“Brother-in-law, the villagers are here to deliver vegetables.” Yu Jinlan was young and didn’t understand what was going on between the two adults. Her face was red, her eyes were full of joy, and her steps became brisk.

In the morning, someone came to deliver a wave of vegetables, all grown in their own fields. Yu Jinhuai counted them in person and paid the villagers for the vegetables. Now at noon, they delivered winter bamboo shoots dug from the bamboo forest. When they came back from the county today, they said that winter bamboo shoots, bean curd and bean curd skin were the most popular among customers. The bamboo shoots at home were not enough, so the villagers delivered more, most of which were peeled.

The price of a complete winter bamboo shoot is two wen less than that of a peeled winter bamboo shoot. Except for those who have a lot of chores at home, most people sent peeled winter bamboo shoots.

 “I’ll be right there.” Meng Yunshu rubbed his hot face, faced Yu Jinlan’s curious eyes, and guiltily lifted the curtain to go out. He walked a few steps, then came back, grabbed a handful of copper coins and stuffed them into his purse before he left in a hurry.

Yu Jinlan blinked. She tilted her head slightly, and glanced at Meng Yunshu who seemed to be running away. Then she turned her head and glanced at her second cousin brother intently, and asked curiously: “What’s wrong with brother-in-law?”

Yu Jinhuai clenched his fist and put it to his mouth. He covered the corners of his mouth, and whispered: “Nothing.”

Yu Jinlan, who always believed in her second cousin brother responded and jumped away.

Yu Jinhuai was left alone. He stared at a certain point in the sky, and chuckled after a while. At this moment, the thatched curtain hanging at the door of the main hall was pleasing to the eye.

The copper coins were scattered on the table. Yu Jinhuai picked up a small box beside him. Inside, there were a few papers and one or two silver ingots. He counted them while putting them in. He left out 25 wen and put them aside for Yu Jinyue and Yu Jinlan. Meng Yunshu told him last night that he couldn’t let Yu Jinyue and his sister run around with them for nothing. But how much to give was a problem. In the end, Yu Jinhuai decided to give 25 coins, 18 coins for Yu Jinyue and 7 coins for Yu Jinlan.

The yard was noisy. Thinking of Meng Yunshu’s temper, Yu Jinhuai was afraid that he couldn’t handle it alone. He put the box away and went out with a cane.

Who knew that he saw a different scene when he went out.

 The villagers who were selling vegetables in the yard were organized by the wife of the village head. After she inspected the goods, she instructed Yu Jinyue to weigh them. Finally, Meng Yunshu would pay. Seeing this, Yu Jinhuai breathed a sigh of relief. With Aunt Ye to calm things down, he was not afraid that someone would bully Meng Yunshu.

Aunt Sun didn’t come, because Ming ger was still sick. Aunt Sun was worried about leaving him alone at home, and was afraid that Ming ger would infect Yu Zhining if she brought him to the Yu family. After thinking about it, she had no choice but to stay at home to take care of Ming ger.

In the morning, Yu Zhining was afraid with so many people suddenly coming to the house, but now he pulled a small stool and sat next to Meng Yunshu, watching him count the money with his eyes wide open. Sometimes he found that Meng Yunshu couldn’t help but reveal a distressed expression when giving money, and he would imitate it. When Meng Yunshu found out, he looked at him innocently, not feeling guilty at all.

 He noticed Meng Yunshu writing and drawing on the ground with a stick. Yu Jinhuai suddenly remembered that the family had not prepared the account book yet. He turned around and entered the main hall, and took out a bunch of keys from the bedroom. He walked to the bedroom opposite, paused at the locked door in front of him, and opened it.

The bedroom had not been cleaned for a long time, and there was a layer of dust inside. Following the points in his memory, Yu Jinhuai came to the desk, and opened the locked small box on the table. He took out an old inkstone, a brush, and a small stack of unused paper before locking it again.

When leaving, he noticed a large box in the corner of the wall. The box was also locked. Compared with other furniture, there was only a thin layer of dust on the box, which showed that someone often opened it to take out the things inside. Yu Jinhuai looked at the box in silence for a long time. Ah Ning was three years old. After the New Year, he planned to teach Ah Ning to read.

 He had studied with Yu Jinjiang for a period of time, so teaching Ah Ning a few words was no problem. But for real enlightenment, he still had to go to school. However, there were not many schools where gers could study. Although the court allowed gers to serve as officials and take the imperial examinations five years ago, it was still difficult for gers to enroll. There was no place for gers to study in the town, and only Hua’an County had a school specifically for gers.

It was too early to send Ah Ning to school, but Yu Jinhuai still kept it in mind and planned to discuss it with Meng Yunshu when he had some free time.

Not only would he send Ah Ning to school, but when they had children in the future, he would treat them equally, whether they were gers or men.

After taking what he wanted out, Yu Jinhuai locked the room and his thoughts for his brother.

This time he went straight back to the bedroom. He took out the sewing basket, carefully cut the paper into the size he wanted, took out the needle and thread, pursed his lips and threaded the needle carefully. Then he lowered his head and first measured the needle position with his hands, rehearsed it several times in his heart, calmed down, and struggled to pick up the needle and sewed carefully.

