Just as Aunt Li was about to refuse, Chu Fuyu continued, “Auntie, you’ve been helping me all day. You must be exhausted—how would you still have the energy to cook? You might as well eat here. Besides, I just went to Qianwei Lou and brought back a few dishes. We can all try them together.”
Good heavens—Qianwei Lou!
Aunt Li was completely stunned. She had been to the market many times and naturally had heard of Qianwei Lou.
She never expected that she would one day get to taste food from there!
The four children on the side were so excited they almost jumped up.
Especially the third one, Huaiyi. He loved eating the most. The moment he heard there was good food, he nearly wanted to perk up like Simao and wag his tail!
He quickly clung to Chu Fuyu. “Mother, the food you left us at noon was already delicious! But we didn’t recognize everything. Can we still eat it tonight?”
Chu Fuyu patted his head. “Tonight, Mother will make even better dishes—braised pork belly, crab dumplings, golden chicken, and stewed sea bass. How about that?”
“Wow! Amazing!” the children cheered in excitement.
Aunt Li felt a bit embarrassed. “Sister Chu, this is really costing you too much…”
Chu Fuyu smiled and held her hand. “Auntie, don’t be so distant. If not for you, I’d still be busy with that land for several more days. You really helped me a lot.”
“Oh right, when will Uncle Li come back?”
Speaking of her husband, Aunt Li sighed. “He went hunting in the mountains, but he still hasn’t returned. Probably didn’t catch anything and is staying at Hunter Chen’s place. He’ll likely be back tomorrow.”
Chu Fuyu nodded. “I’ll also go there tomorrow. I want to ask Chen Zhu’s eldest son to help teach the children martial arts.”
Aunt Li couldn’t help but say, “Sister, you really think ahead. Us farmers don’t know how to teach children properly. Look at my Huzi—he’s been studying at Master Zhuang’s place for over a year and still barely recognizes a few characters. It’s giving me a headache!”
The children playing nearby overheard this. Huai Yu couldn’t help but laugh.
“Brother Huzi knows even fewer characters than my big brother!”
Aunt Li also laughed and scolded jokingly, “Isn’t that true? Your Da Mao only started learning recently, but he already knows more than Huzi!”
Little Ying looked at Huai Jin admiringly. “Wow, Da Mao, you’re amazing! You’re even better than my brother!”
Huai Jin felt a bit shy and didn’t respond.
Huai Yu added proudly, “Next time let my big brother compete with Da Niu! That guy is always acting so arrogant, like he’s so impressive!”
Da Niu was a village boy spoiled by his parents, often domineering among the children.
The adults usually didn’t interfere as long as no one got seriously hurt.
As they talked, Huzi returned from school. Seeing his mother and sister there, he didn’t go home immediately. As soon as he entered the courtyard, Little Ying ran up to him excitedly.
“Brother! We’re eating at Aunt Chu’s today! They even have a new puppy—it’s called Simao, and it’s super cute! Come see!”
Huzi also became interested in the puppy, and soon the children ran off again.
Chu Fuyu and Aunt Li exchanged a smile and continued chatting. Soon after, Aunt Li went back to work on the field, while Chu Fuyu went to prepare dinner.
Huai Jin didn’t want anyone entering his mother’s bedroom, so he moved Simao and its nest outside. The children gathered at the doorway to watch the puppy.
Huzi also liked the adorable Simao. He reached out and petted its head, but the others noticed he didn’t seem as energetic as usual.
Normally, he would have been hugging the puppy and even begging to take it home for the night.
“Brother, what’s wrong? Did something happen at school today?” Little Ying asked worriedly, and the other three also looked at him.
Huai Yu guessed angrily, “Did someone bully you? Tell us—we’ll help you get revenge!”
Huzi hesitated, then finally said, “Da Niu took the brush Mother bought for me. He said I can’t learn well anyway, so I don’t need it. I got angry and fought him, but Master Zhuang punished me.”
Little Ying quickly asked, “Are you hurt?”
Huai Yu asked, “Did you win?”
Huzi shook his head, then nodded. “I’m not hurt. I won the fight. But Da Niu said I should wait—he’ll make me regret it in a few days.”
Huaiyi immediately said, “That’s too much! Let’s go tell Mother!”
Huai Jin stopped him. “It’s useless. Da Niu’s parents don’t care.”
“Then what do we do?” Huai Yu gritted his teeth. He had long disliked Da Niu’s arrogance.
Huai Jin thought for a moment. “We just need to find what he fears most and use that against him.”
Huzi asked hopefully, “What is he afraid of? Master Zhuang?”
Huai Jin shook his head.
“Elder Wang?”
Still shook his head.
“The village chief?”
Again, no.
“Then what?”
Huai Jin smiled mischievously. “He’s afraid of ghosts.”
“Ah?” everyone was shocked.
Huai Yu widened his eyes. “Really? He’s afraid of ghosts? Does ghosts even exist?”
Huai Jin nodded. “No ghosts, but he’s afraid anyway. Once at night, I saw him on the mountain when I went to dig sweet potatoes. He was shaking and muttering, ‘Ghosts, stay away from me…’”
“HAHAHAHA!” Huai Yu and Huaiyi burst out laughing.
Huzi’s eyes lit up. “Good idea! Let’s pretend to be ghosts and scare him so he won’t dare bully people again!”
“Alright!”
Everyone agreed.
Only Little Ying looked worried and said, “But… I’m scared of ghosts too!”