The mule cart quickly entered the county town, turned several turns and entered an alley, and stopped at the door of a house.
The door of the house was wide open, and Yan Ru's aunt Xiao was standing at the door, looking forward to it. When she saw the mule cart coming, she immediately ran over. "Hey, Yan Ru is back."
Jiang Erlang carried his little niece out of the car, helped his wife down, and then went out to get the gifts.
Two pieces of cloth, four boxes of snacks, two jars of wine, eight gifts in total, just about the standard, not more, not less.
"Aunt." Yan Ru gave her aunt a blessing and introduced Ying Bao to her aunt. "This is Uncle San's daughter Ying Bao. She came with us to the county town today. She will go to the government office to pay respect to the senior official later."
Yingbao bowed to the lady of the inn, "Hello, aunt."
"Okay." Seeing Yingbao's face was full of smiles, Xiao quickly pulled her hand and said, "Come in and talk."
"No, aunt, we have to go back." Since we are going back to her parents' home, it must be to her mother's family.
Although Yan Ru's biological mother has passed away, her old father, stepmother and others are still at home.
Xiao didn't try to persuade him to stay, but just whispered, "If they don't offer you food over there, bring your husband to your aunt's place."
"Yeah." Yan Ru responded softly, took eight gifts from the mule cart, and went to her parents' home with Jiang Erlang.
The Lu family is not far from Aunt Xiao's house, only four or five houses away.
Yingbao followed Lu Yanru and Jiang Erlang into the Lu family yard, and saw several people standing under the eaves of the main house.
Standing in the middle was a man in his forties with a weathered face and a long beard. He was wearing a flowered silk robe and a gorgeous silk flower on his head. He was probably Yan Ru's father.
Standing next to him was a middle-aged woman in a green summer cloth dress. She said nothing and had a cold expression when she saw them come in.
Next to the woman stood a girl of about fifteen or sixteen. The girl had a fair face and her eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to Yan Ru's, but her lips were thin and she looked a bit mean.
There was also a 13 or 14-year-old boy who looked carefree. When he saw Jiang Erlang coming in with some gifts, he shouted, "New brother-in-law, what gifts did you bring? Are there any for me?"
Jiang Erlang didn't say anything, but the bearded man glared at the young man and scolded him, "If you don't speak, no one will think you are dumb!"
The boy snorted and said nonchalantly, "I wasn't just asking, why are you glaring at me, Dad?"
The man ignored him, looked at Jiang Erlang, then frowned and looked at Ying Bao.
Jiang Erlang bowed to Yan Ru's parents, and Ying Bao followed his uncle and bowed together.
Then I heard my stepmother say in a weird tone: "Oh, you can't give birth to a child yourself, but you brought someone else's child to live with you. Don't blame me as your stepmother for scolding you. Yanru, your life is to raise other people's children."
Yan Ru was so angry that her face turned red. She was about to argue with her stepmother when she was stopped by Jiang Erlang.
Jiang Erlang said calmly, "Aunt, you misunderstood. This is my niece. We brought her here because we have something to do. If we disturb you, we will leave immediately."
The stepmother snorted, turned around and went back to the house, and the girl beside her followed her.
Yingbao just felt that this family all had some serious illness.
No wonder Sister Yanru is so eager to get married. With family like this, staying one more day would be a waste of life.
Yan Ru's father was also quite distant from his daughter and son-in-law. He let his son-in-law sit alone in the main room and left.
Yingbao and Erbo looked at each other in bewilderment.
Yan Ru went back to the house to pack her things and prepare to take them away.
After a while, Yan Ru came out with a big package and said to her husband, "Let's go."
"Okay." Jiang Erlang stood up, took the package from his wife, and asked, "What's in this?"
"I'll take back some of my old clothes that I grew up with to paste on the soles of my shoes." Yan Ru said calmly, "And some of my mother's old things."
The three of them walked out of the Lu family and went straight to Aunt Xiao's house.
Jiang Erlang placed the package on the mule cart, and then he and his wife walked into his aunt's yard.
"You're back." Aunt Xiao smiled as she leaned out of the kitchen. "Erlang, sit down first. Lunch will be ready soon."
