Fear

The few pieces of clothes were quick and easy to wash. Only one line was needed to hang up all the clothes and bedsheets.

After doing the laundry, Xiaoguo went out to herd the cows and cut the grass. She also fed the donkeys and collected the eggs. In any case, she did not stop to take any breaks.

She didn’t know why, but no matter how much work she did at home, she never got tired.

When Xiaoguo looked around and saw that there was nothing left to do, she went back into the house.

Once inside, she went to check on Qin Anming first. He was finally able to sleep soundly now that Xiaoguo was back. She could even hear him snoring occasionally in his sleep.

Xiaoguo went to the other room to check on Zhuang Zhuang. The little guy was sleeping under the blanket and was almost drooling.

She tiptoed over and gently closed his mouth.

It was getting late. Mrs. Yang and her family should be done with their afternoon nap. She wouldn’t be interrupting their rest time if she were to go now.

Whenever something came to mind, Xiaoguo always had the urge to get it done immediately. Otherwise, she wouldn’t feel at ease. She was worried about forgetting things when she got busy, so it would be better for her to bring the gifts over now.

After checking that she had not left anything behind, she left the house with the bag of gifts.

She walked to the front door and couldn’t decide if she should lock it. Eventually the door was left unlocked since she would be back shortly. She also found it troublesome to lock up.

Since she had decided to stay only for a short while at Mrs. Yang’s house, Xiaoguo pulled the door and gently closed it.

When she arrived at Mrs. Yang’s house, she happened to see Yang Jia leaving.

“Sister-in-law.”

Yang Jia had just opened the door when he saw Xiaoguo knocking.

“Aye, is Sister-in-law at home?”

Xiaoguo stepped back and asked.

“Yes, yes.”

Yang Jia opened the door and invited Xiaoguo in.

Xiaoguo followed him into the house. Thinking about how he looked when he opened the door earlier, she asked, “Were you planning to go out just now?”

When Yang Jia heard this, he nodded in embarrassment. “Zhuang Zhuang told me this morning that he brought back a lot of new books, so I wanted to take a look…”

Yang Jia’s face turned red as he rubbed his ears. It was too embarrassing to go to someone else’s house to browse their books. However, according to Zhuang Zhuang, many of those books were not available at the stores, so Yang Jia had to muster all his courage to borrow those books from Zhuang Zhuang.

Xiaoguo smiled when she heard that. Yang Jia liked reading so much that he would only step out of his house for books. “Let’s go over later. Zhuang Zhuang and his uncle are still sleeping.”

Yang Jia nodded when he heard this. He lifted the curtain in the room and let Xiaoguo enter first.

“I heard from my brother that you’ve been helping him while he was sick. I haven’t thanked you properly yet.” Xiaoguo tilted her body slightly and went in. As she did so, she said, “This time, Zhuang Zhuang brought back a lot of books, ink, paper, and inkstones. Go and see if there is anything you need. If you see anything you like, feel free to take them.”

Just before they left the palace for home, Jiang Danhe had specially prepared a lot of books for Zhuang Zhuang. There were all kinds of books. Jiang Danhe had also asked the emperor for some limited edition books. In other words, the books that Jiang Danhe had given Zhuang Zhuang came mostly from the emperor. There were also a lot of new brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.

From Jiang Danhe’s point of view, it was a good thing that his son liked to read. Therefore as a father, he would do his best to support him.

It was all thanks to Jiang Danhe’s support that Xiaoguo’s bag was so heavy when she came back…

Yang Jia was stunned when he heard this. His face turned even redder and he said incoherently, “Alright, thank you, thank you.”

Xiaoguo shook her head in amusement. She had said something similar to him before, but Yang Jia was very well-mannered and knew his limits. He would make a really good friend.

When they entered the room, Mrs. Yang was sitting on the bed trying to thread a needle. When she saw Xiaoguo, she quickly invited her to sit down.

Yangjia left after ushering Xiaoguo into the room.

Seeing that Brother Yang was not in the house, Xiaoguo asked Mrs. Yang about him.

“Sigh, he left the house early this morning. There’s someone building a new house in our village and he has gone to help.”

Mrs. Yang continued to thread the needle in her hand but she just couldn’t get the thread through the hole after many tries. “Sigh! This thread is impossible.”

