Chapter 43 Provoking Auntie

That night, Cao Shujie drank quite a bit. Instead of rushing home, he stayed in the hotel.

When he woke up in the morning, he remembered that his childhood friend Cao Zhen and ‘Chen Zheng Guardrail’ boss Chen Xingquan had left the previous night. Cao Zhen told him to call when he woke up in the morning.

Cao Zhen also planned to catch a ride with Cao Shujie back to Cao Family Village.

After washing up, Cao Shujie called him. Unexpectedly, when the call connected, Cao Zhen sounded a bit gloomy, “Shujie, I have to work overtime unexpectedly, so I can’t go back today. You go ahead.”

“Isn’t today Labor Day? Why are you working overtime again?” Cao Shujie was particularly puzzled.

Cao Zhen didn’t want it either, but an employee in the workshop got their hand caught in a machine, causing a crush fracture, and one of their fingers was even torn off.

Cao Zhen had to visit the employee on behalf of the company and handle the incident.

In such a situation, Cao Shujie couldn’t say anything else. He just advised Cao Zhen to carefully and patiently reassure the injured worker and their family, then started driving toward Cao Family Village.

Seeing that Qingshi Town was not far off, he suddenly remembered that his sister Cao Huifang would be coming home today.

Her classmates were coming with her as well, so he pulled over ahead and called his sister.

She picked up quickly. On the other end, it sounded chaotic as Cao Huifang’s voice came through, “Bro, I was just about to call you. We’ll be in town in about an hour.”

“Why are you coming so early?” Cao Shujie checked the time. It was not even nine o’clock.

He figured, knowing how those long-distance buses always try to cram in more passengers, his sister must have been waiting at the station since five or six in the morning.

The next moment, Cao Huifang said, “Bro, we had nothing to do this morning, so Deng Miaoshan, Ye Beiwen, and I got up early.”

The 10th-generation Elegant Edition LaCrosse stopped at a spot not far from the temporary Qingshi Town Bus Station stop, out of the way.

Cao Shujie locked the car, left a gap in the window, closed his eyes, and dozed off. He didn’t wake until his phone rang, then rubbed his eyes and answered it.

“Bro, I just got off at the town station. Where are you?” Cao Huifang asked.

She and her classmates had just arrived and, remembering that her brother said he would wait for them at the station, looked for him as they got off but didn’t see him.

When Cao Shujie heard that, he quickly said, “Wait there, I’m coming over now.”

A few minutes later, Cao Shujie drove over and saw his sister Cao Huifang and her four female classmates, one of whom was Deng Miaoshan, who had visited before.

“Bro.” Cao Huifang looked especially happy to see her brother.

She then introduced her four classmates.

Besides Deng Miaoshan, the tallest one was named Ye Beiwen, the slightly chubby one was Huang Jingmin, and the shortest was Xu Fang.

“Come on, get in the car, let’s go home first,” Cao Shujie said.

Ye Beiwen, Huang Jingmin, and Xu Fang still felt a bit shy, but Cao Huifang had already opened the door: “Huang Jingmin, you take the front seat, the four of us will squeeze in the back.”

There was no choice—Huang Jingmin was curvier and took up more space.

In the countryside, overloading isn’t strictly enforced.

Ten-odd minutes later, they left Qingshi Town and arrived at Cao Family Village.

At this point, Ye Beiwen, Huang Jingmin, and Xu Fang were still wondering what kind of family Cao Huifang came from, since her brother even had a car.

Ye Beiwen knew her stuff and could tell this car wasn’t cheap.

But that was as far as her curiosity went. Ye Beiwen also knew that even in the countryside, plenty of capable people had money, so she didn’t feel the need to dig further.

Cao Shujie drove all the way to their door before stopping. “We’re here, everyone out.”

“Bro, where’s Mom?” Cao Huifang got out from the back and asked in passing.

Before Cao Shujie could answer, his mother Wang Yuelan had already come out of the house.

Trailing behind was the little tail who always followed Grandma—Mengmeng, walking by herself.

Cao Shujie didn’t see his wife and was just wondering what she was doing when his daughter Mengmeng suddenly sprinted back inside.

As she ran, she shouted, “Mommy, mommy, auntie’s here!”

“…”

The scene fell silent.

Ye Beiwen, Huang Jingmin, and Xu Fang instinctively looked at Cao Huifang, wondering just how bad her past deeds were, since a little girl’s first reaction upon seeing her was to run and seek protection.

Deng Miaoshan knew a bit of the backstory, so she covered her mouth and snickered to the side, but didn’t forget to greet Wang Yuelan, apologetically saying, “Aunt Lan, sorry for bothering you again.”

“It’s no trouble, Shanshan. Come in and have some water and sit for a while—I’m stewing some pork ribs,” Wang Yuelan replied.

Just then, Cheng Xiaolin came out holding her daughter’s hand. When she saw her sister-in-law and her classmates, she hurried over to greet them.

Mengmeng stayed close behind her mom. When they got to her dad, she darted over and clung to his leg, not letting go, afraid that the ‘demon aunt’ would get her in revenge.

“Mengmeng, it’s okay—your aunt isn’t going to eat you. Why are you so scared of her?” Cao Shujie picked his daughter up and tried to soothe her.

Mengmeng snorted, pouted stubbornly, and said, “I’m not… afraid of auntie.”

Even a little girl knew how to be stubborn to save face.

Cao Shujie played along, saying, “That’s right, Mengmeng isn’t afraid of anyone.”

“Mengmeng, where are the kitten and puppies?” Cao Shujie changed the subject.

Talking about the stray kitten and the two little Huskies piqued Mengmeng’s interest. She pointed at the house, “Doghouse.”

Then she wriggled in her dad’s arms, wanting to get down and walk on her own.

“Take it slow,” Cao Shujie set her down, watching anxiously as she toddled off toward the house—and he jogged behind, ready to catch her if she fell.

As Cao Huifang, Deng Miaoshan, Ye Beiwen, and the others carried their bags inside, they saw in the yard that Cao Shujie was holding Mengmeng with one arm and two leashes for the dogs in the other.

Father and daughter were playing with Daha and Erha.

“Oh, Huskies! Their eyes are even different colors—they’re so cute!” Xu Fang immediately recognized the breed.

Cao Shujie glanced at her and nodded with a smile.

But Daha and Erha just turned their heads, then immediately went back to playing with Mengmeng.

It wasn’t even ten o’clock yet. Ye Beiwen, Huang Jingmin, and Xu Fang were all eager to see the beautiful orchard in bloom. They had barely sat down or finished a glass of water when they started pestering Cao Huifang to take them to the orchard.

“Drink some water first. I’ll take you to the orchard in a bit,” Cheng Xiaolin offered.

Cao Huifang felt helpless. “Sister-in-law, they really want to go, so I’ll take them for a quick look to get it out of their system.”

“Fangfang, is that how you talk to your friends? The flowers in the orchard are indeed all gone, but it’s still beautiful now,” Cao Shujie said to his sister.

“Hmph, auntie is bad!” Mengmeng hid in her dad’s arms, feeling very safe. Emboldened, she even dared to taunt her aunt.

(The end of this chapter)