381 Why Are You Back?

At this moment, Qin Anming was crying bitterly. He was so close to not being able to see his cute sister and fat nephew ever again.

Throwing down the firewood that he had painstakingly gathered earlier, he ran excitedly to Xiaoguo and hugged her tightly.

“You’re finally back. I missed you so much!”

Xiaoguo didn’t expect him to have such a big reaction. She could feel a lump rising in her throat. Just as she was about to hug him back and say that she missed him too, he mercilessly let go of her and ran towards Zhuang Zhuang.

It felt like she was just a transit train and the other party had only stopped by for a short while. His goal was to reach the finishing line behind him.

Xiaoguo’s outstretched arms were still hanging awkwardly in midair. While no one was looking, she quickly put them down and turned to glare at the back of Qin Anming’s head.

“Uncle…”

“Zhuang Zhuang…”

“Dear Uncle…”

“My dear nephew…”

Not only were their exchanges mushy, their actions were even more intense. As they spoke, their faces kept rubbing against each other.

The rest who were watching broke out in goosebumps. They quietly took a few steps back and kept a distance from the pair.

Xiaoguo couldn’t bear to look at this scene. She only got a hug from Qin Anming, he gave Zhuang so many kisses and cuddles. On top of that, he kept telling that boy that he missed him.

Why was there such a big difference in treatment?

Mrs. Yang smacked her lips and thought that it was getting quite boring. She gave Brother Yang a look and the two of them got ready to go back.

Yang Jia left with Xiaohu and Xiaohua reluctantly.

Xiaoguo picked up her bag and walked past Qin Anming and Zhuang Zhuang. She couldn’t be bothered to look at them anymore. She opened the door and went into the house.

As soon as she opened the door, the two puppies pounced on her. Xiaoguo gave them a rub on their heads. In the next instant, they spotted Zhuang Zhuang, who was standing outside, and ran towards him.

Xiaoguo sighed helplessly. Why were the dogs so heartless too?

She retracted her gaze and looked at the courtyard again. She didn’t expect to miss it so much despite being only gone for two months.

Before they set off for the island, the courtyard was still looking sparse. At this moment, the lush and tender vegetable leaves had completely filled up the vegetable plot.

The vegetables that she had planted were already mature. Every single stalk looked well-grown and delicious. The beans, loofahs, and cucumbers had already sprouted and were growing on the vines. Just looking at them made her extremely happy. Not to mention that when all the vegetables matured at the same time, it would definitely be another harvest month.

Among the vegetable crops, the most conspicuous were two piles of flower stems with thorns. On a closer look, it turned out that the Chinese roses that Jiang Danhe had planted had already sprouted green branches. There were also light pink and light yellow flower buds growing on them.

What surprised Xiaoguo the most was the roses. She didn’t expect the flowers to bloom so quickly. Just as the old man had said, the seedlings were healthy, so they would bloom within the year.

But the magnolia tree was growing too slowly.

As Xiaoguo admired the courtyard, she took time to greet the animals.

“Aiya, it’s been a while since we last met. You’ve gained a lot of weight…”

Looking at the fat chickens and ducks, Xiaoguo couldn’t help but swallow her saliva irrationally. What a sin. She had promised herself not to eat home-raised poultry…

Not to be outdone, the donkey kept braying. Xiaoguo had no choice but to quickly comfort it. It was making so much noise.

She was almost going deaf from the noise.

“Oh my, you miss me the most!”

Xiaoguo patted its head while feeling overjoyed. As she touched it, she suddenly realized that it had grown fatter.

“Why do I feel that all the animals in the house have gained weight during the time that I was away? Is it an illusion?”

With this thought in mind, she looked at the two cows who were eating grass. They had also grown much bigger.

It seemed that they had been eating well while she was away…

It was getting late and Xiaoguo was very hungry. Earlier on, they didn’t stop for lunch because they were in a hurry to get home. Smelling the aroma that was wafting out from various houses, she was really craving for food.

She returned to the house and put down her bag. Just as she was stepping through the door, she remembered that the seafood was still sitting outside the house. She then turned around and went outside.

When she got outside, she ignored the pair, who were still hugging each other. She carried a bucket of seafood in each hand and entered the house.

