northernbook Chapter 401 Orange Garden
Chapter 401 Orange Garden
A neighbor in the family compound who knew where they were going peeked in and ran down to explain to Li Ziheng: "Xiao Song and Xiao Yu are accompanying Miss Fu to pick oranges. They won't be back at noon."
"Have you eaten yet, County Magistrate? Why don't you come to my house for a bite?"
Li Ziheng waved his hand to express his gratitude, then rode his bicycle back to the unit helplessly.
His wife, children and sister were not at home, so he had to go back to the company cafeteria to eat. By wasting so much time, all the delicious dishes must have been eaten.
The autumn wind blew up leaves from the treetops, and then they slowly fell down, landing on the handlebars of Li Ziheng's bicycle. He held on to them, and they floated again...
“Auntie—” a child’s voice mixed with laughter came from the orange grove, “You have Ye Ye on your head!”
Fu Ziyan smiled and squatted down, "Then Xiao Yubao, can you help your aunt take it off?"
"Okay~" Li Yu nodded vigorously, and the soft flesh on the side of his cheek trembled and bounced. He raised his chubby little hand and grabbed his aunt's head. His smiling eyes curved into crescents as he presented a treasure to his aunt.
"Wow, thank you Yubao~" Fu Ziyan smiled gently, stretched out her sinful index finger, and poked the child's chubby cheek. The touch was warm, and the soft baby fat gathered into elasticity, trying to attack her index finger.
so fun!
Li Yu blinked blankly at his aunt, who seemed very happy. Then... the child raised his little fleshy hand and poked the other half of his cheek.
Poke, poke, poke, bounce, bounce!
hee hee~
When Li Song turned around, he saw his aunt playing with his silly brother, and his silly brother cooperated incredibly. He sighed like a little adult, there was nothing he could do, after all he was the older brother.
He trotted back a few steps, imitating his father's demeanor when he was teaching him, and said earnestly: "Auntie, let's go pick oranges. Auntie Xiao Mu has brought the fruit shears and the fruit basket~"
In Fu Ziyan's eyes, it was just a soft and cheerful kitten trying hard to pretend to be serious.
So cute, so fun for kids!
She held Li Song in one hand and Li Yu in the other, sucking on the left and touching on the right, enjoying the happiness of being between the two little cuties.
Li Song's limited brain capacity cleverly flashed the idea of "walking into a trap." He stared wide-eyed in surprise, seeking a solution in vain. He could only droop his face and hum softly urge, "Auntie, let's go quickly, otherwise... otherwise the oranges will be eaten by birds!"
What a clever way to save yourself~
Fu Ziyan was cutely threatened, "Auntie knows, we'll set off now."
They said they were setting off, but in fact they were already in the orange orchard and were only a few steps away.
However, children have short legs, so it’s okay to use the word “set off”.
Fu Ziyan took one step and stopped three times, slowly following the two children who were so full of energy. She watched Li Song, who had finally walked under the orange tree, turn around excitedly and waved at her, calling out "Auntie" in a childish voice.
The person in charge of the orange orchard came over to greet Fu Ziyan: "Ms. Fu, you are here. We have specially reserved some oranges that are at a height more suitable for picking for you. They are over here."
The orange trees weren't very tall, so they would use stepladders or climb directly up the branches to pick the fruit from the upper branches. The remaining fruit, which was within reach, was reserved for the Hong Kong businessman's daughter. After all, the Hong Kong businessman's daughter was there to have fun, and she couldn't afford to get hurt or cause any safety issues that would ruin her experience.
To help her, a foreign investor, invest and build a factory, the communes in Panyu County were very friendly to her. She had visited the orange orchard a few days ago to pick oranges. The sky was clear, the orange trees were shady, the wind rustled the leaves, and the fragrance of the oranges could be smelled from the nearby trees. It was a very wild and pleasant experience.
So Fu Ziyan brought the two children here to play again before leaving tomorrow.
