Decades of pent-up emotions suddenly erupted, and Sun Zhong directly embraced Sun Shijie.

Meanwhile, Sun Shijie gently patted the other's back to offer comfort, though a hint of complexity showed in his eyes.

Xiao Feng glanced at Su Yuzhuo, previously feeling that Sun Zhong and Iwakami Shigehiro were quite similar.

But now it seems, aside from their shared change of surnames upon entering the main family, there's nothing else alike between them.

Oh, wait, there is one other thing.

And that is, their names.

Sun Zhong, for the sake of the main family's instructions, spent decades not failing the "Zhong" (loyalty) character in his name.

And Iwakami Shigehiro, determined to restore the Iwagami Clan's former glory, also stayed true to the "Shigehiro" part of his name.

Besides these, there's really nothing similar between them.

Fujiwara Keiaki nudged his family's miss, reminding her that Xiao Feng was watching her.

Su Yuzhuo had naturally noticed long ago, but felt it inappropriate to engage in small talk at this moment, so she hadn't approached to converse.

Prompted by Fujiwara Keiaki's reminder, Su Yuzhuo sighed inwardly and walked toward Xiao Feng, saying in a low voice, "Do you think this Mr. Sun Zhong is quite similar to Iwakami Shigehiro?"

Xiao Feng shook his head, then nodded: "I used to think so, but now I don't feel that way anymore."

Su Yuzhuo barely smiled: "Indeed, they're not the same kind of person."

...

After a long while, Sun Zhong finally calmed the immense waves inside him.

He wiped his tears and invited everyone to the courtyard.

There was only one bamboo chair in the courtyard, and since Sun Zhong didn't have any friends, visitors were non-existent, naturally, there weren't any extra seats.

However, Xiao Feng and the others didn't mind these things.

The little girl put her backpack down and sat on the steps outside the bamboo house, propping her chin in curiosity, watching Sun Shijie and Sun Zhong, the master and servant reunited after so long.

Sun Zhong took out a pen and ink, and wrote on paper: "Young Master, have you married?"

Xiao Feng and Zhao Guo'an exchanged glances, never expecting Sun Zhong's first question upon meeting to be whether Sun Shijie had taken a wife, feeling slightly awkward.

Sun Shijie shook his head: "No, no children, alone, you…"

Sun Shijie instinctively wanted to ask "What about you?", but seeing Sun Zhong now looking like a wild tribe chief, there was no need to ask, and he quickly stopped himself.

Unexpectedly, Sun Zhong chuckled and wrote: "I married a beautiful wife, guess who I married?"

Sun Shijie thought to himself, how could he guess, but seeing the other's high spirits, he seriously pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up: "Could it be A-Cui?"

Sun Zhong nodded, dipped his custom ink, and wrote: "It was A-Cui. At the time, the master feared I'd be lonely and knew I always missed A-Cui, so he gave her to me in marriage."

Sun Shijie's gaze became distant.

A-Cui was the prettiest maid in the Sun Family, originally arranged to marry him, but back then he had no intention of marrying, and it was delayed over time.

"About A-Cui…"

Just as he said the beginning, Sun Shijie couldn't help but regret.

If A-Cui were still here, she surely would have come to see him, so with only Sun Zhong present, there were only two possibilities.

First, A-Cui couldn't stand the dull and monotonous life and left the bamboo forest.

Second, A-Cui is no longer alive.

Neither outcome is evidently good.

Sure enough, Sun Zhong's expression darkened, his hand holding the pen trembled slightly, a drop of ink fell onto the parchment.

The silence lasted for some time, then Sun Zhong wrote: "A-Cui passed away from the cold two years after we moved here. Medical care is scarce here, and I tried everything but couldn't keep her.

Over these years, I sometimes wondered if I had learned more medicine while at the estate, maybe A-Cui could have stayed.

Thinking, thinking, the more I thought, the guilt towards A-Cui grew stronger — such a good girl shouldn't have left so early."

Sun Shijie rose from the bamboo chair, taking a deep breath, and bowed deeply to Sun Zhong: "The Sun Family owes you two, even if self-blame should not fall on you."

Sun Zhong immediately showed surprise and helped Sun Shijie up, writing: "Young Master, please don't say so, I know I'm not worthy of A-Cui, but being able to marry her, my life was not in vain!"

After writing, Sun Zhong pointed at the old hen being raised in the pen and mimed the gesture of eating.

Meaning, should they eat?

The little girl's eyes lit up; she was tired of eating compressed food, desperate for a delicious chicken leg, plus a bowl of rich chicken soup with hot rice...

"Hey hey hey, drooling now." Zhao Guo'an reminded.

The little girl realized, rolled her eyes: "Mind your own business!"

Then pulled out seasonings from her backpack: "I have salt, cumin, and chili, shall we butcher the chicken?"

Xiao Feng chuckled helplessly; once this girl talks about food, she can't stop thinking about it.

But upon thinking, this little girl didn't complain the whole journey, improving the meal when conditions allow is certainly justified.

"You two go help in the kitchen." Xiao Feng commanded Meng Lang and Wu Yu.

They nodded quickly, happy to help in the kitchen where they could taste the food.

Thinking about it, they heard Xiao Feng say to Zhao Guo'an: "Old Zhao, keep an eye out to prevent anyone stealing food."

Meng Lang and Wu Yu exchanged glances, understanding that preventing stealing was false; preventing poisoning was the truth.

In other words, up to this point, Xiao Feng hadn't relaxed his guard over them.

The little girl looked at Wu Yu with disdain: "You, wash your hands well before cooking."

Wu Yu felt inflamed, his facial muscles twitched twice, and nodded heavily.

Two hours later, a large bowl of chicken soup, a plate of scrambled eggs, and a plate of steamed buns were served on the table.

The wheat was self-grown by Sun Zhong, and he ground it himself over time, though the harvest wasn't great, so the steamed buns were slightly yellowish.

Everyone dined heartily, devouring with wolf-like eagerness, and no one was restrained at this moment.

Because it only took a little restraint for the plates before them to decrease noticeably.

Of course, Meng Lang and Wu Yu were exceptions.

The two were incredibly genteel amidst a table of ravenous wolves, slowly chewing their food; others moved five or six chopsticks, they moved once, and took very little meat.

"Don't just eat meat, have some buns." Xiao Feng told the two while putting a piece of chicken gizzard into his mouth.

Meng Lang and Wu Yu were practically in tears, the meat we've eaten combined is less than your very chopstick, isn't it?

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