Chapter 22: Return to the Valley

On the second day, at the break of dawn, the group locked the doors and set off towards the valley. Due to the overnight rest, Wang Qing and his family had recovered some of their strength, and they were able to move faster up the mountain. However, their speed was still relatively slow compared to the previous day. Along the way, the Wang family was nervous, curious, and excited about everything in the dense forest. Finally, the group arrived back at the valley around midday.

The whole family stood in front of the cave, watching as the group slowly approached. The children, Bao'er and Bei'er,, ran towards them with joy. Yang Lan'er, who hadn't seen the children for two days, had been thinking about them and suddenly felt very attached to them. In that moment, she truly felt like they were her own children.

Bei'er and Yang Chenyu were the first to run over, hugging Yang Lan'er's thigh and happily shouting, "Mother, mother!" and "Auntie!" Bei'er pouted and whined, "Mother, you lied. You said you'd come back soon, but Bei'er waited and waited for a very long time, and you still didn't come back."

"Bei'er, be good! Your mother came back as soon as possible, didn't I? The county town is very far away," Yang Lan'er said gently.

At this point, Bao'er ran up and stood in front of them, with a look of disdain for his silly little brother. He pretended to be angry, but his eyes were filled with joy as she smiled and said, "Mother, he's been playing happily every day. I didn't see him missing you. Are you tired? Let me help you carry the bamboo basket."

Yang Lan'er couldn't help but feel delighted at Baor's grown-up demeanor. "You don't have to carry it. I can handle it. Besides, the basket is taller than you," she said, teasing Bao'er. Seeing the disappointment on his face, she comforted him, "You just need to eat more and grow up quickly. When you're taller, you can help me a lot."

Baor was happy to hear this. As long as she ate more and grew up quickly, she could take care of her mother and brother.

Fortunately, Yang Lan'er didn't know what was in her mind. If she knew, she would have been moved to tears.

"Mother, mother. Hmph! Don't you like me anymore? Why aren't you talking to me?" Bei'er protested unhappily. His mother was only paying attention to his brother.

Its seems like it time to comfort the other one now. "Bei'er, you are all your mother's precious babies, how could she not like you? Look, Mom brought some delicious pastries for you all." She took out a package of pastries she bought in the county from the bamboo basket. Sure enough, when the children saw the pastries, they were all thrilled. Yang Lan'er opened the paper package and gave each child two pieces.

She clapped her hands and said to the babies, "Alright, let's go back. We still have some left after we finish these." Watching Yang Lan'er walking in front of the children who hugged her, Yang Cunzhi's eyes were filled with indulgence.

He shook his head helplessly and said to the Wang family, "I forgot to buy gifts for the children. Let's go home." The four of them walked at the back, and Yang Cunzhi roughly introduced the situation at home to them, giving them a general idea of the family's condition.

The whole family sat in the shade in front of the cave, and Yang Lan'er recounted what she saw and heard in the county, of course, not mentioning what she shouldn't.

When the family heard that hundreds of taels of silver were spent on buying medicinal herbs and buying this valley, they were overjoyed. They also felt sorry to hear about the plight of the Wang family of three, and said that they could settle down in the valley.

Seeing that her family was still immersed in sadness, Yang Lan'er clapped her hands to bring everyone back to reality and said with a smile, "I brought gifts for everyone this time I went to the county."

As she spoke, she reached into the bamboo basket, hiding the gifts under the quilt on top, and took out the gifts she had put in the back of the space. Yang's father, mother, brother, sister-in-law, and brother's wife each received a set of clothes. They touched the clothes in their hands with joy and laughter. Of course, the happiest were the children.

Each of them received a piece of cloth that they could use to make clothes. They also received study tools, and Mom (aunt) said they could learn to read!

No one asked Yang Laner how she learned to read. They all thought it was Tan Anjun who taught her. They all smiled and watched the children playfully frolicking.

---- I will try to update atleas 1 chapter a day..

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