C20

Chapter 20 Uncle Dodo (1)

The next day, before dawn, Black Bean woke his younger brother and sister up. After the family hastily took care of breakfast, they set off for the outer sect area at the other side of the mountain.

Zhang Jia Village was not that far from the Li Village. It was just a mountain peak away, and was originally a part of the Kan Zi Village. A few decades ago, there was a huge drought that lasted for two months without any rain. The village was a wasteland, and the Zhang and Li Clans were involved in a life-and-death lawsuit over water. Young Master Ding's family name was also narrow, and could not match up with Li's family name.

In a fit of anger, the Zhang Clan moved to the top of the mountain and changed its name to Zhang Village. The original number of villagers were still many with the surname Li, and gradually, Kan Zi Village was often called Li Village. Actually, in the documents of the land guards and the county, the two villages sold land, and the land deed was even written with the name of Kanzi Village.

Li Yannian had only figured this out after hearing the gossip from Auntie Li's family. Later on, when she thought about it, besides the Li family elders and sister-in-law who were insensible, there were also historical factors that played a part in the matter. Li Hongshan's parents, the and his parents were not taken seriously by the two family's elders.

However, the Li Village and the Zhang Family Village were only separated by a mountain, and the three siblings had to climb the mountain for an entire morning before arriving at the boundary of the Zhang Family Village. Although it was already close to dinner time and they walked down the mountain road, they still encountered many villagers who came home to chop firewood.

Probably because they rarely saw any living beings entering the village, they curiously looked at the three three siblings s that were not led by adults. However, one of them looked at a fifty year old uncle and asked whom they were going to meet.

Li Yannian took this opportunity to inquire about their outer sect's situation, and replied while grinning: "We're from Zhang Sanniang's family, it's our first time here to pay respects to Grandma. This uncle, I wonder if you are close with my grandma's family. The first time I came, I didn't know anything. "

The wood chopping uncle's expression immediately became strange, and he glared at them a few times, "No wonder it looks so familiar, it looks just like Third Mother when she was little. One look and it's obvious that it's a child from her house. You are Red Bean, right? I even held you when you were little. "

As he spoke, he extended his hand.

Hearing him say that, Black Bean looked at him carefully, and felt that he looked familiar, so he asked hesitantly: "Is it the Zhang Wu Shu?"

The person called Zhang Wu Shu slapped his thigh and laughed: "Oh, isn't this Black Bean!? "You've already grown up into a young man, but you don't look like Sanniang. You look like your father more."

Suddenly, when and Mao Dou's parents were mentioned about their deaths, their eyes darkened. The Zhang Wu Shu was completely unaware of this, he only volunteered, "Our village is winding around, once you guys return, you won't be able to find it. I'm going back with Fifth Uncle. It was already the first day of the new moon, and the snow was still falling non-stop. "There's less firewood in the house, so wouldn't I have to come out and chop some wet wood? I stuffed it into the stove and filled the room with green smoke ?"

Zhang Wu Shu was obviously a talkative person, when he saw a junior who looked at everyone in a way that Li Yannian liked, her talkative nature was lit up, and she explained the situation of Zhang Sanniang's mother's home to her clearly along the way.

Although they did not leave the village, and did not belong to any branch families, it was all because of the Zhang Clan's two elders who were wealthy and had strong backers. The four daughter-in-law were all daughters of a virtuous family, and a large family had always been polite and amiable, no one had ever heard of such a time where they had a face full of red.

If what Zhang Wu Shu said was all true, Li Yannian felt that the Zhang Family's reputation was many times better than that of the Li Family's. At the end of the day, as an elder, he still had to be magnanimous in his actions. He even needed to be aware of his actions as he tried his best to level the bowl of water in front of him. If not, he would be pampered fiercely towards one and two rooms, and what was left would not be just wood. There would be a day when he would not be able to endure it any longer, and his whole family would be separated from him sooner or later.

Mao Dou was a little shy when he saw strangers, so he kept hiding behind Li Yannian. But looking at his bright eyes, he clearly heard Zhang Wu Shu's description and felt that his maternal grandma's house was pretty good.

