I can gather experience beads

"My son!"

Lianhua County Pier.

A fat middle-aged man who looked 70% similar to Chen Fugui and wore a round hat hugged Chen Fugui in his arms, tears streaming down his face.

I hadn't seen my son for a year and I thought he had an accident.

Unexpectedly, the situation took a turn for the better and I received a letter from my son.

Now that they have seen their son return with their own eyes, Chen's father and his family are extremely happy and excited.

Cao Rui was quite touched when watching this scene.

Wait until the father and son calm down.

Chen Fugui took his father's hand and came to Cao Rui.

"Dad, he is the Cao Rui I told you about in the letter."

Father Chen smiled at Cao Rui and said, "Fugui is on the island in the middle of the lake thanks to your care, little brother Cao."

Cao Rui waved his hand: "Uncle, you are joking. It is Fugui who should take care of me."

Upon hearing this, Father Chen invited him, "You are far away in Luo City, it would be best if you could take care of each other. Come to my humble abode and have a rest. I will ask the carriage in the inn to take you home."

Cao Rui shook his head and said, "Uncle, I haven't been home for a year. I would like to go back home to see my parents as soon as possible. I'll come to visit you next time."

Father Chen nodded and stopped insisting: "He is indeed a filial and obedient child."

"Old Chen, send Master Cao home now."

The latter sentence was said by Chen's father to his coachman.

Chen's father ran a restaurant. The family was quite wealthy and had a coachman who was used both in the restaurant and at home.

Cao Rui did not refuse. He nodded and thanked him. After agreeing with Chen Fugui to return to the island in the center of the lake one day, he got on the Chen family's carriage.

The coachman, Lao Chen, waved the whip and the carriage quickly headed towards Shijia Village.

......

"Young Master Cao, the carriage can only stop here."

"Then you will have to walk along a narrow mountain road that takes about a cup of tea. You will need to walk on your own."

The Chen family's coachman stopped the carriage in front of a small path in the mountains and spoke somewhat embarrassedly.

"It's okay, just stop here."

Cao Rui got off the carriage and tightened the bag in his hand.

The snow had stopped, but the snow was still deep.

The carriage turned around and left, disappearing from Cao Rui's sight.

Cao Rui turned around, stepped on the snow, and walked towards home step by step.

It was about tea time.

The scene of Shijia Village appeared in Cao Rui's eyes.

Compared to the day when I left with my third cousin, Shijia Village has not changed at all.

Dashan’s house is still so conspicuous.

It’s just that the roofs of every household are covered with a thick layer of white snow.

It was dusk and smoke was rising from the village.

Cao Rui carried his bag to his house and gently pushed open the door.

Inside the house, parents and eldest brother were eating dinner around the dining table.

See Cao Rui suddenly return home.

Everyone was stunned at first, and then they all showed happy expressions.

"Shiwa, you're finally back!"

"Your third cousin said that you went to a faraway place to be an apprentice to a traveling merchant!"

"I went to the city to look for your third cousin, but I didn't expect that I hadn't seen him in the past six months! Did he come back with you?"

......

My parents and elder brother were talking to me.

Cao Rui understood the current situation clearly.

His parents didn't know he had been abducted.

After kidnapping him, his third cousin came back and lied to his parents, saying that he had gone to a faraway place to work as an apprentice traveling merchant.

About half a year ago, my third cousin lost all his money gambling again and eventually disappeared in Lianhua County.

My father went to look for my third cousin several times, but couldn't find him.

Not getting any news about Cao Rui, his mother cried several times.

Seeing Cao Rui return at this time, the mother was the most excited. Tears kept falling like broken strings and she couldn't stop them.

Cao Rui didn't know how to comfort his family.

He opened the bundle, took out the four taels of silver hidden inside, and placed it on the table.

"Mom and Dad, this money is what I saved this year. Use it to renovate the house for our family and find a wife for my eldest brother." Cao Rui said.

Dozens of silver coins were placed on the table.

The luster of the silver made the eyes of the parents and elder brother hurt.

"Shiwa, did you earn all this money this year?" The father was a little unconvinced.

For an ordinary apprentice, it is considered good if he can save four or five cents of silver in a year.

Cao Rui directly increased it tenfold.

"Well, I'm an apprentice in Luocheng now. It's a big city with a high income." Cao Rui lied and did not tell his parents that he had joined the Luoshui Gang.

They are just ordinary mountain people, and knowing too much would be troublesome.

"Los Angeles! No wonder!" My father showed a longing look.

Luocheng is the main city of Luoshui area, and it has six counties under its jurisdiction, including Lianhua County.

My father only went to Los Angeles once when he was young, and he still has a deep impression of its prosperity.

"I really have to thank my third cousin! Did he come back with you?" said the mother.

Hearing this, Cao Rui's expression straightened.

"Mom and Dad, there is something I need to tell you."

"My third cousin is a bad gambler. I went to Los Angeles with the help of a noble man. It has nothing to do with him."

Cao Rui recounted the entire process of how his third cousin abducted and sold him, but omitted some of the details about how he was rescued by Yang Ping, so it didn't sound as thrilling.

"I'm going to settle the score with this beast!" After hearing what Cao Rui said, the eldest brother became furious.

The parents' faces were also filled with anger.

"I'm fine now, right?"

"Father, mother and big brother, you don't need to seek revenge for me. I can handle my own problems myself."

"Besides, we don't know where our third cousin is right now."

"My third cousin is a lousy gambler. He might be dead somewhere."

After hearing what Cao Rui said, the family members gradually calmed down.

"eat first."

"Shiwa probably won't be able to stay for many days after he returns, so let's just enjoy the New Year first," said the father.

The food is simple though.

But Cao Rui also ate with relish.

After the meal, my father carefully put away the silver that Cao Rui brought back, and a smile appeared on his wrinkled face for the first time in a long time.

"It's time to find a match for your eldest brother."

The eldest brother on the side heard this and touched his neck with a red face.

This caused Cao Rui and his mother to burst into laughter.

Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

This is how I spent the New Year in Shijia Village.

On the second day of the new year, a well-dressed young master came to Shijia Village.

It was Chen Fugui and their coachman.

This surprised Cao Rui quite a bit.

The coachman was almost drowned in the bags in his hands, and he was almost sweating from the heat on the mountain road in the winter.

While the coachman was chatting with my parents.

Cao Rui took Chen Fugui for a stroll around the village.

"How come you have time to wish me a happy new year?" Cao Rui asked.

Chen Fugui's chubby face was serious, "Cao Rui, I won't go to Luocheng after the New Year. My father doesn't want me to suffer outside, so he decided to let me return to Lianhua County to inherit the family business."

Cao Rui was slightly stunned when he heard this, but he could completely understand it.

"Then congratulations, Master Chen!"