Chapter 211: The More The Merrier
“Alright, stop fooling around.” Shang Wan patted him. “Really haven’t thought of any other possibilities?”
Lu Chengjing shook his head halfway, then suddenly remembered something. “Master Chu mentioned he has a friend surnamed Zhong.”
The surname Zhong isn’t a common one. Shang Wan thought Zhong Li might be that friend of Master Chu.
She thought for a moment and said, “The day after tomorrow, I’ll invite Boss Zhong to eat at Qionghua Restaurant. Are you going?”
Lu Chengjing: “Yes!”
He must go!!
……
……
After dinner and bathing, the family sat in the courtyard to enjoy the cool air, listening to Chu Xu vividly recount yesterday’s events.
Yuan Yuan was the most enthusiastic, her little palms clapping loudly.
Everyone looked at the little baby girl. If it weren’t for her bringing Xiao Hei back, none of the later events would have happened.
Shang Wan yawned. She hadn’t slept well last night and had been busy all day today; she was truly tired.
“Let’s stop here.”
No one objected. Probably only the two children had gotten a good rest last night.
After tidying up the tables and chairs in the courtyard, everyone returned to their own rooms.
Lu Chengjing was in charge of coaxing Yuan Yuan to sleep, while Shang Wan went to light the lamp in Chu Xu’s room and stayed until the child fell asleep before returning to her room.
Shang Wan originally wanted to ask Lu Chengjing how the discussion about hiring villagers to process herbs had gone, but she was so sleepy that she fell asleep as soon as she lay on the kang.
Lu Chengjing came out from the side room and saw Shang Wan asleep, so he didn’t disturb her. He sat by the kang fanning her for a while until her forehead felt dry and cool before getting on the kang to rest.
The next day, the sun came out early.
Shang Wan had slept quite comfortably last night. She raised her arms and stretched vigorously.
Lu Chengjing came out from the side room holding the awake Yuan Yuan, who smiled and pounced into Shang Wan’s arms, planting a hard kiss on her face.
Shang Wan pinched her cheeks, tied two little tufts on the little one, and held her to wash up together.
The cool well water splashing on her face felt refreshing. Yuan Yuan tried to bury her entire little face in the basin, scaring Shang Wan into quickly picking up the little baby girl. Choking on water wasn’t a joke.
Yuan Yuan unhappily pouted her little mouth and flailed her arms and legs, wanting to try again.
Shang Wan: “…”
Why did she want to try everything?
She patted the little baby girl’s bottom and carried her to the kitchen to drink water.
Xiao Huan was busy in the kitchen. Seeing them come in, she stuffed a steamed dumpling into each of their mouths to taste.
“I added a small spoonful of vinegar when mixing the filling. How does it taste?”
“Not bad.” Shang Wan thought it was delicious with or without vinegar.
Yuan Yuan simply opened her little mouth toward Xiao Huan, meaning she wanted another one.
Xiao Huan smilingly fed her another.
Shang Wan took the milk bottle out from the space. Yuan Yuan hugged it herself and gulped down her morning milk.
In the courtyard, Chu Xu was practicing fists.
Except for the days recovering from injury, Chu Xu got up early almost every day to practice in the morning, performing a set of fists quite properly.
The child was sweating all over, his little face flushed red.
Beside him, Lu Chengjing was practicing the Five Animals Play to strengthen his body.
Shi Tou was holding a medical book and sitting on the swing reciting, shaking his head and swaying so much that Shang Wan worried he would dizzy himself.
As Xiao Huan shouted loudly, “Time to eat!”
Everyone stopped their actions, some went to bathe, some to change clothes, tidying up neatly before coming to the table.
Breakfast was lively. Xiao Huan had the portions just right, and almost nothing was left.
At the breakfast table, Shang Wan asked about village matters.
Lu Chengjing said, “Uncle Wu and the others think it’s feasible. Brother Yuan also agreed to help, but the specific plan still needs more discussion. It should be settled in the next few days.”
Shang Wan nodded. As long as things went smoothly, it was fine.
After the meal, Shang Wan took the two kids and drove the ox cart into the city.
