Joy of Life: The Mei Family's Son Grows Up

Chapter 52 Introduction

After confirming that it was Fan Ruoruo, Mei Chengan was a little confused. This shouldn't have happened.

In fact, Mei Chengan was not wrong. When Fan Ruoruo heard her good sister invite her to travel together and found out who would be traveling with her, she immediately frowned.

She wanted to refuse directly, but she suddenly remembered the letter her brother Fan Xian had written to her. The letter asked about the information of her best friend's brother Mei Chengan, and asked about every detail.

Fan Ruoruo didn't care why her brother was interested in this person. She was only thinking about how to better complete the task her brother taught her, which was to find out all the information about Mei Chengan.

Although her best friend is that man's sister, the information she knows is not much more than other people. It is basically common knowledge. Her best friend never talks about her brother's private affairs, and she has never deliberately asked about it.

Now that I have the opportunity to have private contact, I can take the chance to observe him and write more details when I write back to my brother.

The idea was decided, and Fan Ruoruo immediately nodded in agreement.

……

After breakfast, Mei Cheng'an and his sister and their group drove three carriages out of the Mei Mansion and headed towards the north gate.

They stopped once on the way and Hongshu went to purchase some medicine.

When the convoy arrived outside the city gate, Wang Qinian was already waiting there with a carriage parked beside him.

As the car approached, Mei Chengan pulled open the curtain.

"Old Wang, have you been waiting for a long time?"

Wang Qinian answered hurriedly.

"No, no, we just arrived too."

As soon as he finished speaking, the curtain of the carriage beside him was lifted, revealing the faces of Mrs. Wang and Wang Ba, one big and one small. Mrs. Wang greeted them with a smile.

"Chengan."

Mei Chengan raised his right hand.

"Hello, sister-in-law!"

"Ba Ba, look who this is?"

Wang Ba stretched out his little hand to the car window, looked at Mei Chengan, thought for a moment, and pointed.

"Little An An."

Mei Chengan smiled and waved quickly.

"Hello, little pork belly."

Wang Qinian asked after they finished greeting each other.

"Master Mei, shall we set off?"

Mei Cheng'an glanced towards the city gate.

"No hurry, there's another person, my sister's friend is going too."

"Oh, no wonder the young lady has been looking towards the city gate."

"You can drive the carriage ahead later. We don't know the way."

"it is good."

Just as Mei Cheng'an was about to say a few more words to Xiao Wuhuarou, he heard the sound of horse hooves and wheels coming from the city gate.

Looking up, they saw a carriage with the Fan family logo coming out of the city gate and heading towards them.

The Fan family's carriage stopped next to Mei Yuxi's carriage. He saw a slender white hand lifting the curtain. It should be Fan Ruoruo's, but he couldn't see Fan Ruoruo's face from his angle. He only heard a burst of talking.

From the conversation between the two, it seemed that not only Fan Ruru had come, but that little brat Versace had also come along. Fan Ruru's words contained a hint of disdain, and there was also the sound of a little boy arguing with her.

Mei Cheng'an found it hilarious and lowered the car curtain.

Wang Qinian's voice came from outside the window.

"Mr. Mei, can we go now?"

"Walk."

……

The convoy did not go straight north, but turned left and headed northwest after about a hundred or two hundred meters, then turned northeast.

Although it was a dirt road, it was relatively flat. In addition, the convoy was not moving very fast, so sitting in the carriage did not feel very bumpy.

After traveling for less than half an hour, the convoy stopped.

The voice of the bluebird came from the car window behind me.

"The young master has arrived."

Upon hearing this, Mei Cheng'an put down the book in his hand, lifted the curtain and looked out the window. What he saw was a flat grassland. The grass was neither dense nor sparse. The large expanse of green looked particularly pleasing to the eye.

But it’s not right, where is the lake? Where is the maple forest?

Mei Cheng'an got off the carriage with doubts, and looked around before he suddenly realized.

It turned out that they were right between the maple forest and the lake. The two were not closely connected, and there was a very wide and long grassland in between.

Looking into the maple forest from afar, the maple leaves did not seem to be turning red.

Looking at the lake on the left, there were only a few small boats docked on the shore, and not even a fisherman was seen.

It seems that they did arrive a little early.

Mei Cheng'an finally decided on a camping site near a lake, as it would be more convenient to get water because of its proximity to the water source.

……

Fan Ruoruo got off the carriage and looked around, her eyes quickly focused on the young man with a distinctive temperament, wearing a brown suit and holding a little girl in his arms.

I took a quick look at her and found that she was shorter than the middle-aged man next to her, but tall for her age, with broad shoulders, a thin waist and long legs. She looked quite nice in the brown clothes she wore. As for her appearance, I couldn't see her because she was facing away from me, but her profile that just flashed by was quite nice-looking. She must like children very much. I couldn't hear her voice as she was quite far away.

Fan Ruoruo was just about to get closer to listen to the conversation when she was stopped by her good sister Mei Yuxi.

"Ruoruo, what are you looking at?" Mei Yuxi turned around and looked in the direction Fan Ruoruo was looking.

Fan Ruoruo blushed. She would be so embarrassed if her good friend found out that she was paying attention to her brother, so she quickly changed the subject.

"Nothing, I didn't expect there was a lake over there."

Mei Yuxi turned around and looked at Fan Ruoruo and said.

