Chapter 390: Chapter 390 Contentment Chapter 390: Chapter 390 Contentment Big Bull and Xuexue returned home, and Madam Xie, Aunt Li, and Chuner were all still awake, sitting at the front door waiting for their return.
Chuner, with the sharpest eyes, spotted their figures, bounced excitedly over to them, and looked back while running to shout to Madam Xie, “Mother, mother, sister and Big Bull Brother are back.”
Madam Xie hastily stood up from the ground and looked toward the pitch-dark doorway, “Really? Where are they?”
“Up ahead, up ahead, I’ve seen them,” Chuner said as her small figure disappeared into the inky blackness of the night.
Madam Xie extended her neck, worrying as she looked into the darkness and muttered to herself, “Oh dear, this little girl Chuner, I wonder if she’s seen wrong? Why haven’t they come back yet after so long?”
While fan-cooling herself, Aunt Li chimed in, “Don’t worry, Chuner is a bright girl, her eyesight must be better than ours, she surely saw Xuexue and the others before running over.”
Madam Xie replied, “I hope so.”
At this shichen, all the villagers of Mo Family Village had gone to bed. Because Xuexue and the others had returned, the dogs in the households that had them began to bark fiercely. All at once, all the dogs in the village started howling, causing quite a commotion.
Aunt Li, perking up her ears, said, “Listen, Madam Xie, the dogs in the village are barking, for sure it means they’re back.”
In the midst of their conversation,
Chuner had already returned, joyously dragging Xuexue and Big Bull along, loudly calling out, “Mother, mother, sister and Big Bull Brother have come back.”
Aunt Li and Madam Xie stood up.
“Goodness gracious, you two kids, why are you coming back in the middle of the night? Do you know how worried your mother has been?” Aunt Li scolded them while waving her fan.
Xuexue explained, “Some issues came up today, and the county magistrate invited us for dinner, that’s why we’re late.”
Upon hearing this, Aunt Li and Madam Xie were shocked and pressed, “What on earth happened? The county magistrate is the highest official in Jingshan Town–why would he invite you to dinner?”
Having run around County Town all day, Xuexue felt exhausted and suggested, “Mother, it’s late at night, let’s talk inside.”
Only then did Madam Xie remember and said, “You’ve been to County Town for the whole day, you must be tired. Hurry inside, take a bath, and have some food.”
As Xuexue stepped in, she said, “We can just freshen up, as we’ve already had our fill in County Town.”
“Oh, yes, indeed, I’m getting old. I already forgot what you had just said,” Madam Xie, having waited up for them all night, was finally relieved to see them return and felt very happy.
Since it was very late at night, Madam Xie didn’t press Xuexue for details about what exactly had happened. As long as they were safely back, that was enough. She instructed them to rest after washing up, and then she went back to her room with Chuner to sleep.
In the morning, Xuexue had a satisfying sleep and slowly got out of bed.
After washing up in the kitchen, she went to the main hall to have breakfast, only to find the village head sitting inside, drinking with Big Bull. Judging by their looks, both men seemed very happy, chatting more and more enthusiastically, like brothers.
Curious, Xuexue went over and asked, “Uncle Village Chief, why are you drinking with Big Bull so early in the morning? Did you not have enough to drink last night?”
The village head laughed upon seeing Xuexue, “Oh my! Xuexue, you finally got up! Let me tell you, I was so happy I couldn’t sleep and came over early in the morning to indulge in a drink,” he laughed heartily as he spoke.