Chapter 451 - 445 - _1
Because night had fallen, Zhao Erhu only had the servant deliver the items brought from Capital City to his room. Without haste to tidy up, worn out from days of travel, he ate dinner and then washed up to sleep, leaving everything else to be dealt with tomorrow.
Dalang and his siblings had been eagerly awaiting Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue’s return, too excited to even think about sleep. However, being sensible children, they empathized with their parents’ tiredness and went back to their rooms to rest, waking up early the next morning.
"How come you’re all up so early?" Zhao Erhu had by chance learned a new set of exercises in Capital City and needed to practice them for half an hour each morning. Rising early, he discovered his sons were already up, waiting for him by his door. He took them to the courtyard and taught them the exercises.
Lin Yue, who had gone to bed early the night before and had slept soundly without dreaming, felt the comfort of her own home. She didn’t indulge in a lie-in but got dressed and stepped out only to see Zhao Erhu and their sons practicing together. She watched them with a smile for a while before heading to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
There was much to do in the coming days: first, they needed to sort out the items they brought back from Capital City. Then naturally, they would visit familiar relatives and friends to deliver special products from their trip. These customary social visits were inevitable.
Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue had quietly returned home the previous evening, and the news had yet to spread. By morning, word of their return had circulated around the village, and familiar folks came by to visit. Lin Yue had anticipated this and had prepared tea and snacks, but she hadn’t expected Li Xiaomei, Zhao Cheng’s wife, to be the first to arrive.
"Sister-in-law, as soon as I heard you were back, I rushed over. It’s been so long, and you’ve become even more beautiful. It shows that the environment in Capital City is nurturing," said Li Xiaomei with her straightforward and cheerful tone, clearly delighted by Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue’s return. She had been about to dig soil in the fields with her hoe when she heard the news and immediately ran over, leaving the hoe she had been carrying somewhere along the way.
"We only got home last night, Xiaomei. Don’t stand at the doorstep, come in and sit," Lin Yue said cheerfully, ushering Xiaomei into the house. Having spent the previous days in Capital City engaging in exhausting intrigues with ladies of the Wei Family, Chen Ruyu, and Zhang Peilan, Lin Yue was feeling weary. Seeing Xiaomei with her candid and genuine nature brightened Lin Yue’s mood, and she warmly pulled her into the house.