside and read a book for a while, and then yawned.

"It was my wrong at what happened this morning."

"Oh."

Wei Jianwei had been on the other side of the room for a long time without any movement, and suddenly such a sentence came out. He probably rarely apologized to people as his tone was stiff. He Xiaoyun uttered, unable to resist the sleepiness, and simply lay down and fell asleep. Looking at her back lying on the bed, Wei Jianwei's eyebrows were a little deeper.

What does 'oh' mean? Is she still angry? Or not?

He was holding the book, unprecedented, without reading a word. 

Last time He Xiaoyun and the three went to the county town to buy some fabrics for the children. In the afternoon, Feng Qiuyue was about to start making clothes. He Xiaoyun helped and the two measured the fabrics and discussed styles, Wang Chunhua served as a staff member for them.

"The kind of small lapel I saw in the store last time, I think it looks pretty." Feng Qiuyue said.

He Xiaoyun joked and said, "Anyway, I'm clumsy and can only rely on my sister-in-law. I think what my sister-in-law makes is pretty."

"Look at this bullshit," Wang Chunhua said with a smile, "Qiuyue, you make her an old man's clothes, see if she can still praise you."

"As long as first sister-in-law does it, I still boast." Feng Qiuyue smiled at her replies and waved her hand, "I don't dare, when Xiaoyuan sees the clothes and was unhappy, Mom will feel distressed again."

"Yes," He Xiaoyun teased, "Mom will feel more distressed than me."

Wang Chunhua nodded at the two of them and then shook her head with a smile. At night, He Xiaoyun took the clothes that had been drying out in the room. The cloth shoes that she wore on the mountain today had their soles open when she was washing them. Although the clothes He Xiaoyun do were not good, she still can do a few stitches. She was under the light and sewn the soles stitch by stitch.

Wei Yuanhang played with Wei Jianwei for a while, then ran to her, He Xiaoyun told him not to get too close, "I have a needle here, you go to bed and play."

The small one walked away, and the big one came over, "Still angry?"

He Xiaoyun didn't look up, and said, "Angry? Why am I angry? I'm not angry at all, I'm very happy." (T/N: What all women reply when they're really angry. Wei Jianwei's going to have a headache.) 

She didn't even look at him when she said she wasn't angry. Wei Jianwei has a headache. He has no experience in coaxing people. (T/N: knew it~)

Wei Yuanhang played alone for a while. When he looked up and saw his father standing beside his mother, he immediately said, "Mom has a needle, dad can't be there."

The child is overbearing. He's not allowed to play with his mother. He naturally refuses to let his dad stand there. He has to also go! Seeing that Wei Jianwei has not moved, he even said: "Dad go away!"

He Xiaoyun raised her head and said, "You heard him, go away, or I will prick you with a needle."

She raised the needle and performed the classic gesture of Rong Rong. (T/N: ...? Can someone help?!)

Wei Jianwei looked at his big wife and small son and felt that he had become an enemy to both of them, he was overwhelmed by the two of them in the next second.

Wei Jianwei became depressed but He Xiaoyun is secretly rejoicing. By now, she had calmed down about the prank matter, but it was rare to see Wei Jianwei deflated. She naturally wanted to account for what he had done during this period so that he would also taste aggrievement.

This night, she slept very soundly. Wei Jianwei wasn't in the room when she woke up in the morning, He Xiaoyun didn't pay attention. Later, there's still no one at the dinner table, so He Xiaoyun asked Wang Chunhua, she said that he had gone to the county to do errands.

The tea leaves plucked yesterday were dried for one afternoon and dried for another night. Today, Wang Chunhua kneaded the juice out of them and continued to dry them.

The fragrance of tea floated all over the yard. He Xiaoyun sat at the door to pack up the leftover cloth from making clothes. Next door Aunt Zhang came to visit and chatted with Wang Chunhua about the recent news.

"Jianming's daughter-in-law gave birth in the middle of the night last night."

"Is she going well?"

"It went smoothly. She was down in an hour or two. Her first child was a son. The family is happy regardless of whether it is male or female."

Wang Chunhua said, "I would also be happy."

Aunt Zhang glanced at Feng Qiuyue's belly and smiled: "Do you think everyone is like you? I said Qiuyue and Xiaoyun are blessed. How many people would not be envious of such a good mother-in-law like you."

He Xiaoyun and Feng Qiuyue both smiled.

In the afternoon, He Xiaoyun went back to the room and read a book for a while. She leaned against the bed and fell asleep. When she woke up, Wei Yuanhang was still asleep. She got up and stretched and found a box on the bedside cabinet. It wasn't there before.

In their bedroom, no one else in the family usually comes in, this box is placed next to her bed, except for Wei Jianwei, no one else would do this.

She opened the box with curiosity, and inside was a pair of women's leather shoes that are rare nowadays, and a book.

He Xiaoyun stared at it for a while before realizing it. Could it be...This is Wei Jianwei's apology gift?

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T/N: I was supposed to update this yesterday and only realize that when I was already comfortably laying on the bed so...yeah. Here it is! I will update My Animal Legion and this one tomorrow, I promise y'all!