Chapter 176: Chapter 164: Benevolent Father
Upon hearing this, Wen Wan felt her cheeks grow warm.
Song Wei asked her, "Have you had breakfast?"
Wen Wan shook her head, not yet, she wanted to wait and have it together with her husband after he exited the examination hall.
Song Wei nodded and said nothing more. The group soon returned to the inn.
He had the attendant bring up hot water, and both Song Wei and Xie Zheng enjoyed a comfortable hot bath in their own rooms.
However, the conditions in the two rooms were vastly different.
Song Wei did not need any serving, and Wen Wan did not insist. She took out the pens and ink from his exam basket and organized them, then prepared a clean set of clothes to send in, and sat down at the table afterwards.
Behind the screen, there was only the sound of the man splashing water as he bathed, making the room particularly quiet.
In the next room, Yang personally served Xie Zheng as he bathed, talking incessantly, asking if he was confident about passing, and when the results would be announced, questioning if they should stay in the province to await the results.
Xie Zheng leaned the back of his neck against the edge of the bathtub, his eyes slightly closed. Beneath his long black eyelashes, dark circles of fatigue were faintly visible.
When Yang asked again, he frowned slightly and said in a low voice, "Shut up!"
Yang was taken aback.
Their relationship had always been good, but this harmony meant that he seldom got angry or said harsh words to her, nothing like the relationship between their third cousin and his wife next door.
Xie Zheng, after all, was a scholar with a certain level of refinement, presenting the image of a refined gentleman in everyday life. His speech naturally carried more humility and warmth than his brother Xie Tao, making people feel comfortable.
But for him to directly tell her to shut up like today, that was almost unprecedented.
Yang was not clueless. Realizing her husband’s mood was off, she thought she must have asked too many questions and immediately closed her mouth, quietly assisting with his bath.
Xie Zheng was indeed troubled, but it wasn’t the issue of the examination. This year, he felt he performed much better than three years ago and had done his best, which was enough. Whether or not he passed depended entirely on the examiners’ personal preferences, something that couldn’t be forced.
His foul mood stemmed from realizing a disparity when he walked out of Dragon Gate with Song Wei.
Even if he didn’t understand sign language, he could guess from Song Wei’s reaction that Wen Wan’s first words upon seeing him were to ask if he was tired from the nine-day exam.
Her clear eyes were filled with concern, never once mentioning the examination itself.
While Yang, upon seeing him, immediately asked how the exam went.
These seemingly simple greetings, upon closer reflection, revealed significant issues.
It was also outside Dragon Gate that Xie Zheng suddenly understood why Song Wei was so fond of Wen Wan.
There are certain women who can conquer men through details, making men willingly cherish and pamper them, unwilling to let them endure even the slightest hardship.
Xie Zheng believed that Wen Wan was such a woman, a woman true to her name.
Yang wasn’t unconcerned about him; it’s just that some details couldn’t withstand comparison.
Just now, when Yang asked this and that, Xie Zheng truly wished she were mute like Wen Wan, quiet, allowing him to enjoy a moment of relaxation after the tense nine days.
—
After eating and packing up, Song Wei and his wife prepared to go home.
Xie Zheng also packed, but he didn’t plan to leave with Song Wei and his group.
"Before I came, my mother said that after the exam, I’d help her buy some fish fry." Xie Zheng said, "We have relatives in the province, and I need to visit them, so I might be delayed by a day or two. Third Cousin and Cousin-in-law, you go ahead. We’ll return slowly afterwards."
Having completed the exam, he felt relieved and was in no hurry to return home.
Song Wei listened and nodded, saying, "Be careful on your journey."
After bidding farewell to Xie Zheng, Song Wei hired a carriage and headed straight home.
Yuanbao was on his rotational leave at home, and Granny Song went to the vegetable garden, leaving him to watch Sanyang for a while.
This little girl was very naughty, and if you glanced away, she’d start rummaging through the cabinets on her short little legs.
Once, when Granny Song was cooking porridge with her on a small stool, she quickly checked the kitchen. When she returned, the little girl was gone, and Granny Song was so worried that she broke into a sweat. In the end, cries came from the wardrobe, and she found that the girl had crawled in there, accidentally closed the door, and couldn’t open it with her small strength, almost suffocating...
Now, with Yuanbao watching her, Sanyang sat obediently on the small stool, not daring to move. She looked up and murmured, "Brother, brother..."
Yuanbao held a piece of soft cake to entice her, telling her to sit still and wait for Grandma to come back, then she’d get to eat it.
Sanyang’s mouth watered as she drooled, her big, round, black eyes fixated solely on the soft cake.
Old Song was sitting in the courtyard sharpening a machete. When Song Wei and his wife came in, they exchanged a few words with him.
The voices reached the main room, and Song Yuanbao, realizing his father had returned, got excited and immediately handed the soft cake to Sanyang, then ran outside.
"Dad, why did it take you so long to return this time?" Song Yuanbao asked.
