It took two hours to fly from S City to Jiang Mingyuan's hometown. They set off after lunch and got off the plane at 4:00 pm. After transferring from the airport, it was already 5:30 when they actually arrived.
This is a small town backed by mountains. The town is dominated by tourism, and its economy is quite developed.
After walking through a street market paved with stone slabs and crossing a river, they arrived at the place where they lived.
The houses in this area are all old, with white walls and gray tiles, and a small river flows in front of the door. The river water is crystal clear, sparkling in the sun.
"It's just ahead." Jiang Mingyuan dragged a suitcase with one hand, walked across the bridge to put down the suitcase, stretched out his hand to hold Cheng Huan behind him, bent down to hug Xingxing, and pointed to a house not far away.
That house didn't look much different from the other houses around. They were all double-storey buildings facing the river, with a surrounding wall built outside. A few evergreen trees protruded from the wall with a few branches, which looked interesting.
Walking outside the courtyard wall and pushing open the carved iron gate, one can see a somewhat lively front yard. It is obvious that someone tends to the yard from time to time, and it is still green in winter.
There was a path in the middle of the yard. Jiang Mingyuan walked in the front, walked through the front yard, found a bunch of keys in a flower pot outside the door, and went forward to open the door.
The house looks quaint from the outside, but it is well decorated inside. The living room is very spacious, and the furniture is all made of mahogany. You can tell that the price is expensive. Jiang Mingyuan put his luggage in the living room and took the mother and son upstairs to visit.
Like an apartment, there are not many rooms in this house, only a master bedroom, a second bedroom, a guest bedroom and a study. The master bedroom used to be where Jiang's father and Jiang's mother lived. This year, Jiang's mother didn't come over, so the room was vacant. Jiang Mingyuan didn't plan to move in, so he went straight ahead and opened the door of the second bedroom.
It is said to be the second bedroom, but the room size is actually quite large. There is a table and chairs made of huanghuali next to the door, and the side is partitioned by a screen. When you walk around the screen, you can see the large and comfortable bed inside. There are various human figures or auspicious wood carvings on the green gauze curtain of the bed, painted with gold lacquer, which looks old.
Except for Jiang Mingyuan, it was the first time for the other two to see this kind of bed. Seeing that they were curious, the man explained the origin of the thing.
Sure enough, it is an antique, handed down from the Qing Dynasty.
Cheng Huan was speechless. She felt that she would definitely suffer from insomnia if she slept on this antique bed. She was fine. Fortunately, this was Jiang Mingyuan's room, so she didn't need to be tempted by it.
As soon as she breathed a sigh of relief, she heard the person beside her say: "The beds in this house are all like this. If you don't like it, I'll find someone to change it."
When Jiang's mother was at home, she didn't like this kind of bed very much, saying that they were "feudal dross", and repeatedly asked to change them, otherwise she would not come back to live in them.
Jiang Mingyuan used to arrange for someone to replace the bed in the master bedroom every year, and replace the things after the people left. This time, he also prepared the things. As long as Cheng Huan said he didn't like it, he could change it immediately.
Cheng Huan's expression changed: "Same as you?"
"almost."
After he finished speaking, he took people to visit the guest bedroom.
The guest bedroom is a little smaller than the second bedroom, and it has the same configuration, except that the patterns on the green gauze curtain are different. These carvings are allusions such as the blessing of the heavenly official, the number one scholar parading the street, and the unicorn delivering a child. You can clearly see the sideburns on the horse you are riding.
Cheng Huan has already refused to think about how much this thing is worth, fearing that she will resent the rich, her eyes wandered past the wood carvings, and she did not say that she would change them.
The door of the room is not as wide as the bed. If you want to move things out, you must dismantle them. They are all old things, so it is always bad to fiddle with them.
Moreover, although she would feel pressure in her heart when she fell asleep, Cheng Huan had to admit that this bed is really beautiful! She is so beautiful that she can't bear to look away!
Touching the wood carving with her fingertips, she turned her head and said to the people behind her, "You don't need to change it, this thing is quite good."
Jiang Mingyuan said yes happily.
He lived here when he was very young, and the things in the house have witnessed his growth. He was pleasantly surprised that Cheng Huan liked these things, as if the distance between the two of them had narrowed a little.
Looking after the room, several people went downstairs to get their luggage and prepare to hang up their clothes. As soon as I walked down the stairs, I heard someone shouting outside the door.
"I'll go out and have a look."
"Go ahead, this box is not heavy."
Cheng Huan went upstairs with a suitcase, and after hanging up his clothes, he saw two more people in the house.
It was a pair of middle-aged men and women who seemed to be in their forties. They turned around when they heard the sound of going downstairs, and one of the women smiled at Jiang Mingyuan and asked, "Is this the younger sibling?"
Jiang Mingyuan nodded with a smile, stepped forward and took her hand and introduced to Cheng Huan: "This is the fourth cousin and sister-in-law."
There are many Jiang families, and the relationship between relatives is also complicated. Before coming here, Jiang Mingyuan told her some things, including these two.
These four cousins and sister-in-law are the eldest sons of the second son of the great grandfather's family. They are also doing business now, doing some foreign trade business, and the scale is not particularly large.
They came back earlier, and this time they came to ask them to go over for dinner, saying that Grandpa knew they were back and wanted to see him.
"How is it?" Jiang Mingyuan pulled Cheng Huan to sit down on the chair, leaned into his ear and whispered, "If you don't want to go, I will refuse."
"Go." Cheng Huan nodded without thinking long. Anyway, they are all here, no matter sooner or later, they have to go to see the elders, and there is no point in procrastinating.
