"Why hasn't my brother come back yet?" Little Stone watched the sky gradually darken, and couldn't help but panic. Pei Mu also looked up at the sky like him, and then stared at the door, wondering when it would be opened.
Pei Che frowned, feeling somewhat worried, and called the guard on duty to inquire about the situation. He felt relieved when he learned that Jiang Miao said that he would try to return as soon as possible if there was no emergency, and would come back the next day if there was something wrong.
"Your brother must be busy with something. I'll have someone send some food over. You can eat and have a good sleep. You will be able to see him tomorrow." Pei Che said.
Little Stone nodded listlessly, and when the guard came in with the food box, he took Pei Mu to wash his hands, and then started eating. Pei Che had no appetite today, so he put down his chopsticks after eating a little. Little Stone and Pei Mu were the same, and each of them ate a little before saying they were full.
Pei Che was unable to persuade him, so he prepared to have someone come to clean up, thinking that he would think of a solution when he was hungry later. Little Stone looked at the things on the table that were hardly touched, raised his head and asked: "Brother Pei Che, are all these dishes going to be thrown away? Brother hates waste the most..." He felt a little uneasy, thinking that he was not very good today. He thought, maybe it was because of this that his brother didn't come back.
Pei Che was stunned, thinking of Jiang Miao's usual frugal style. Every time he cooked, he would estimate the amount, so that every meal could be just finished. When eating out, he would also try his best to finish the food, and put aside what he couldn't finish.
"Then let's eat a little more and try to waste less, okay?" Pei Che looked at the two little ones and suggested. After all, they didn't eat much before, and there was a ready-made excuse, so they could just eat a little more.
Little Stone thought about it and said, "Okay."
Pei Che and Xiao Shitou started to eat, Pei Mu watched from the side, and after a while he also sat down at the table. Pei Che served him some rice, and he also started to eat.
After dinner, Pei Che asked them to wash up. Fortunately, Xiao Shitou was independent and could boil water by himself, otherwise Pei Che would have wanted to go back home overnight and let Wen Jing and Chan Yi help take care of the child.
After a period of chaos, Pei Che finally took care of the two children and put them to bed.
"You guys go to sleep." He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at the two of them.
"Brother Pei Che, aren't you going to sleep? Is it because you can't sleep without your brother?" Little Stone pouted his eyes. He remembered that the last time he slept on the floor, he woke up in the middle of the night and found that Pei Che had gone to bed and slept with his brother.
Pei Che felt a little embarrassed. He clearly didn't want to sleep with these two octopuses, so why did he feel a little weird when he heard him say that
"You guys go to sleep first. I'll sleep later when I'm sleepy." Pei Che tucked in the quilt for them and watched their eyelids grow heavier and heavier until they finally closed. He stood up, blew out the candle, and walked towards the study.
Before daybreak, Jiang Miao took his cousin Jiang Yu out to avoid being questioned by villagers. He hired a carriage to return yesterday, and today he was going back to the city. As soon as he got out of the intersection, he met several carriages carrying goods. The owner of the carriage was very nice. When he heard that they wanted to take a ride, he let them get on directly.
The carriage was carrying goods, but it was moving at a fast speed. When it entered the East Gate, the gate had just been opened, so it was moving faster than usual. Jiang Yu had never ridden in a carriage before, and this one was very bumpy, so he found a deserted place to vomit as soon as he got off the carriage.
Jiang Miao patted her back, then went to the shop next door to get a bowl of water so that she could relax. After a while, Jiang Yu's face was not so pale anymore. Jiang Miao looked around and prepared to ask for a bullock cart to travel slowly.
Jiang Yu pointed at the bowl and gestured to the shop, indicating that he should return the bowl. Jiang Miao said, "No need to return it, I bought this bowl." The city is different from the countryside. In the countryside, it is normal to ask for a bowl of water from anyone when you are thirsty on the road, but it is not like that in the city.
Jiang Yu looked at the bowl, a trace of apology flashed in her eyes. Her presence had caused trouble for A Miao.
Jiang Miao saw what she meant and immediately consoled her: "Sister Xiaoyu, it's okay. You still have to buy bowls. You can still use them when you take them home."
He waved and called a bullock cart, took Jiang Yu on it, and told the driver not to go too fast. The old man driving the cart responded, and the bullock cart slowly started moving.
No longer feeling unwell, Jiang Yu began to observe her surroundings. She had lived in Jiangjiawan since she was a child, and it was only today that she came to the city for the first time. The buildings in Liangjing City were very tall and there were many people. It was a lively scene that she could not have imagined before.
Jiang Miao looked at Jiang Yu, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her eyes wide open trying to adapt to the environment. Sure enough, at this time, you should divert your attention to heal the wound in your heart.
He asked his second aunt last night, and she said that although Jiang Yu didn't show anything on her face, she was actually very sad because Jiang Yu had been secretly embroidering her wedding dress.
Jiang Miao thought: Yes, every stitch and thread contains all the expectations of a young girl who is just beginning to fall in love for the future. Jiang Yu has always felt inferior because she can't speak. Getting engaged is an expectation for other girls, but it is salvation for her. Jiang Miao was afraid that if she continued to stay in the village, she would not be able to bear the rumors of the villagers and would do something extreme.