"Okay." Jiang Erlang took his niece to sit under the persimmon tree in the yard.
In the kitchen, Xiao was cooking while Yanru was helping to light the fire.
"Is the Jiang family good to you?" Xiao asked.
Yan Ru nodded: "The Jiang family is very nice."
Xiao: "Are Jiang Erlang's children respectful to you?"
"Erni and Huzi are both very good, don't worry, auntie, they all treat me as their own mother and are not disrespectful at all."
"That's good." Xiao was relieved and sighed softly, "You have finally come to an end. My sister's spirit in heaven can rest in peace."
Yan Ru was silent.
Xiao put a fish into the pot, and the oil made a sizzling sound.
"Your stepmother is hoping that you will have a bad life. She met me on the road today and was even mad at me. Humph, what a bullshit!"
"I'm sorry to have made you worry. You don't have to pay attention to her next time. Anyway, I don't plan to go back after returning home today. I will come to you in the future. You are my family, aunt."
Xiao burst into tears when she heard this.
Wiping her eyes, she choked up and said, "Good boy, from now on this place is your aunt's home."
My niece lost her mother when she was young. If I hadn't been there to take care of her, her stepmother would have tortured her to death. Fortunately, she finally married into a good family.
Xiao fried a few dishes and bought some braised dishes from the braised food shop, and managed to put together a table.
At this time, Uncle Gao also came back and had a few drinks with his nephew's husband.
After dinner, Yan Ru stayed to talk to her aunt, while Jiang Erlang took Ying Bao to the county government office.
The entrance to the county government office was overgrown with weeds, looking even more desolate than in winter.
Yingbao jumped off the mule cart and ran to the gatekeeper: "Uncle, I'm here to see Uncle Wu."
The two yamen runners recognized the little kid and asked with a smile, "What do you want to see you, sir?"
Yingbao took out a few yellow apricots from her little pocket and stuffed them into the yamen runner's pocket, "Give some apricots to Uncle Wu."
The bailiff just teased her and went to the inner hall to pass on the message while biting an apricot.
Not long after, Wu Rui ran out, "Hey! It's Yingbao, come on, come in quickly, the master is free right now."
"I also brought some delicious food for Uncle Wu. Uncle Wu, please help me carry it." Ying Bao came to the mule cart and pointed at the bamboo basket and said, "This is the basket."
Jiang Erlang hurriedly got out of the car and greeted Wu Rui.
Wu Rui smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Both of you come in with me."
So, Jiang Erlang carried the bamboo basket and followed Wu Rui and Ying Bao into the inner courtyard of the county government office.
There is a huge kudzu trellis in the middle of the inner courtyard, with lush kudzu growing on it and countless wisteria flowers hanging from it.
Wu Daozi sat on a bamboo couch under the rattan trellis, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan and reading a book.
"Uncle Wu!" Yingbao ran over, jumping and skipping. "Uncle Wu, do you still recognize me?"
Wu Daozi glanced at her and said with a smile, "It's hard not to recognize you. Why did you think of me today?"
Ying Bao smiled and sat down on the small bamboo table next to the bamboo couch. She whispered, "I prepared a good medicine and came here to give it to Uncle Wu."
"Oh? What good medicine?" Wu Daozi asked, waving a palm-leaf fan.
Jiang Erlang stood under the scorching sun, carrying a bamboo basket on his shoulder, not knowing whether to put it down or not.
Wu Rui stepped forward to help him and carried the bamboo basket under the rattan trellis.
Yingbao took things out of the bamboo basket one by one, muttering, "My apricots are ripe. I picked some last night and brought them to you to try. I also have this bag of golden ears, which I grew myself. I'm cooking them for you, Uncle Wu. Hey, where's my medicine? Oh, it's here."
He took out a pottery jar from the bottom of the basket, held it out and handed it to Wu Daozi: "This is the medicine pill I prescribed for you. Uncle Wu, you must take it, one pill a day."
Wu Daozi sat up, opened the lid of the jar, and instantly smelled an indescribable fragrance.
He pinched out one, looked at it, and asked, "What disease can this pill cure?"