It was a bit late today. By the time Shang Wan arrived, Wu Kai and the other two had already finished breakfast and were sitting at the doorway waiting for her.
The small benches were kindly provided by the restaurant boss lady.
Seeing Shang Wan arrive, the boss lady specially came out to greet her and handed her the prepared dog food.
After thanking her, Shang Wan took it, unlocked the door, and led Wu Kai and the other two inside.
Xiao Hei enthusiastically pounced out, barking “woof woof woof” a few times, startling Wu Kai and the other two.
It wasn’t that they were timid; this dog looked fierce and was huge. One glance showed it wasn’t vegetarian.
Shang Wan bent down to pet Xiao Hei’s head and handed the dog food to Chu Xu and Yuan Yuan, the two little ones. “Go to the backyard to feed Xiao Hei.”
The two children happily agreed and took Xiao Hei to the backyard.
The original decoration in the shop had already been demolished halfway. Today’s task was still to keep demolishing.
Shang Wan watched for a while but couldn’t stand the banging noise, so she wandered to the backyard to escape the racket.
Another day of hammering away.
The next day, Shang Wan and Lu Chengjing brought the two children to Qionghua Restaurant on time.
The guide was still the shop assistant who had witnessed Shang Wan and Zhong Li’s open scheme last time.
They had just sat down in the private room when Zhong Li arrived familiarly.
A youth in purple clothes followed beside him—it was Chu Wujiu.
Seeing there were women in the private room, Chu Wujiu awkwardly turned to leave without even greeting Lu Chengjing.
Shang Wan: “…”
Was she some kind of filthy thing?
“Where are you going?” Zhong Li grabbed Chu Wujiu and dragged him into the private room.
Chu Wujiu couldn’t break free and turned his head to glare at Zhong Li.
Zhong Li grinned. “More people, more fun.”
Chu Wujiu: “…”
He said in a low voice, “How can I, an outsider man, dine at the same table as womenfolk? It’s against propriety.”
Zhong Li curled his lip. “You’ve already come out. Can’t you set aside those rigid rules of your family for a bit?”
“Let go of me!” Seeing it was no use talking to Zhong Li, Chu Wujiu struggled angrily again.
The two tugged and pulled. Shang Wan gave Lu Chengjing a look—what was going on?
Lu Chengjing leaned close and whispered an explanation. “Brother Chu’s family seems to have very strict rules.”
Shang Wan: “…”
Should she get a separate table for this Master Chu?
What Zhong Li wanted to see was Chu Wujiu making a fuss, so naturally he wouldn’t let him leave.
Chu Wujiu had no choice but to first apologize politely to Shang Wan before sitting down quite awkwardly, staring straight ahead without even a sidelong glance at her.
Seeing him like this, Zhong Li laughed uncontrollably, his hand holding the folding fan trembling.
Chu Wujiu glared at him again. Seeing Chu Wujiu about to get truly angry, Zhong Li finally stopped laughing.
He wiped the teardrops from the corner of his eye and formally introduced them to Shang Wan and the others.
Both sides exchanged greetings. Seeing Chu Wujiu still uncomfortable, Lu Chengjing started a topic, chatting with him about calligraphy and painting.
Shang Wan called the waiting shop assistant to serve the dishes.
Zhong Li noticed the two children staring at him from across the table. He poured out a handful of gold beans from his money bag and handed them to the two kids as a meeting gift.
The two children didn’t reach out, tilting their heads to look at Shang Wan.
Shang Wan said, “Quickly thank Uncle.”
Meeting gifts shouldn’t be refused for free.
The two children thanked him and divided the gold beans evenly.
Zhong Li looked at Chu Xu a few more times. He felt this child looked familiar, like he’d seen him somewhere before.
But Chu Xu had already recognized him. He tugged Shang Wan’s sleeve and whispered in her ear.
After listening, Shang Wan exclaimed inwardly. This Boss Zhong had quite a background.
Zhong Li was sharp. He pointed at Chu Xu with his folding fan. “Kid, you know me?”
Though it was a question, his tone was affirmative.
