Chapter 68: Excitement

  As the saying goes, "near the village, the affection is timid". Luo Zhenggang, who had been calm and expressionless all along, finally showed a slight change in his expression after arriving at the town.

  He hasn't been back home for almost half a year, and thinking about seeing his old father and brothers and sisters again, he feels inexplicably excited and a little frightened at the same time.

  There are four siblings in the family. The eldest brother returned home to help his parents after graduating from elementary school. The second brother did not finish junior high school due to poor academic performance. The third sister is one year younger than him but entered school in the same year. During high school, the family could only afford for one child to attend school, and the father chose to let him continue because he was a better student.

  Because of his father's favoritism, he has been providing economic assistance to his brothers and sisters over the years with all his might - giving his salary entirely to his father and three siblings. Fortunately, Wen Xin is magnanimous and reasonable, not only did she not object, but also comforted him that the money for raising the family was enough, so there was no need to worry.

  His father disapproved of his actions and after failing to persuade him, he put away the money for himself, saying it was left for Luo Feng and Luo Ye in case of an emergency.

  Big Brother and Second Brother have been doing well economically in recent years, so they don't let him send money anymore. Only Third Sister has a lot of opinions about him - she blames him for not using his power to arrange jobs for her nephews and nieces, turning them into what villagers call "national grain". As long as he sends money, it's all well received; if there's any delay in a month, they'll even call to ask if he's forgotten.

  For this, Father scolded Third Sister, but Third Sister had a grudge against Father for making her drop out of school that year. Every time they would have a big argument, and over time, Father got tired of it, but instead he advised him to put down the burden, he didn't owe anyone anything.

  Perhaps his anxiety came more from the third sister, no matter what position he held, the third sister was still that forthright and unyielding third sister, not giving him any face at all, but as her younger brother, what could he do?

  Wen Xin understood her husband's emotions very well and silently comforted him with a gentle pat.

  Mom's little movements couldn't escape Luo Ye's eyes, and she sighed silently. In rural areas, there are many dads like this who are university students, relying on the support of their whole family to make a living. As a result, they will always carry a burden in their hearts for the rest of their lives. The final outcome is often an unhappy marriage and an unhappy family. If it weren't for her own mother's magnanimity, she would probably be quarreling every day.

  She doesn't object to Dad helping Uncle and Aunt, but everything must have a limit. If not, what's the point of having a warm home? From the root cause, Dad marrying Mom was really good fortune. The saying "poor husband and wife, a hundred things to worry about" still makes sense. How can love be enough to fill one's stomach? And then there are the children too.

  There was a driver named Little Wang in the car. Luo Ye didn't know what to say, so she pretended not to know anything and leaned on her brother's body, playing with him.

  ……

  "Grandpa! Grandpa is at the village entrance!" Luo Ye suddenly exclaimed excitedly, she was leaning on her brother's back and happened to be facing the village entrance, and as soon as she looked up, she saw her grandfather's familiar figure. After so many years of not seeing him, she recognized him at a glance!

  "Little Wang, turn right at the intersection ahead!" Luo Zheng's expression also became excited, standing still at the village entrance was a robust figure. Wasn't that his father? He had been lost in thought and hadn't even noticed that the car had already arrived at the village entrance.

  The car hadn't even stopped yet when Luo Ye pushed open the door and ran out, throwing herself into her grandfather's arms: "Grandfather, Ye'er has missed you to death." As she spoke, tears gushed out and flowed down, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop them.

  "Yè ér, don't cry, is it your dad scolding you again? That dead kid, wait till grandpa gets revenge for Yè ér!" Grandpa Luo gently patted his granddaughter. Seeing his son, daughter-in-law and grandson getting out of the car one after another, he excitedly hugged Luo Ye and went over to them. It had been half a year since they last saw each other, and it was fake if he said he didn't miss her.

  "Father, we're back!" Luo Zhenggang respectfully looked at Grandfather Luo and said.

  "Dad, it's been so long since you came back, we're unfilial!"

  "Grandpa, I miss you!" Luo Feng leaned into Grandpa's side, while hugging both Grandpa and her little sister. But in her heart, she was puzzled - why did her little sister cry so sorrowfully?

  "Warm. You're all busy, Dad understands, just come back! Just come back!" Old Luo patted his grandsons and granddaughters, his excited face trying to squeeze out a bit of seriousness: "Zheng Zheng, girls need to be pampered, don't you know?"

  Luo Zheng just wronged, helplessly glanced at his daughter who was shrugging and sobbing, didn't know what to say. Wen Xin also had a puzzled expression. When getting off the car, that lovely and playful daughter couldn't even play anymore, something's not right, in over a year and eight months without seeing her grandfather it wasn't like this.

  "Grandpa, Dad didn't scold me, it's just that I haven't seen you for such a long time, and now that I see you, I want to cry!"

  Sparkling teardrops still lingered in her eyes, but a bright smile had already lit up her face. Luo Grandpa was amused by his granddaughter and couldn't help but chuckle, pinching her small nose: "A big girl like you, one moment crying and the next laughing, really doesn't know shame."

  "Heh heh......, how did Grandpa know we're back now?" Luo Ye asked curiously. As far as she knew, her parents had only said they would be returning home in the next few days, but hadn't specified a particular time.

