Ge Liang's brow twitched upon hearing this. He was just thinking whether releasing them like this might be a bit careless when he noticed something unusual in Huo Shu's expression.
He immediately understood: "I'll go take care of it right away."
"So sorry, truly sorry. There are many bandits in the southeastern area. We are just refugees, common folk, and we've been frightened by the bandits. We were scared when we saw people coming."
"We hope you two brothers won't hold a grudge. In the future, villages should visit each other often."
The two captured men were quickly released.
Ge Liang saw them out, repeatedly apologizing.
"You all have it tough too. We living in this area also know the situation here. Now that we know you are good people, we won't be afraid anymore in the future."
"Yes, yes, yes."
The two men openly surveyed Caochang Village, saying: "Your place is quite lively, quite a few people live here, right?"
"Just a few dozen people, mostly the elderly, weak, women, and children. Look, we've just reclaimed the fields, wanting to live a steady life. Our group came here as refugees. Heaven always leaves a way out—we saw there were vacant houses here and moved in. We're not afraid of anything else, just bandits."
"Today there's a happy event in the village. If you two brothers don't mind, why not stay for some weak liquor before you go."
The two men glanced at each other, then said: "Alright."
"Good, good, good! Please, come quickly."
The two men accepted the lunch invitation with some initial hesitation. They explained that staying for the formal evening banquet would mean returning after dark, which wouldn't be safe on the roads. Understanding their concern, the villagers didn't press them to stay longer and respectfully let them leave.
Everyone felt relieved upon realizing it had all been just a misunderstanding.
The celebrations in Caochang Village continued uninterrupted, and the wedding banquet proceeded as planned.
Everyone witnessed the ceremonial rites, enjoyed the feast, and reveled in the festivities until nightfall.
Ji Taoyu hadn't experienced such joy in quite some time. Once the banquet ended, the entire Ji family walked home together.
During the return journey, Ji Taoyu noticed, with some amusement, that his third aunt had unexpectedly attended the banquet.
He remembered earlier, when Ji Wenliang and Jin Kelu said they were getting married, his third aunt complained day and night. He thought she would absolutely not come to the wedding banquet, but unexpectedly, she really could set aside her pride.
She carried on as though the previous disagreement had never occurred, remarking casually: "The celebration was quite lively today. I only hope Yuan Fei can have an equally festive occasion someday. Eldest Brother, Second Brother, Xiao Liu, Xiao Qi—as his uncles, you should also keep an eye out for suitable matches for your nephew."
The family chose not to mention her previous conduct. After her attempt to arrange a match between Yuan Fei and Ji Taoyu had failed, she had been openly bitter and sarcastic for quite some time. Ultimately, however, matters had simply settled as they were meant to.
"Alright, alright. Now that days are peaceful and improving, if we can find someone suitable for Yuan Fei, we definitely will."
On such a joyful occasion, no one wanted to contradict her or cause her to lose face.
They all started discussing when the unmarried younger generation of the Ji family might find their matches.
Ji Taoyu was no longer the object of everyone's concern, so he didn't need to participate in these topics.
As they walked back together, Huo Shu carried Xiao Taohe in front, and Ji Taoyu followed behind, amusing the little one in the swaddling clothes.
Perhaps he had slept enough during the day, the little sleeper was surprisingly not asleep.
Huo Shu held him upright, and he leaned on his father's broad shoulder, his big, round eyes looking blankly at Ji Taoyu behind him.
Ji Taoyu couldn't help but reach out every few steps to poke Xiao Taohe's cheek. This little fellow was now over a month old, noticeably bigger than right after birth.
He had gained at least two catties. Fortunately, it was Huo Shu who was carrying him, if Ji Taoyu had been the one holding him, his arms would likely have grown sore and weak within half an hour.
"Your little uncle's goat milk is really good. Look how it's nourishing you. If you get any chubbier, your little father won't be able to carry you anymore."
"Oh oh~"
Xiao Taohe seemed to understand that Ji Taoyu was talking to him. He also opened his mouth but found he could only make these two sounds.
After oh-oh for a while, he actually frowned.
Ji Taoyu found this hilarious.
Huo Shu felt the little one in his arms squirming energetically, his limbs moving about randomly. The child's strength was noticeably greater than when he had been nestled inside his little father's womb.
Ji Taoyu leaned in and whispered: "How about we take Xiao Taohe back to our room to sleep tonight?"
Huo Shu nodded.
Seeing this, Ji Taoyu's steps became almost cheerful.
Back home, Ji Taoyu directly moved Xiao Taohe's crib back to their room and put the little one in it.
The crib had many sewn cloth doll toys. Xiao Taohe had slept in this crib for over a month and was very accustomed to it. He showed no discomfort when placed inside, quietly opening his big eyes and looking at his little tiger cloth doll.
When Huo Shu brought in the hot water, the little one's eyes were blinking slowly, he was about to fall asleep again.
Ji Taoyu propped his chin in his hand as he gazed at Huo Shu, unable to suppress a troubled expression: "Why do babies need to sleep so much?"
"Probably takes after some people."
Hearing this, Ji Taoyu narrowed his eyes slightly and pinched Huo Shu hard.
Huo Shu just laughed.
Together, they wrung out the cloth in the water basin and wiped the chubby Xiao Taohe's bottom and feet.
He should have had a bath, but it was too cold in this twelfth month to easily bathe a newborn, afraid he might catch a cold.
If they had to bathe him, it could only be on a sunny day.
The child was over a month old and had been cared for by Huang Manjing and Yuan Huiru.
This was the first time the two of them were cleaning a newborn. They were afraid of being too gentle or too rough, fumbling around. Luckily, Xiao Taohe was a good sleeper— otherwise, these two might have made him cry.
After cleaning the baby, Ji Taoyu felt he had worked up a sweat on his back: "No, I need to go take a shower too. You watch Xiao Taohe first." Huo Shu watched him go to the bathing room,then used the remaining water from washing the little one to soak his own feet.
While soaking his feet, he looked at the little baby in the crib. Previously, they always said this little one's eyebrows resembled whom, nose resembled whom, mouth resembled whom.
He wondered how they could tell who such a tiny baby looked like.
But today, upon closer look, he could really see some resemblance. The eyes were like Ji Taoyu's peach blossom eyes, and the brow bone was a bit high, more like his.
In just over a month, he had grown a bit, and it was really quite fast.
Huo Shu looked and looked, then suddenly glanced toward the door.
Thank you for the update!!!
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