"It's just a lake, nothing new. It will take some time to get a good place to stay. Let's go walk around the grass first. I just took a peek and there are quite a few flowers there. They're really pretty."

Fan Ruoruo glanced in the direction of Mei Chengan, then looked at her good sister and nodded with a smile.

"it is good."

……now.

The maids were busy moving supplies and setting up the camping site, and Mrs. Wang was also helping.

Mei Yuxi held Fan Ruoruo's hand and strolled in the grass, chatting and laughing, and picking wild flowers.

The coachman of the Fan family's carriage leaned on the carriage with his arms folded, looking around, sometimes at Fan Ruoruo, sometimes at Versace. He didn't look like a coachman, but more like a bodyguard.

Versace is pulling out dogtail grass everywhere.

Mei Cheng'an held Wang Ba in his arms and chatted with Wang Qinian beside him.

"Is there no one taking care of these ships?" Mei Cheng'an asked.

Wang Qinian pointed his finger to the left.

"Ms. Mei, look over there."

Mei Cheng'an looked in the direction and saw a thatched house there.

"There is an ascetic monk in there who stays there all day and rarely comes out. These boats belong to him. If we need to use a boat, we can use it directly without paying him. We can just send him some food after use."

Mei Chengan was surprised.

"Aren't ascetics usually in temples? Why are there some here?"

Wang Qinian explained with a smile.

"Young Master Mei, you don't know that this ascetic monk is not the same as that ascetic monk. The ascetic monk here is a scholar who came here a few years ago and settled down there. The specific reason is unknown."

Mei Cheng'an suddenly realized and stopped asking questions. The world is so big that there are all kinds of wonders. People have different experiences and moods. The scholar who stayed away from the world might just have figured out the meaning of life.

Looking up at the surface of Qiuye Lake in front of me, the lake is about forty to fifty feet wide. Opposite it is a cliff. The cliff is lush and green, and its reflection in the lake seems to be split in half.

"Xiao An An, Yu Yu."

Mei Chengan looked in the direction where the pork belly's finger was pointing.

Sure enough, I saw a fish lying quietly under the lake, motionless and looking stupid.

Mei Chengan chuckled.

"Yes, it is a fish. Let's catch it, shall we?"

"Little Nian Nian, eat fish." Wang Ba looked at Wang Qinian and said in a baby voice.

Wang Qinian responded lovingly.

"Hey, Baba, since you want to eat it, Xiao Niannian will scoop it up for you right away."

He turned around and went to get the fishing net.

Wang Qinian quickly came over with a fishing net, followed by the little kid Versace.

When Versace heard about fishing, he no longer had the heart to pull foxtail grass. Fishing is so exciting and fun.

When he reached the lake, he wanted to get closer to take a look, but Mei Chengan reached out to stop him.

"You can't get close, just watch from here."

Versace looked up at Mei Cheng'an in dissatisfaction, opened his mouth, then remembered his mother's instructions. In the end, he said nothing and just stood there obediently, staring at Wang Qinian catching fish.

Wang Qinian held the fishing net, held his breath and concentrated, slowly moving the fishing net to a position where it would be convenient to exert force, for fear of alarming the stupid fish.

When the fishing net reached the right position, Wang Qinian stopped, took a deep breath, and suddenly exerted force to turn the fishing net upside down onto the lake.

The water splashed and blocked everyone's view.

Wang Qinian picked up the fishing net and took a look.

It was empty inside.

I looked down at the lake which had returned to calm, but there was no trace of the fish.

Wang Qinian stood there awkwardly.

Versace snorted and turned away.

Mei Chengan was also speechless. Can't you catch such a stupid fish?

"Is it okay, Old Wang?"

Wang Qinian turned around awkwardly and looked at his precious daughter.

Wang Ba was not angry, but asked Wang Qinian curiously.

"Xiao Nian Nian, where's Yu Yu?"

Wang Qinian didn't know how to respond to his daughter for a moment.

"Fish..."

Mei Chengan looked at Little Pork Belly and said softly.

"The fish has been caught by Xiao Nian Nian in the woods behind us. He will go get it back later. We can eat the fish later, okay?"

Wang Ba thought about it and nodded.

"it is good."

Wang Qinian looked at Mei Chengan with gratitude, but received a cold look from Mei Chengan.

"Little Pork Belly wants fish for lunch, so go get it now."

Wang Qinian understood what he meant and turned around to look for the fishing rod.

……

The campsite was quickly set up. It was still early for lunch, so a few cushions and a tea table were set up, with straw mats underneath and insect repellent powder sprinkled around.

The tea had been boiled on a small stove. The water was brought from home in several jars. Tea sets, fruits and snacks were also placed on the tea table.

Mei Cheng'an's main seat was a little special. There was a thick wooden platform underneath and a screen of moderate size behind it.

After Bluebird, Green Ant and Cucumber finished the arrangements, they went back to guard the carriage, leaving only Sweet Potato to look after the small stove for making tea.

Mei Yuxi's maid went to look for her own mistress.

Mei Cheng'an handed Wang Ba back to Mrs. Wang and sat down in the main seat. Hongshu brought the teapot and poured him a cup of tea.

Mei Chengan picked up the teacup and was about to take a sip.

My sister brought Fan Ruoruo over.

"Brother, let me introduce you. This is my good friend, Miss Fan Ruoruo of the Fan family."

(End of this chapter)