The wheels turned round and round, and finally reached the destination. Jiang Miao paid the driver and walked in through the side door with Jiang Yu.
Pei Che, who had not slept all night, came out of the study room immediately when he heard the door open. However, the bright smile on his face disappeared immediately after he saw the woman next to Jiang Miao.
"Who is she?" Pei Che asked Jiang Miao, but his eyes were looking at the side. At this moment, he thought to himself, could it be that the urgent matter Jiang Miao mentioned was to go home and bring this woman back
"Why are you here? Are you skipping school again?" Jiang Miao was very surprised. He had just pushed the door open, and was thinking about criticizing and educating the two children who didn't lock the door when they slept, but he didn't expect Pei Che to suddenly appear.
"You don't want to see me?" Pei Che's face was downcast and his tone was a little aggressive. He felt that Jiang Miao's attitude of avoiding the question was very suspicious.
"Are you angry? I just asked a question, why do you not want to see you?" Jiang Miao was a little puzzled, not knowing what was wrong with him.
Jiang Miao was still carrying a lot of things in his hands. He walked to the table, put the things down, and then said, "By the way, she is my cousin, her name is Jiang Yu, you can just call her Sister Xiaoyu."
Jiang Yu stared at Pei Che's face in a trance, and naturally did not respond to his greeting. Jiang Miao secretly complained that Pei Che was a troublemaker, and then sent Pei Che to stay in the room.
After he left, Jiang Yu came to her senses, looking a little embarrassed. She had never seen such a good-looking person before!
"His name is Pei Che, and he's my fiancé. The last time my second uncle and second aunt came over, it was for our engagement." Jiang Miao said it without any shame. He was mainly afraid that if he told his friends, what would happen if Xiaoyu fell in love with him? Pei Che's face was very attractive to girls.
Jiang Yu nodded. Last time when his second uncle and his friends went back, they talked about the engagement. It turned out that he was the Mr. Pei. Jiang Yu smiled and raised two thumbs, one to Jiang Miao and one to the room, and then put the two thumbs together to indicate that they were a good match.
Jiang Miao probably understood what she meant, and immediately laughed awkwardly twice, then began to change the subject: "Sister Xiaoyu, I'm going to discuss renting a house for you first, you sit down and rest for a while."
Jiang Yu nodded. She knew nothing, so naturally she had to follow Jiang Miao's arrangements.
When Jiang Miao arrived at the main house, Brother Bai was still at home. He told Brother Bai about this and Brother Bai agreed immediately. After Jiang Miao signed the deed and paid the rent, Brother Bai gave Jiang Miao the key.
"Brother Jiang, who are you renting this house to?" Mrs. Bai was a little curious.
Jiang Miao said, "She is my cousin. She came with me this time. Please take good care of her from now on. My cousin has rarely been out of the house before and is a little timid."
"Don't be polite. From now on, just call her whenever I need something." Mrs. Bai agreed readily.
"Sister-in-law, my cousin can't speak, but she can understand what others say." Jiang Miao did not hide it. This kind of thing could not be hidden.
"Oh, I see. Don't worry, brother Jiang. There is no gossiper in our yard." Although Aunt Liu liked to ask questions, she knew her limits and never talked about other people's pain.
"Then I'll trouble you, sister-in-law. I still have to pack up, so I'll leave first."
Jiang Miao opened the door with the key, and then brought Jiang Yu over to take a look at the environment. Jiang Yu looked at the room and was very satisfied. After walking around, she began to look for things to clean.
When Jiang Miao went home to get something for her, Pei Che couldn't help but come out of the room.
"Is your cousin going to live here for a long time?" Pei Che heard it from inside.
Jiang Miao blushed a little. If Pei Che heard this, then he must have also heard the stupid words about fiancé that were mentioned before.
"Something happened at home, so I brought her over to stay for a while to relax."
"What happened?" Pei Che asked with concern.
Jiang Miao sighed and told Pei Che the whole story. After listening, Pei Che said, "There must be something wrong when things are out of the ordinary. They are in a hurry to cancel the engagement, there must be something fishy."
"I think so too!" Jiang Miao found resonance, "They just said it was because Sister Xiaoyu couldn't speak, I think there must be something fishy here!"
"I'll send someone to investigate this matter. If there's anything fishy going on, I'll bring them over and explain it to everyone to avoid damaging your cousin's reputation." Pei Che said.
"Okay, thank you for your help then." Jiang Miao really wanted to understand why that family broke off the engagement.
"Yeah!" Pei Che smiled and nodded, looking a little tired.
Jiang Miao noticed his expression, and thinking back to the time when Pei Che came out of the study, he asked, "You didn't stay in the study all night, did you?"
Pei Che nodded. He had overestimated himself a bit. Just like Jiang Miao said before, staying up late was indeed harmful to the body.
"You are stupid. If you really don't want to sleep with Xiao Shitou and the others, just sleep on the floor like you did last time! The things are all there, can't you do it yourself? Are you feeling comfortable after a night of hard work? Wait, I'll go wake up Xiao Shitou and Xiao Mu, you go and get some rest later..."
If someone else had said this to him, Pei Che would have been angry. But now he was smiling and looking at Jiang Miao tenderly. In Jiang Miao's chattering, he felt the feeling of being cared for. This kind of reproach with implicit concern seemed to be something he had only heard when his mother was still alive.
(End of this chapter)