It's snowy outside, and it's warm as spring inside. People are busy with their needlework or tracing flowers, chatting and laughing.
At this moment, I saw the Gu Dachang family hurried in with their maids. They hurriedly saluted Mr. Liu and said with a smile, "Madam, the second young master is back."
"So early?" Ms. Liu was quite surprised. Except for the long days in summer, her old son would always get home after dark after returning from school in the county.
This was also the reason why the couple agreed that the old daughter-in-law was not willing to let the old son run back and forth in the cold weather. After all, the county seat was not closer than the town, and they had to rush back before dawn the next day.
"I must have been so busy this time that I haven't been back for six or seven days. Plus I have a rest tomorrow, so I came back early today. Look, the uncle is thinking about his wife and children."
Ma Shan said the next words to Zhou Daya. Zhou Daya grinned and nodded. He kept packing up his things and planned to go back to the workshop in front.
There is no coincidence.
Ma Shan also had this intention.
"What's the rush? Eat before leaving."
Still eating? Freshly used afternoon snack. After eating and walking, it was getting dark when it was time to have dinner. Zhou Daya bluntly said that it was rare for her to have a day off and she wanted to spend more time with her man.
Much to the delight of Mrs. Liu.
She stood on the side of her old daughter-in-law and suggested that since her old son was back, she would send someone to invite the son's uncle and father-in-law to have dinner here and go back together.
Without waiting for Zhou Banxia to nod in agreement, Zhou Daya hurriedly declined. She brought her daughter here to rest for a day, while the child's father was busy in the workshop.
One by one, when Zhou Daya picked up her daughter and wanted to go back, Ma Shan also picked up her younger son and said bluntly that her eldest son was staying and she wanted to go back and lie down for a while.
It seemed like there was no place for her to lie here. Zhou Banxia couldn't laugh or cry. With Mrs. Liu's nod, she had no choice but to let Mai Huang lead someone to send them away.
After all, the speed at which Gu Wenxuan came in was not as fast as the speed at which Zhou Daya and Ma Shan left. After all, he passed through the main courtyard on the middle road before coming back.
Although the gatekeeper at the Chuihua Gate over there reported that his mother, sister and others had gone to the couple's yard in the afternoon, even his father was not in the main yard.
For this reason, he never entered the main courtyard. When he arrived home to see his parents, he went directly around the corridor, turned west, walked through a path, and returned to the main courtyard of the West Road Courtyard.
But the inside of the manor is indeed not small. If you don’t go directly to the West Road Courtyard from the west side door when you return from the outside, or if you don’t go directly from the main courtyard to the West Road Courtyard through the corner door in the backyard, it’s quite time-consuming to go around in a circle.
Similarly, after walking through a path and returning to the main courtyard of the West Road Courtyard, before entering the courtyard gate, Gu Wenxuan also received a report from the woman guarding the courtyard gate here.
In addition to his sister-in-law carrying her nephew directly back to the East Road Courtyard from the corner door of the backyard, his sister-in-law Zhou Daya and her daughter had also just gone out and had not even burned a stick of incense.
Gu Wenxuan knew that the reason why they didn't meet was that he entered through the east corner door, while his sister-in-law took a shortcut through the west door to return to the front workshop, which was a mistake.
Hearing that his mother-in-law informed him that his mother was here, Gu Wenxuan didn't even bother to wait for Jiaxing who was behind to take the people to unload the things in the carriage and move them in.
He opened his long legs and headed straight for the hanging flower door.
After entering the hanging flower door, passing through the hall, there are three small halls. In front of you are the five upper rooms, which are where the couple usually live.
Before reaching the door of the upper room, a maid saluted and opened the curtain. "Rokuro is back?"
"Mom, it's me, don't come out, I'll go into the house immediately."
While talking, as soon as he entered the hall, a gust of warm air hit his face. Gu Wenxuan quickly took off his snow hat, took off his cloak, and threw it to the waiting maid.
Then he walked quickly to the side of the Nuange Suite. The original faint fragrance of melon and fruit became stronger and stronger, and it was easy to smell the fragrance of watermelon in bloom.
"Why are you back so early today? Did you finish the exam in the morning?" Zhou Banxia received a letter from Gu Wenxuan the day before yesterday, so he knew that the county school had held a mock exam in the past three days.
"Smart!" Gu Wenxuan almost said again, worthy of being my wife, "After the exam, Dajiang and I hurried back to the house to eat and then came back.
If it hadn't been for a trip to the escort agency on the way, I would have come back earlier. Mom, I won’t take a bath tomorrow, and the list will be distributed the day after tomorrow. There is no need to rush to the county school before Chenshi the day after tomorrow. ”
"So it's almost two days of rest? I just happened to be at home to spend time with Sanya." Mrs. Liu quickly asked, "Did you see your father when you got home?"
"No, I heard from Jia Xing that my father and my father-in-law were in Zhuangzi, Hexi. When Jia Xing told me, I was almost home on horseback and didn't run that way."
"Riding, didn't you promise Sanya to come back by carriage in the cold weather?"
"We came back by carriage. I shared a carriage with Dajiang. When we got to the intersection ahead, we asked Dajiang to take the carriage home first. I was too lazy to get on the other carriage and rode back.
Otherwise, that kid from Ojiang had to accompany me to the crossroads in front, and he would get off the carriage and go home by himself. It was troublesome, and he had to go around the end of the village. ”
Ms. Liu retracted her frozen gaze as she looked at her old son, and nodded with a smile, "My Liulang is already acting like a brother-in-law. It's time for Da Jiang to go home directly in the carriage. Get home early so that you can meet your mother-in-law early. Your mother-in-law will be here soon." I haven’t seen my eldest son for half a month.
Okay, I know you are in a hurry to wash your face when you get home, so there is no need to come out. Mom and your sister have gone back first, so there is no need to run over and eat together tonight. ”
"No, please sit there for a while. My son is not in a hurry to wash his face." Gu Wenxuan said jokingly, "It's as if your son will come back and drive you away. Don't you want to chat with your son anymore?"
"Tomorrow is the day, I have some time to chat." Ms. Liu said, holding the old girl's little hand and walking out, "Watch Sanya, there is no need to come out, it's cold outside."
How is this possible? Before Gu Wenxuan could say anything, Zhou Banxia put on a silver squirrel jacket and followed closely, "Mom, please slow down, I won't get cold if I don't go out of the yard."
"You're disobedient, aren't you?" Mrs. Liu turned around and glared, "Go in quickly, you're freezing now. It's not a joke. If you don't endure it any longer, mother won't care where you want to go after the baby is born."
Gu Baoya covered her mouth and smiled sullenly, "Mom, we are already in the hall now. I first hid all the cloaks and cloaks in my second sister-in-law's hall in the room, so she can't get out."
"You are really clever." Mrs. Liu couldn't help laughing and patted her old daughter's little head, and winked at her old son, telling him to keep an eye on his wife.
Gu Wenxuan nodded knowingly, and when he saw Mai Qing following Zhou Banxia, he took the first step to take Liu's cloak held by the little maid in both hands, shook it and let Liu put it on.
Ms. Liu pursed her lips and smiled, without any further excuses. She took her old son's hands and put on her cloak and hood, then raised her hand and waved to her old daughter-in-law, who was looking at her longingly.
He signaled the old daughter-in-law to hurry up and help her stay in the warm pavilion. With her other hand, she held the little hand of the old daughter-in-law who was waiting on the side and was being served by a maid who put on a little hat and a little cloak. (End of chapter)