A Good Country Wife

"Dalang and I want to go with Dad and Mom to the mountains to pick wild fruits. We already made plans with Sanlang and Silang," Erhu said. "Mom taught us never to ’grow fat by going back on our words,’ so we have to keep our promises. As for visiting Grandpa and Grandma, can Dad take us there after some time? Otherwise, Dalang and I can go by ourselves. We can drive the ox cart and know the way to Grandpa and Grandma’s house. There won’t be a problem."

Since Erhu had spoken up, he didn’t feel awkward anymore and simply laid it all out, finding a seemingly good excuse. He and his older brother Dalang really didn’t want to leave Mom at home alone, in case Dad and Mom argued again. With Sanlang and Silang being so young and without him there to give advice, he didn’t know what they would do. At the very least, he had to wait until he was sure there were no issues between Dad and Mom before they could feel at ease going to Xiaoxi Village to visit Grandpa and Grandma.

So they wanted to go to the mountains to pick wild fruits. Zhao Fuquan found it somewhat amusing. Dalang and Erhu seemed mature, but they were still children at heart, still thinking about playing. Well, it wasn’t as if they weren’t going to visit later. Their parents would understand; at most they would just be a little disappointed. Besides, Zhao Fuquan had brought back some good things today. Seeing the sweet potato seedlings would definitely make their parents happy.

"You’re not that young anymore. Since you’ve made your decision, then we’ll send you to visit some other day," Zhao Fuquan said.

Zhao Erhu didn’t insist on Dalang and Erhu going, especially since it involved the Li Family at Mom’s side. In Lin Yue’s presence, Zhao Erhu was always very cautious, and now that Erhu had used Lin Yue’s words as a reason, Zhao Erhu had even less grounds to refuse. Otherwise, if his little wife overthought it, what then? Zhao Erhu also felt somewhat helpless, thinking that he must have an honest talk with his little wife tonight to understand what she was really thinking. Otherwise, constantly guessing her thoughts was genuinely tiring.

After finishing, Zhao Erhu looked at Zhao Fuquan again. "Please bother Uncle to let my father-in-law and mother-in-law know. I will take Dalang and Erhu to see them some other time. Tell them not to worry."

"Okay, then I’ll head back first. If Dalang and Erhu want to come over and you don’t have time to send the kids, just send me a message. I’ll come and pick them up." Zhao Fuquan was straightforward, not dwelling on such matters. Whatever worked was fine with him, looking at the pile of things high up on the ox cart.

"Since Dalang and Erhu aren’t going now, it’s best to take all these things back. Just bring me back these sweet potato seedlings. They are really good things. Seeing them will surely make Dad and Mom happy."

Zhao Fuquan had previously found it hard to refuse Lin Yue, but felt uneasy taking so much from someone else, especially since he wasn’t a greedy man. How could he take advantage of Erhu’s wife being too simple and kind? Yet he couldn’t refuse outright. Now that Dalang and Erhu weren’t going to Xiaoxi Village, he had a reason to decline, wanting to unload the things from the cart.