Chapter 156
He rushed over too fast, like a firecracker, and was very excited. It seemed that seeing him was a very happy thing. Yang Mingyi couldn't help but let the corners of his mouth quirk up. He bent down to catch him, and his neck was immediately hugged tightly. Guaizai rubbed against his face: "Yang pig, Yang pig, Guaizai missed you so much!"
The feeling on his face was warm and soft, like the sticky rice cakes he had eaten before. Yang Mingyi looked at him and said, unusually: "How much did you miss me?"
"Missed you so much I couldn't even eat my rice," Guaizai said.
"Really?" Yang Mingyi said: "I just heard you tell Brother Fang that you ate two buns today."
Guaizai: "..."
Guaizai blinked his big eyes, squirmed awkwardly, and said: "But buns aren't rice. Guaizai only ate buns, didn't eat rice."
Yang Mingyi pinched him. Guaizai giggled. Old Master Wu happened to be getting down from the carriage. Guaizai said: "There's another old grandpa too."
His eyes weren't swollen. The news of what happened at the government office spread quickly. Old Master Wu had already heard about it at Zuixiao Restaurant. They said that family of three was pitiful, Fang Zichen couldn't even stand steadily, his fulang cried until he was nearly blind, and his little son also cried until he was hiccupping.
Looking at Guaizai now, he didn't look like someone who had cried until he hiccupped; it was more like he had laughed until he was hammering iron.
Guaizai tilted his big head: "Grandpa, why do you keep looking at Guaizai? Is it because you think Guaizai is very handsome?"
Old Master Wu: "..." Truly the seed of that one who doesn't like to speak human words. Even the narcissism is the same.
"I heard you cried this morning?" Old Master Wu said.
"No way," Seeing Yang Mingyi frown slightly and look at him, Guaizai immediately said: "Guaizai was tricking people! Guaizai is a man! Father said, men shed blood not tears, Guaizai would never cry!"
He was still young. Old Master Wu tried to save him: "Child, lying is wrong."
"Guaizai knows! Liars get eaten by big monsters. But Father said, this is a white lie from Guaizai."
Old Master Wu: "..." This child, can't go three sentences without mentioning his father. He's already been deeply poisoned beyond cure.
The courtyard gate was narrow, making it hard to drive the carriage in. The servant boy carried the gifts in. They were all in boxes, and it was unknown what was inside, but the boxes were carved with patterns and painted with pigment, which wasn't cheap. The things inside were probably the same.
Fang Zichen poured two bowls of water and said with a cheerful smile, "You've come! What's with all these gifts? There's no need for such formalities between us! Give them to me, give them to me!"
Old Master Wu: "..." This duplicitous rascal.
His words said one thing, but his hands did another. If his mouth hadn't been split open to his ears and his eyeballs hadn't been practically glued to the gift boxes when he said that, he might have believed him.
He had set out from Yuanzhou before dawn, barely rested for half a shichen. Upon hearing Fang Zichen had returned from the magistrate's office, he immediately brought Yang Mingyi to visit. The journey was arduous, and his old bones felt almost broken.
Although it was a rural area, the courtyard was neat and orderly, and the bowls were clean, without a trace of grease.
Old Master Wu took a few sips.
The mountain spring water was cool, clear, and sweet, quite passable.
Fang Zichen hurriedly opened a box, glanced at it extremely quickly, then closed the box rapidly. After moving all the gifts into the house, he diligently took the two bowls of water from the table, went into the kitchen, swapped them for two bowls of warm water, sprinkled some sugar into them, and only then brought them out again.
"Here, have some water. My humble abode is crude and simple, please don't disdain it."
Old Master Wu took another sip, and his expression changed slightly.
Although it was sweet, he felt like throwing it right into Fang Zichen's face.
This damned kid.
If I had arrived dressed shabbily and brought nothing, would I have even been permitted past the courtyard gate?
Fang Zichen hadn't given it much thought. It was customary to serve guests tea or water, and with no tea available at home, offering a bowl of water was simply a polite gesture. Old Master Wu and Yang Mingyi came from wealthy families and had likely sampled every delicacy imaginable. However, since they had brought such generous gifts, he felt it appropriate to respond with equal courtesy.
Yang Mingyi held Guaizai: "Do you want some water?"
"Drink some!" Guaizai took a sip, his eyes lighting up: "It's sweet! So good, Yang pig, you drink too."
Perhaps due to unpleasant childhood memories, Yang Mingyi maintained certain fastidious habits. Just as Old Master Wu was about to ask Fang Zichen for another bowl of water, he witnessed Yang Mingyi drinking directly from the same bowl.
Fang Zichen sat down beside Yang Mingyi: "Yi Ger, why have you come?"
Yang Mingyi replied: "Father has been quite busy these past few days and couldn't get away, so he sent me to see you."
"Is that so!" Fang Zichen placed a hand on the table, his thumb and index finger rubbing together suggestively. He mentioned that during Old Lady Zheng's birthday celebration, he had been drugged and forced to flee, consequently failing to extend his proper congratulations to her, which he considered terribly impolite.
Having interacted for several months, Yang Mingyi knew exactly what kind of person he was. Fang Zichen wasn't very interested in other things, he just loved diving into money holes; a very pragmatic person. He took out a silver note and handed it over.
It was a fifty-tael silver note.
Fang Zichen examined it for a while, puzzled: "It's a silver note? I've heard of them, but aren't silver notes only for one hundred taels, five hundred taels, and one thousand taels? How can there be a fifty-tael one?"
He had an expression that seemed to say, 'This couldn't be fake, could it?' Old Master Wu said irritably: "It was born from a hundred-tael note. Do you want it or not? If not, give it back."
Fang Zichen hurriedly stuffed it into his clothes: "How could I not want it! I'm just curious and don't understand! If you don't understand, you should ask without shame. Old man, why are you getting angry?"
Old Master Wu: "..."
He was truly exasperated.
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