The group traveled straight through the night and reached Anhe Village the next morning.
Before they even entered the village, they heard a commotion up ahead. Guaizai faintly thought he heard Fang Zichen's voice too. He hurriedly jumped down from the carriage and looked up — his eyes went wide instantly.
Qin Hengxuan and Meng Ruqing got down as well, looked at the scene before them, and were also dumbfounded, unable to figure out what was going on.
Up ahead in the fields, over forty pigs were running all over the place. A crowd of villagers swarmed everywhere—some chasing after the pigs, others being chased by pigs and darting about. Men and women, old and young—practically the whole village had turned out, running back and forth like it was a human-pig race. Some chased, some were chased—quite the lively scene.
Qin Hengxuan and Meng Ruqing's eyes swept over the crowd and landed on one young man — first for his towering height and striking looks, and second because...
The pigs rampaging through the fields were unusually hefty — at least three hundred catties each, by rough estimate. Creatures that big were not easy to catch. But at that moment, one young man stood out fiercely from the noisy crowd. He had a pig gripped by each hind leg and, by sheer strength alone, had brought both to a dead stop. No matter how they struggled, they couldn't break free — they could only claw at the dirt with their front hooves and squeal.
It had been drizzling for the past few days. The sweet potato field had just been harvested last month, so the soil was loose and the top layer was muddy.
The pigs' hind legs were filthy, and the mud they kicked up flew all over Fang Zichen. Fang Zichen was about to lose his grip—but with one pig in each hand, he couldn't bear to let go. How could he let the cooked duck fly away? If they wanted to run, they'd have to step over his corpse.
He held on desperately and shouted loudly: "Zhao Ger, Zhao Ger, come quick! I've got them!"
Zhao Ger came running from afar carrying a winnowing basket. When he got close, afraid the pig would bite his butt, he slammed the basket right over the pig's head and then sat on it with his whole body, as if trying to crush the big creature to death. But he underestimated his opponent — the pig let out a roar as if someone had stabbed it in the neck, mustered all its strength, and flung its head violently. Zhao Ger went flying.
Fang Zichen was horrified: "Ah! Zhao Ger!"
No matter how heavy the pig was, it was nothing compared to his fulang. Fang Zichen quickly let go and rushed to check on Zhao Ger. Zhao Ger was badly shaken from the fall — even after being helped up, he was swaying and couldn't stand steady. Fortunately, there were no rocks in the field and the ground was soft; otherwise, he would have had to be carried home.
Fang Zichen helped brush the mud off him and asked urgently, "Zhao Ger, are you all right?"
Zhao Ger shook his head, and once his head cleared a little, he quickly pointed. "I'm fine, Husband. That pig is about to run up the mountain — go catch it quick, don't let it get away. I want to slaughter it so our kids can eat."
Guaizai figured it out after just a glance—the pigs from the pig farm must have escaped.
His big eyes blinked and sparkled, his expression excited and thrilled. Without a word, he turned and pulled a stick out of the carriage: "Father, Guaizai is here to help you."
"Ah! Son!" Fang Zichen looked toward the voice and was overjoyed to see Guaizai. He rushed over.
"Son, you're back? Oh! Two pigs ran your way—quick, block them, don't let them get into the mountains."
"Okay!" Guaizai ran over and started herding them with his stick. But the pigs were fed by people and weren't afraid of humans. Seeing that he was small—not even as tall as them—they saw no threat and even tried to charge at him.
Guaizai yelled "Don't come over here!" but the pig wouldn't listen. Guaizai didn't want to be knocked over by a pig, so when it ran at him, he jumped up and whacked it right on the butt with his stick. The pig squealed.
This kid has no conscience—he hits pigs.
The pig knew better than to fight a losing battle. It immediately stopped trying to run to the mountains and turned back toward the village.
