Chapter 131: I Want to Go Home With You
Xiaoguo only left an oil lamp beside the bed in the room. Since they couldn’t fall asleep, Zhuang Zhuang nestled in Xiaoguo’s arms and requested her to tell him a story.
“Mother, I want to hear a story.”
Xiaoguo had not told a story ever since they left home.
Xiaoguo thought for a moment. “I will tell you the story of Little Red Riding Hood.”
After finishing the story, Zhuang Zhuang was still not sleepy. Instead, he felt even more energetic.
“Mother, when can we go home?”
Having been out over the past few days, he was starting to miss the animals at home, and his uncle too.
“Soon.” Xiaoguo stroked his head and comforted him. “We’ll reach the capital tomorrow and settle the burial of your grandparents. After which we’ll go straight home without taking any breaks. Okay?”
Zhuang Zhuang nodded and said happily, “That’s great!”
“Mother…” Zhuang Zhuang suddenly thought of something and sounded a little sad.
“Yes?”
Xiaoguo looked down at Zhuang Zhuang, wondering what was wrong with him.
“Mother…” Zhuang Zhuang called out again. “Will Father be buried with Grandpa and Grandma?”
Actually, what Zhuang Zhuang wanted to ask was why he didn’t see his father’s coffin.
Xiaoguo froze. That was a valid question. As Jiang Danhe had died on the battlefield, there should have been a cenotaph. However, the previous owner had been too flustered at that time. She was busy with Mrs. Jiang’s burial and had neglected this part about Jiang Danhe. Later on, she had to worry about food shortage, so the matter was completely forgotten. After that, the previous owner had left and Xiaoguo had also forgotten about it. She was only reminded of it now that Zhuang Zhuang had mentioned it.
Jiang Danhe’s body was not around, so only a cenotaph could be set up. However, she did not bring anything related to Jiang Danhe on this trip, and there was no way to bury him. What should she do?
Xiaoguo sighed helplessly. It was useless even if she had not forgotten. There was nothing left of Jiang Danhe’s belongings. When the news of his death came, Mrs. Jiang got out of bed and burned all his clothes with her last breath, saying that she couldn’t let him freeze.
Xiaoguo had no way of answering Zhuang Zhuang’s question. As Zhuang Zhuang waited for Xiaoguo’s answer, he quickly fell asleep in the quiet surroundings. Xiaoguo covered him with a blanket and got up to blow out the candles.
However, she couldn’t fall asleep. Jiang Danhe’s grave could have been buried tomorrow. But she didn’t prepare anything for his grave. This was entirely due to her negligence, that she had forgotten about his grave.
Xiaoguo did not sleep well the entire night. She could only close her eyes and wait for dawn.
–
On the other side, Jiang Danhe returned to his residence. Li Shouji took the initiative to wait for him to return.
As soon as he entered the door, he saw Li Shouji sitting on a chair, waiting for Jiang Danhe with his legs crossed.
He had come prepared today. Since he had slept well these past few days and was full of energy, he had come to see Jiang Danhe.
However, Jiang Danhe was too worried to pay attention to the annoying Li Shouji. He ignored him and sat on the other side.
Li Shouji, who had gotten into position, almost fell off his chair. He looked back at Jiang Danhe, who was deep in thought. “Just like that…?”
He was already prepared to stay up all night to look at the fabrics. Why was he not enthusiastic anymore?
“What happened?”
Li Shouji put away his b*tchy face and sat opposite Jiang Danhe with a serious expression. Has something happened to the army? Or was it about the emperor?
Jiang Danhe frowned and looked up at Li Shouji solemnly. The latter could not help but lean closer to him, his heart was tense.
Jiang Danhe looked at Li Shouji and sneezed three times.
Li Shouji wiped his face without any emotions and looked at Jiang Danhe with a poker face.
Jiang Danhe was a little embarrassed. He didn’t do it on purpose. He didn’t know why he would suddenly sneeze three times.
