The Domineering Cultivator Farmer

Chapter 12: Daughter Returns Home

By the time they got home, it was almost dark. From a distance, Fang Yun could see his parents, his grandmother, and little Yeyue standing at the bridgehead. That afternoon, when they’d just received a call from Fang Yun saying he had an adorable five-year-old granddaughter, Fang Changsheng and the others were absolutely overjoyed. For over thirty years, for some reason, every family in Fang Changsheng’s branch of the Fang clan had had two or three children—but while there were more than twenty boys, girls were as rare as a single sprout in a thousand acres of fields. Only Fang Yun’s uncle’s family had a daughter, and she was now twenty and off to college. You can imagine how thrilled they all were when they suddenly heard they had a granddaughter. The family couldn’t sit still at home; they started waiting at the village entrance as early as three or four o’clock. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity and just as they were getting anxious, Yeyue, with her sharp eyes, spotted Fang Yun’s car. “Uncle’s back!” The whole family immediately rushed toward Fang Yun’s car to greet him. Fang Yun pulled over, cradled Niuniu in his arms, and got out of the car with Feng Xiu’er. “Mom, Dad, Grandma, this is Xiu’er, and this is my daughter, Fang Qing—her nickname is Niuniu. Xiu’er, these are my parents and Grandma.” “Mom, Dad, Grandma,” Feng Xiu’er called out. “Good, good, good,” Wang Jiu took Feng Xiu’er’s hand and slipped a jade bracelet onto it. Feng Xiu’er took a look; the jade bracelet was of excellent quality, worth at least ten thousand. “Mom, this is too expensive. I can’t accept it.” “What do you mean, too expensive? This has been passed down through our family for generations to give to our daughters-in-law,” Wang Jiu insisted, pressing it into Feng Xiu’er’s hand. “Thank you, Mom,” Feng Xiu’er said, having no choice but to accept it. “Oh, you silly girl—there’s no need to say ‘thank you’ among family.” Although the whole family was chatting with Feng Xiu’er, their eyes kept glancing at Niuniu, who was in Fang Yun’s arms. Fang Yun quickly said to Niuniu, “Niuniu, say ‘Grandpa, Grandma, and Great-Grandma’ to them.” “Grandpa, Grandma, and Great-Grandma,” the little girl called out sweetly. “And me—you have to call me ‘big brother,’” Yeyue, standing nearby, protested, feeling neglected. “Oh, big brother.” Hearing her call him “big brother,” Yeyue nodded his little head repeatedly. “What a good girl,” Wang Jiu said as he scooped Niuniu into his arms. “My little darling!” he gushed, while Fang Changsheng, who’d been a split second too slow, was filled with regret. “Come here, Niuniu. Let Great-Grandma hold you,” Grandma said. No matter how reluctant Wang Jiu was, he had no choice but to hand Niuniu over to her. “Here, Niuniu, take this—it’s a gift from Great-Grandma,” the old lady said, beaming as she pulled out a small cloth pouch. When she opened it, a chicken-fat-yellow jade bracelet appeared. “No, that won’t do. It’s too valuable—Niu Niu can’t accept it,” Feng Xiu’er hurriedly objected. She recognized this type of chicken-fat-yellow jade bangle; these days, you couldn’t buy one for less than five or sixty ten thousand. “This is something my family has always passed down to our daughters. According to our customs, it can’t be sold. I thought I’d have to take it to the grave with me, so passing it on to Niuniu is just perfect,” Feng Xiuer said. Hearing the old lady’s explanation, she said nothing more and watched as Niuniu happily slipped the bracelet onto her wrist. And to be honest, it looked just right on Niuniu’s chubby little hands, still a bit plump from infancy. Fang Yun had seen these bracelets before; they were left behind from when their ancestors were landlords. By the time dinner was over, Niuniu’s face was covered in grease, especially from the fried cicadas contributed by Yeyue—who was experiencing being a big brother for the first time. The little girl simply couldn’t stop eating, chewing away with a hearty “crunch, crunch, crunch.” Watching her granddaughter eat heartily, Wang Jiu was overjoyed. Elderly people love nothing more than seeing children eat heartily; they always hope they’ll eat plenty so they’ll grow up plump and fair-skinned. “Grandma, have some.” “Okay, Grandma will have some. Niuniu is such a good girl.” The little girl had a sweet tongue and knew just how to win people over, making the whole family laugh until their sides ached. Yeye was gesturing wildly as he told Niuniu all about his heroic exploits—digging up cicadas, catching frogs and loaches, fishing, swimming, picking wild berries, and foraging for mushrooms—all of which made Niuniu’s eyes sparkle with excitement. “Mom, can we go dig for cicadas too?” Niuniu tugged at Feng Xiu’er’s hand, shaking it back and forth. Feng Xiu’er was at a loss—having grown up in the city, she had no idea about any of this. Still, Yeye’s suggestion piqued her interest. “Why don’t you go ask Dad to come with us?” “Let’s eat first. After dinner, Dad