Chapter 661: Chapter 661: Uncle Is Back
The children’s surprised cheers reached into the house, and Qin Yao and her husband, resting in the hall, exchanged a glance.
Before Qin Yao could speak, Liu Ji immediately stood up, brimming with enthusiasm, and dashed towards his brother-in-law, who seemingly had a mine at home.
Qin Feng stopped the horse at the front door.
At a glance, seeing the house with two lanterns hanging at the door and two large pots of evergreen next to it, filled with laughter, he almost thought he had taken a wrong turn.
Is this still the cold and quiet house he bought?
How did it suddenly become so lively and warm, bustling and bright as if his original home was here, with family ready with hot meals waiting for his return?
Until the joyful sound of "Uncle" rang in his ear, Qin Feng suddenly remembered he had given the house to his sister’s family. Isn’t she his family? They are each other’s only relatives in this world.
Qin Feng patted the shoulders of the four siblings who gathered around to call him uncle and took off the bundle from the horse’s back, pulling out a few colorful waist ornaments to give them.
"The merchants from Jizhou brought this, made with a colorful stone local to their area. Take them and play."
Just as Qin Feng was happily speaking, a figure dashed out, shouting, "Brother-in-law, you’re back!" before giving him a solid hug.
Taken by surprise, Qin Feng had the words stuck in his throat, and the forceful hit made him cough twice violently.
Liu Ji hurriedly let go, patting his brother-in-law’s back to ease his breath, "Are you okay? It’s only been a few days since we last saw you, but it feels like a year has passed. I missed you so much, brother-in-law, just got too excited. Please don’t be mad."
It’s hard to hit a smiling person. Seeing Liu Ji’s cheerful face, Qin Feng couldn’t possibly hit him. He shook his head to signal him not to get so close and lifted his head to look toward the door: "Where’s my Ah Yao?"
Liu Ji replied with a smile, "She’s inside, brother-in-law, go in quickly. Da Lang, take the horse to the back yard stable, give it more water and grass, look how it’s panting, it’s exhausted."
Da Lang responded with a nod, handed the colorful ornament to Second Lang to divide among the younger siblings and other family members, took two big steps to the horse, skillfully held the reins, patted its head to connect for a moment, and led it toward the back door.
Initially, Qin Feng was a bit worried, letting Liu Ji’s careless child handle the horse, but seeing Da Lang’s skillful actions and the obedient horse, he felt relieved and headed into the courtyard.
Qin Yao was slow for a reason, she had specially brought the leftover cake from today and goat milk tea cooked by Yin Le to the hall.
The word "brother" circled in Qin Yao’s mouth silently, she was practicing, but couldn’t say it aloud. Qin Feng paused expectantly, waiting, only to hear: "Where are the others in the convoy? Just you? Is everything done?"
He sighed a bit, slightly disappointed, but then thought she had already practiced it silently, so she did call him brother, and felt happy again, looking at the greatly changed courtyard while answering:
"The goods brought this time have all been dealt with. Uncle Qi continued southward to fetch some cotton cloth and tea leaves. I’ll leave in a few days to travel by water and join them, heading Southwest where I need to oversee personally. Otherwise, I would have stayed longer in the Capital to accompany you all, and we could have returned to Wang City together."
Noticing "returning to Wang City" wasn’t a favored topic, Liu Ji immediately interjected: "No rush to return to Wang City, brother-in-law is back today, I’ll ask Ah Wang to add more dishes, let’s have a good family meal first."
Qin Yao had already arranged to add more dishes with Ah Wang, seeing Qin Feng quite annoyed by Liu Ji’s eagerness, she waved him to fetch some wine back, taking Qin Feng on a tour of the house personally.
Handing the task swiftly to Second Lang and Sanlang, Liu Ji said: "Go to the tavern under the market archway and fetch two pots of the most expensive wine back."
Stuffing them with silver, the father and son chuckled together, and the two young ones cheered as they headed out.
Si Niang eagerly followed behind them, "Second brother, third brother, wait for me, let’s go together~"
There’s money for errands, she wanted to join!
After sending off the children, Liu Ji then followed the siblings from behind.
Qin Yao briefly introduced: "I’ve rearranged the rooms in the front yard; we live in the front, rooms in the back yard remain untouched."
Liu Ji added: "Yes indeed, we’re guests, brother-in-law, and you are the true owner, who should reside in the back yard. So we didn’t touch a single room, Si Niang wanted to sleep in the attic, but this little girl doesn’t understand, I called her back."
Finally, he offered a goofy smile, sincere with a touch of flattery, perfectly timed, Qin Feng was left speechless, only nodding repeatedly in agreement.
Qin Yao shot Liu Ji a chilly glance, hinting she found his unwarranted attentiveness odd!
As soon as Liu Ji caught her eye, he looked aside and opened the door to the loft, leading Qin Feng to see the room where he, the owner, would stay.
Qin Feng originally slept in the loft, it was well furnished, including bedding and blankets.
However, since his last stay was half a year ago, before leaving, the bedding wasn’t folded, and the curtains weren’t hung, causing mice to make a home using the curtains, and a few mouse droppings scattered on the bedding when Qin Yao’s family moved in.
Qin Yao immediately asked Ah Wang to prepare rat poison and had Liu Ji and Yin Le lead the children to use iron tongs to clear and seal all the rat holes in the mansion.
The initial task of rodent control upon moving into the Qin Mansion was successfully completed.
Now the attic has been completely rearranged by Qin Yao, with new bedding and curtains, in a sky-blue color, laid a soft carpet, placed vases and bonsai plants, scented with fragrance, ready for anyone to stay anytime.
The courtyard below had a large water tank added, always kept full, ready for use, and could be used to put out emergencies.
But it’s uncertain if Qin Feng liked it. Qin Yao stood at the stairway, hands behind her back, resembling an old leader inspecting, keeping her gaze on Qin Feng.
Liu Ji acted like a real estate agent complimenting every corner of the attic, showing off the new additions to Qin Feng, pulling him to feel the items when they’re immovable.
Outside the windows, the sky darkened, the room illuminated by several standing lanterns.
The place was cleaned till spotless.
Liu Ji pointed crazily to himself, claiming his housekeeping skills were the best in the family!
Qin Feng twitched his mouth, thinking Liu Ji was quite proud.
Inside, the windows were clear and bright, the bedding soft and sleek, the carpet so plush that stepping on it brings relaxation, and the comfortable environment helped relieve fatigue.
Standing by the window, Qin Feng leaned out; from the loft, he could overlook the entire courtyard.
Someone was busy in the kitchen, and the aroma of dishes wafted, hearing the children’s chatter in the front yard, horses chewed fragrant fodder in the barn at the backyard.
Little lanterns hung from the eaves, lighting up this secluded corner of Yongtong Square, emitting bright light in the darkness.
Qin Feng felt he had a home again.
