CH 89

Li Xiao’er drank the decoction mixed with the spiritual spring water and soon fell into a deep sleep.

Xu Qing didn’t want to stay any longer, so he stretched out his hand to cover Li Xiaoer’s quilt, and then closed the door and went out.

When Xu Qing came to the main room, Li Changfeng was talking to Wang Lei, Xu Qing walked over and sat down next to Li Changfeng.

Wang Lei greeted Xu Qing, “Second brother-in-law.”

Xu Qing nodded and smiled, taking a seat beside them and listening on their conversation.

“None of us expected this to happen. It was just an unfortunate accident,” Wang Lei explained to Xu Qing and Li Changfeng, recounting the events of that day.

Li Ama was overjoyed with the bountiful harvest, and invited Wang Lei and Li Xiao’er to come home and taste the new rice that had just been harvested. Accepting the invitation, Wang Lei and Li Xiao’er returned to the Li family’s courtyard on the agreed-upon day.

Li Xiao’er had expected Xu Qing and Li Changfeng to join them for the family gathering, but they were nowhere to be seen. It wasn’t until dinner time that he realized they weren’t coming and felt a little uneasy. He spoke a few words to Wang Lei about it, which happened to be heard by Li Ama next to him.

As the argument between the mother and son escalated, Li Laosan’s wife and their little son happened to pass by. Upon seeing their heated exchange, Li Laosan’s wife tried to intervene and reconcile the situation by approaching Li Ama. However, Li Ama was so enraged that he didn’t even bother to see who was pulling him and violently shook off his arm, causing Li Laosan’s wife to fall to the ground. As Li Laoson’s wife stumbled, Li Xiao’er rushed to catch him, but he tripped over Li Laoson’s son standing next to him, causing everyone to fall down together.

“I just happened to be called by the eldest brother to help with something at that time. As soon as I turned around, I heard a noise coming from behind, and then it was too late.” Thinking of this, Wang Lei wanted to give himself a slap in the face. If he had paid attention at that time, these things would not have happened.

Li Changfeng and Xu Qing were both shocked to learn that two lives were lost due to such an accident. Li Changfeng took some time to think before speaking, “None of us could have foreseen this. Don’t blame yourself too much. Thankfully, Xiao’er is still young. With proper care, he will be fine.”

Wang Ama entered the room carrying Tuan Tuan and added, “I also said the same thing, but there is still a lingering worry in my heart.” He let out a sigh as he spoke.

As soon as Tuan Tuan was brought in, he caught sight of Xu Qing and eagerly extended his chubby hands towards his mother, hoping to be picked up.

Wang Ama was amazed by Tuan Tuan’s behavior and exclaimed, “This kid is really clever!” Then he carefully handed Tuan Tuan over to Xu Qing.

Li Changfeng playfully commented, “He’s already six months old, it’s about time for him to be clever!” He then extended his hand to tease Tuan Tuan.

Wang Lei observed from the sidelines, with a look of admiration and longing in his eyes.

Shortly after leaving Wang’s house, Xu Qing and Li Changfeng unexpectedly ran into someone they didn’t expect to see. It was Ma Fugui with a bruised nose and swollen face. Ma Fugui didn’t recognize Li Changfeng and Xu Qing. He walked tremblingly while cursing and saying, “Damn fat man! Just wait for me and see how I’ll deal with you when I become rich in the future. I will teach you a lesson!”

Li Changfeng was repulsed by Ma Fugui’s words, and Xu Qing let out a sigh: “He was lucky enough to marry Brother Xiaoyu in the past. I wonder what good deeds he did in his previous life to deserve such a fortune. But now, just look at him.”

Talking about Xie Yu, Xu Qing suddenly remembered that Xie Yu was about to give birth. “There are only three months left, and Lin Fangliang is going to be a father. Time flies so fast,” he sighed. Li Changfeng, looking at Tuan Tuan in his arms, smiled and replied, “It’s not that fast. Soon enough, Tuan Tuan will be running around and talking.”

Just a month had passed since Li Changfeng made that remark, and Xu Qing noticed that Tuan Tuan’s speech was slightly slurred.

“Come! Come, Tuan Tuan, what is your name?”

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com

Xu Qing cradled Tuan Tuan’s head in one hand while holding his favorite toy in the other, gently coaxing him.

Tuan Tuan was drooling with excitement, his eyes fixated on the toy in his mother’s hand.

“Ah! Ah! Ah!”

Xu Qing was anticipating Tuan Tuan would call out “Ama”, but to his disappointment, Tuan Tuan only said “ah”.

Li Changfeng, who was making furniture at the side, saw Xu Qing’s disappointed look and shook his head amusedly. “You really think our Tuan Tuan is a child prodigy! Xie Ama said that children usually start speaking around one year old, and even those who speak later take more than one year old.”

Xu Qing placed the toy in Tuan Tuan’s hand, keeping a close eye on him to prevent any accidents. “I don’t know, I just wanted to see if there could be a miracle.” After all, being a time traveler, he couldn’t help but wonder if his child would be different from others.

“By the way, I heard from Liu Ama that Zeng Ama’s small shop has closed down,” Xu Qing said, casually chatting with Li Changfeng. With the harvest season over and the fields cleared, they had more free time. Furthermore, Xu Qing and Li Changfeng were efficient in their work, the vacant space had already been planted with seasonal vegetables.