When Fang Zichen came over, Guaizai tossed his stick and threw himself into his arms, wrapping his arms tightly around his neck and clamping his legs around his waist, clinging to him like a monkey. He called out clingingly, his voice soft and sweet: "Father, Father."
Fang Zichen kissed him several times in a row: "Son, my little treasure, you're finally back. Father missed you to death."
Guaizai rubbed his face against his: "Guaizai missed you too."
He had never been away from Fang Zichen for this long.
As soon as Gungun and Dandan heard Fang Zichen's voice, they went wild—they jumped right off the carriage and tried to pounce on Fang Zichen. Fang Zichen, like a celebrity holding a fan meet-and-greet, said: "Line up, line up, one at a time."
Gungun and Dandan missed him terribly—how could they be willing to wait? They immediately toddled over and climbed onto him themselves.
"Father, Gungun missed you so much."
Fang Zichen felt that this child was as heavy as those two pigs from earlier. He patted him—all fucking meat: "Missed my ass, you seem to have gotten fatter again."
Gungun giggled.
Dandan furrowed his brows: "Father, why do you smell a little stinky?"
"I was just catching pigs! Doesn't it smell nice?"
"It smells stinky."
"Where's the stink? This is clearly fragrance. Smell it more carefully."
"Oh, it really does seem so."
Fang Zichen: "..."
This silly son.
The father and three sons started playing the moment they saw each other. When Zhao Ger came over, the three kids switched targets and climbed all over him, hugging his neck, kissing him relentlessly, calling him "Daddy, Daddy."
The moment Qin Hengxuan saw Fang Zichen, his gaze never left him.
People had always said Fang Zichen looked like Meng Ruqing. Qin Hengxuan had assumed at most an eight or nine out of ten resemblance—but in this moment, he understood. People hadn't been exaggerating. They were identical. If someone told him Fang Zichen wasn't his son, he wouldn't believe it even if beaten to death.
Meng Ruqing's whole body went stiff. He stared at Fang Zichen, dumbfounded.
In this world, it's said that family members share a kind of connection. The moment Fang Zichen met Meng Ruqing's eyes, he felt his blood begin to boil.
Meng Ruqing's vision blurred. His heartbeat was deafening. He tried hard to suppress the wild joy and trembling in his heart, tried to act normal — but the moment their eyes met, twenty years of pain surged up all at once.
So time had not dulled his pain. Not even a tiny bit had been erased.
He stared straight at Fang Zichen. Tears fell uncontrollably, just like that. His mouth moved, but no sound came out—as if someone had gripped his throat.
Fang Zichen blinked, not knowing why these two big shots had come. He smiled and greeted them—but when Zhao Ger saw how strangely Qin Hengxuan and Meng Ruqing were acting, his heart lurched.
"Husband..."
Seeing Meng Ruqing like this, Fang Zichen couldn't say why, but he felt an inexplicable ache in his heart. He didn't know what he was crying about—but right now he had urgent business. He said to let Uncle Tang take them to the Liu family's place to rest first, and he'd come after he caught the pigs.
Yang Mingyi had gotten off the carriage by now too: "Brother Fang."
"Oh my god, Yi Ger?" Fang Zichen was surprised and happy: "Why are you here too? Oh no—Second Senior Brother is about to run up the mountain. Yi Ger, go home with them and eat first. Son, come quick."
Fang Zichen rushed off anxiously to catch pigs.
Meng Ruqing instinctively reached out to chase after him—but then he thought: at this moment, his son probably only had eyes for pigs.
Guaizai followed behind Fang Zichen carrying his stick. The two of them looked like they were playing—not herding pigs at all, but having fun.
Gungun and Dandan were itching to go too, but Zhao Ger held them back. If these two little ones really followed, he was afraid the villagers would get so worked up they'd try to catch his sons too.
Meng Ruqing and Qin Hengxuan didn't want to go back. They watched eagerly as Fang Zichen led his son chasing pigs, hopping around the fields.
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