The Hot-tempered Young Master and His Village Flower Child Bride - Chapter 12
Chapter 12
At seven o’clock in the morning, Chu Zhi Lu knocked on Zhao Xunyu’s door. She had been preparing to knock for a while, but she didn’t expect him to open the door after only two knocks.
Zhao Xunyu was wearing a black T-shirt under an unzipped camouflage jacket, black-and-white striped knee-length sweatpants, and black sneakers.
Chu Zhi Lu thought he looked strangely handsome.
Zhao Xunyu felt uncomfortable under her gaze.
“The pants have not been washed, I won’t wear them. The jacket is passable.”
“Okay.”
Picking lychees didn’t require fancy clothes.
Zhao Xunyu closed the door behind him and tugged at his jacket.
“Does it look terrible?”
“No, they look pretty sturdy.”
Zhao Xunyu grinned. “Little sister A-Lu, you have a filter on for me now.”
Zhao Xunyu was still sulking with Grandma Chu. At the dinner table, he pointedly ignored her, sitting sideways and leaning his exposed leg toward her. Unfortunately, his affection was misplaced. Grandma Chu showed no remorse or guilt and didn’t care why he wore shorts to the orchard; only he was bothered.
Grandma Chu took out the biggest basket in the house and handed it to him.
“Pick two baskets; I’ll send them to your aunt. Pick the rest carefully and share them with the neighbors. We don’t need that many for ourselves, so don’t keep too many.”
Zhao Xunyu took the backpack, looking sour, afraid that others wouldn’t know he was angry.
Grandma Chu ignored him. She put a sickle into her own basket and left for the orchard without waiting for them.
Zhao Xunyu was still standing there. Chu Zhi Lu picked up her basket, came over, tugged at his sleeve, and walked out.
“Let’s go, don’t be angry.”
In the orchard, Zhao Xunyu deliberately chose a lychee tree farthest from his grandmother. The lychees on these trees were in the shade, ripening more slowly, and most of them were still partially green.
Chu Zhi Lu took a few steps toward her grandmother. She noticed that Zhao Xunyu hadn’t followed her, so she turned around to look for him. She saw him put down his basket and start picking lychees.
Why does this person have a temper like a child?
“There aren’t many ripe ones on these trees. Let’s go pick them on Granny’s side.”
Zhao Xunyu refused. He insisted on finding ripe lychees to pick. Chu Zhi Lu shook her head and went over to him and took his hand.
“Don’t pick those, they’re still sour. If you pick any more, Grandma will make you eat them all.”
Zhao Xunyu remained silent.
He didn’t want to eat any sour lychees.
His basket already contained two and a half baskets of half-ripe lychees. Chu Zhi Lu released his wrist, picked up her basket, and walked towards her grandmother. “Let’s go.”
Zhao Xunyu followed and picked up his basket. Chu Zhi Lu positioned him a tree away from his grandmother.
Grandma Chu had clearly seen Zhao Xunyu’s actions. Holding her pruning shears, she said to him, “Eat those two half-ripe baskets yourself.”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xunyu took the two bundles out of his basket and placed them under the lychee tree. He didn’t say anything and stood with his back to Grandma Chu.
Chu Zhi Lu saw that he was sulking a bit and looked unhappy, and she couldn’t help but laugh.
The lychee trees weren’t very tall, and some of the higher branches could be reached with a hook. Grandma Chu worked quickly and efficiently, and in about an hour she had filled her basket with large, red lychee fruit.
Without any help, Grandma Chu easily lifted the basket onto her back.
Zhao Xunyu saw her turn and walked back with the lychees. He walked up to her, held out his hand and said simply, “Let me carry that.”
Grandma Chu willingly placed the basket on the ground for him. “Empty the lychees into the big sieve on the floor in the living room. Be careful not to break them. Remember to bring the basket with you.”
Zhao Xunyu picked up the basket and left without speaking to her.
After he left the orchard, Grandma Chu went to the tree where he’d picked the lychees. She casually picked one of the half-ripe bunches. “Sour.”
Hearing this, Chu Zhi Lu ate one as well, frowning slightly. It really was quite sour.
Grandma Chu looked at his basket. It was only half full, and he hadn’t been selective, picking whole bunches.
“That unlucky child, so unreliable.”
When Zhao Xunyu returned with the empty basket, Grandma Chu stopped him from helping and told him to carry the full basket back.
Shortly after he left, Grandma Chu also carried a full basket of lychees. “Three baskets are enough. I won’t be back after this. When he comes back, you can take the larger one and fill it with more. You can also use the smaller one to pick some peaches and plums.”
Chu Zhi Lu nodded.
Grandma Chu added, “I will be away for a few days this time. Your aunt is pregnant and I want to keep her company.”
“Aunt is pregnant?” Cousin Song Zhi Yuan is almost seventeen…
“Yes. She even cried when she called me. When Zhi Yuan was disobedient, she didn’t think about having a second child. Now that he has behaved, she says it was an accident and she’s pregnant again. She feels bad for Zhi Yuan. She doesn’t want it, but your uncle said to ask Zhi Yuan’s opinion first, and if Zhi Yuan can accept it, then have the baby. Zhi Yuan is at school, and your aunt hasn’t figured out how to tell him yet.”
Chu Zhi Lu felt that this matter was indeed a headache, so she asked her grandmother to stay with her aunt for a few more days to see how to deal with the matter.
Her aunt was 43 years old. At that age, either carrying a pregnancy to term or having an abortion could have significant health consequences.
Chu Zhi Lu didn’t know how her cousin would react. At sixteen or seventeen, suddenly having a younger sibling would cause many emotions. Would he accept it?
Chu Zhi Lu thought that if it was Zhao Xunyu, he would probably make a huge fuss and force his father to choose.
When Zhao Xunyu returned to the orchard, she told him about her aunt’s pregnancy.
Zhao Xunyu’s expression was indescribable. “Song Zhi Yuan is so old, and she still wants another child? My aunt will be a grandmother in a few years, what are they thinking? …Forget it, if they want it, fine. They can raise it themselves.
“Uncle’s idea is that if my cousin doesn’t accept it, Aunt will have an abortion.”
Zhao Xunyu scoffed. “If they didn’t want it, they wouldn’t have gotten pregnant. Now that they are, they are trying to morally coerce Song Zhi Yuan, aren’t they? If he says yes, his parents will be happy to have the baby. If the two children have conflicts later, they can blame Song Zhi Yuan, saying he agreed to it and isn’t treating his sibling well. If he says he doesn’t accept it, he’s cruel for forcing his mother to have an abortion, ending a life, right?”
Zhao Xunyu said with disgust, “If my dad did something so heartless, I would have to sever the father-son relationship with him, whether he wanted to or not.”
Of course, Zhao Qingtang would never do such a thing. When Zhao Xunyu’s mother was still alive, he even had the idea of having a second child. After his mother died, Zhao Qingtang had a vasectomy for his beloved son.
In fact, Zhao Xunyu’s stepmother was able to get together with him because she confessed to Zhao Qingtang during their blind date that she was unable to have children.
Zhao Xunyu monopolized all of Zhao Qingtang’s paternal love. If his father hadn’t spoiled him so much, Zhao Xunyu wouldn’t have said those things.