After sending the villagers away in the yard, Meng Yunshu breathed a sigh of relief. With the help of Aunt Ye, he put the bamboo shoots and dried black fungus together. Then he turned to the kitchen to pour her a bowl of water.

 After working for so long, Aunt Ye was thirsty. She picked up the water and drank it in big gulps. After drinking, she wiped the corners of her mouth with her hand, looked around in the yard, and asked, “Why don’t I see Huai boy?”

Meng Yunshu was also puzzled after hearing this. He had just seen Yu Jinhuai come out. He thought he would come to help him, but he didn’t see him. “I think he is in the main room.”

Aunt Ye nodded. She refused Meng Yunshu’s request to stay, waved her hand and left.

After seeing her off, Meng Yunshu hurriedly closed the door. When he turned around, he saw Yu Jinhuai holding something under his arm and lifting the curtain with his other hand. He was still leaning on a cane. Meng Yunshu was frightened and hurried over to help him hold up the curtain.

When he came out, Meng Yunshu was about to leave, but he was grabbed by the wrist. He looked at him in confusion.

 “Ah Yun.” Yu Jinhuai pretended to be calm and took back his hand. He handed the book he had sewn under his arm to him, and said lightly: “I made an account book for you.”

After saying that, he saw Meng Yunshu standing there in a daze, and took it with an unbelievable look on his face. Yu Jinhuai felt relieved and strode away with his crutches.

Standing there, Meng Yunshu touched the white thread on it with his fingertips, and a picture unconsciously emerged in his mind. It was Yu Jinhuai sitting on a stool, looking at the needle and thread in his hand with deep hatred. When he was sewing, his brows would frown in distress, and then relax after sewing. When he thought of this, Meng Yunshu’s heart and limbs surged with a warm current. The sound of the crutches tapping the ground and Yu Jinhuai’s heavy footsteps made him feel that his whole heart was filled. His almond eyes were filled with inextricable happiness.

 Yu Jinhuai wiped the sweat from his palms on his clothes casually, and turned his head slightly to look at Meng Yunshu with a smile on his face.

——

While it was still light, Meng Yunshu sat in the yard, carefully wrote down today’s expenses and income on paper with a brush. He held his breath when he wrote, and only relaxed his tense body when he saw that the ink was not smudged. He hadn’t written calligraphy for a long time, and he always felt that something was wrong when he held the brush.

He was relieved after recording the accounts. Yu Jinyue came over and saw the words he wrote, and said in surprise: “Brother-in-law, you can actually read, and you can write so much.”

As soon as he said this, Meng Yunshu realized that he should be illiterate now. Even if Yu Jinyue didn’t know, Yu Jinhuai, who bought him from a human trafficker, should not be unaware of it.

 He prepared the account book and the brush. Meng Yunshu’s pupils dilated and he fidgeted instantly. The hand holding the brush became stiff, and even his body tensed up. He lowered his head and looked at the handwriting on the paper. He shrunk into his shell like a turtle, and did not dare to look up at Yu Jinhuai who was grinding ink.

Yu Jinhuai, who was closest to him, immediately noticed his change. He put down the ink in his hand, reached out and held Meng Yunshu’s hand holding the brush, slowly took the brush out of his hand, and rubbed the back of his hand soothingly with his thumb. Feeling his hand relaxed, he looked up at Yu Jinyue.

“Ah Yun’s father is a scholar.”

It is true that Shu ger’s father is a scholar, but his father died when he was born, so he didn’t know even a few words, let alone write such neat and beautiful characters.

This sentence immediately made Yu Jinyue curious.

 Hearing the voice, Meng Yunshu turned his head to look at him and saw that he was looking at him firmly and gently. Like a warm spring breeze enveloping him, his heart slowly settled down and nodded, “Yes.”

“I knew it. Brother-in-law’s handwriting is so beautiful so he must have practiced.” Yu Jinyue said, and left with Yu Jinlan. Before leaving, he also took the money that Yu Jinhuai forced on him.

“Brother Huai, I…” Now there were only them and Yu Zhining who was playing with Daqing in the yard. Meng Yunshu opened his mouth and spoke hesitantly.

Yu Jinhuai interrupted him. He grabbed his hand on the table, closed the account book and put it aside. Although his voice was flat, it calmed Meng Yunshu’s heart.

“No hurry, we are family.”

Meng Yunshu’s eyes suddenly turned red when he heard his words. His nose was sour, and another emotion suddenly surged in his chest. He blinked and stopped the tears that wanted to burst out. He looked at him with watery eyes and could only smile and nod.

They are family.

At night, after coaxing Yu Zhining to sleep, Meng Yunshu went into the store again. This time he went straight to the farm. The vegetables planted earlier were ripe. Like last time, he left the rest for his family to eat and moved the rest to the shelves in front.

There were more seeds unlocked. Meng Yunshu planted cabbage and spinach, soybeans and mung beans, and saw rapeseed, so he planted rapeseed.

 The crucian carps in the pond have already laid their eggs, just waiting for the small fish to come out.

The wind chimes in the store rang. He put down the bucket in his hand, rolled down his sleeves, and walked into the store quickly. Who would have thought that he would meet an unexpected person.

Seeing him, Meng Yunshu not only slowed down his steps, but also slowly withdrew the smile on his face.

Meng Yunshu leaned forward and looked behind him several times, “He didn’t come, did he?”