217 A Letter From Home Becomes a Love Letter
Soon, there was no more work left to do in the house. After all, there was limited space in the house. Moreover, the two of them had been cooped up indoors all morning. Only Zhuang Zhuang went out to feed the chickens, ducks, dogs, cows, and donkeys. He had easily completed a day’s worth of work.

Xiaoguo was still stuck at five ticks. At this moment, she was slumped on the bed. She started thinking, “It will be wonderful if waking up and breathing can be considered as tasks…”

Zhuang Zhuang came back from washing his hands. He looked at Xiaoguo, who was still lying on the bed, and said, “Mother, you haven’t been visiting Uncle recently.”

“Yes…” Xiaoguo replied lazily with her eyes closed. “It’s too cold.”

Xiaoguo suddenly remembered her mother saying that she must have been a bear in her previous life. Otherwise, why would she hibernate in winter?

!!
At first, she had said that she would send medicinal cuisine to Qin Anming. However, after a few attempts, the weather turned cold. It had been almost a month since she went to visit them. Fortunately, Xiaoguo had informed them in advance when she went the last time. Otherwise, Qin Anming would definitely be worried if he didn’t see her for a long time. She didn’t even go on payday at the end of the month. She had asked Ruyi to either save it for her or pass it to Qin Anming.

Whenever the weather turned cold, Xiaoguo would become listless. This had never changed from the past till now.

“Mother, someone’s at the door.”

Zhuang Zhuang was standing by the window. When he heard the commotion, he lifted the curtain.

Xiaoguo sat up, put on her coat, and went to open the door.

“Who is it?”

Xiaoguo asked as she unlocked the door.

“Is this Mrs. Jiang’s house?”

As soon as the door opened, a man dressed in an official uniform took a few steps back. After receiving Xiaoguo’s confirmation, he introduced himself. “I was sent by County Magistrate Liu to deliver something to you.”

As he spoke, he pointed to the charcoal on the carriage behind him.

Xiaoguo’s eyes widened when she saw the cart of charcoal. Magistrate Liu gave it to her?!

“There’s one more bundle that I have to hand over to you.”

After looking at the charcoal, the official handed a bundle to Xiaoguo. “Look, where can I unload it for you?”

“Did County Magistrate Liu say anything?”

When Xiaoguo heard this, she didn’t let him unload the cart first. She asked curiously as she couldn’t accept the charcoal for no reason.

“County Magistrate Liu didn’t say anything. He just asked me to tell you to accept it without any worries. If you still don’t understand, just open the bag and you’ll know.”

The official spoke respectfully. Xiaoguo couldn’t bear to let anyone stand in the cold, so she quickly made way and pointed to the kitchen for them to unload.

The few of them led the carriage into the courtyard. Then, they got busy and unloaded the charcoal from the carriage at the spot Xiaoguo had pointed out.

After completing the mission, they took their leave.

After Xiaoguo sent them off, she closed the door tightly and ran back into the house. She was too curious about what was in the bundle. It was inconvenient for her to open it when the man was around. Now that he was gone, she couldn’t wait.

Zhuang Zhuang, who had been looking out of the window, quickly came over when he saw Xiaoguo enter. He was also very curious.

As the bag was opened, the first thing that came into view were two leather cloaks, one big and one small.

For some reason, Xiaoguo suddenly felt a sense of familiarity. She tried her best to suppress her excitement and continued flipping through the contents. Immediately after, she found a banknote.

This was the first time she had seen a banknote since she arrived.

Xiaoguo unfolded the banknote and realized that the value was 100 taels of silver. She took a deep breath and continued rummaging through the bottom. She immediately found a letter.

Xiaoguo opened the envelope nervously. She had a sudden thought. She seemed to know who the letter came from.

As soon as she opened it, the bold and powerful words indicated who wrote the letter. Xiaoguo couldn’t help but smile. It was really him.

“Letter for my wife…”

Looking at the first few words, Xiaoguo pursed her lips in disdain. Why was he being so scholarly?