As she spoke, she threw the fraying thread into the sewing basket.

“Haha.”

Xiaoguo couldn’t help but laugh. Her gift had come at the right time.

“How dare you laugh!”

Mrs. Yang was still fuming when she heard Xiaoguo laugh, so she exclaimed loudly.

“Okay, okay, Sister-in-law.” Xiaoguo stopped laughing and picked up the bundle that she had brought. She rummaged through the bag and found the gift. “Here, Sister-in-law. This is for you. I was laughing because of this.”

Mrs. Yang looked curiously at what Xiaoguo was holding. It was a large wooden box.

“Oh my, this box is so exquisite. But it’s too big. I will never be able to fill it up with enough jewelry for the rest of my life.”

Mrs. Yang took the box and carefully touched the carvings on it. She had guessed that this was a jewelry box since only jewelry boxes would look so exquisite.

She had seen the girls in the brothel use boxes like this before. Other than that, she had never seen anyone else use containers that look like that. Usually, the girls in the brothels would use such boxes to store their jewelry.

Xiaoguo suppressed her laughter and raised her head. “Sister-in-law, check out what is inside.”

Mrs. Yang was confused. What was there to see inside? It cannot be as exquisite as the carvings on the exterior. What else could there be in the box?

Mrs. Yang opened the box doubtfully. The moment she opened it, her eyes darted around quickly, wanting to scan through everything in the box. After a while, Mrs. Yang’s face turned red with excitement and she said loudly, “To me, the things inside here are more attractive than a box of gold, silver, or jewelry!”

Xiaoguo covered her mouth and giggled. She knew that Mrs. Yang liked this. She had chosen the right gift for her.

“You like it, don’t you?”

Xiaoguo raised her eyebrows at Mrs. Yang, looking like she was asking for praise.

Mrs. Yang didn’t disappoint Xiaoguo. She hugged the box like it was a treasure and touched it lovingly. She said excitedly to Xiaoguo, “If I didn’t have to hold on to this treasure, I would have kissed you!”

Amused by her words, Xiaoguo teased, “Would Mr. Yang be jealous if you kiss me?”

“Shoo, shoo, shoo. You have no manners…”

When Mrs. Yang heard those words, her face instantly turned red. She glanced sideways at Xiaoguo. “How dare you tease me…”

Xiaoguo found it amusing to see her like this. She was usually such a forthright woman, but with just a few words of teasing, she instantly turned into a shy little woman.

Shortly after, Xiaoguo took out the gifts for Xiaohua and Xiaohu, and asked Mrs. Yang to pass it to them.

The two children had followed their father to the site of the new house. The builders were erecting the beams today, so candies would be given out. The kids had rushed there to grab some candies.

Mrs. Yang nodded and thanked Xiaoguo on behalf of Xiaohua and Xiaohu.

As she was worried about the house, Xiaoguo quickly said goodbye to Mrs. Yang, and made plans to chat with her again at a later date. Xiaoguo had yet to tell anyone that Jiang Danhe was still alive. On the way back, she reminded Zhuang Zhuang not to mention this in case he frightened anyone again.

Mrs. Yang wanted to send her off but Xiaoguo waved her hand and left. She was just two-steps from the door so there was no need to send her off.

Mrs. Yang didn’t stand on ceremony with Xiaoguo. Upon hearing Xiaoguo’s words, she returned to the house and continued to study her new treasure.

Xiaoguo smiled again when she saw Mrs. Yang’s reaction. She liked the way they interacted. There was no need for formalities so it was comfortable to hang out with someone like that.

As soon as she stepped out of the room, she saw Yang Jia standing in the courtyard. When he saw Xiaoguo, his eyes lit up.

Xiaoguo smiled. He must be getting impatient. “Let’s go!”

Hearing this, Yang Jia immediately followed Xiaoguo out.

Mrs. Yang looked out of the window and saw their backs. She couldn’t help but smile. Those two looked just like siblings.

Shortly after leaving the house, Xiaoguo saw a sneaky figure leaning against her house door from afar.

Yang Jia had seen this scene many times. When he saw it, he couldn’t help but feel frightened. Subconsciously, he wanted to turn around and run, but Xiaoguo was here. He would be such a weakling if he were to run away like that. Therefore, he forced himself to buck up and stand behind Xiaoguo.