novellhall Chapter 214 Entering the Mountains
Chapter 214 Entering the Mountains
Lu Congyue returned to the factory, hesitated for a moment, and instead of seeing Huang Cuilan, went home.
The house was filled with the sounds of children laughing and joking, but there was none of Zhuang Qingxiang's usual gentle words when coaxing the children.
As I entered the house, I saw Xiao Qianyue sitting in front of her two younger brothers, happily coaxing them to play.
Zhuang Qingxiang seemed to be in a daze.
Lu Congyue coughed lightly, and Xiao Qianyue noticed him immediately, exclaiming in surprise, "Uncle Lu, you're finally off work!"
Zhuang Qingxiang then seemed to be startled awake as she got off the kang (a heated brick bed) and put on her shoes.
"You're back? Have you eaten? I left you some food, I'm going to the kitchen..."
"I'll go myself," Lu Congyue stopped her. "You stay here, I'll take care of it."
"Well... that's fine too." Zhuang Qingxiang didn't insist any further.
When Lu Congyue brought the food into the house to eat, he saw Zhuang Qingxiang pacing back and forth in the inner room. After a while, she came over and asked, "How is Huang Cuilan?"
"It's alright," Lu Congyue said calmly. "I'll take Yueyue home when she's released tomorrow."
Zhuang Qingxiang's eyes lit up: "Really? You're really alright?"
"Whether she made Village Chief Qian faint or not, since Village Chief Qian isn't going to pursue it, let's just leave it at that." Lu Congyue said nonchalantly, "I'll take Yueyue there. She definitely won't dare to leave Yueyue behind. Don't worry, I'll bring the child back to you safely."
Zhuang Qingxiang's heavy heart immediately felt half relieved, and a smile appeared on her face. After thanking them, she went to the kitchen to boil water so that Yueyue could have a good bath and look beautiful tomorrow.
As soon as she went to the kitchen, Xiao Qianyue ran over and whispered, "Uncle Lu, what's wrong with my mother?"
"What's wrong?"
Xiao Qianyue looked worried: "She gets distracted a lot at night, and I have to call her several times before she hears me. My mother seems to have something on her mind. Is it because of me?"
Lu Congyue thought for a moment and nodded: "Maybe she's afraid you won't want her anymore."
Xiao Qianyue laughed, revealing a row of small teeth: "My mom is really something... I promised her I would definitely stay with her, and she still worries..."
She knew her mother loved her the most; she was indeed worried about this.
Xiao Qianyue realized that her previous hesitation and fear were wrong. Even if her mother wanted her to go back, she shouldn't go back; she couldn't make her mother sad.
After getting the answer she wanted, Xiao Qianyue happily went back to coax her younger brother, making the two toothless toddlers giggle.
Lu Congyue's lips also curled up slightly.
It's great to have three children in the family. He's used to it, so none of them can be missing.
In the evening, Zhuang Qingxiang bathed and washed Xiao Qianyue's hair, then dried it, and didn't go to sleep until quite late.
The next day, Lu Congyue went to Niu Jianzhong to bring Huang Cuilan out and asked her to wait outside the factory. He didn't want anyone to know that Yueyue had a relationship with her.
Soon, Lu Congyue drove out in a Jeep with Yueyue. Seeing Huang Cuilan looking anxious by the roadside, he asked her to get in the car.
Huang Cuilan was excited when she saw Yueyue, but she was afraid of Lu Congyue and dared not make a sound. She just looked at little Qianyue with tears in her eyes, looking her up and down, and becoming happier with each look.
Along the way, apart from asking for directions, Lu Congyue didn't ask Huang Cuilan anything else.
When they reached a section of road where even jeeps couldn't go any further, they had no choice but to leave the car by the roadside, carry Xiao Qianyue on their backs, and follow Huang Cuilan up the mountain.
The Lingou Brigade where Huang Cuilan lived was indeed far away, requiring crossing two mountains to reach. The brigade didn't have many people, and when they saw Huang Cuilan returning with strangers, they all looked around in surprise.