  "Early this morning, magpies fell into the yard, Grandpa knew you were coming back, came out to try your luck, didn't expect it to be true! Let's go home!" Old Man Luo said, hugging his grandsons and walking towards home. Luo Ye took a look and knew that Grandpa was lying, he must have been waiting at the village entrance every day. His nose turned sour, and tears came down again.

  "Yè ér, how did you become a crybaby? My Yè ér finally showed her little face... " Grandpa Luo stroked the heads of Luo Ye and Luo Feng, laughing: "Yè ér and Fēng ér have changed a lot, Grandpa is really happy!"

  "Grandpa, you've been waiting at the village entrance for several days, right? On such a hot day, with the scorching midday sun, why don't you go sit in a shady spot? Do we only appear when standing under the sun?"

  Grandpa Luo chuckled: "Silly Ye Er, Grandpa doesn't wait every day. Today is just a coincidence. I had just stood at the village entrance when you arrived. Let me tell you, the dried sweet potatoes Grandpa made for you are just right, and the strawberries are ripe too. When we get home, go pick some strawberries to eat!"

  Luoye happily hugged her grandfather's arm: "I'll go pick with Grandpa!" Grandfather didn't admit it, she didn't want to entangle anymore, and just be good to Grandpa from now on.

  Lu Zhenggang, who had been quietly following behind, saw that his father's back was completely soaked and hastily suggested: "Dad, get in the car?"

  Driver Xiao Wang quickly stopped the car beside Old Luo: "Grandpa, the air conditioner in the car is turned on relatively small, it's not very cool!"

  Lao Ye saw Wen Xin wiping sweat non-stop and nodded: "Alright, get on the car!"

  Luo Zheng had just let out a sigh of relief. In the past, when he came back, the old master would not allow him to take a car into the village, fearing that the villagers would gossip and affect his career. This time, perhaps because there were fewer people at noon, it didn't matter?

  "Welcome! Take the red envelope!"

  As soon as several people entered the courtyard, Old Master Luo's golden macaw, Honghong, came up with a unique tone: "Chirp... chirp..."

  "Good grief!"

  "Chirp... chirp..."

  "See you next time!"

  "Chirp... chirp..."

  “∞##%&%#……”

  Lao Ye shouted: "Hong Hong, shut up!"

  "Grandpa, what is Honghong trying to say with this string of unclear mumbling?" Luo Ye asked Grandpa in a hurry.

  "Hush..." Old Luo lowered his voice: "The Xiao Xiao from the Lu family next door went out to work, suffered a setback, and had some mental problems. She would often mutter to herself at home for no reason, and Hong Hong learned it from her."

  "Oh! Oh! Oh!" Luo Ye nodded repeatedly, remembering that Xiao Xiao had gone to work in a textile factory after graduating from junior high school. Because of her introverted and sensitive personality, others didn't like to interact with her. When someone lost money in the dormitory, they casually asked her if she had seen it, which made her feel humiliated. It eventually developed into this situation.

  "Fourth Grandfather, there are guests at your house?" The grandfather and grandson were talking when Xiao Xiao came over, probably having heard the sound of a car just now.

  Lao Ye smiled and said: "That's right, didn't Xiao sleep in the afternoon?"

  "Just about to sleep, was woken up by the noise from your house. Came over to take a look, are you sending gifts?" Xiao's small eyes narrowed into a slit, staring at Luo's father and son and little Wang who were bringing in the gifts."

  "No, this is Fourth Master's son and grandson as well as the driver of his son." Old Master Luo patiently answered Xiao Xiao's question. This matter was quite sensational, but don't look at her having a problem with her brain, she had no problem with her mouth, when it came to spreading rumors, she was more enthusiastic than anyone else, and was completely different from her previous quiet and reserved self.

  Lu Ye silently stared at Xiao Xiao, who was as pale as a steamed bun, and sighed inwardly, "Fragile kid, how could you be so worked up over such a small thing? Now look, the hormones are making you almost unable to walk."

  "Who are you?" Xiao Xiao saw Luo Ye sizing her up, with a curious expression.

  Lao Ye laughed and pulled out a lollipop from the bag Luo Feng was holding, handing it to her: "She's Lao Siye's granddaughter, Luo Ye. You took her out to play last time she came, don't you remember?"

  Xiao Xiao pouted: "Fourth Grandfather is cheating, Ye Er is uglier than her, she and Xiao Xiao are equally beautiful!"

  Luo Ye's mouth twitched and she quickly slipped away to help Wen Xi cook in the house, this kind of situation was still better left for Grandpa to handle, she wasn't good at it.

  "Mom, what do you want me to do?" Luo Ye slipped into the kitchen, grabbed a piece of freshly cut tomato and threw it into her mouth. A refreshing sweetness directly entered her heart, and she comfortably closed her eyes: "Mom, Grandpa's homegrown tomatoes are really delicious."

  Warmly and heavily slapping Luo Ye's small hand: "Have you washed your hands?"

  "I washed it! Of course I came over after washing my hands!" Luo Ye said with a wronged expression.

  "Alright, mom won't bother you anymore, go out and have fun! Mom doesn't need your help!" Wen Xin stuffed a large tomato into her daughter's hand: "This one is ripe, it must be delicious."

  Luoye's face was speechless, it seemed that her mother had coaxed her as if she were a three-year-old child? Wasn't this too discriminatory?

  "Wah, sorry again for the delay, rushed to get here by 9 pm, don't know if there are any fans waiting with bated breath, sorry again! Special thanks to subscribers and supporters who gave me a boost, I'll keep working hard, love you all!"