Chapter 2034 - 16: Daughter of an Old Friend

At dusk, thin smoke curls from chimneys, and a woman stands at the door calling her children home; the local dog lies before the entrance, and the mother hen leads her brood of chicks slowly back to the coop.

Outside, artillery fire roars, endless warfare rages, yet here, there is a tranquil scene.

Woof woof woof.

Seeing strangers pass by, the local dog starts barking, its eyes cautiously watching these strangers.

Xiao Qi glared at the dog, raised a fist at it, and the local dog backed off two steps, becoming even more wary.

"Wang Cai, why are you barking?" A man comes out and scolds, then, seeing the people at the door, immediately hides behind it, cautiously eyeing Xiao Qi and Wufu.

What sort of people are these, so ragged and tattered?

"Xiao Qi!" Wufu shakes her head and then nods slightly at the man, offers a friendly smile, and walks forward.

With their disheveled appearance, anyone would feel afraid and be on guard upon seeing them.

The man watches them walk away, furrows his brow; that woman seems familiar, as if seen somewhere before.

"Who is it?" A woman inside asks.

"Don’t know them." The man shakes his head, goes inside, thinking hard: where has he seen her before?

"Master, where are we going?" Xiao Qi asks Wufu.

Wufu responds, "To my other uncle’s home."

Not sure if they’ve moved away.

Another uncle? Xiao Qi feels a bit confused.

Wufu walks toward the Old Zhou family among the wary eyes of villagers recalling it from memory.

The Old Zhou family has completely transformed now; years ago, Wufu and Madam Zhou gave Zhou Xueli a lot of silver, he bought a lot of land and even opened a grain store in town; the harvested grain from their fields is more than enough to eat and is sold, now they’re small landlords, living richly, basically the wealthiest in Wozi Village.

Blue brick and tile house, the old residence has been renovated and even expanded, large and new; in front of the house, two young children are playing with stones, laughing merrily.

As Wufu approaches, one child looks up, eyes filled with fear, and holds the hand of the other child standing at the door.

Wufu comes near, gives the two children a glance, gaze settling on the round-eyed boy, carefully examining him.

"Who are you?" The boy asks bravely.

Wufu asks, "Are you Zhou Xueli’s son?"

This child bears a resemblance to Zhou Xueli.

"You know my dad?" The boy blurts out, immediately covers his mouth, and yells inside, "Mom, Tantan."

Someone comes swiftly from inside, a ten-year-old dark-faced girl, calls loudly, "Young master, what’s wrong?"

"Someone is here."

Wufu looks at the dark-faced girl, not bad, they even have servants now, should be living quite well.

The dark-faced girl shields the boy behind her, full of caution yet curiosity as she scrutinizes Wufu and them, asking, "Who are you? Looking for someone?"

"Zhou Xueli, is he home?" Wufu asks, "If he’s not here, can your Madam come out to meet? Just tell her..."

She pauses and says, "Tell her it’s the daughter of an old acquaintance."

A daughter of an old acquaintance?

The dark-faced girl sees her with a friendly expression, asks them to wait, then runs inside, soon a voice echoes again.

"You girl, always making a fuss, which old acquaintance?" A female voice comes closer from inside until the woman appears at the door, "What people are these, you... Wufu?"

The woman raises her head and sees the woman standing in the doorway, very disheveled, with a face that’s almost unchanged, no, even sharper; it’s Wufu?

Wufu sees her, grins broadly, "Little Aunt."