Before leaving, she glanced at the two people who were still absorbed in their own world. “Go ahead and hug. Let’s see if you are going to have dinner.”

The pot was filled with water and rice. Qin Anming must have filled the pot earlier. Looking at the ratio of water to rice, he must be planning to make rice porridge.

Xiaoguo added another spoonful of water and a handful of rice into the pot. Then, she covered it and prepared to start the fire.

She had just squatted down when she saw that there was no firewood. Recalling the pile that was scattered on the ground outside, realization dawned upon her. But at this moment, she didn’t feel like moving at all…

Despite that, she still dragged her tired body to the door. Seeing that the two of them were still stuck together, she couldn’t help but remind them.

“Hey…”

Qin Anming and Zhuang Zhuang turned to look at her with bright smiles on their faces, seemingly asking what they could do for her.

Although she didn’t want to break the warm atmosphere between the two of them, she had already walked back and forth several times. It was time for them to pay some attention to her!

“You guys…”

Xiaoguo wanted to ask if they were done yet, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so when she saw their kind faces. She could only smile and ask, “Are you guys hungry?”

The two of them nodded in unison. They were definitely hungry.

“Let’s eat!”

As Qin Anming spoke, he got up and walked home with Zhuang Zhuang.

“Firewood…”

“Hehe, we will pick it up!”

Qin Anming paused for a moment before he thought of the firewood. He got Zhuang Zhuang to squat down and help him pick up the firewood. He was so happy to see the two of them that he almost forgot about it. “Haha.”

Xiaoguo sighed and turned to leave.

She was feeling too lazy to squat down and pick up the firewood. Maybe her body was feeling exceptionally relaxed and lazy because she was now at home. When she was putting away the bags earlier, she felt like lying down when she saw the bed. Fortunately, her hunger kept her going and gave her the energy to continue.

When she returned to the kitchen, she lit a candle and began to sort out the seafood she had brought back.

There were lots of kelp in the two buckets. Almost half the contents were kelp.

Kelp has many health benefits, and it is a delicious food. There are many ways to prepare it. It could be mixed into salads, fillings, soups, stews. At the noodle shop, they could also add kelp into the noodles.

Xiaoguo was planning to split the kelp into three portions. One for Mrs. Yang, one for Mr. Kong, and one for the noodle shop.

The seafood could also be divided into three portions. There wasn’t much seafood to begin with, so she was not going to keep any for herself. She would only keep some of the kelp.

While Xiaoguo was distributing the seafood, Qin Anming and Zhuang Zhuang lit the fire and sat quietly at the side, watching her.

“Mother… What dishes are we cooking?”

“Kelp salad it is.”

“Huh?!” Zhuang Zhuang poked the slippery surface of the kelp with his little finger and asked curiously, “Is it delicious?”

“It’s delicious and nutritious.”

As she spoke, Xiaoguo cut a large piece with a knife and handed it to Zhuang Zhuang. “Take it and wash it.”

Zhuang Zhuang took the kelp and went to wash it.

Qin Anming was standing beside Xiaoguo. After Zhuang Zhuang left, he asked her worriedly, “Why did you guys come back so late?”

“It was hard to predict the timing. We set off on the day before yesterday. Then, I stayed in the fishing village with Zhuang Zhuang for two more days. We also caught some fish while we were there.”

When traveling, plans are always subject to changes.

“By the way, why are you home?”

This was the part that Xiaoguo was curious about. Judging from the laundry on the rope, he must have been back for some time.

“Erm, it’s nothing.” Qin Anming stammered, unable to explain himself. He felt so guilty that he didn’t dare to look at her.

“What’s wrong?” Seeing that he wasn’t going to say anything, Xiaoguo narrowed her eyes and said deliberately, “If you don’t tell me, I’ll ask Ruyi tomorrow.”

“Hey, no, no, no.”

Qin Anming panicked and pulled Xiaoguo back instinctively. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that something was up.

Xiaoguo was even more certain of her guess. She frowned and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Qin Anming stammered for a long time and said embarrassedly, “I just sprained my waist. I came back to rest for a few days.”

“How many days?”

“A month…”

“A month?”

“… Slightly more than a month.”

“More than a month?”

“It’s really not more than two months. Really!”

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