Chapter 471: Exclusive Paintings

They only set off after the Spring Festival.

Tears welled up in Xiaoguo’s eyes as she looked at the closed door of the house and the word “Fortune” that was pasted on it. She really couldn’t bear to leave this place.

Zhuang Zhuang was feeling the same. He only felt better after looking at his parents and younger brothers.

“Let’s go. It’s not like we won’t be coming back,”

Jiang Danhe said as he kissed her forehead tenderly.

They would return. This was their home. Their roots were here, and their families were here. No matter how far they drifted, they would eventually come back.

Xiaoguo nodded and hugged the babies tightly as they got into the carriage.

…..

The carriage began to move slowly. Xiaoguo poked her head out and looked at Mrs Yang’s house. The reluctance in her eyes was intensifying by the minute.

“My dear sister, Hl be back.”

Suddenly, the crying of the baby in her arms attracted her attention. Seeing that the baby was hungry, Xiaoguo skillfully unbuttoned her clothes.

Mrs Yang waited for the carriage to leave before walking out from behind the door. She wiped the tears off her face and waved reluctantly in that direction.

“Sister, you must come back often!”

Xiaoguo was moving to the capital firstly for Zhuang Zhuang’s education and secondly to accompany Jiang Danhe.

The family of five could finally live together on a long term basis.

Shao Zhan and Xiaoyi were absolutely delighted to see Jiang Danhe and his family relocate to the capital.

After Mr. and Mrs. Kong returned to the capital, they moved back to live with their family in their family mansion. Everyone was happy to welcome them back. Back then, their children could hardly bear to see the two elders leave, so it was great that they could come back now!

Zhuang Zhuang had to carry on with his classes. Shao Zhan had arranged for Xiaoyi to attend Teacher Kong’s class together with Zhuang Zhuang. The mischievous boy was only well-behaved when he was with Zhuang Zhuang. He never listens to his father and only listens to Zhuang Zhuang. With Zhuang Zhuang watching over him, Shao Zhan was very reassured.

However, considering that Mr. Kong was already advanced in age, the classes were held at his home instead.

Xiaoyi, who usually liked to sleep in, was delighted to attend classes with Zhuang Zhuang everyday. There was no need for anyone to wake him in the morning. He also stopped skipping classes and hardly pranks the people around him.

Other than Mr. Kong’s class, additional classes were also arranged for the two of them. Since they were already studying humanities, they couldn’t neglect the martial arts.

When his family became more settled in the capital, Jiang Danhe kept his word. He made a point to visit Peach Blossom Village with them every two months, staying there for about a week each time.

With the round trip and the length of stay, it added up to a considerable amount of time.

Although it was a bit excessive, Shao Zhan generously agreed to this arrangement. Since Jiang Danhe was able to stay in the capital without neglecting his duties, there was no reason not to agree to his requests.

Because of the frequent trips back home, homesickness became more bearable since everyone knew that they would meet again shortly after.

The only issue was the distance between them, but that didn’t affect their relationship at all.

Ever since they moved into the general’s residence, Jiang Danhe had tidied up the garden for Xiaoguo. The garden was now planted with various varieties of flowers and the entire general’s residence was now filled with a floral fragrance.

Even when Jiang Danhe met with his colleagues, everyone praised him for being a changed man now that he has his wife by his side. He even smells like a flower now.

He never said a word in the face of these teasing. However, one could tell from his face that he was basking in happiness.

Summer in the capital was much hotter than in Peach Blossom Village.

Xiaoguo was about to change the two babies into thinner garments when Jiang Danhe returned.

While fussing over the babies, she turned to look at him and asked, “Why are you so early today?”

“It’s nothing. I’ve come back early to spend time with you and the kids.”

Jiang Danhe undressed in front of her and changed into his casual clothes. During this time, he kept posing and flexing his muscles to show off his physique. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was actually trying to seduce Xiaoguo.

Just as he was shyly sizing up Xiaoguo to see if she was mesmerized by him, he noticed that she had no time to pay attention to him. She had already turned her attention to the two chubby babies on the bed.

Jiang Danhe’s eyes darkened. In a fit of pique, he threw his clothes onto the clothes rack and sat alone at the table without saying a word. He gazed mournfully at the mother and the two babies on the bed, but mainly focused his attention on Xiaoguo. When Zhuang Zhuang was at home, she would spend her time taking care of him, but now that he wasn’t around, she had to take care of her twin sons. As her husband, he was the last on her list, and she didn’t have much attention left for him.

After Xiaoguo helped Big Fatty and Second Fatty put on their clothes, she started wiping down their bodies with a handkerchief.