The person in charge spoke politely to Fu Ziyan while leading them to a low area full of fruits.
Li Song tilted his head, blinked his big, intelligent eyes, and blurted out, "This is not the same tree as last time!"
The person in charge responded with a smile: "Yes, young comrade is very smart. All the oranges on those trees have been picked last time." The ripening time of oranges on different trees will vary by a few days. The fruits of these trees are slightly later than the last batch.
Being praised~
Li Song pursed his lips and smiled secretly, joy overflowing in his eyes.
Seeing the bodyguard behind Fu Ziyan carrying a fruit basket, the person in charge asked, "Miss Fu, are you starting to pick the fruit now? I'll arrange for a fruit farmer to follow you."
Fu Ziyan looked at her watch and shook her head: "Let's have lunch first and pick them later. Comrade Xu can do as he pleases. You don't have to accompany me."
The bodyguard behind her, who was carrying something, moved when he heard the sound. He found a flat, shaded area within his sight and looked at Fu Ziyan respectfully: "Miss, is it okay to set up here?"
Fu Ziyan just nodded slightly, and the bodyguards quickly set to work, setting up the tent, spreading out the small folding table... and finally placing boxes of lunch boxes prepared in advance.
The preparations were so thorough that the person in charge was stunned.
This...is this how the young lady travels?
Tents, tables, benches, tablecloths, large rugs, lunch, and even vases and flowers to decorate the tabletops!
This is not camping at all. It's just the way he decorated the living room and dining table when he moved to a new house. Oh, no, his family has never had the habit of arranging flowers and placing vases for decoration.
That's not all.
After the bodyguard politely asked if the meal was ready and received an affirmative response from Miss Fu.
The table was quickly filled with exquisite dishes: four meat dishes and two vegetable dishes, a box of diced fruit drizzled with white sauce, and some other dishes he couldn't name. Finally, a crystal fruit plate was placed. The seasonal fruits, bright and shiny, looked even more delicious against the sunlight and crystal.
Person in charge: ...
It's really an eye-opener!
"Miss, you can eat now."
Fu Ziyan nodded with a curved lip, and softly called to the two children huddled on the carpet playing with toys. Then she turned back to look at him, smiling softly, her tone polite yet distant: "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you. Comrade Xu probably hasn't eaten yet. I have some extra food here, you can take some home."
The extra meal was actually prepared for the bodyguards. They were used to bringing an extra meal to avoid special situations.
"No, no," the person in charge said, shaking his hands. It was already rude to watch someone prepare a meal, and how could he take some home? No matter how delicious Miss Fu's meal was, it wouldn't work.
But his refusal was obviously ineffective.
Since Fu Ziyan had spoken, the bodyguards accompanying her would naturally carry out the order. The bodyguards with high fighting power, fast and swift hands were simply not something he could withstand.
He only felt that there was suddenly a brand new warm lunch box in his arms. The hand that handed him the lunch box had smooth muscles and looked full of strength. When he met the bodyguard's expressionless face, he didn't even dare to say the word of refusal.
"Ms. Fu, I..."
"Comrade Xu, you're welcome."
"Thank you very much, you can call me anytime if you need anything."
The person in charge walked home with the lunch box in his arms, feeling mixed emotions. He was sometimes reminiscing about Miss Fu's generous camping trip, and sometimes looking forward to the meal.
He had just arrived home, and the naughty kids gathered at the dinner table waiting for dinner to start had their eyes fixed on him. His youngest son, who had the most sensitive nose, wrinkled his nose and ran over to him with a smile, his eyes fixed on the three-layer lunch box wrapped in clothes and kept warm in his arms. "Dad, what delicious food did you bring? And it's such a big new lunch box!"
"Go, go, go, sit down, we'll be divided soon, and you won't be left out."
The second son was more sensible and said more politely: "Dad, aren't you going to greet the distinguished guests from the garden?"