Song Wei replied, "The provincial capital is farther than the Prefecture, and since your mother is expecting, we couldn’t travel quickly, which delayed us a lot."
Song Yuanbao responded with an "Oh," gazing at Wen Wan’s belly and asked, "Is Mom going to give me a little brother?"
Wen Wan pursed her lips and smiled; she genuinely didn’t know, it might be a little sister.
Inside the house, Sanyang was drawn by the commotion outside and wanted to take a look, but she hurried and lost her balance, tripping over the threshold and falling to the ground, crying for a long while before catching her breath.
Song Yuanbao’s expression shifted as he prepared to help her up, but Song Wei had already put down his book basket and bent down to pick Sanyang up before him.
The little girl must have bumped into something and cried loudly, blowing a snot bubble, with unfinished soft cake in her mouth and her lips stained with crumbs, looking quite comical.
Song Wei took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped the soft cake crumbs from her lips, then wiped her nose, speaking in a gentle tone Wen Wan had never heard before, "Uncle bought a lot of delicious treats; if Sanyang stops crying, you can have them all later, okay?"
The little girl, with tear-filled eyes, looked at the man holding her, trying hard to stop crying while hiccupping.
Song Wei smiled, "Can you call me by name?"
Sanyang didn’t make a sound, hiccupping again and again.
Song Wei instructed Song Yuanbao to take out half of the snacks from the book basket and waved them in front of her, "If you call me uncle, they’re all yours."
Sanyang got excited, completely forgetting to cry, and eagerly shouted, "Uncle... uncle... want want..."
Song Wei asked her, "Are you still crying?"
Sanyang shook her head vigorously like a rattle drum, her eyes following the snacks in Song Wei’s hands incessantly.
In the sunlight, the side profile of the man exuded an indescribable warmth, a faint smile gracing his lips, reminding Wen Wan of the word "loving father."
Before she got married, Wen Wan had heard that Song Yuanbao was raised personally by Song Wei since childhood. Except for a brief period when a wet nurse was hired for nursing, all the bathing, changing clothes, and diapering for Little Yuanbao was done by Song Wei himself.
Up until today, Wen Wan could hardly imagine a man like Song Wei coddling a baby, let alone changing diapers. Seeing his patience with Erlang’s daughter, she suddenly pictured that scene vividly, feeling that if she were to have a baby in the future, she might not be able to take care of it as well as her husband could.
Song Wei handed the oil paper bag filled with snacks to Song Yuanbao, instructing him, "Take good care of your sister."
Saying this, he got up and looked at Wen Wan, inviting her to come inside and sit down.
Although autumn had arrived and there was a big temperature difference between morning and evening, the midday sun was still scorching, and staying in it for long could easily cause dizziness.
Wen Wan hadn’t been sitting inside for long when Granny Song returned.
Not wanting to ask in front of the old man, Granny Song skipped over whether Song Wei encountered any issues and directly asked why Xie Zheng, who left with him, hadn’t returned.
Song Wei truthfully explained that the couple stayed behind to buy fish fry and would be back in a couple of days.
Granny Song nodded and told the young couple to rest for a while, as she was going to prepare a meal.
On her way out, she saw Sanyang sitting on a small stool, holding and biting into a crispy cake in a very serious manner. She looked at Song Yuanbao, "Take Sanyang back home; your Second Uncle and Second Aunt should have returned."
Sanyang, lured by the snacks, didn’t cause trouble and obediently let her little brother lead her home, moving step by step.
Not expecting Song Wei and the others to return suddenly, Granny Song had only hastily prepared a few side dishes for the young couple to make do with, saying she would prepare a proper feast later in the evening.
Song Wei was undemanding, and Wen Wan was also the kind to eat whatever was available, so they finished their meal quickly.
When Old Song left the house, Granny Song then carefully asked Song Wei, "Did you encounter any issues on this trip to the provincial capital?"
Song Wei nodded, saying they did, and then recounted the incident where the inn they stayed at almost caught fire, though he omitted the part involving Hao Yun.
Otherwise, he believed that if he mentioned it, his mother might literally grab a knife and march straight to Hao Yun’s house for justice.
Even without full disclosure, Granny Song was frightened to the point of breaking out in a cold sweat, "Good thing I didn’t insist on stopping Wan Niang from going with you at that time, otherwise, if that inn had really caught fire, who knows what would have happened to you now!"
Whether you’d be able to enter the examination hall was a minor issue; if something really happened to you, as your mother, I’d regret it for the rest of my life!
Song Wei could tell that his mother had complete trust in Wanwan, "Since you know I can’t be without Wanwan, whatever I do in the future, you can’t stop me from taking her with me."
"How can I stop you now after you’ve said that?" Granny Song replied, then felt a wave of relief, "It’s all quite coincidental; after burning so many incense sticks to no avail, I ended up believing that old fortune teller in town and agreed to let you marry this wife. Now, it seems like you really married well. When I find the time, I need to go to town and properly thank him."