The couple thought for a while. They were new to Ruizhou and didn’t know much about the Zhifu, let alone the network of relationships in Ruizhou.

Yang Xi was a little sleepy. “You’re just leaving your son with Uncle Zhong like this?”

Zhou Yu wasn’t guilty at all. “In the capital, he had his own house and courtyard. There was no other way after coming south. Now there are more rooms; he should live alone.”

Hmph, hmph, their brat had gotten used to sleeping with them; that won’t do. Besides, his wife is about to give birth; their son should live alone.

Yang Xi twitched her ears. “Listen, isn’t it raining again?”

When Zhou Yu listened, the rain was already heavy. “The rain in the south is really plentiful.”

No wonder there were floods every year.

Yang Xi frowned. “There’s been a lot of rain these past few days.”

“Don’t think about it anymore; it’s getting late, go to sleep early.”

Yang Xi softly hummed in agreement and fell asleep soon after listening to the rain. Sleeping soundly on the warm kang (heated brick bed) at night was comforting.

Zhou Yu didn’t sleep. He gently patted his wife’s back, listening to the rain outside the window, worried about the condition of the embankment, and wondering how heavy the rain was upstream. He thought he would go to the county town tomorrow and ask Brother Zhong to send someone to check on the section of the river upstream. With this plan in mind, the sound of the rain lulled Zhou Yu to sleep, and he soon fell asleep as well.

While the couple slept, Ziheng pouted, showing no signs of sleepiness. The little guy wanted to sleep with his parents. His grandfather had taught him to be independent early on in the capital, but even a precocious child is still a child. He was used to sleeping with his parents and didn’t want to sleep alone.

Zhong Yan, who slept little, was worried about Ziheng at the other end of the main room when he heard the rain. He brought in an oil lamp, and there he was, the little guy staring at him with wide eyes. “Are you scared of the rain?”

Ziheng shook his head. “No, I’m not scared.”

He had developed some courage along the way. His mother said ghosts weren’t scary; as long as you didn’t do anything wrong, you weren’t afraid of ghosts knocking at your door. It was people who were scary, and she told him not to trust anyone when he was out and about.

Zhong Yan adored the little guy. “Really not afraid?”

Ziheng sat up, feeling embarrassed to keep his grandfather standing, and patted the spot next to him. “Grandpa Zhong, sit down.”

Zhong Yan chuckled. “Still saying you’re not afraid? Grandpa will sit and keep you company until you fall asleep, then Grandpa will go back.”

Ziheng scratched his bald head. He really wasn’t afraid. Oh well, Grandpa Zhong was old; he must be lonely and wanted him to keep him company. Thinking this, he got up and pulled a new quilt from the cabinet, forcefully pulling it to the side of his own quilt. “Grandpa, you lie down too.”

Zhong Yan thought to himself, “Kids will be kids; he’s really scared living alone.”

Seeing that Grandpa Zhong had actually lain down, Ziheng thought like a little adult, “Grandpa’s afraid of being lonely and proud; I can’t expose that.”

In the end, Zhong Yan fell asleep to the sound of rain, but Ziheng remained wide awake, wide awake, because Grandpa Zhong was snoring. He covered his ears with his chubby hands, his little face full of regret!

The next morning, Zhong Jin’s eldest son, Zhong Xu, got up from the side room. He had rushed to take care of his sick grandfather, and had been worried about him since the rain last night. He nodded to the servant on night watch and entered the main room. He opened the door but didn’t see his grandfather and looked towards Ziheng’s room, puzzled.

Zhong Xu chuckled; the little guy must be scared and had gone to keep his grandfather company.

He carefully pushed open the door, and sure enough, his grandfather was sleeping beside him. His grandfather, being old, was sleeping late for the first time.

Ziheng was sprawled out, unable to sleep because of the snoring, but eventually couldn’t resist.

At breakfast, Zhou Yu and his wife didn’t see Zi Heng.

Zhong Yan stroked his beard, “The child is too young; he’s scared of sleeping alone. I slept with him last night. Children need a lot of sleep; don’t wake him if he’s not awake yet.”