The two chubby babies were getting fatter with each passing day, even surpassing Zhuang Zhuang’s size when he was a baby. It was unclear whether it was because Xiaoguo’s breast milk was highly nutritious or because the two kids were efficient at absorbing the nutrients.

As she was thinking about it, Zhuang Zhuang’s crisp and pleasant voice sounded from outside the door.

“Mother… Mother…”

Xiaoguo was delighted to hear his voice. She took out another handkerchief and waited for the little man to enter.

Seeing Xiaoguo’s expectant expression, Jiang Danhe became even more upset. From the moment he got home and entered the house, Xiaoguo had exchanged only a few words with him. And most importantly, she didn’t even wipe his sweat!

Zhuang Zhuang was already six years old. Starting from last year, the little guy had grown much taller. The nutrients from the food he consumed was no longer contributing to his horizontal growth but instead was adding on to his height.

The six-year-old boy seemed to take after Jiang Danhe. After the New Year, he was growing at an even faster rate. He had grown beyond her waist level. It was impossible for her to carry him like she did a few years ago.

Zhuang Zhuang didn’t keep Xiaoguo waiting for long. Within a short while, he ran in with a wide grin on his face. Although his face was flushed, it didn’t affect his good looks at all.

After coming to the capital, Zhuang Zhuang also got to know many other children from the families of high-ranking officials. However, like Xiaoyi, he didn’t like to play with them. But on the other hand, those kids enjoyed playing with him. This could be due to his handsome little face, which had not developed to its full potential.

There was no denying that Zhuang Zhuang was a good-looking boy. He had inherited many of Jiang Danhe and Xiaoguo’s best features, and anyone who met him couldn’t help but comment on how good-looking he was.

“Mother…”

Zhuang Zhuang threw himself into Xiaoguo’s arms, allowing her to wipe his sweat and take off his coat. He was enjoying himself very much. At the same time, he did not forget to touch his two younger brothers, who were reaching out to grab him from behind their mother.

Suddenly, his big eyes darted around the room and he spotted Jiang Danhe, who looked a little forlorn. Within the next second, he called out to him with a smile, “Father.”

“Sigh…” Jiang Danhe was about to cry. He had finally noticed his father.

Xiaoguo chuckled to herself. How could she miss his intense resentment? She had indeed neglected him recently. It seemed that she had to find an opportunity to make it up to him.

Xiaoguo’s birthday was in June. Jiang Danhe brought the family back to Peach Blossom Village to celebrate her birthday.

After coaxing the three children to sleep at night, Jiang Danhe entered the house and passed her a book in a secretive manner.

When Xiaoguo opened it, she realized that it was a super thick stack of hand-drawn illustrations!

“What’s this?!” Xiaoguo flipped through each drawing in disbelief. She looked up at the smiling Jiang Danhe, feeling extremely touched.

“A birthday gift for you.”

Jiang Danhe kissed her forehead gently and said, “Happy birthday, my dearest wife.”

“Thank you.” Xiaoguo wiped her tears and kissed him back.

Looking at his darkening eyes, she quickly changed the topic and asked, “When did you start preparing these drawings?”

As she asked, she flipped through the stack. What greeted her eyes was the scene of her lying in the medical center after the diagnosis of her pregnancy. She wouldn’t have known if she hadn’t seen it. While looking at the page, she laughed so hard that her legs almost went into spasms.

Did she look so stiff at that time?

“Didn’t you talk about wanting to capture a certain moment? Although I can’t take a photo like you said, I can draw it for you.”

Xiaoguo tried to recall, she remembered it was quite a while back when she was watching Zhuang Zhuang climb the trees. At that time, she thought that the setting sun was very beautiful and she mentioned something about capturing the moment to Jiang Danhe. She didn’t expect him to remember her words and even take action!

In the sketchbook, she could see bits and pieces of their past interactions. There were scenes of the men’s and women’s teams competing during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the few of them watching fireworks during the Spring Festival in the capital… from her first trimester to the late stages of pregnancy, the day of the twins’ delivery, Zhuang Zhuang’s birthday, the full moon banquet, her brother and Ruyi’s wedding, the Spring Festival, the move to the capital, the way Zhuang Zhuang looked when he was in class, the way he looked when he was learning how to shoot an arrow, the moment when Big Fatty and Second Fatty rolled over, and when they started to crawl, and the moment when the twins grabbed Zhuang Zhuang’s hair…

The last piece of illustration still had wet patches of ink. It contains the scene when all their friends were gathered together to celebrate Xiaoguo’s birthday. She was making a wish with her eyes closed.

At the bottom, there were a few small words…”to be continued”..