Chapter 77 – The One Who Returns from Afar

There were two rabbits that got pregnant at the same time. One gave birth a few days ago, and now the other had given birth as well.

Altogether, there were twelve baby rabbits this time.

While Aunt Zhao was overjoyed, she was also a bit worried. She asked Qin Ying, “Yingzi, do you think someone will come again to ask for rabbits to raise?”

Qin Ying shook her head. “You can’t say for sure about the future, but Master Chen Jiu just warned everyone, so for now, I don’t think anyone will come.”

“Sister-in-law Zhao! Miss Qin!” Zhang Jinzhi’s anxious voice called out. “Come help! My rabbit is about to give birth too!”

The mother and daughter hurried over.

Zhang Jinzhi’s rabbit gave birth to eleven kits. Although their fur colors varied and they seemed slightly smaller, they were all alive. But since they were still too young, their eyes hadn’t opened yet, and they only had a sparse layer of fuzzy fur. Their pinkish skin didn’t yet show any cuteness.

Zhang Jinzhi didn’t dare to touch them, thinking they were too fragile. He just stood at a distance and watched Aunt Zhao and Qin Ying hold the kits and help them nurse.

After hesitating a bit, Zhang Jinzhi said, “Sister Zhao, Miss Qin, I have an unreasonable request… I’m not sure if I should ask…”

“Sir,” Qin Ying smiled, “please just say what you need.”

Zhang Jinzhi rubbed his hands. “We’re all rough men here, not suited to care for such newborn kits. I was wondering…”

“What’s the problem?” Aunt Zhao said heartily. “Our new rabbit shed has plenty of space! Let’s move these two mother rabbits and the two litters over to my place for now. My daughter and I will help raise them for you.

“Once they’re weaned, we’ll bring them back to you. How about that?”

“I couldn’t ask for more!” Zhang Jinzhi even bowed gratefully as he spoke.

Startled, Aunt Zhao jumped up and waved her hands. “No need for that! Really, no need!”

After the fifteenth of the seventh month passed, time suddenly seemed to move quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was the beginning of the eighth month.

That day, Aunt Zhao and Qin Ying were under the eaves rubbing kernels off corn cobs when they heard someone shouting from the street: “Lord Zhou and the others are back!”

Aunt Zhao ran outside the courtyard and stopped the man. “Old Sixth Feng, where did you see them?”

Old Sixth Feng still had a yoke of water buckets on his shoulder. He smiled and said, “Sister Zhao, I was just fetching water. From a distance, I saw a group of people coming up the road. That posture—who else could it be but Lord Zhou and the others?

“Not to mention there was a little child too. Must be your An’an!”

Aunt Zhao turned and called toward the courtyard to Qin Ying, then ran toward the village entrance. Sure enough, in the distance, a group of people were walking this way. Leading the group was a bouncing child—who else could it be but An’an!

“Anbao’er!” Aunt Zhao called out, her voice slightly choked. The child had grown so much in the wind during their time away—she was much taller than when she left! And running now, she was so steady!

An’an recognized Aunt Zhao at a glance and shouted “Grandma!” as she sped up, soon flinging herself into Aunt Zhao’s arms. She even rubbed her face against hers and said sweetly, “Grandma, Anbao’er missed you so much! Did you miss Anbao’er?”

Tears streamed down Aunt Zhao’s face. “Of course I missed you! I missed you every day! Even in my dreams!”

“Don’t cry, Grandma!” An’an held up her pale little finger and wiped Aunt Zhao’s tears. “Aren’t you happy to see me? Why are you crying?”

“Grandma’s just really happy!” Aunt Zhao explained.

Just then, Zhao Hu also ran over, calling out joyfully, “Mother!”

He was tanned like charcoal from the trip, which made his bright white teeth stand out when he smiled—silly and cheerful.

Aunt Zhao gave him a punch. “Good boy! You’ve gotten stronger!”

“Of course,” Zhao Hu said proudly, “your son has learned a whole set of great skills!”

Aunt Zhao looked him over and frowned. “But did you go digging coal or something? Why are you so tanned? You’re even oily!”

While they spoke, Zhou Yu and the others had also come closer. Compared to them, Aunt Zhao became even more annoyed with her son. The others were only slightly tanned—Lord Zhou barely looked different at all—so how did her son end up looking like this?

Thank goodness An’an was still fair and clean like when she left. If she had come back looking like a little black coal lump, this stinky boy would’ve definitely been punished with a meal of stir-fried bamboo shoots and pork.

Still, in front of outsiders—especially with Lord Zhou present—Aunt Zhao maintained some dignity for her son. She exchanged some polite greetings and walked back into the village holding An’an.

The villagers had all heard of Zhou Yu’s return and came out en masse to greet them.

An’an immediately spotted Qin Ying and wriggled down from Aunt Zhao’s arms to run into Qin Ying’s embrace, clinging to her affectionately.

Zhou Yu, surrounded by villagers, didn’t have a moment’s peace. It wasn’t until they reached the front of his house that he politely excused himself, saying he needed to rest.

Only then did the villagers begin to disperse.

As soon as An’an got home, she ran to see the rabbits. When she saw the large and small rabbits together, her eyes sparkled. “Grandma, Mama! So many rabbits!”

Her mouth almost watered! In an instant, a hundred ways to cook rabbit flashed through her mind.

Aunt Zhao immediately grabbed a male rabbit by the ears and lifted it up, saying boldly, “Let’s eat! We’ll kill a rabbit today!”

“Mother,” Qin Ying quickly stopped her, “they’ve just returned from a long trip. They must be exhausted. Killing a rabbit involves draining blood and plucking fur—it’ll take forever!

“I think we should keep it simple for tonight. Let’s rest and do it tomorrow morning. We can kill two, since we’re not short on rabbits. In another two months, the young ones will be fully grown.

“Once we’ve cooked everything, we’ll send one over to Lord Zhou and the others.”

“Yes, yes,” Aunt Zhao agreed repeatedly. “You’re more thoughtful—let’s do that!”

Even though she couldn’t eat rabbit right away, An’an didn’t fuss. She helped her grandma carry vegetable scraps and radish tops to feed the rabbits, watched her grandma clean the rabbit hut, and asked endless questions with great interest.

On the other side, after Zhao Hu settled his luggage, he went to carry firewood and helped start the fire. Qin Ying took charge of cooking.

After Zhou Yu bathed and changed, he came out to the courtyard. Seeing the rabbit hutch and the rabbits inside, he asked, “Jinzhi, are these yours? So many!”

“Yes,” Zhang Jinzhi said with a smile. “Thanks to Sister Zhao and Miss Qin for their help—otherwise, us rough men couldn’t manage it!

“These little ones aren’t very big yet, but they’re edible. Tender meat tastes even better. Why don’t we slaughter two tomorrow?

“We need to keep the big ones for breeding.

“You’ve had a long and tiring trip. Let’s have a good meal to reward everyone.”

Zhou Yu nodded. “How are your vegetables doing?”

“Quite well,” Zhang Jinzhi replied cheerfully. “Ever since we started raising rabbits, we haven’t even needed to worry about fertilizer.”

Before Zhou Yu could ask more, he added, “The villagers’ trees are growing well too. Survival rates are very high. And there are more wild herbs and vegetables on the mountain now…”

“I can see that,” Zhou Yu said with a smile. “The changes are indeed quite significant along the way.”