Chapter 26 Re-entry

Chapter 26 Re-entry

Chapter 26 Re-entry
Chen Li was driving a yellow ox in front, and Chen Tiezhu was carrying farm tools behind, walking slowly towards this side.

After the Chen family became rich, they bought an ox and an iron plow. They no longer had to borrow from Chen Rongcai and could save on rent.

The little sister, with a wild flower pinned to her ear, followed the two men, skipping and dancing.

The three of them couldn't see Chen Yuan clearly until they got closer. The little sister shouted in surprise, opened her hands, and ran over here.

"Second brother, you are back!"

Chen Yuan loosened the reins, walked over, lifted up the little sister, rubbed her face affectionately, and said with a smile:
"My little sister is getting more and more beautiful. Do you miss me?"

"I miss you! I miss my second brother every day. Why did you come back just now?"

Chen Yuan held his little sister in one hand, turned around and came to the front of the horse, opened the cloth bag, took out the sugar, rice cakes, hairpins, and toys inside, and said:

"Look what I brought you back?"

The little sister's eyes lit up. She picked up an exquisitely shaped wooden hairpin, looked at it left and right, and couldn't let it go.

Chen Yuan picked up a piece of rice cake and put it next to his little sister's mouth:

"I picked this specially for you. Try it and see if it tastes good..."

The little sister opened her mouth and took a bite, her big eyes sparkling:
"Mmm, delicious! Mmm... Thank you, second brother, you are so nice..."

Seeing his little sister's happy expression, Chen Yuan's smile became more intense:

"Eat slowly, there are two kilograms here, I'll give it all to you..."

Chen Li came over with the yellow ox, looked at the things on the horse's back, and complained:

"You kid, just come back. Why are you buying so many things? You're just wasting money. It would be better to save it for finding a wife."

Chen Yuan smiled and said:

"It's okay, mother. These things are free. They are given to me by the shopkeeper because I work hard."

Chen Li then smiled, her wrinkles piled up layer by layer, and she opened the copper lock and said:

"Then you have to work hard and don't make the boss angry."

Chen Tiezhu smiled and said:
"Okay, Erniu has grown up, it's not your turn to worry about him, so stop talking!"

Chen Li pushed open the door, turned back and glared at him:
"Erniu is still a child no matter how capable he is! People his age in the village have already had children, but he hasn't married yet. If I don't worry about him, who will?"

Chen Tiezhu followed her into the room, snorted, and said:
"Erniu is so capable, how can he still talk about the girls in the village? You have long hair and little knowledge. Erniu will definitely find a wife in the county town in the future, right, Erniu?"

Chen Yuan, holding his little sister and leading the horse, finally walked into the door and said:
"Dad, Mom, don't worry. Now is not the time to get married. I came back this time to tell you something important."

Chen Tiezhu asked:
"What's the matter?"

Chen Yuan did not answer, but put his little sister on the ground, put the rice cake, hairpin and toy in her hands, touched her head, and said softly:

"Go put your things away, and I'll play with you later."

"Ok!"

The little sister nodded obediently, took the things, and ran back to her room.

Chen Yuan took the pork, cotton cloth, and fine grain flour to the main room, put them on the table, and then said:
"I will be transferred to the county town in a few days. I came back this time to give you some silver."

He took out the twenty taels of silver from his pocket and handed it over.

Chen Tiezhu's face changed, he took it, weighed it, and exclaimed:

"This must be more than ten taels, right?"

Chen Yuan smiled and said:

"This is twenty taels of silver. It was given to me by the chief steward. He took a fancy to me and wanted to take me to the county town to work. This is my settlement fee. You keep it and don't let anyone else know."

Chen Tiezhu said with relief:

"Erniu has really grown up. It would be great for him to go to the county town and make a name for himself. This would bring honor to the family!"

"Father, let me see."

Chen Li took the silver, looked at it carefully, then put it down silently, looked at Chen Yuan, and said:

"Erniu, are you going to fight with someone when you go back to the county town?"

Chen Yuan looked at Chen Li, who was worried, and felt a warm feeling in his heart. He smiled and said:

"Don't worry, mother, I know what's going on. Nothing will happen."

Chen Tiezhu sighed and said:

"Okay, mother, if you want to make a name for yourself in this world, you have to take risks. Erniu has been smart since he was a child, so let's not worry about him. Erniu, don't work too hard. Our family lives a good enough life. Your mother and I will keep these twenty taels of silver for you. If you feel tired and exhausted, just go home. We have our own cows and plows, and we can buy a few acres of land. We don't have to worry about food and clothing, and our life is not bad..."

Chen Tiezhu kept talking, and his voice sounded very hoarse due to years of talking loudly in the fields and being exposed to wind and sun.

But Chen Yuan looked at Chen Tiezhu with a much more sincere expression than when he was facing Wei Wuding and Manager Sun, and grinned:
"Okay, Dad, I'll listen to you."

Chen Li also smiled, picked up the pork, walked out the door, and said, "You two sit down, I'll go cook. Erniu finally came back, we need to eat something good..."

