"Brother Zuo, are you okay along the way? Is Dazhi seasick? Ice exploded on the river. Did he cry out of fear?"

Yang Ruoqing and Zuo Junmo asked nervously.

To be honest, she has often dreamed about it at night in the past few months.

In the dream, Dazhi was crying, stretching out his hands towards her and saying, 'Mom, I want to come back, I regret it...'

But every time when she reached out to hug him, she would wake up. When she woke up, she realized that it was just a dream. Then she was not sleepy at all, and kept tossing and turning until dawn...

"Does he regret it?" she asked again.

Zuo Junmo looked at her anxious eyes and really couldn't bear to tell her the truth.

"Dazhi was very quiet all the way and didn't say anything," he said.

"Ah?" Yang Ruoqing was stunned for a moment, and then she figured out something.

"Oh, that's fine, that's fine." She murmured, but her eyes dimmed little by little.

He sat down holding on to the edge of the table and frowned slightly.

I really can't describe how I feel in my heart, it just feels empty.

Beside her, Zuo Junmo saw her loss in his eyes. Although he felt reluctant to give up, he still told Yang Ruoqing everything about the situation in Dazhi's hometown.

"We set off from the dock in Huguang County. Because we were rushing to send my mother to my uncle's house to celebrate the New Year, we traveled very fast along the way," he said.

"Yeah." Yang Ruoqing nodded, then tried hard to suppress her emotions, raised her eyes and looked at Zuo Junmo seriously, listening to what he said.

When others are talking, if you look into their eyes and echo a few words from time to time, or nod, or smile lightly to show your response, it means that you are listening. This is respect for others and respect for yourself.

"What's next? On what date will you arrive in Suzhou?" she asked at the right time.

Zuo Junmo said: "We arrived at the exit of the Hongkou section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal around the 27th of the twelfth lunar month,"

"There, I asked the housekeeper and others at home to escort my mother directly to my uncle's house in Suzhou, while I went to Yangzhou with my ambitions."

"When Dazhi and I arrived in Yangzhou, it happened to be the night of the 29th of the twelfth lunar month when we landed."

"Dazhi's hometown is in a small town a hundred miles outside Yangzhou City. His family opened a small shop selling breakfast in the town."

"There are three rooms in the small shop, where his mother, brother-in-law, nephew, and several other older brothers and younger brothers live."

"Except for the little nephew who is a crooked toddler, the others are all half-grown boys,"

"There are three shops, one is used for making breakfast, and the other is split in half. His eldest brother, sister-in-law and his nephew live in one, and his mother and one of her sisters live in the other."

"There is another room here. It was originally shared by the two brothers. After Dazhi left, her mother said that Dazhi wanted to study and write, so she let the two brothers live in the front half, and Dazhi lived alone in the back half."

Yang Ruoqing smiled bitterly when she heard Zuo Junmo talking about the accommodation conditions in Dazhi's hometown.

"A family of eight people are crowded into a place as big as a millpan, and they are all still at a playful age. You can imagine how noisy the conditions are," she said.

"Dazhi has always loved peace and cleanliness the most. The desk in his room is probably as big as the bed in his hometown in Yangzhou, right?" she asked.

Zuo Junmo smiled and said, "Of course, those days can't be compared with what you have here."

Yang Ruoqing smiled bitterly again, "A golden nest and a silver nest are not as good as his own doghouse. Perhaps in Dazhi's heart, he would rather squeeze in and make noise with his blood-related brothers and sisters than stay here with me."

Taking a deep breath, Yang Ruoqing raised her head and looked at Zuo Junmo, and then asked: "Brother Zuo, if you send Dazhi back, won't Dazhi's mother and other brothers be surprised?"

Zuo Junmo smiled and said: "Yes, Dazhi's sister-in-law asked me at that time whether Dazhi would come back to visit relatives or stay for a long time?"

"I told her it should be a permanent stay."

"She was frightened and asked me at that time, had Dazhi made a big mistake here? That's why he was kicked back?"

Hearing this question from Da Zhi's sister-in-law Zhang Shuilian, Yang Ruoqing frowned, with a hint of displeasure on her face.

"This woman really can't speak. You are asking this question as if Dazhi has been raising a helper and a servant during the seven years he has been here with me!"

I raised Dazhi as my biological son!

Zuo Junmo said: "That woman really couldn't speak. At that time, Dazhi's mother-in-law, the woman's mother-in-law, scolded her and told her not to speak if she couldn't speak."

"Dazhi's mother said, Qing'er, you treat Dazhi as your biological son. Others don't understand, but she understands. If the other children in the family don't understand, don't talk nonsense!"

"In front of Dazhi and Dazhi's other brothers, sisters and sister-in-law, I just said that Dazhi misses them, so he came back to stay for a while."

"I stayed at an inn in the town at night, and Dazhi's mother and elder brother came,"

"Dazhi Niang asked me. She was also very sensitive, so she noticed something was wrong. I told the mother and son the truth about this." Zuo Junmo said.

"Did Dazhi Niang blame me for not being able to retain her?" Yang Ruoqing asked.

Zuo Junmo shook his head: "Listening to what the woman said, she must be a sensible person. Not only did she not blame you, but she was very grateful."

"Thanks to your care of Dazhi in the past few years, their family will always remember this kindness."

"So I took out the banknote you asked me to bring and handed it over to them in person. Two hundred taels of silver is enough for them to buy a new two-story shop and buy land in the countryside to rent out."

"Dazhi, mother and son, once again thanked you profusely. I gave the other one hundred taels of silver notes to Dazhi when we landed, so that he could keep it for himself. It was money for his studies.

" Zuo Junmo said.

Yang Ruoqing said: "Brother Zuo, you are determined."

Zuo Junmo smiled: "It's nothing. I stayed in a local town for one night and left Yangzhou the next day to celebrate the New Year at my uncle's house in Suzhou."

"After the Chinese New Year, my mother was left behind by my uncle and stayed temporarily in Suzhou, and I set off on my own to come back."

"I was thinking that after a few months, Dazhi might have figured it out and wanted to go back to Changping Village? So I took a detour and went to Yangzhou to visit him again,"

"If he changes his mind, I can just bring him back by the way." He said.

Hearing this, Yang Ruoqing's eyes brightened a bit.

Zuo Junmo continued: "When I arrived near his house, I found that the three small houses where they lived had long been empty."

"I asked the people next to me, and they told me that the family had become rich and the whole family had moved to Yangzhou City, a hundred miles away, to live like city dwellers."
Chapter completed!