Chapter 386: Shangri-La
Wu Sheng laughed heartily after feeding her, then turned to see Little Tang Mo staring fixedly at him from across the way.
He was rolling his eyes quite a bit.
Wu Sheng blinked. "Alright, you can have the next handful."
"As if I’d want it," Little Tang Mo huffed.
’All he does is try to steal Mom from me all day long, hmph.’
Wu Sheng and Su Li exchanged a secret glance, stifling their laughter and tacitly agreeing to continue.
After a moment, Wu Sheng held out the Yellow Bubble Fruit in his palm to Little Tang Mo. "Here."
Little Tang Mo turned his head away haughtily. "No, thanks."
"What do you mean ’no, thanks’? Hurry up and eat it. If you don’t, I’m going to. Ahhh."
Little Tang Mo clearly wanted to stand his ground, but in the end, his mouth moved faster than his mind and opened on its own.
Wu Sheng, feeding him successfully, wiped the juice from the corner of Little Tang Mo’s mouth. "You eat the ones on the bottom. You can’t reach the ones on top."
After eating their fill of Yellow Bubble Fruit, the three of them set off again.
Once they entered the village, they started running into more people, and everyone’s eyes lit up when they saw Wu Sheng.
"Wu Sheng? It is you, isn’t it? You’re back."
Wu Sheng smiled. "Yes, Auntie."
"Your mom didn’t come back with you this year?" the auntie asked, her gaze fixed on Su Li and Little Tang Mo.
"And this is?"
"This is my fiancée, Su Li, and this is our child, Little Mo. I brought her back to my hometown."
Wu Sheng introduced them.
Upon hearing the two words "our child," everyone except Wu Sheng—Little Tang Mo, Su Li, and the auntie—froze.
Su Li and Little Tang Mo’s expressions were frozen, while the auntie was full of amazement. "This is your child? He’s so big already?"
Hadn’t people said Wu Sheng wasn’t willing to get married? How did he suddenly have such a big kid?
"Yep, he’s seven this year." Wu Sheng winked at the auntie.
Seeing his wink, the auntie nodded blankly and didn’t press further, turning instead to look at Su Li with enthusiasm.
"What a pretty young lady! You must come over to my place to hang out when you have time."
Su Li quickly agreed, "Okay!"
After saying goodbye to the auntie, the three of them continued on their way.
"My house is still a ways ahead. It’s not close to anyone else’s. Everyone says it’s like living in our own private village."
Wu Sheng said, pointing ahead for Su Li and the others.
Little Tang Mo asked Wu Sheng in a low voice, "Why did you... why did you say I’m your child?"
Wu Sheng raised an eyebrow. "What, you’re not happy about it? Well, you’ll have to be, because you will be sooner or later."
Little Tang Mo pouted, but a hint of a smile flashed in his eyes.
Su Li just smiled and said nothing.
"There are a lot of bamboo buildings here," she remarked, looking around.
"Mhm, bamboo buildings are convenient to make." Wu Sheng nodded. "It’s because there’s so much bamboo here. Most of the people in Wu Family Village know some kind of craft."
"We make a living off the bamboo. Not only are many of the things we use made of it, but we can also weave things like bamboo baskets to sell. Many of the elders in the village are very skilled; their woven crafts are really beautiful."
Su Li nodded. She had seen many handicrafts woven from bamboo before.
"Wu Family Village and bamboo are inseparable. Tables, chairs, wardrobes, beds—they’re all woven from bamboo. Even steamers and chopsticks are made from it."
As he said this, Wu Sheng’s eyebrows shot up. "I know a little bit about this craft myself. If you want anything, I’ll weave it for you."
"Okay. I might ask for a lot of things," Su Li said, her interest piqued by his words.
Little Tang Mo was also eager to try. "I want to learn, too."
Wu Sheng shook his head. "No way. Your hands are too soft; you’ll get cut. You can learn when you’re older."
They followed the small path through the village, lined with wildflowers and weeds. They occasionally ran into people who all recognized Wu Sheng, greeting him with delighted surprise.
Whenever they came across children, Wu Sheng would hand out the White Rabbit creamy candies and other snacks he had bought beforehand.