At this time, the younger sister ran in and almost bumped into Chen Li. She staggered two steps and threw herself into Chen Yuan's arms.

Chen Li was in a good mood and scolded with a smile:

"You're so old, but you still don't act like a grown-up girl. I wonder how you'll get married in the future!"

The younger sister hugged Chen Yuan's arm tightly and said loudly:
"I won't get married. I'll just stay at home with my parents and my second brother!"

Chen Yuan laughed loudly, pinched the little sister's cheek, and said:
"Okay, I'll support you from now on. If you want to get married, you can marry. If you don't want to marry, you don't have to marry!"

……

Chen Yuan played with his little sister for half an hour. Then Chen Li prepared the meal and the family sat down at the dining table.

Mrs. Chen Li cooked four dishes and cut two pounds of pork. As soon as the dishes were served, the younger sister's eyes lit up. She scooped the meat into the bowl and started eating it in big mouthfuls.

Although the Chen family lived better and better, they were not rich. They could only eat meat a few times a month and had a good meal only during festivals.

Chen Yuan put the meat into the little sister's bowl and said with a smile:
"Eat slowly, don't hold on."

Chen Li looked at the two children with a smile:

"Erniu, you eat too. You have a big appetite, so I specially cut two pounds of meat. The rest will be left tomorrow. When your eldest brother and sister-in-law come back, I will cook a few more dishes and we can have a good meal as a family."

Chen Tiezhu also smiled:

"That's right. You only came home during the New Year before, and you couldn't come back for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Today, you finally came back and met your brother and sister-in-law."

Chen Yuan paused, looked at his younger sister, nodded slightly, and said nothing.

After dinner, Chen Yuan played with his little sister for an hour. After coaxing her to sleep, he went back to the main room.

Chen Tiezhu and Chen Lishi had not yet rested, so Chen Yuan said to them:

"Dad, Mom, I have something urgent to do. I have to leave tonight. If you have anything to say, please ask Uncle Erhua to pass on the message. I can also receive it in the county city."

Chen Tiezhu was surprised:

"What's the matter? Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Yes, it's so inconvenient at this time of night. Let's go tomorrow!"

Chen Li also tried to keep him, but Chen Yuan just shook his head and said:
"I also want to stay at home for two more days, but there is really no other way. If my little sister asks about it tomorrow, you should comfort her more."

The two looked at each other and stopped persuading each other. Chen Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and asked Chen Li to prepare more dry food.

While Chen Li started to make pancakes, Chen Yuan, with the help of Chen Tiezhu, filled two large sacks with fodder for the family's cattle.

Chen Tiezhu and Chen Li were both a little confused. The county town was not too far away, and they would have to pass through two county towns on the way, so they would not have to worry about food. Why did Chen Yuan look like he was going on a long journey?

But they didn't ask any more questions, and Chen Yuan also told them that if anyone asked, they should say that he had returned to the county town.

An hour later, Chen Yuan left Chenjia Village with enough dry food for four days and two large sacks of hay.

It is a sunny night tonight, the moon is high in the sky, and the Milky Way is hanging in the sky, casting down moonlight and starlight, illuminating Chen Yuan's way forward.

He did not go to the county town, nor did he return to the village, but instead followed Yuanpingxing and entered the Chimang Mountains.

There are very few pedestrians in Yuanpingxing at night.

Chen Yuan rode his horse at a gallop, and relying on his amazing five senses, he would avoid pedestrians as far as he could see, and they lived in peace with each other.

Two hours later, he suddenly stopped, turned into a mountain path, dismounted and walked, and came to a dense forest where few people had been.

Chen Yuan tied the reins to the tree, looked around, and climbed to the top of the tree to observe carefully. After making sure that there was no one nearby, he took out the coarse cloth bag he kept close to his body and took out the jade pendant.

The jade beads were bathed in starlight, emitting a faint green light.

The stars in the sky twinkled together and gathered into a thin ray of starlight, which descended from the sky and enveloped Chen Yuan. A cool and numb feeling spread throughout his body.

Chen Yuan was overjoyed that the jade beads had not lost their effectiveness and could even draw starlight into his body!

This time, Chen Yuan did not close his eyes, but opened them wide and lowered his head to carefully observe the starlight on his body surface.

He discovered that the starlight was now a little darker than before, no longer a faint white, but a very light silver.

Twenty breaths later, the green light dissipated, the starlight faded, and a familiar feeling of hunger surged up.

Chen Yuan took out the only remaining Peiyuan Pill and swallowed it. The feeling of hunger was relieved a little and was within a tolerable range.

Afterwards, he carefully put away the jade pendant, stopped eating dry food, endured the hunger in his stomach, led the horse out of the dense forest, and set off again along Yuanpingxing.

Chen Yuan rested his horse during the day and traveled at night. His speed was much faster than the large group of people from the Fuhu Gang. It took him two days to return to the burned Black Wind Village.

Looking at the collapsed and charred house in front of him, Chen Yuan smiled. He tied up the horse and followed the route he remembered, heading towards the cliff where the bodies were thrown in Heifeng Village.

(End of this chapter)