However, Li Yannian suspected that Mao Dou was only very satisfied with the fact that he was about to have four uncles.

After walking for less than two hours and speaking a basket of words, Zhang Wu Shu had already brought three siblings to a very ordinary farmyard.

three siblings quietly sized up the outer sect disciples. The outermost gate was a tall fence made out of bamboo strips, and there were a few big red roosters in the courtyard eating in the snow fearlessly. They heard the footsteps of strangers and tilted their heads alertly, staring at them with their small round eyes.

Further in was a two-storey house made of yellow mud. It seemed rather large, but it was also quite new. At this moment, the door that was only coated with a layer of varnish was tightly shut, but one could faintly hear someone speaking from inside.

This was their maternal grandma's home.

The three siblings looked at each other silently. It was probably due to the fear of coming back to the village, but Li Yannian could tell that Black Bean and Mao Dou had become a little more nervous.

"Sis, there's a guest at your house. Why aren't you coming out to pick up your Jinsun?!"

Zhang Wu Shu shook the bell on the fencing door, and just as he called out the door, there was movement in the courtyard. The door was pulled open and an old lady dressed in a red cotton jacket and blue cotton pants came out. She wore a plain bun on her head and wore no jewelry. She looked to be in her fifties. However, even though everyone here looked old, Li Yannian was not sure of their actual age.

"It's fifth brother ah, why are you still chopping firewood in the middle of the snow, and there's no firewood left at home?" If only she hadn't come to my house to eat, then I would have burnt them. I haven't even touched my chopsticks, "Only now did she notice the three children at the side of Zhang Wu Shu, and she didn't dare admit it. The more she looked at Li Yannian's eyes, the redder her eyes became. Black Bean, Mao Dou? "

Zhang Wu Shu laughed: "I told you just now that your Goldsun is here, little sister, your ears aren't old enough yet. Alright, I've already sent the food over. I'm not eating at your house, the woman is still waiting for the firewood. She's been scolded for the whole morning, if I don't go back now, she won't let me get on the brick bed in the evening. "Big bro will be leaving first. Hurry up and take the children inside to warm them up. Look at how cold they are, your face is white and white ?"

She had clearly said that she was in a hurry to leave, yet in the end, she had chatted with Zhang Yaomei for a long time at the entrance of the courtyard. Li Yannian saw that the Zhang Wu Shu was really interesting, and listened to the two with interest. Not long later, the Zhang family's eldest daughter-in-law, Xia Taohua saw that her mother-in-law had still not come in after half a day, and was still worried about calling for help. Only then did the Zhang Wu Shu walk away with a load of firewood.

Finally!

It was unknown if it was just an illusion on Li Yannian's part, but everyone present seemed to have let out a sigh of relief.

"Mother, these children are ?" Seeing that the Zhang Wu Shu had left, Xia Taohua felt that it was strange that there were still three children standing in the courtyard.

Just as Black Bean and the others were hesitating to announce themselves, Zhang Yaomei spoke out from the side.

"Black Bean, Hong Dou, Mao Dou, this is your First Aunt, quickly call for help."

The three of them obediently called out to Xia Taohua, "First Aunt."

Xia Taohua blinked, and finally regained her senses. "These are Third Mother's children, and they have grown up to this extent in a blink of an eye."

Zhang Yaomei reached out to her eyes and said with a trembling voice: "Let's go in and talk."

three siblings followed him into the house. A few Zhang Family s surrounded the round table to build a furnace, and the moment they saw them, the room instantly quietened down. The smiling expression on their faces froze.

Zhang Yaomei didn't say anything, but Xia Taohua lowered her head and quietly stood by her side.

Almost everyone in the room was watching them.

Black Bean pursed his lips stubbornly, his expression not knowing what to say. However, Mao Dou was holding Li Yannian's hand tightly, his palm-sized face was filled with fear. Under the gazes of these unfamiliar relatives, he was obviously very uneasy.

Zhang Yaomei was the first to break the silence, "Where is your mother?"