They walked and stopped, walked and stopped.
Wu Sheng probably hadn’t noticed it himself, but ever since arriving here, he had a constant smile on his face.
It had a trace of child-like innocence.
Just as he’d said, he really loved this place.
Even though she had just arrived, Su Li was starting to like it a lot, too.
After another round of greetings, Wu Sheng quickened his pace. "We’re almost there. But before we arrive... heheh, let’s eat some plums first. Crispy green plums."
Wu Sheng pointed to several plum trees ahead. "Those plum trees up there—two of them are red plum varieties, and two are for crispy green plums. There should be some left."
Just as he finished speaking, they arrived.
Indeed, not all the crispy green plums were gone, but the ones on the lower branches had all been picked. Only the ones higher up remained.
Wu Sheng put down their luggage and, without a second word, started climbing. "Be careful."
"It’s fine, I used to climb this tree every day."
With his kind of agility, he shot up the tree with a WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH.
"Su Li, get ready to catch! I’ll toss a few down for you guys. Go ahead and start eating."
Su Li and the others had arrived at the perfect time. The crispy green plums were at their peak, and they were unbelievably delicious.
Su Li and Little Tang Mo sat under the tree eating while Wu Sheng picked from above.
"Are they good?"
Wu Sheng asked after popping one into his own mouth.
"Mhm, delicious," Su Li nodded eagerly.
Wu Sheng chuckled, scampered back down the tree, and pointed to his shirt, which was bulging with plums. "If they’re good, eat your fill."
Little Tang Mo looked at the plum tree, his face full of longing.
’He really wanted to climb it, too.’
Su Li saw it clearly. "Little Mo, you want to climb the tree?"
Little Tang Mo blinked, then hesitated for a moment before nodding.
Su Li: "...Climbing trees is a little dangerous. Let’s wait and find an easier one to climb."
Wu Sheng, standing to the side, couldn’t stop laughing. "An ’easier tree to climb’? Where are you going to find one of those? It’s fine, Little Point. For the next few days, you should do whatever you want."
"Little boys are supposed to be mischievous when they’re young. You’re just too well-behaved."
Little Tang Mo really was excessively well-behaved.
After eating Yellow Bubble Fruit, then crispy green plums, and then green apples, they finally arrived in front of Grandma Wu’s house, having snacked the whole way.
They had originally gotten off the bus quite early, arriving in the village just after five o’clock.
But with all the snacking along the way, it was almost seven by the time they got to the house.
"This whole area is planted with fruit trees; we have a bit of everything. Those are plum trees, and those are a different kind of plum tree—the red variety, but they’re not tasty yet. And over there are peach trees, but the peaches aren’t ripe enough to eat."
Wu Sheng gave them a tour of the orchard.
Su Li and Little Tang Mo stared at the house, which was surrounded by all sorts of fruit trees, and nodded blankly.
The house was a little different from what Su Li had expected.
A person-high bamboo fence enclosed the yard, complete with a bamboo gate. Morning glories twined around the fence, blooming in a lively riot of color.
Blue, scarlet, pink, purple—the morning glories of every color were lush and full of vibrant life.
Su Li stood stunned outside the fence, a certain poem flashing through her mind.
"Picking chrysanthemums by the eastern fence, I calmly see the southern mountains."
The atmosphere of the poem was perfectly captured by the scene before her.
"Come on, let’s go in." Wu Sheng shooed away a chicken that had wandered up to his feet, then smiled and called out in a louder voice.
"Grandma, I’m home!"
Wu Sheng pushed open the bamboo gate, and the entire courtyard came into view.
It was a small yard. All sorts of flowers and plants grew at the base of the wall, and further in, there was a table and chairs woven from bamboo, as well as a grapevine trellis.
The bright green grapes hanging from the trellis looked incredibly lovely.
And next to the trellis, a swing swayed gently in the breeze.
Directly ahead stood a house built entirely of bamboo. The bamboo building was only one story tall.
From the quiet bamboo house, an elderly woman with completely white hair and a slightly stooped back emerged.
"Is that Wu Sheng?"