“It should be December when you see this letter. I arrived in the capital safely on the 18th of last month. How have you been? Although I haven’t been away for long, I miss you already…”

The 18th of last month? He had arrived later than she had imagined. As she continued reading, she realized that Zhuang Zhuang was inching closer and closer to her. Xiaoguo got up and sat by the bed. Her face was slightly red as she thought shyly, “I missed you too…”

“This time, I have gotten someone to bring back most of the charcoal that was allocated to me for the winter. Don’t worry, there aren’t that many people at my residence. The Imperial Court has allocated the coal according to one’s official position. I’ve already kept what’s needed here. There’s more than enough here…”

“How silly of him to explain himself,” Xiaoguo thought sweetly. “He must know that I’m afraid of the cold…”

“There’s also the money that should have been distributed to my family during my time in the army and during my fake death while on mission. Due to some officials, there was some hiccup with the money distribution, so it wasn’t sent to my family in time. Now that the matter has been settled, I’ve converted all the money into banknotes. Please keep it well…”

So there was a mole that disrupted the money transfer? Xiaoguo thought in shock. So that was the reason. She pushed Zhuang Zhuang away and sat down at the table. She continued reading the letter…

“There are also two leather cloaks that I had carefully selected. The newest designs for winter have been released in the capital. Li Shouji was the one who told me about it, so I went to take a look and carefully picked out three pieces. One for you, one for me, and one for Zhuang Zhuang. The three pieces are all of the same color and style. Is this the parent-child outfit you were talking about?”

When Xiaoguo saw this, she suddenly thought of her days in the capital. At that time, the three of them were going out to play together. On the way, they bumped into a family dressed in the same color scheme. She just casually commented about the parent-child outfit at that time. She didn’t expect him to remember it after so long. Xiaoguo snickered and continued reading.

“The most important thing is the letter you’re reading. It contains my longing for you, my fatherly love for Zhuang Zhuang, and my true love for you. I think of you every day and night…”

Xiaoguo pursed her lips and smiled shyly. How mushy. This wilted bun didn’t say all these when they were together, but in the letter, he was so mushy…

“When the spring breeze starts blowing from ten miles away, that’s when we will be reunited.”

Xiaoguo read the last line several times in silence. “Spring, please come early. I can’t wait…”

Zhuang Zhuang was pushed away by Xiaoguo countless times. By the last time, he had gotten very unhappy. He snorted and sat down on a stool. “If Mother doesn’t let me read, I won’t read. Even if she begs me, I won’t read!”

He turned his head away angrily. It was impossible not to see it. Xiaoguo took her time and slowly folded the letter. She pretended to feel sorry. “Jiang Danhe’s letter…”

“Father’s?!” Zhuang Zhuang perked up when he heard that. It was a letter from his father. “Mother, I want to see it. I want to see it!”

Since she was in a good mood, Xiaoguo imitated Zhuang Zhuang’s series of actions from moments ago. She turned her head and snorted. She deliberately acted like she was very angry and could not be pacified.

“Yes… Mother…” After a while, Zhuang Zhuang blushed and felt embarrassed.

“Okay, okay. I’ll show you.”

Xiaoguo handed the letter to Zhuang Zhuang. Although there were many words of love from Jiang Danhe, it didn’t matter if Zhuang Zhuang saw them.

As expected, when Zhuang Zhuang saw the mushy words in the letter, he looked at Xiaoguo in embarrassment. “Father is really…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Zhuang Zhuang suddenly realized that his mother seemed to enjoy his father’s tone in the letter.

If she didn’t like it, why did his mother look like she was going to faint from joy? The corners of her mouth were almost reaching her cheekbones…

Zhuang Zhuang noted that the adult world was too complicated for him to understand.

After reading the letter, Zhuang Zhuang was really unhappy. Why did his father mention so little about him? In every ten sentences, he had to include a confession to his mother. So this was not a family letter, instead it was a love letter from his father to his mother…