“Apparently, he lowered his prices to compete with us, but then couldn’t sell the goods at a good price and had to shut down.” Li Changfeng told Xu Qing while continuing his work on the stroller, which was an order from Mason Liu’s relative who told him about Zeng Ama’s news.

Xu Qing didn’t have much to say after hearing Li Changfeng. Ever since their family opened the grocery store, the relationship between them and the village folks had improved significantly. While they may not have had deep friendships, Xu Qing believed in the saying that “distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors” and valued the importance of having friendly relations with those around them.

In the evening, when Xu Qing was about to start cooking dinner, he noticed several small jars in the corner. Xu Qing crouched down and removed the lids of the small jars, and the aroma of fruit wine wafted up to his nose, triggering his memory. He realized that it was wild cherry fruit wine.

Xu Qing carried the jar outside and decided to prepare some dishes to go along with the wild cherry fruit wine for dinner that night.

Li Changfeng poured a bowl of the wild cherry fruit wine for Xu Qing and himself and asked, “Is this the fruit wine made from the wild cherries that you and the little boy picked last time?” As he took a whiff of the aroma, he found it both unfamiliar but very pleasant.

Li Changfeng picked up the bowl and took a sip. “How is it?” Xu Qing asked Li Changfeng.

“Well, it’s delicious, but the taste of the wine is not particularly strong, so even gers can drink it,” Li Changfeng said after taking a few more sips. He didn’t pour more wine after finishing his bowl.

Xu Qing was surprised that Li Changfeng did not have more, “You don’t like it?” Li Changfeng shook his head and replied, “No, it’s not that. There isn’t much of it, so you can have it.”

Xu Qing was relieved, but he didn’t want Li Changfeng to save it for him. “Don’t forget, the most abundant thing now is wild fruit.” Many wild fruits in the back mountains have already ripened.

As he enjoyed the refreshing appetizers, accompanied by the tangy wild fruit wine, Li Changfeng looked at his wife and his child sitting across from him. He couldn’t help but feel grateful for his life.

In order to make more fruit wine, Li Changfeng and Xu Qing entrusted Tuan Tuan to Xie Ama’s care, and headed to the mountains to pick wild fruits. Xu Qing initially assumed that the wild fruits would taste good once they were ripe, but he was proved wrong when he tasted a sour and astringent fruit. Looking at the big, red fruits on the tree, Xu Qing felt cheated.

After searching for a while, Xu Qing and Li Changfeng were unable to find any wild fruit that met Xu Qing’s expectations. As it was getting dark, they reluctantly decided to return home with empty backpacks. On their way back, they passed by the trap they had set up in the morning and decided to check it out.

“Well, at least today’s trip is not in vain.”

They were happy to see that they had caught a big pheasant in the trap, which gave them a sense of comfort after their unsuccessful search for wild fruits.

After leaving the back mountain, Xu Qing and Li Changfeng checked several more traps, but they found no prey, which left Xu Qing feeling depressed.

“In this weather, wild animals are busy breeding, so it’s normal to not find any prey. Let’s go back now. Tuan Tuan might be looking for us!” Li Changfeng picked up the pheasant, grabbed the basket, and stacked them together. He then led Xu Qing down the hill.

On the way back, they encountered many villagers cutting hogweed on the mountain’s slopes, and children playing with wild fruits.

“I’ll take care of the pheasant and deal with the pork that we bought yesterday. You go to the village to pick up Tuan Tuan, and while you’re there, invite Uncle Xie and Xie Ama to come over for dinner.” Xu Qing said, carrying the pheasant into the kitchen.

Li Changfeng readily accepted the task, washed his hands, and headed towards the village. As he reached the outskirts, he coincidentally came across Xia Yu, the village head’s son, whose eyes were red and puffy as if he had been crying.

When Xia Yu caught sight of Li Changfeng, he tried to avoid eye contact and looked down, seemingly afraid that Li Changfeng would notice his teary eyes and ask about it. However, to Xia Yu’s surprise, Li Changfeng walked past him without even giving him a glance, let alone asking anything.

Even after Li Changfeng had walked away, Xia Yu couldn’t believe that he was ignored just like that. His eyes, which had been red before, now looked even redder, resembling those of a rabbit.

Li Changfeng didn’t know how to pity and cherish jade. In his eyes, except for his own wife, there was no difference at all.

When Li Changfeng arrived at Xie’s house, Xie Ama was in the midst of preparing dinner. Fortunately, he got there just in time. Xie Ama, with Tuan Tuan in his arm, followed Li Changfeng to the Xu’s house along with Uncle Xie.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com

They arrived at Xu’s house just in time for dinner. It wasn’t too late, and most villagers had just started their meal. Xu Qing had also kept his promise and offered a jar of fruit wine for the old Xie couple. Xie Ama tasted it and found that he quite enjoyed it. So, before the old couple left, Xu Qing gave the two some fruit wine to take back with them.

After failing to find a suitable fruit for making wild fruit wine, Xu Qing didn’t dwell on it too much. However, he was now more concerned about the fact that he and Uncle Xie had consumed more than half a catty of food on their own, feeling that drinking wild fruit wine alone wasn’t particularly satisfying. Li Changfeng, who was also drinking, was tugging at his clothes, saying that his body was getting too hot and he needed to slow down.

Xu Qing: “… Go and wash off the smell of your body!!!”