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Passing through Feng City, they were getting closer and closer to home.

Xiaoguo looked at the increasingly familiar streets and felt a sense of nostalgia.

They had not been gone for long, but it felt like a long time since they were here.

Thinking about her friends, Xiaoguo felt a little excited. She hugged the gifts that she had prepared for them and felt very happy.

Even Zhuang Zhuang was affected by Xiaoguo’s mood and started exclaiming in excitement.

After the carriage stopped, Xiaoguo and Zhuang Zhuang alighted from the carriage eagerly. She stood outside and looked at the familiar street market. She knew that they had reached Yonghai County.

“Madam, I’ll see you off here. I’ve been away for too long, so there is a lot of unfinished work at the government office. I’ll take my leave first.”

Magistrate Liu left behind a carriage and a coachman for Xiaoguo. After bidding farewell, he left with his men.

Standing in front of the familiar shop, Xiaoguo finally felt at home.

“Ruyi!”

Xiaoguo ran into the shop with Zhuang Zhuang and called out excitedly to the busy bunch.

Her voice was so loud and excited.

As soon as her voice sounded, the noisy shop instantly quietened down.

A shrill voice followed.

“Sister Xiaoguo!”

The voice came from the kitchen. At this moment, the person was running out of the kitchen with a big spoon in hand. Her voice was hoarse from the rush of emotions.

Uncle Xu raised his head from the counter when he heard the commotion. He held onto his glasses, which only had a small piece of lens left hanging on its frame. He narrowed his eyes and recognized the two figures at the door. The beard on his mouth immediately curled up in joy. “Xiaoguo, Zhuang Zhuang, you’re back!”

“Sister Xiaoguo!”

“Sister Xiaoguo, you’re back!”

“Xiaoguo!”

Ling Long, Fu’er and Xiao Cui stopped what they were doing when they saw Xiaoguo, and rushed towards her happily.

One moment, they were pinching Zhuang Zhuang, and the next, they were tugging at Xiaoguo. Xiaoguo was overwhelmed by all their questions.

“Alright, alright. One by one please.”

Xiaoguo steadied herself. She was dumbfounded by their endless questions.

“Hey, hey, hey, are you still doing business?”

It was quite lively on Xiaoguo’s end, but the people who came to eat were bewildered. No matter how excited these people were, they should still tend to their business.

“No! We are not!”

Ruyi continued saying, “Everyone, I’m sorry. We’ll be closed for the rest of the day. Today’s noodles are on me. I’m sorry, please forgive us.”

Xiaoguo wanted to stop her from doing this. Running the shop was more important, but Ruyi had already asked someone to process the refunds and usher the customers out.

The customers were dissatisfied, but they did not say anything. After all, it was a great bargain to get a free bowl of noodles.

Xiao Cui sent off the last guest and closed the door.

After returning to Xiaoguo’s side, Ruyi pulled Xiaoguo to the backyard. There was a large table in the courtyard, and Xiaoguo placed all the gifts on it.

Before she could sit down properly, Ruyi started asking her questions. Ling Long and Fu’er poured sour plum soup for Xiaoguo and Zhuang Zhuang. Ever since the Mid-Autumn Festival, the restaurant had been selling sour plum soup. It was a popular drink and the sales were good. Almost everyone had to have a cup.

As Xiaoguo answered everyone’s questions, she took the time to drink the sour plum soup. After taking a sip, her burning throat instantly felt much better.

The villagers here had never left the county city, so they yearned for the outside world, especially the capital.

Xiaoguo told them what she had seen truthfully without embellishing the details. It was quite lively and exciting.

“Okay, okay.” Seeing that it was almost time, Xiaoguo shifted the most important gift-giving event up the agenda.

“Here, this is Ruyi’s present.”

Xiaoguo opened the bag and took out the gifts before distributing them individually. “This is for Linglong and Fu’er. This is for Xiao Cui.”

Xiaoguo took out the pair of glasses and handed them to Uncle Xu, who was holding up his own glasses. “Also, this is for Uncle Xu.”

When Uncle Xu saw the glasses, his eyes turned red. He didn’t expect to own a new pair of glasses in his lifetime. He had thought that he would wear his old glasses to his deathbed. “Thank you, Xiaoguo.”