Zhou Yu swallowed the soup in his mouth. Wait, his son was scared? Before the incident, the little guy was quite brave. After the incident, they tried their best to protect him. Their son had seen a lot of ugliness and even experienced fighting; how could he be afraid of the dark?

Yang Xi was also full of doubts. They had indeed sent Ziheng there to keep Uncle Zhong company. Zhong’s eldest son was only staying for a few days, and they were worried that Uncle Zhong would be lonely living alone in the courtyard. How come, in Uncle Zhong’s words, his son had become a child afraid of the dark?

An hour later, Ziheng finally woke up. He got up groggily and started folding his quilt himself. When he lived with his parents, his father would fold the quilt, but now that he lived alone, his father said he should do things himself.

He was too weak to put the quilt in the kang cabinet, so he folded it, pushed the end of the kang aside, and then got out of bed to put on his shoes. Not seeing Grandpa Zhong in the courtyard, he ran all the way back to the east courtyard where his parents lived.

Yang Xi was calculating data when she heard her son running. She put down her pen and saw him come in. “Awake?”

Ziheng was embarrassed; he had gotten up late. “Mom, where are Dad and Grandpa Zhong?”

Yang Xi got up and took her son’s hand, leading him outside. “They went to the county.”

Ziheng knew Grandpa Zhong wasn’t there and whispered, “Mom, Grandpa Zhong is lonely. He came to my room last night and insisted I was scared. I didn’t call him out on it!”

Yang Xi stopped in her tracks. Her son wouldn’t lie. Uncle Zhong was lonely?

Ziheng added, “Grandpa Zhong snores at night, so I fell asleep very late and woke up late.”

Yang Xi chuckled; the little guy’s voice was full of grievance. “Are you hungry? Mom will help you wash up, and then we’ll eat.”

Ziheng was already hungry. “Mom, does Grandpa Zhong still need me to stay with him tonight?”

Yang Xi stroked her son’s head. “Yes, Grandma Zhong will be here soon. You’ve worked hard these past few days, Ziheng.”

She finally understood; Uncle Zhong and Ziheng were completely at odds. One thought Ziheng was afraid of the dark, and the other thought Uncle Zhong was lonely—they were on completely different wavelengths!

Breakfast consisted of millet porridge, boiled eggs, and meat buns.

Ziheng ate with great relish, and once he was full, he didn’t want to move.

Yang Xi pulled her son up. “Let’s take the dishes back to the kitchen and then go for a walk in the village.”

Ziheng had always wanted to go for a walk in the village. “Okay.”

Sun Liu was busy in the kitchen; her younger brother was too small to run around with Yang San, so she stayed in the kitchen to help out.

Yang Xi set the bowls and chopsticks down, and Sun Liu took them. With the hot water boiling in the pot, Sun Liu quickly washed the bowls and chopsticks clean.

Yang Xi stared at the dried loofah sponge, then looked at the wood ash. These two things were used to clean dishes at home; there was no dish soap in ancient times.

After washing the dishes, Sun Liu noticed her wife was still staring at her and felt a little uneasy. “Wife, did I do something wrong?”

Yang Xi looked away, her mind filled with thoughts of natural dishwashing liquid. “I was a little distracted just now, thinking that it must be too busy with only you and your brother in the kitchen.”

Sun Liu didn’t feel busy; cooking every day was too easy. “Madam, we can manage.”

Yang Xi said, “There will be more people in the family in the future, so I’m thinking of hiring an aunt from the village to help you.”

Sun Liu was a little tongue-tied; she was a contracted servant and didn’t know how other masters were, but the Zhou family masters were all kind-hearted. “Thank you, Madam.”

Yang Xi led Zi Heng out of the courtyard. Once they were alone, Ziheng asked softly, “Mother, do we have enough money?”

Yang Xi tapped her son’s nose. “Your father and I didn’t hide our conversation from you, so tell me, is it enough?”

(End of Chapter)

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