"Who is this from the Lin family? Is he a relative of yours?" someone couldn't help but ask.
Huang Cuilan gave a vague reply.
Everyone was even more surprised, never expecting that the honest and unassuming Huang Cuilan had such impressive relatives.
Someone mustered up the courage to step forward and ask, "Cuilan, what do your relatives do?"
Huang Cuilan didn't know either. She only knew that her daughter called him Uncle Lu, and the intimate way she did it made her heart ache. It also made her realize that Zhuang Qingxiang's relationship with this man surnamed Lu was not ordinary, so she was extremely vigilant the whole way.
She didn't want more people to know about her affairs, and Zhuang Qingxiang probably didn't want anyone to know either, especially this man surnamed Lu. She had to be extremely careful.
Soon, they arrived at a fenced yard, and Huang Cuilan called out, "Little Niu's father, I'm back."
With that, he pushed open the door and invited Lu Congyue in.
Inside the courtyard was a house made of half stone and half mud bricks, with paper covering the windows instead of glass, showing how poor the family's living conditions were.
As soon as Lu Congyue went inside, a man came out of the room.
This must be the Lin Dian that others are talking about.
Lin Dian was very thin and looked a bit old. When he saw Huang Cuilan, his face lit up with joy. But when he saw the imposing man behind her, his expression changed. Then, when he saw the little girl clinging to the man's leg, his eyes lit up with joy again.
"Cuilan, who is this...?"
"This is..." Huang Cuilan paused, then mumbled, "a relative."
Lin Dian nervously rubbed his hands on his trouser leg and bowed slightly: "Come...come inside."
Lu Congyue nodded slightly, took Xiao Qianyue's hand and went into the house. The room was dimly lit, and it took a while for him to adjust before he could see his surroundings clearly.
The house was simple but fairly tidy. A little boy had a strip of cloth tied around his waist, with the other end tied to a table leg. It was obviously because they were afraid the child would get lost due to a lack of caregivers.
As soon as Huang Cuilan entered the house, she couldn't wait to hug the little boy: "Niu, Mom is back. Did you miss Mom?"
The little boy waved his arms and legs excitedly, calling out, "Mother! Mother!"
Lin Dian nervously rubbed his hands: "I'll go boil some water... Honey, go get the brown sugar from the house for the guests to drink."
As she spoke, she looked at Xiao Qianyue and said, "Give the child some to drink too."
Lu Congyue raised his hand: "Don't bother, just drink water."
He then said to Huang Cuilan, "Comrade Huang Cuilan, won't you introduce me?"
Holding her son, Huang Cuilan said nervously, "Comrade Lu, this is my husband, Lin Dian, and this is my son, nicknamed Xiao Niu."
Lu Congyue nodded slightly and extended his hand to Lin Dian: "Comrade Lin Dian, my surname is Lu, Lu Congyue."
Lin Dian quickly grasped Lu Congyue's hands with both of his, and Lu Congyue could feel that his hands were trembling with nervousness.
Huang Cuilan then said, "Father-in-law, this is Yueyue..."
Her voice was slightly choked.
"Oh... Yueyue is so pretty." Lin Dian chuckled, his gaze lingering on little Qian Yue. "So pretty... doesn't look like a country bumpkin..."
Xiao Qianyue felt nervous under his gaze, so she nestled close to Lu Congyue and refused to leave his side, even burying her face in his body.
Huang Cuilan bit her lip sadly.
If Sister Zhuang had brought Yueyue over today, she could have coaxed the child to call him "Dad."
But since the person who came was Lu Congyue, she didn't dare to say those words.
She glanced at her husband, knowing what he was hoping for, then picked up her son and walked over to him, tugging at his sleeve: "Don't just stand there like an idiot, come with me to boil some water."
She had to get the man out of there and make things clear before he let something slip.
But what you fear most is what happens most often.