"Yes, it just happened that Miss Fu was about to have dinner, so she gave me a portion."
"Wow, we're in for a treat! Let me try what delicacies this young lady from Hong Kong eats!"
As the lunch box was opened, a series of "wows" rang out in the room.
"This rice is as white as pearls, and the white stuff inside looks like crab meat! This is roast meat; oh, and there's this beautiful Hakka stuffed tofu. Hey, the young lady also eats lettuce with oyster sauce."
"This young lady from Hong Kong really eats delicious food!"
Seeing his wife and children's excitement, he was silent for a moment, but did not express his guess in the end - that was the lunch for the young lady's bodyguard, so let them be happy.
"Dad, do you have a chance to get it next time?"
"You're dreaming! Do you think I'm so free that I come to the Orange Garden every day? I just happened to come today!"
"..."
At the same time, the home of the person in charge of the orange orchard was filled with laughter because of a box of lunch sent by Fu Ziyan. Fu Ziyan, who really had some free time to come to the orange orchard to pick oranges and have a picnic, was caught up in the trance of coaxing her children.
The younger Xiao Yubao was playing with his toy Gaga, and as soon as he sat at the table to eat, he thought of his mother.
He pursed his lips and said aggrievedly: "Where's my mom? I want my mom!"
"Yubao, have you forgotten that we went to see Mom at her workplace before we came here?" Fu Ziyan coaxed him softly, "Didn't you agree with Mom to go out and play with Auntie and eat by yourself at noon?"
Little Li Yu nodded, then shook his head: "Eat it yourself, where's mom?"
Fu Ziyan: ...Little boy, how can you find sentence bugs by yourself at such a young age!
So since you didn't say whether mom was there or not, it just assumed that mom was there, right?
Fu Ziyan was silent, but fortunately, her brother Li Song was very promising. He held his younger brother and started chattering, using Chinese mixed with "baby" talk. To Fu Ziyan, it sounded like a chaotic chatter, but the strange thing was that Li Yu was really coaxed by his brother.
He nodded obediently, then sat next to his brother and ate his children's meal with a spoon.
Fu Ziyan:!!!
So do human babies really have a language called baby talk to communicate with each other?
"Auntie, what is this black thing?" Li Song pointed at the rice ball in the lunch box curiously. This was something he had never seen before.
"This is a rice ball. It's wrapped in seaweed and has a little treasure hidden inside. You can try it yourself and guess what's inside."
To be precise, it is a modified version of rice ball, super small. Fu Ziyan specifically instructed Song Xianqing to make it small enough for an adult to bite one.
Perhaps children are naturally interested in "opening blind boxes". As soon as Fu Ziyan finished explaining, Li Song started eating with great anticipation. After four or five bites and swallowing the whole thing, he excitedly looked up and said to Fu Ziyan: "Auntie, I know, there's..."
A gentle breeze blew, and the orange tree leaves rustled.
Under the orange tree, in front of the goose yellow tent, with the rustling sound of leaves, an adult and two children happily savored the delicious food with the flavor of nature.
After dinner, under the bright sunshine and playful wind, I carried my fruit basket and scissors and picked one orange after another, each one as golden as a little lantern...
Tired of picking, the adults and children gathered in a tent, sheltered from the sun and filled with warmth and novelty. A small fruit knife sliced through the orange peel, and the fragrance of the orange quickly filled the small space. Younger brother Li Yu clamored for some, and his aunt, with a charming smile, coaxed him, "Pinch your face and you'll have a bite." Li Song watched in amazement as his silly brother put his face close to his aunt's hand...
Somehow, Li Song had a very deep memory of this day.
It was so profound that many, many years later, when he had grown into another gentle and scheming cadre who served the people, his mind was still engraved with the scene of camping and picking oranges in the orange orchard on that day when he was four years old. He remembered that the oranges were very sweet and his aunt's smile was beautiful and bright.