newbobooks Chapter 119 Staying at James Wan’s House
Chapter 119 Staying at James Wan’s House
Looking at the mountain of gifts piled up in the main room, Wen Dashan said helplessly, "Da Ya, we have plenty of food and clothing at home. Next time you come back, you can't buy so many things, understand?"
"Yes, Grandpa," Wen Yuxia nodded obediently, and then began to distribute the gifts: jade thumb rings, gold rings, jade hairpins, silk clothes, fur coats, brand-new copper pipes, fine tobacco leaves, fur-lined leather boots...
"Grandpa, these are all for you. Do you like them?" Wen Yuxia pointed to the copper pipe, tobacco leaves, and jade thumb ring, telling Wen Dashan that these three items were prepared by Wen Yunhong at his request.
With a slight moist look in his eyes, Wen Dashan said, "I like it, I like it, Grandpa likes all the gifts you gave me."
Wen Dashan blinked, trying to hold back his tears. He moved his mouth silently a few times. "Fourth brother, fourth brother's wife, do you see? Your daughter and son have both made something of themselves."
Madam Wen looked enviously at the jade thumb ring on Wen Dashan's thumb and the gold ring on his ring finger, then her gaze swept to the jade hairpin in his hair, and finally she looked at Wen Yuxia with anticipation.
With a faint smile, Wen Yuxia took out gold hairpins, silver hairpins, gold bracelets, jade bracelets, gold earrings, gold rings, silk clothes, and so on. "Grandma, these are gifts that Hong'er and I prepared for you."
"All for me?" Madam Wen asked excitedly, looking at the gifts on the table. Wen Yuxia smiled and nodded.
Wenlin happily slipped the jade bracelet onto her wrist, then took it off and put on a gold bracelet, before taking it off again and putting on the jade bracelet once more.
"Grandpa, these bolts of cloth are for making clothes for you and Grandma. Those two bolts of coarse cotton cloth are for Aunt Lu during the New Year... Oh, by the way, I'm going to Xinghua Village tomorrow. Are you coming?"
“Go,” Wen Dashan nodded happily. The grandfather and grandson chatted idly in the main room, while Wen Linshi happily tried on jewelry.
Wen Yunhai and Wen Yunqing heard that Wen Yuxia had returned as soon as they came back from the academy. They ran towards the main hall without even putting down their books.
"Da Ya, you're back!" Wen Yunhai said excitedly. Wen Yunqing looked at Wen Yuxia with doting eyes: "Da Ya, you're back!"
Wen Yuxia smiled and said, "Hong'er can't come back, so he asked me to bring you two gifts. He wants you to study hard and take your grandparents to the capital to reunite with him as soon as possible."
Wen Yunhong liked to jot down his thoughts and insights in books. After entering the Imperial Academy, he would buy two extra copies of every book he read, two extra copies for Wen Yunhai and Wen Yunqing. These books also contained his reading notes.
Flipping through the books on the table, Wen Yunhai and Wen Yunqing smiled happily. With their exams coming up after the New Year, this gift from Wen Yunhong was just the right time.
Wen Yuxia took out some seashell ornaments and said, "I bought these at the beach, take them out and play with them!" Seeing that the two of them had wooden hairpins in their hair, she took out two jade hairpins from her bag and handed them to them, "These are for you too."
After thanking Wen Yunqing, Wen Yunhai left the main room with the gifts and returned to his study, eagerly flipping through the books in which Wen Yunhong had taken notes.
After breakfast, Wen Dashan stopped Lu Zhigang from driving the cart and instead sat on the shaft himself, becoming the driver, taking Wen Yuxia and Wen Linshi back to Xinghua Village.
To show off her gold bracelet and ring, Wenlin got off the mule cart as soon as it reached the village entrance.
The women, who had initially intended to exchange pleasantries with Wen Dashan upon seeing him, were dazzled by the gold ring on Wen Linshi's hand. They abandoned Wen Dashan's mule cart and immediately surrounded Wen Linshi.
Wen Dashan, driving the mule cart, said with a smile, "Hehe, everyone was attracted by the gold ring on your grandma's hand."
Old Master Wen felt a little guilty when he saw Wen Dashan return. Wen Zhihua had gotten drunk the night before, and his wife had put him in Wen Dashan's room; he hadn't gotten up yet.
"Second son, you, you, why are you back?" Old Master Wen asked, his eyes darting around.
Grandpa Wen's evasive gaze didn't escape Wen Dashan's notice, but Wen Dashan didn't want to pay attention, so he pretended not to see it and said loudly, "Da Ya is back. She wanted to go back to Xinghua Village to visit, so I came back with her."
The laughter startled Wen Zhihua, who was lying on Wen Dashan's bed, and also frightened Old Lady Wen, who was feeding the livestock in the backyard. Old Lady Wen took small, quick steps to the front yard and tightly grasped Wen Dashan's hand: "Second son, you're back!"
As Mrs. Wen was talking to Wen Dashan, her eyes were fixed on Old Master Wen, as if asking him what to do.
Old Master Wen was also extremely flustered. He didn't know what to do, so he lowered his head and refused to look at Old Lady Wen, avoiding her gaze.
Wen Dashan lifted his foot and walked towards the main room. Old Mrs. Wen was startled and quickly grabbed Wen Dashan's hand and pulled him back. Wen Dashan turned around in confusion and asked, "Mother, why are you pulling me?"
Old Mrs. Wen had no words to express her suffering. Wen Dashan's bedroom door was in the main room, and once Wen Zhihua entered the main room, he wouldn't be able to leave.
Old Mrs. Wen said awkwardly, "Second son, you've lost weight. I've made some soup. Come on, let's go to the kitchen and have some soup!"
Grandpa Wen quickly chimed in, "Yes, yes, yes, let's go have some soup first," and then reached out to pull Wen Yuxia along.
Wen Dashan suddenly slapped his forehead and laughed, "Look at my memory! I forgot to deliver the things Hai'er asked me to bring back for the Yang family. Daya, let's go to your aunt's house first."
Wen Dashan was only a few steps away from the main room, and he could hear the snoring coming from his room clearly. To avoid making everyone feel awkward, he decided to leave.
Wen Yuxia said with a grin, "It's been so long since we've had Auntie's cooking, let's go over and have a meal there!"
Old Master Wen still had ties with Wen Zhihua's family. Wen Yuxia had heard about this from Steward Li when she returned to the mansion in the west of the city. Seeing that Wen Dashan didn't want to expose the matter, she naturally wouldn't meddle.
The grandfather and grandson drove the mule cart toward the Yang family's courtyard. Upon seeing them, Yang quickly instructed Wen Yunbo to invite Wen Zibai and his wife, Wen Zihua, over.
Wen Yuxia first distributed the gifts to everyone, then pointed to the cloth, rice, flour, oil, pastries, and pork on the cart and said, "Auntie, these are all for you. Please divide them among yourselves."
The supplies on the truck were originally meant for Grandpa Wen, but he let Wen Zhihua's family stay in Wen Dashan's bedroom, and Wen Yuxia suddenly didn't want to give him any more supplies.
"Stay here for dinner tonight," Yang said, inviting Zhang and Hua to go to the kitchen to cook.
That night, Wen Dashan and his wife stayed at Wen Zibai's house with Wen Yuxia. The next day, before dawn, they left Xinghua Village by car with Yang, the sister-in-law who was going to open a shop in town.
When parting with her sisters-in-law, Yang, Wen Yuxia told them to work hard to earn money and said that she would help them settle down in a village on the outskirts of Beijing in the future.