Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 1179 Zhai Gong's Instructions
A small town in the northwest, covered in snow, bathed in the glow of the setting sun.

A bullock cart slowly made its way down the main street of the town, its creaking sound long and far-reaching.

"Grandma Wen, your brother Ku is back!" Tiewa shouted as he ran back after seeing the oxcart in the distance.

At the entrance of the alley, several children stood there, chattering and looking into the distance.

They knew that Kova would bring back fruit from the mountains every time she came back, and the fruit was so sweet.

At the deepest part of the alley, the gate of a house opened, and an old woman with a full head of white hair, neatly combed, came out, leaning on a cane with her left hand and holding the hand of a sleepy little girl with her right.

The old woman didn't go outside. She stood at the gate of her own yard. The little girl touched her eyes with her right hand and said sleepily, "Grandma, is my brother back?"

"Yes, they've been gone for three days. It's time to go back," the old woman said quietly, her eyes fixed on the alley entrance.

Although his gaze was already fixed on the alley entrance, he couldn't hide the word "worry" in his heart.

Suddenly, a burst of cheers came from the alley entrance. The old woman felt relieved and turned around to take the little girl back to the courtyard.

The noise outside gradually subsided. The girl sat in front of her main house, looking anxiously toward the gate.

A handsome young man, carrying a large snakeskin bag, slowly walked in.

The girl rushed out, and the boy dropped the bag, ran to her, and scooped her up in his arms. The yard was filled with their laughter.

An untimely cow poked its head into the yard, looked around, mooed at the boy, and wobbled into the yard. It went straight to the hay shed on the right, dug around in the haystack, and found a comfortable position to lie down.

"Brother, why have you been gone for so long? I was so worried!" The girl hugged the boy's neck tightly and wouldn't let go.

The boy looked at the girl with affection and said, "I was just looking for a mirror for my ugly daughter, otherwise I would have come back sooner."

The girl squinted her eyes, gave her brother a quick kiss, and said cheerfully, "Brother is the best."

"Go back inside!" A stern voice came from inside the house.

The boy put the ugly girl down, gave her some instructions, and went into the house.

Ugly Girl sat down again at the entrance of her main house, her eyes fixed on the courtyard gate, as if waiting for something.

"Kuwa, is it not going well?" Grandma sat cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed), holding a sewing basket in her hand, sewing the soles of a pair of white cloth shoes.

Kournikova took off her sheepskin coat and hat, and sat down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), where a bowl of warm water was placed on the kang table.

"It's alright," Kournikova replied, then picked up the water and gulped it down in one go.

The mother-in-law suddenly noticed a new wound on Kournikova's neck, clearly caused by the claws of a wild animal, and felt heartbroken.

"You went in?" the mother-in-law suddenly asked.

Kournikova knew she couldn't hide it from her mother-in-law, so she replied, "Grandma, don't worry, I only went to the outer perimeter, I didn't go inside, but it felt like there was no one in the city."

Kournikova felt a little guilty. Before he left, his grandmother repeatedly told him not to go near that isolated city.

Grandma didn't say anything, turned around, leaned over the kang cabinet, took out a porcelain bottle, and handed it to him.

"Apply it, and it will be ready in half an hour. I'll go out and keep an eye on it." Grandma got off the kang (a heated brick bed), picked up her cane, and went out of the house.

Kournikova didn't waste any time; she turned around and went into her own little house, took off her shirt, revealing that she had more than one scar.

Grandma went out of the house, closed the door, and sat down next to Ugly Girl. The courtyard gate was still wide open.

Ugly Baby looked up at his grandmother and asked, "Did Uncle Wang come first, or Widow Chen?"

“You have to call her Aunt Chen, otherwise she’ll go around telling everyone you’re the ugliest girl in the world,” Grandma replied.

"You're already the ugliest girl in the world, and you won't even let me say it? If you don't marry my boy, you're the ugliest girl in the world." A charming and beautiful voice came from outside the courtyard, carrying an undeniable arrogance.

"Widow Chen, how old are you? Why are you arguing with a child? I don't have any water to offer you." Grandma was a little unhappy, and her words were somewhat cold.

Ugly Girl was furious. She looked up and saw a beautiful woman in red carrying a large teapot in her left hand and four small blue-and-white porcelain bowls in her right hand, swaying as she turned and entered the courtyard.