will take you to catch cicadas,” Fang Yun said, ruffling Niuniu’s hair. Since it was already late at night, they’d have no choice but to catch cicadas around the house—but he regretted saying it the moment the words left his mouth. Sure enough, Niuniu took a couple of haphazard bites and set down her bowl. “Daddy, Niuniu’s full. Let’s go already!” Fang Yun looked up and saw his parents glaring at him. “Okay, okay, Daddy will take you,” Fang Yun said, unable to resist the sparkle in Niuniu’s eyes, and immediately gave in. Armed with a flashlight and a small shovel, Fang Yun didn’t go far—he simply led them to the willow trees by the pond near the front gate. “Uncle, there aren’t any cicadas here. Let’s go to the back,” Yeyue said, knowing that you could dig up more cicadas in areas with lots of trees. “Hehe,” Fang Yun said nothing, but crouched down and dug up a cicada right away. “Wow, Daddy, you’re so good!” Niuniu rushed over and snatched the cicada in one go. As soon as Yeyue saw this, he quickly crouched down and started looking for cicadas, digging one up right away. After Fang Yun showed Xiu’er and Niuniu how to find cicada burrows, the group started digging together, and every now and then, Niuniu’s excited shouts could be heard. Before long, the small bucket Fang Yun was carrying was more than half full. Cicadas burrow to the surface at night, leaving only a thin layer of skin on their heads so they can crawl out and molt in the morning. As long as you spot a small hole in the ground, digging it open usually yields results. In fact, Fang Yun had already scanned the area with his spiritual sense. Perhaps because he’d poured some spring water under the willow tree while refilling the pond with water for the red carp, this area was teeming with cicadas. Seeing that they’d gathered enough, Fang Yun quickly called a halt. “All right, all right, let’s head back. If we dig up too many, they’ll go bad before we can eat them all, and then they won’t taste as good.” Back home after a bath, Niuniu insisted on sleeping with Fang Yun. The little girl had been playing and fooling around with him all afternoon and was now clinging to him. After her bath, Niuniu looked chubby in her little cartoon pajamas, her rosy, plump little face utterly adorable. Fang Yun couldn’t resist picking her up, giving her a big smacker on the cheek, and tucking her into bed. “Daddy, please tell Niuniu a story,” Niuniu said, her big eyes fluttering. “Okay, Daddy will tell you a story.” Niuniu fell asleep halfway through the story, but even in her sleep, she still clung tightly to Fang Yun’s hand, as if he would run away the moment she let go. It seemed that during the years he’d been away, Niuniu had felt quite insecure. Looking at his sleeping daughter, Fang Yun’s heart was filled with guilt. In his dream, Fang Yun found himself transformed into Sun Wukong, pinned firmly beneath Mount Wuzhi by the Buddha. When he woke up, he found a chubby little girl lying on top of him. Looking at his daughter’s little face, as round as an apple, Fang Yun couldn’t resist giving her a kiss. His heart skipped a beat—oh no, he’d completely forgotten the consequences of waking the little girl up. Thankfully, Niuniu just smacked her lips, waved her little hand as if shooing away a fly, and went right back to sleep. Fang Yun glanced over and saw that it was already broad daylight. He tucked the little girl back into her bed, then quietly got up and walked out. Outside, his parents had already gotten up and were making breakfast. After exercising outside for a while, Niuniu and Xiu’er were both awake. The little girl, still half-asleep, rubbed her eyes and greeted her grandparents. “Niu Niu, you’re up! Hurry and brush your teeth—Grandpa made something delicious,” Wang Jiu said, his face beaming with joy at the sight of Niu Niu. As soon as Niuniu heard the word “delicious,” she perked right up and scampered out to the courtyard to brush her teeth. Fang Yun couldn’t help but shake her head as she watched—the little girl claimed she was brushing her teeth, but she was really just playing with the foam. Meanwhile, Yeyue, who was helping Grandma sort vegetables, watched with admiration; she couldn’t even make that much foam herself. “Mom, Dad, and Grandma, good morning!” Feng Xiu’er greeted them, her cheeks flushed. The air in the countryside was especially fresh, and she’d slept soundly through the night. Now that she realized she was the last one in the family to wake up, she felt a little embarrassed. “Xiu’er, you’re up! Are you getting used to living here?” Wang Jiu replied with a smile. “Mm-hmm, it feels really nice here.” “Good, as long as you’re getting used to it. Go brush your teeth and have breakfast.” “Okay.” The family enjoyed a particularly delicious breakfast. Fang Changsheng was the go-to chef for miles around; the neighboring villages always invited him to cook for weddings and funerals. And with the special meals he’d prepared just for his precious granddaughter, it would have been strange if the food hadn’t been delicious.