“It’s nothing.” Xiaoguo couldn’t bear to see the old man crying.

Everyone looked at their gifts and were overwhelmed with emotions.

Uncle Xu took off the worn out glasses that he had been wearing for decades and carefully put on the new pair. When he opened his eyes, the scenery in front of him was so bright and clear—the sky was blue and the clouds were white.

Ruyi looked at the exotic dress and was delighted. She couldn’t wait to put it on and admire herself in it.

Ling Long and Fu’er also held onto their hair ornaments lovingly. The designs on them were exquisite and they were in love with the gift.

Xiao Cui took her gift and rubbed her eyes. She wiped her hands vigorously on her apron and gently stroked the winter dress that had been given to her. She never thought that she would have the chance to wear such a beautiful and warm winter dress.

Xiaoguo looked at how happy everyone was and felt very satisfied. It was good that everyone liked the gifts.

It was getting late, so Xiaoguo politely declined their invitation to stay for dinner. She brought Zhuang Zhuang with her in a carriage and hurried towards Peach Blossom Village.

Qin Anming didn’t know that she and Zhuang Zhuang were returning home. If they were to go back now, he would definitely be shocked.

“Zhuang Zhuang, let’s give Uncle a big surprise. What do you think?”

“What is a big, big surprise. How big is it?”

Zhuang Zhuang asked innocently.

“When we get back later, Uncle will be very surprised to see us. That would be the big surprise.”

“Alright, I’ll carefully observe Uncle’s expression later on!”

Zhuang Zhuang frowned and said seriously. He wanted to see what a big surprise looked like.

Xiaoguo and Zhuang Zhuang were both wearing mischievous smiles on their faces. Xiaoguo was prepared to suddenly appear in front of Qin Anming and scare him. The thought of his expression made Xiaoguo feel amused.

When they arrived at Peach Blossom Village, it was lunch time. The chimneys of each household were emitting white smoke. There was no one outside—most of the villagers were holed up at home getting ready for lunch.

Xiaoguo did not lower the curtain after leaving the county city. She kept looking around at the familiar streets.

From the moment they entered the village, Xiaoguo and Zhuang Zhuang were inexplicably excited. When they stopped at the entrance of the house, the door was closed. It was a nice coincidence, otherwise, Qin Anming would be alerted to their arrival.

After thanking the coachman and bidding him farewell, Xiaoguo asked Zhuang Zhuang to knock on the door. When she heard movements behind the door, she quickly hid.

She was carrying a lot of baggage, so it was inconvenient for her to run. She had to let Zhuang Zhuang carry out the mission instead.

Seeing that Zhuang Zhuang was standing in front of the door, Xiaoguo quickly found a place to hide. After searching for a long time, she finally hid behind a big tree in front of the house.

After getting herself in a good spot, she gestured for Zhuang Zhuang to start knocking on the door.

Zhuang Zhuang received the signal and immediately banged on the door. The dogs in the courtyard heard the commotion and started barking.

He knocked on the door a few times. Following Xiaoguo’s instructions, he ran off after knocking.

Xiaoguo took a peek and snickered at Zhuang Zhuang.

She was shocked to see Zhuang Zhuang running towards her after he knocked on the door. She shook her head vigorously, indicating that he should not hide here.

But this was Zhuang Zhuang’s first time playing a prank, so he was very nervous. After knocking on the door, he only thought about running away and he did not know where to hide. In the end, he decided to run towards his mother.

Xiaoguo had no choice but to hold Zhuang Zhuang in her arms and lean close to the tree, in hope that Qin Anming wouldn’t see them.

Perhaps the Heavens had heard XIaoguo’s thoughts.

The door creaked open from the inside. Then, she heard Qin Anming’s voice asking who it was.

After asking a few times, there was silence. Then, the front door closed.

Xiaoguo and Zhuang Zhuang chuckled to themselves. They got ready to do it again. Zhuang Zhuang would knock on the door and hide himself.

Just as Xiaoguo was about to turn around and put Zhuang Zhuang down, she suddenly heard a loud shout. “Let’s see if you still dare to come!”

In the next second, a hoe flew towards them. Xiaoguo hugged Zhuang Zhuang and froze on the spot. She couldn’t dodge in time…

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