Chapter 326: How unwelcome was he?

“This kid, she’s still the same as when she was a child. She’s gluttonous whenever she comes to visit.”

“It’s good that she’s the same. She’s been the same since she was a little girl, rich or poor, powerful or not, she doesn’t look down on her folks!”

“Can our Nannan be that kind of person? If she were, our village wouldn’t be in the state it is now!”

“She grew up under our watch. The children in our Xinghua Village all have the same nature. She won’t change!”

Nannan traveled to the capital this time to be titled. After returning, she was seriously a County Lady. Although she wasn’t an official, she still possessed a rank and was different from them, ordinary people.

Despite that, the attitude of the villagers towards Liu Yusheng has not changed in any way.

They believed in their hearts that no matter what Liu Yusheng would be in the future, she would always be the little baby and the lucky girl in their eyes.

Liu Yusheng didn’t know about these remarks. As soon as Grandma Liu got on the carriage, Liu Yusheng immediately hugged her arm and turned sweet.

“Grandma, I miss you and Grandpa in the capital!”

“You missed me and your grandpa, yet you just came back now? How long has it been? It’s been a few months. You don’t know how the family missed you!” The old lady feigned anger, but she was all smiling, pushing her little granddaughter aside. “I’m carrying a cold chill. Don’t hug me so tight, lest I’ll cool you down later.”

“I’m not afraid of the cold. I’m warm. Grandma, let me cover your hands.” While speaking, she took Grandma’s hand that was frozen cold outside and did not let go.

The grandma did not struggle when she saw this and looked at her granddaughter, with soft warmth in her eyes.

“Wife, I went with Dalin to pick up Nannan, and I told you not to come out and wait. You came out without charcoal in your bamboo-basket brazier. Isn’t it cold?” The old man reprimanded. He took over the brazier his wife was carrying and frowned that there were no charcoal sparks inside. 

“I just thought about it spontaneously. Anyway, there is nothing to do at home, so why not come out and wait, and also chat with the villagers.”

“Grandma, you and grandpa are only concerned about Nannan, right? Your grandson has been waiting here for a long time, but I haven’t even gotten a glance from you…” Liu Zhixia pretended to complain and brush up his presence, but before he could finish his sentence, Grandma Liu glared at him.

“Aren’t you going to take the spring exams next spring? What are you doing back all this way?”

“…”

“Grandma Liu, I’m back too.” Xue Qinglian raised his head a little cautiously.

No way, in the Liu family, men have no status.

The grandma immediately smiled brightly at him. “You can come back anytime you want. The room you stayed in at home hasn’t been touched. I always clean it for you.”

“Aigoo, Grandma Liu, you’re so sweet!”

“But of course!”

They interacted as if the grandparent-grandchild.

Liu Zhixia wiped his face fiercely and retreated back to the corner. He was the biological grandson, but in the eyes of his grandparents, he was not treated as nicely as Xue Qinglian, who entered the family halfway. What else could he say? He didn’t want to utter a word now.

“Pfft!” The man’s breath of despair radiated out of his body and made Fu Yuzheng unable to restrain laughing, not expecting him to be like this at home.

Her stifled laughter drew Grandma Liu’s attention. “Who is this?”

Honestly, right after boarding the carriage, Grandma Liu noticed the young girl. She was just focused on her granddaughter at the time and had no time to greet her.

While asking the question, she also looked the person up and down.

She was born top-notch, peaceful and serene with a generous attitude. Her clear eyes in particular showed that she was a good girl at a glance.

“Grandma Liu, my name is Fu Yuzheng. I’m a friend of Miss Liu, and I work in the Nanling Palace. I’m also a maid in the king’s palace.”

“Fu Yuzheng, this name sounds good, and you were also born well.” Grandma Liu praised. Her name sounded quite similar to their Nannan’s. Yuzheng and Yusheng, she liked them. “Don’t consider yourself a guest when you are at our house, just treat it as your own home!”

As for the word “maid”, the wife wasn’t worried about it at all.

“Ai!”

The woman responded brittlely. Liu Zhixia’s eyes swept over her, and a shallow smile crept invisibly at the corners of his mouth. 

They talked and laughed a few more times and arrived at the house in a blink of an eye. The carriage stopped steadily.

“We’re home!” Liu Yusheng cheered with smiles unconsciously overflowing. 

When she was outside, she always felt that something was missing in her heart. It wasn’t until she was standing in front of her home with her grandparents’ hands that that empty part was finally filled.

She started to realize that what was missing was the solid stability that only returning home could bring.

This emotion was something that nothing else could make up for.

Voices were already coming out of the yard.

“Auntie, mother, father, it must be Nannan who has returned!”

“Quickly go out and see. I guess so. I just heard the sound of horse hooves!”

“Mother! Second brother! Uncle and Aunt, it’s me!” Liu Yusheng shouted happily, not forgetting to call the sturdy young man who ran out first. “Second Brother, the back of the carriage has a lot of stuff. Move them inside!”

“Okay, I’ll move it! You guys hurry inside. It’s freezing, and there’s a fireplace lit in the house!”

Outside the carriage, the young girl and her family laughed and cheered.

In the carriage, Fu Yuzheng firmly clenched her hands and took a deep breath, trying to suppress the tension in her heart.

From the time the carriage entered the territory of Yunzhou, she began to be nervous. The closer they got to Xinghua Village, the more intense that nervousness.

She had heard about the Liu family several times from Liu Yusheng and Liu Zhixia’s mouths, and had imagined what each family member in such a warm family sounded like.

Now that she was about to step into that courtyard and meet everyone in the Liu family…

Tension instantly spread all over her body.

She was just used to disguising herself that no one noticed.

She was now the only one left in the carriage who hadn’t gotten off yet. She took advantage of this secluded space to slightly divulge her emotions and relax herself.

“Come down, and don’t be afraid. They will all like you.”

The low mellow male voice gently reached her ears through the curtains of the carriage.

Fu Yuzheng was stunned. A ray of warmth crossed her eyes and the corners of her mouth lifted.

With no more hesitation, she lifted the curtain and got off the carriage.

Her field of vision immediately widened.

The first that entered her eyes was a big house with gray walls and tiles. A few dead branches drilled into a corner of the courtyard wall, so she could imagine that when spring arrived next year, it would be full of green branches.

The house in front of her was not as luxurious and splendid as the mansion in the capital, but it has a unique rural charm. Every brick and tile revealed the unique passage of time.

“Yo, why is there a girl?” Liu Zhiqiu was carrying things behind the carriage, but when he looked up, he saw a woman’s back. The moment he spotted someone behind the woman, his eyes rounded even more. “Elder brother? Why are you back?!”

Liu Zhixia smacked his forehead. How exactly unwelcome was he? Everyone in the family said the same thing to him when they saw him.

Meanwhile, Grandma Liu has already beckoned Fu Yuzheng to her side, and while walking inside, she told the family members around her, “This is Yuzheng, Fu Yuzheng. She’s our Nannan’s friend, and she’ll be spending the New Year at our home this year!”

After Fu Yuzheng greeted everyone, she walked quietly beside the old woman and accepted everyone’s scrutiny.

She was really nervous when she was in the carriage, but now that she was facing them in person, her nervousness had disappeared. In front of her eyes, there were smiling faces, with eyes that were not lacking in scrutiny and curiosity, but equally clear and sincere.