I'm the Farmgirl You Can't Mess With-Chapter 1365: Side Story: Mu Bowen (3)

Mu Yangling and Qi Haoran had just returned from Nanyang a few days ago. When she heard that her brother was here, she got someone to bring out the gifts she had brought back for him to choose from.

However, Mu Bowen was in a daze. When he entered the house, he was looking down at his toes.

The corners of Mu Yangling’s mouth twitched twice. She went forward and led her brother to the study, then arranged for him to sit on a chair covered in animal skin. As she asked someone to burn the brazier, she shook her head and left when she saw him lowering his head in deep thought.

Whenever his younger brother was trying to solve a difficult problem, he would be like this. Sometimes, he would be in a daze and not react even if someone attempted to kidnap him. Once, when he was walking on the street, he suddenly thought of a water conservancy issue. As he was too engrossed in his thoughts, he subconsciously walked all the way home. However, when he reached the door of his house, he wandered all the way to the King’s Residence. Then, he slowly walked towards the Ministry of Works from the King’s Residence...

By the time he came back to his senses, he had already been brought home by his manservant.

Because of this, Mu Yangling felt very guilty towards her sister-in-law, and would always help out with her brother’s inner estate matters as long as she could.

As Mu Bowen was obsessed with the water conservancy projects, he had to rely on his sister-in-law for almost everything in the Mu Residence. Not only was Mu Bowen her younger brother, but she had also raised him single-handedly. Hence, she could not help but feel guilty about this.

Fortunately, Mu Bowen was not someone who would forget about his family just for work. He would also specially take time out to accompany his family and educate his children.

Sometimes, he would even take his wife out on a romantic date to spend some alone time with her.

In Madam Fang’s heart, other than not earning her the title of the Lady of the Imperial Command, her husband was not inferior to other men. In fact, she was more blissful than most women in the world.

When Mu Bowen came back to his senses, it was already dark outside. He walked to the reception pavilion to take a look. His wife, Madam Fang, was sitting on the couch with Mu Yangling, choosing from a dazzling array of gemstones.

When Mu Yangling saw her brother, she hurriedly waved her hand and said, "Come over and give your opinion on which gem’s color suits your wife the best."

Mu Bowen went forward to look at the 40 to 50 large gemstones on the couch and asked, "Where did you get so many gemstones?"

Any one of them was easily worth a hundred taels of silver, and a few of the larger ones were probably worth thousands of taels of silver.

"When your brother-in-law and I were traveling in Nanyang, we encountered a lost western merchant ship. We led them back to the correct path, and these are thank-you gifts from them. How is it? Aren’t they lovely?"

Mu Bowen raised his brows. "Are Westerners that generous?"

"Tiger Head sent a military ship to pick us up, thus they knew our identities." Mu Yangling pushed the gems in front of him and said, "Hurry up and choose a few for your wife. She’s been hesitating for a long time."

Mu Bowen immediately chose the two largest rubies and sapphires and a few smaller rubies. He smiled at his wife and said, "I’ll have these small ones made into earrings for you. As for this big gem, we can make a set of jewelry with it. You look pretty in red."

Blushing, Madam Fang whispered, "It’s too much. Sister hasn’t even chosen yet."

Mu Yangling quickly waved her hand and said, "I have plenty of gems. You don’t have to leave them for me."

Mu Bowen nodded as well. "My sister doesn’t lack gemstones at all. She actually prefers jade. I’ll give her the jade grape pendant I just obtained later."

Mu Yangling smiled. "Thank you for still thinking about me."

"Not only do I think about Sister, but I also think about Father and Mother." Mu Bowen fumbled with the gem in his hand and said, "Sister, I want to go back to the north. Mother sent a letter saying that Daddy is holding a grand birthday celebration this year."

"And?"

Mu Bowen coughed lightly and said guiltily, "But I promised Li An that I would help them design suitable heating relief shelters as soon as possible. This way, even if I return to the north, I’m afraid I won’t be able to stay by my parents’ side."

When you read about someone passing by their home three times without going into it1, you might think of it as admirable. However, it sure did not feel good when you were experiencing it yourself.

At the very least, Mu Bowen was worried that his parents would be furious when they found out. If returning to the north would only anger his parents, he might as well not return.

Mu Yangling patted his head and said, "How unreasonable do you think Father and Mother are? Just write them a letter and tell them the truth. Don’t worry, they will definitely support you. Even if they’re angry, you can still count on me, right?"

Mu Bowen lowered his head and remained silent.

Mu Yangling sighed slightly and asked her sister-in-law to help box the gems. She pulled Mu Bowen to the study and personally watched him write the letter.

Mu Bowen did not have much contact with his parents. Although they exchanged letters every month, it was different from Mu Bowen’s letters to his sister where he could talk about everything under the sun. Mu Bowen only asked after his parents, and certainly did not talk about work like Qi Haoran did with his sons.

Mu Bowen never took the initiative to mention his work to his parents, and Mu Shi and Shu Wanniang rarely asked either.

Mu Yangling didn’t know when their estrangement started, but she understood that it wasn’t any of their fault.

Mu Shi had participated very little in Mu Bowen’s childhood, so Bowen had never developed the habit of confiding in his father since he was a child.

However, Mu Shi could not be blamed because that was caused by the circumstances of the era. He had already tried his best to squeeze out as much time as possible to accompany his family. Even Mu Yangling rarely discussed her matters with her father in her youth.

When she needed to confide in someone or make a decision, she would choose Qi Haoran, or even Fan Zijin and Xiuhong. She had never thought of looking for her father.

On the other hand, Shu Wanniang was a weak person, despite doing her best to protect her children. She made clothes for them, prepared food, washed clothes, and did all the housework. She also constantly taught her children to be good and diligent.

Perhaps her original personality dictated that she could only achieve one of those things, but for the sake of her children, she had forcefully done all three. Not only Mu Yangling, but even Mu Bowen had seen his mother’s hard work. The two of them only felt heartache and pity for her, thus certainly would not blame her.

However, this also caused the siblings to never let anything outside disturb her, let alone take the initiative to confide in her.

When Mu Bowen resigned and began to focus on water conservancy, although both parties expressed that they understood each other and there were no conflicts, not seeing each other for a long time still made them grow distant.

This made Mu Bowen feel guilty and heartbroken. He did not dare to tell his parents that he might not enter their home despite returning to the north.

Mu Yangling stood beside him. Seeing that he hadn’t put down his brush for a long time, she stroked his head and said gently, "Bowen, you’re also a father now. I think no matter what Feng’er does in the future or how long he stays away from home, he’s still your son and your flesh and blood in your heart, right?"

"Of course." Mu Bowen paused. He stared at the paper in a daze for a long time before slowly writing.

His sister was right. No matter what Feng’er did, he would still be his son. Even if he was annoyed with him over something, they were still related by blood.

Similarly, no matter what he did, he was still his father’s son, related by blood.

Mu Bowen wrote to his parents to apologize. First, he said that he would go back to celebrate his father’s birthday and the new year. Then, he wrote that he would have to go somewhere else for work and could not return home immediately. For this, he seeked their forgiveness.