She agreed to come down, and Jiang Mingyuan was also relieved. He told the two of them to wait a moment, and went upstairs to ask Xingxing to come down.
Xing Xing was still rolling on the huge walk-in bed in the second bedroom, his hair was messed up, and he was unwilling to walk properly even being led by his father, so he had to jump on the stairs.
Jiang Mingyuan held his hand tightly, fearing that the little guy would accidentally step on the ground, and walked down the stairs in fear. The man brought his son in front of his cousin and his wife, and let the stars call people.
Xing Xing is not afraid, he can yell as soon as he wants to, and he will give a sweet smile when he finishes yelling.
Although some people said that Jiang Mingyuan came back with a woman and a child, probably his wife and child, but neither of them thought that the child would be this big!
Their gazes turned secretly between Jiang Mingyuan and Cheng Huan a few times, and with smiles on their faces, they took out the meeting gift from their pockets and gave them to Xingxing.
The cousin with a beer belly touched his bald forehead, and said to Jiang Mingyuan with a smile: "We used to be worried that you would not find anyone, but in the end, you are still fast and your son is so old."
Jiang Mingyuan held Xing Xing, looked at the woman on the other side with a smile, turned back to his cousin and said, "I'm also very surprised."
"By the way, you guys haven't held the wedding yet. When are you going to do it?" Everyone brought them back, indicating that his cousin was confirmed, and Jiang Mingzhou didn't care about it when he asked the question. After speaking, he reached out and patted him on the shoulder: "Marriage is a big event, and the wedding should be more lively."
"Sure."
"So is the wedding date set?"
"Not yet." Jiang Mingyuan stretched out his hand, took Cheng Huan's hand and interlocked his fingers: "We are still discussing."
Cheng Huan kept a smile on his face, and secretly pinched the man's fingertips to signal him not to talk nonsense.
The man pulled out his fingers, and his fingertips were clenched tightly along the palm of his hand, so that her fingers could not mess around.
The cousin on the other side didn't notice the small gestures of the two of them at all, and was still thinking about the big things in his cousin's life. He rubbed his belly and nodded seriously: "This really needs to be discussed carefully and choose a good day."
Jiang Mingyuan echoed: "I think so too."
…
The few people didn't chat for too long. After all, it was getting late. Jiang Mingyuan took out the gifts he had prepared, and took his wife, children, cousin and his wife to the grandfather's side.
Grandpa's house is much larger than Jiang Mingyuan's, and there are five or six houses scattered in the yard. There are many houses, and the family has a large population. There are a total of five children, a dozen grandchildren, and a similar number of great-grandchildren.
They went over and first went to see the grandpa. The old man owned a house by himself, and there were nurses and doctors in it. The three of them came all the way, and people kept saying hello to Jiang Mingyuan. Cheng Huan walked beside him, and he could feel the eyes of those people staring at his back without turning his head.
Jiang Mingyuan took Cheng Huan's hand calmly and said in a low voice, "Don't worry about them."
"I know." Cheng Huan shook his hand back.
The place where the old man lives is quite quiet. There is a small independent courtyard outside the house. There are several birdcages hanging under the eaves, and there are various parrots in them. As soon as Jiang Mingyuan and the others approached, a large parrot near the door yelled into the room: "The old man is looking for you!"
This sudden voice startled Cheng Huan and Xing Xing, Xing Xing looked around suspiciously, but found no one to speak, he leaned on his mother secretly, and whispered: "Mom, there are invisible people here. "
After he finished speaking, the bird giggled again, scaring the star closer.
Although Cheng Huan has never raised a parrot, she also knows that some parrots can talk when they are raised well. She followed the sound to find it, and met the mung bean eyes of the big parrot. The parrot tilted its head to look at her and greeted her. :"Hello beauty."
Cheng Huan: "..."
"This parrot is more lively, so don't pay attention to it." The parrot lived a long time. The bird was there before Jiang Mingyuan was born, so he can be regarded as his elder. He smiled helplessly at Cheng Huan, and pulled Xing Xing to tell him that it was not an invisible person, but a parrot talking, so he didn't have to be afraid.
It was the first time that Xing Xing knew that parrots could talk, and his curiosity suddenly aroused. He looked up at the parrot under the porch, thought for a long time and said hello: "Hello."
Parrot: "Who are you?"
Seeing that it could really communicate with him, Xing Xing was even more excited. He trotted over to introduce himself to the parrot, and after talking a lot, the parrot still asked, "Who are you?"
"Okay, Xing Xing will come to play with him later, let's go see grandpa first, shall we?"
"Okay." After thinking about it, Xingxing nodded, took his father's hand, waved goodbye to the parrot, and was reluctant to follow his parents into the house.
The old man was getting old and it was inconvenient to go up and down the stairs. He stayed in his room most of the time. Jiang Mingyuan took his wife and children to the master bedroom to see him. As soon as he knocked on the door, a voice let him in.
"It's Mingyuan, right? Come in, I knew it was you when I heard Dongdong's call." The voice was old but not weak. The person who wanted to talk was in good health. Jiang Mingyuan's expression relaxed a lot. He pushed the door in and put the things in the On the table, he smiled and called the old man in front of him Grandpa.
After calling, he introduced the people around him: "This is my girlfriend Cheng Huan, and this is our child Jiang Xingchen, who will be five years old during Chinese New Year."
After his introduction, Cheng Huan also called out Grandpa, and Xing Xing called it that way for a while, but was slapped by his mother before remembering to change his words: "Hello, Grandpa."