Chapter 1649: Chapter 1079: Orchard
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Second update.
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"You noticed I got a bit heated?" Li Aiyuan put her hand on her chest and took a deep breath, "Xia, your eldest maternal aunt is apologizing to you, it’s truly... What was it you said?"
"Collateral damage."
"Right, right..." Li Aiyuan nodded repeatedly, "that’s exactly what you said, your eldest maternal aunt really made you collateral damage, I’ve been bottling up so much anger, everything seemed wrong to me, ugh!"
Chuxia leaned her head closer: "Is it Wang Meifeng who infuriated you?"
"Who else but her? And her father, can you believe your maternal aunt is so unfortunate to have found such a man, and given birth to such a daughter, they’re like two ancestors!"
"What did they do to incur your wrath to this degree?" Chuxia asked with a puzzled look, considering her eldest maternal aunt’s temperament, regular issues wouldn’t usually upset her this much.
Li Aiyuan waved her hand: "It’s too complicated to explain briefly, after dinner, I’ll find a moment to talk it over with you two. Let’s go, lunch is ready, let’s go in and eat."
During lunch, Chuxia particularly observed that her uncle-in-law and Wang Meifeng didn’t act unusually, so she suppressed her curiosity, waiting for her eldest maternal aunt to clarify after the meal.
September’s weather is already cooling, the wind brushed against their faces with less heat and more comfort. After lunch, Chuxia and Zhao Yulan went with Li Aiyuan, taking the twins to the orchard.
At this time, the orchard was still public property, and the caretaker was a man over sixty, nicknamed "Gangzi Tou." Gangzi Tou refers to a local hard bread, made without yeast, notoriously hard to bite into, hence his nickname.
The old man was called Gangzi Tou because his personality was stubbornly resilient.
He had no children, and his wife had passed away a few years back, leaving him alone to tend the orchard as his home. When Chuxia and the others arrived, he thought they were fruit thieves and came out cursing from the small house.
At the gate, seeing it was Li Aiyuan with her family, and his gaze fell on the adorable twins, his face instantly blossomed in a smile: "Yushan’s wife, when did you come back?" He said, keeping his gaze on the twins.
"We got back yesterday, Fifth Uncle, how’s your health?"
The old man nodded repeatedly: "Good, very good, holding up well." As he spoke, he stepped forward to open the orchard’s fenced gate, "Come in and take a look around, there are a few peach trees ripe for picking, but these two little ones shouldn’t get too close, the fuzz on peaches will itch them."
"We won’t go near the peach trees; aren’t there grapevines in the orchard? We’ll go over to the grapes and pick some to eat. When we’re leaving, Fifth Uncle, could you weigh them, and when the collective sells them, we’ll pay according to the selling price."
"Alright, go ahead..." The old man cheerfully waved them off, "I won’t let people past easily; stay as long as you like over there. Oh, wait...," he turned back into the small house to fetch a few small cushions made of corn husks, "Take these to sit on."
"Thank you, Fifth Uncle," Li Aiyuan took the cushions, forcing the lunchbox she had hidden behind her into his hands, "I brought dumplings for you; save them for dinner if you’ve already had lunch."
"I can’t accept..." The old man quickly tried to return them, "Save them for the two kids to eat; I’m too old to be craving for them."
"Fifth Uncle, I brought these just for you, I hid them because I feared you wouldn’t take them. I had planned to sneak them into your house when you weren’t looking, but seeing your good mood today, I decided to give them directly to you. If you keep pushing them away, it feels like you’re saying I didn’t bring enough."
"You woman..." The old man chuckled helplessly, "I’m too old to be desiring such things; it would be laughable, otherwise, let this child eat them." He said as he passed the lunchbox toward Chuxia.
"Fifth Grandpa, I’m stuffed full, and we have more at home, enough for supper too, so you don’t need to be so polite with us. Oh, do you still remember me?
When I was a child, visiting grandma’s house, I loved to wander by the orchard. Every time I saw your glaring eyes, I’d get scared and run off, but after you left, I’d always return to wander again.
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