Chapter 540. Homesickness (1/2)
At the start of spring, Zhuang Xiaomo went to look at his account books and the results stunned him completely. In one winter, he not only made back all of the money that Uncle Yu had lent him as well as the money he spent to buy the donkey cart, but he also made three hundred taels to spare.
He was only idle for a few days, fixing up the store, when the Yu Family’s early ripening watermelons were ready to go on the market. Thus, a new episode of business began for him. The watermelons could be sold until the end of summer. Furthermore, when that time came, the surplus grapes, pears and apples that the Yu Family couldn’t eat also came on the market. Following that, it was the start of the busy season for the greenhouse grown vegetables and fruits again.
They were currently right in the middle of the busy season for the greenhouse grown vegetables and fruits. Every day, a whole cart full of vegetables and fruits would be sold out before noon. Furthermore, he always had a list of customers who reserved more goods to be delivered in the afternoon. Thus, Zhuang Xiaomo took advantage of the noon period, when no one was in the store, to drive his little black donkey and cart to get replenishments. He wasn’t expecting that Xiaocao would appear at this time.
It had almost been half a year since Yu Hai last saw his youngest daughter and he missed her dearly and worried about her. At the end of autumn, someone from the capital had especially come over to give some good news to them. They said that his youngest daughter had saved the eldest imperial prince during the autumn hunt and had been titled a royal princess as a reward. Everyone else only saw the glory and honor that his youngest daughter brought to their family but how could they understand a father’s worried heart?
There were many skilled experts protecting the eldest imperial prince. If Cao’er was the one to save him, then how dangerous of a situation must have it been at the time? His youngest daughter had no skills at fighting so he didn’t know whether she had gotten frightened or injured from that time. She always only gave them the good news and not bad. As her parents, how could they not fret over her?
For the past few months, Yu Hai and Madam Liu tossed and turned at night on their bed. If it wasn’t for the fact that they were so busy with the greenhouse business, the two of them would have long packed their luggage and visited the capital to take a look. Fortunately, their youngest daughter understood their anxious hearts and very quickly set a letter over telling them that she would be back in the twelfth month to visit. She was planning on staying to happily celebrate the New Years with them. Only then did the two of them restrain themselves from visiting the capital. They impatiently waited for the twelfth month to arrive.
When they heard the faint yet clear sound of his youngest daughter’s voice and raised their heads to see her tiny figure in the distance, the two of them could no longer restrain their worries. Yu Hai smiled apologetically at Zhuang Xiaomo and couldn’t be bothered to take off his gloves or arm guards before he started running towards his youngest daughter, who was already at the entrance of the farmstead. In order not to delay the business for their customers, Madam Liu called her father-in-law and eldest son over to take over. One of them could weigh while the other one dealt with the money and records. Only then did she follow her husband from behind and run towards her youngest daughter.
“Father!” Yu Xiaocao jumped off her horse and threw herself at her father’s arms like a bird coming back to nest.
“Be careful, be careful!” Yu Hai watched in alarm as his youngest daughter leapt off the back of that high horse. He hurried over to catch his youngest daughter’s delicate body.
He felt his youngest daughter’s icy cold face and looked at her nose which had turned bright red from the cold. Yu Hai remarked worriedly, “It’s the middle of winter, why did you ride a horse home? What’s wrong with sitting in a nice and comfortable carriage…”
“Carriages go too slow and I wanted to get back earlier to see Father and Mother ah!” Yu Xiaocao saw her mother huffing and puffing as she ran over and threw herself at her. She fiercely hugged her mother’s soft body and couldn’t help but rub up against her mother in a spoiled manner.
Madam Liu tapped her head and remarked in a scolding tone, “You ah! It’s not as if Mother and Father will run away. What’s the difference between getting back a day or two later? If you got sick from the cold, however, then we would feel really bad ah——aiya, your tiny hands are like ice cubes. Quickly, come with Mother to go inside and warm up. The kang bed has had fuel burning this entire time!”
Madam Liu pulled on her youngest daughter’s hands and continuously blew hot air on them. Yu Hai took off his gloves and used his large, warm hands to envelop them and rub them to add heat. Before long, Xiaocao’s hands had thawed.
The largest courtyard in the farmstead was the one occupied by the Yu Family. It was a simply crafted four-sided courtyard with a main structure that had three rooms and two side rooms on the left and right. Yu Hai and his wife took their youngest daughter into their own room and had her sit on the bed after taking off her boots. They noticed that her four maidservants had also been frozen until their faces turned red and their lips turned blue. Madam Liu stated, “We don’t have that many customs in the countryside. The four of you should also sit on the kang bed to warm up ah.”
Wutong and Yingchun had previously experienced sitting on the same kang bed as their master before, so they readily went up. Chunhua and Qiushi, on the other hand, had been scrupulously trained and they refused to go on the bed. Instead, they would only compromise on sitting a small stool next to the kang bed.
Wutong noticed the stubborn looks on their faces and persuaded them, “This room doesn’t have a heated floor or heated walls. Only the kang bed provides warmth here. If you two get sick from the cold and can’t take care of our master, you’ll end up making our master worried. If Royal Prince Yang was also here, he wouldn’t say anything either about you sitting on the kang bed.”
Yu Xiaocao held onto her comfortable hand warmer and deliberately pretended to be angry as she raised her eyes, “Chunhua, Qiushi! If you want to keep me as your master, then sit down! Otherwise, at the start of spring when we’re back at the capital, you should go back to the hidden ranks ah! I absolutely cannot keep servants who do not listen to my orders!”
When Chunhua and Qiushi heard this, they hurriedly knelt down in alarm to apologize. Hidden soldiers who had been sent back had either committed an unforgivable crime or had some sort of other fault. It was obvious what their fate would be then.