Besides, there was no way to control human reflexes. It wasn’t his fault.
Even if there were a few of Li Shouji, he was no match for the thick-skinned Jiang Danhe. He was well aware of this, so he snorted at Jiang Danhe and turned to sit down. He didn’t want to argue with him.
“What would you think if I asked you to manage the army in my place?”
Jiang Danhe murmured.
“What?!”
Li Shouji looked at him in disbelief. What was he talking about?
“Why don’t you take on the position of a general. I am confident of your capabilities. You would be a perfect fit for the role.”
Jiang Danhe had been thinking about this problem for the past few days. Wasn’t Shao Zhan bothered by the fact that there was no one to take over his position? He was worried that if Jiang Danhe left, he wouldn’t have any trusted aides by his side. Besides…
Jiang Danhe looked at Li Shouji, who was rolling his eyes. Although he didn’t look reliable, he was a trustworthy man. He was never a hindrance and had a lot of drive. If he were to become a general, he would make a good one.
With a plan in mind, Jiang Danhe was no longer depressed. As soon as he could get him to the general position, Shao Zhan would definitely let him go.
The more Jiang Danhe thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. He looked at Li Shouji with a caring gaze that he had never shown before.
Li Shouji shivered. “Hey, stop. I didn’t say anything about wanting to be a general.”
“One step up from a deputy general is a general. Don’t be shy. You can do it.”
Jiang Danhe felt that he might be shy. “Yes! He must be feeling shy.”
The shadow that had been haunting him for the past few days had finally disappeared. “Oh my, why does Li Shouji seem more and more adorable?”
Li Shouji rolled his eyes. What did he mean by being a general? What about being shy? Did he say that he wanted to be a general?
“Stop. I won’t be the commander. Are you leaving me here by myself?”
Li Shouji did not want to stay behind alone. He was used to following Jiang Danhe. If the man were to go home, he would not stay behind alone.
“Then what are you going to do? Are you coming home with me?”
Jiang Danhe looked at Li Shouji from the corner of his eye, as if he had just raised a ridiculous question.
“That’s right!”
Li Shouji’s answer was very straightforward. He had been following Jiang Danhe since he entered the army. Li Shouji had no family, so in his heart, Jiang Danhe was his only family. If Jiang Danhe were to go home, he didn’t care if he was labeled as thick-skinned or shameless, he would follow the man wherever he goes.
In any case, after being in the army for so many years, he had saved up quite a lot. If it really came down to it, he would buy a plot of land opposite Jiang Danhe’s house and set up home there.
Looking at Li Shouji, who was acting quite shamelessly, Jiang Danhe chuckled. He is going to stick with him forever.
Li Shouji kept maintaining his stance of not listening to Jiang Danhe and allowed him to say whatever he wanted.
Jiang Danhe had never known that he could be so shameless. It seemed that Li Shouji was intending to stick with him.
The two of them stared at each other in silence. In the end, Li Shouji surrendered first and turned his head away from him.
He didn’t care if he was shameless or not, he really regarded Jiang Danhe as family, and he was the only one at that…
“Sigh…” Jiang Danhe’s hopeless sigh could be heard…
“Zhuang Zhuang, Zhuang Zhuang.”
Xiaoguo woke up at dawn. It was rare for her to have a good night’s sleep. She was feeling much better. After washing up, the waiter brought breakfast over. It was a simple meal of porridge, buns, and eggs.
Xiaoguo put down the tray and looked at Zhuang Zhuang, who was still half asleep. Amused, she walked over and reached out to tickle him. His armpits were his ticklish spot, so she shouldn’t touch them. This was something Xiaoguo had discovered when she was bathing him.
“Zhuang Zhuang? Zhuang Zhuang?”
As his mother, Xiaoguo gave him one last chance. Looking at Zhuang Zhuang, who was not responding at all, she stretched out her demonic hands. “Hehe, don’t blame me…”