Widow Chen didn't come towards the main house. There was a stone table and benches on the left side of the courtyard. She put the teapot and bowl on the stone table and found a spot with her back to the courtyard gate to sit down. Ugly Girl turned her head and angrily went into the house. Widow Chen's unrestrained laughter came from outside. Grandma was unmoved and continued to sew shoe soles.

"That laughter, I guess only the old monk in Baishan Town could stop it." A handsome man of medium build, dressed in white, walked in, carrying a book in his hand.

Grandma looked up at the person coming from the courtyard gate, frowned, and continued sewing the soles of her shoes without saying a word.

Widow Chen looked at the person who came in, curled her lip, and said loudly, "No pretty boy has a kind heart."

"Kova hasn't come out yet?" The man in white turned his head and asked a pointless question, pretending not to have heard Widow Chen's words.

Widow Chen looked disgusted and said disdainfully, "What are you pretending for, Scholar Wen? You're not Blind Zhang, can't you see?"

Scholar Wen glanced at Widow Chen and said, "As the ancients said, a good man doesn't fight with a woman."

“But I love to argue with you. You said my son is hopeless, didn’t you? You said my son is hopeless, didn’t you?” Widow Chen suddenly stood up, as if she was about to walk forward.

Wen Xiucai ignored Widow Chen and walked to the stone table, found a seat facing the entrance of the courtyard, and picked up the book in his hand to read.

Seeing that Wen Xiucai ignored her, Widow Chen sat down sullenly and drank alone with her back to the door.

Another half incense stick's time passed, and the door to the inner room opened. Kournikova slowly led Ugly Girl out.

Kova walked to the stone table, her face serious, and bowed respectfully to the two women, saying, "I'm so sorry to have kept Master Wen and Aunt Chen waiting."

"Injured again?" Widow Chen always spoke so bluntly.

Kournikova gestured for Niu Niu to go to her grandmother's, then turned and said, "Yes, she's fine now."

"How about I go find Uncle Wang? It'll get dark soon," Kova said, glancing at Wen Xiucai, since not everyone had arrived yet.

Just as Widow Chen was about to speak, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the courtyard, and a fat man rushed in, rolling in like a ball.

"Let me catch my breath first. This house is in turmoil, it'll ruin everything." The fat man scolded, panting as he walked to the stone bench near the courtyard gate and plopped down.

Widow Chen laughed so hard she nearly fell over, and asked loudly, "Did the second and third sons win, or did your tigress win?"

The fat man was stunned for a moment. He looked at Widow Chen, frowned for a moment, but quickly raised his hand, picked up the teapot, and arranged the four small blue and white porcelain bowls.

"Let's drink first. Bad news travels fast. I'm sorry to have made a fool of myself and caused trouble at home," Fatty Wang said as he set out the drinks.

"Let Kova handle the matter of the second deacon," Wen Xiucai said.

Kournikova turned and walked to the gate, closed it, and bolted it.

The three men were all surprised to see this. They had never used the tether before, but they all fell silent. They knew there was a big shipment coming today.

Grandma pulled Ugly Girl into the house, closed the door, and the people outside heard the door lock.

"Moo~" The old cow in the thatched hut also joined in the fun.

Kournikova took out the snakeskin bag and poured its contents directly onto the stone table.

The three men were startled; the courtyard fell silent. Fatty Wang kept glancing at the gate; he was somewhat worried.

There were four items on the stone table: a black jade sword, a bronze sword case, a golden wolf's head, and a whisk.

After reading it once, Fatty Wang looked at Scholar Wen with expectant and longing eyes.

Wen Xiucai then picked up each item one by one and placed them neatly on the stone table.

After a moment's hesitation, he picked up the golden wolf head. The golden wolf head wasn't big, about the size of a fist, and he didn't know what kind of gemstone its eyes were.

"The scepter of Nalan Hugo, the founding emperor of the previous dynasty, is said to have a golden wolf's head on top, and there is a legend of it burning three thousand miles. If it is that, it is worth more than five thousand gold."

Fatty Wang looked at Widow Chen, Widow Chen looked at Scholar Wen, Scholar Wen stared at Wolf Head, and Wolf Head's eyes were directed at Fatty Wang.

Kournikova stood respectfully to the side, thinking to herself, "Will this be a dramatic ethical drama?"

(End of this chapter)