Chapter 788

"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back!" Even a person as smooth and sophisticated as He Chunhua was momentarily overwhelmed by emotion, a thousand different feelings surging in his heart. It took him a good while to compose himself before he asked, "Have you had breakfast?"

He Lingchuan shook his head.

"Perfect, let's eat together."

Lady Ying wiped away her tears and turned to instruct Steward Wu, "Add more dishes!"

Her eldest son had a big appetite; the breakfast the kitchen had prepared in advance wouldn't be enough for a family of four. "I heard the Chinese toon sprouts delivered this morning are very tender. Tell the cook to make six steamed buns—no, no, steamed buns take too long, make pan-fried buns! And the braised beef originally meant for lunch, slice it up and serve it now. Also, make three bowls of hot and sour soup with noodles..."

He Lingchuan leaned over and said with a smile, "Is it still the cook from Heishuicheng? If so, I want hawthorn cake!"

"You're such a glutton, asking for dessert before you've even eaten your meal?" Lady Ying scolded him, then turned to Steward Wu and said, "Go get the hawthorn cake."

He Lingchuan hurriedly added, "I also brought over a dozen people back with me. Old Wu, please take care of their food and drink for me!"

As expected of his eldest son, even after half a year apart, he still had that same style! Lady Ying rolled her eyes inwardly, but she didn't voice any criticism.

He Chunhua heard this too, his gaze flickering slightly.

Where did his eldest son bring these people back from?

Steward Wu agreed repeatedly and hurried off to handle it.

The family of four walked toward the dining hall, the courtyard filled with long-lost laughter and chatter.

Seeing his mother and younger brother reveal their true feelings, He Lingchuan felt joy in his own heart as well.

Neither he nor the original owner liked this home, but compared to the stormy waves he had experienced since, he realized how carefree and comfortable life in Heishuicheng had been.

It was a pity, though; he couldn't go back.

Whether it was his state of mind or his life experience, he couldn't go back.

He could still feel He Chunhua's gaze firmly locked onto him the entire time.

His father's joy was also clearly evident.

After eight months, the whole family was finally sitting down to eat together again.

It looked harmonious and happy.

As soon as He Chunhua's fish fillet porridge was served, he pushed it directly to his eldest son: "Eat more! You look like you've lost weight."

He Lingchuan didn't decline, slurping down the porridge: "Home-cooked food is still the best."

This wasn't an empty statement; after eating all sorts of delicacies in Lingxu City, he finally realized that home cooking suited his stomach best.

Lady Ying said with a beaming smile, "Quick, tell us where you've been for the past half year! Why didn't you come back or send a letter to let us know you were safe?"

The last few words were said through gritted teeth.

This heartless little brat, didn't he know how worried his family was? "Oh, my." He Lingchuan scratched his head. In truth, not long after he first entered the Red Yan Demon Nation, he met Li Qingge, who had initially said she would pass a message back to his country for him, but later changed her mind.

Sect Master Li was a smart person who knew how to handle things with discretion.

Speaking of the He family, He Lingchuan's feelings were very subtle.

"Last summer, I fell into the Hanhe River. I don't know where so many logs, stumps, and rocks came from; I was knocked around in the water and finally, I don't know what hit my head, and I passed out." He began to make things up, "When I woke up, I was already in a harbor called Shabu Port in the Xulu Kingdom. They said I was washed into a shallow bay by the flood, and the local fishermen fished me out. They originally wanted to bury me, but then they realized I was still breathing."

Lady Ying and He Yue listened with bated breath; only He Chunhua had personally experienced the Battle of the Hanhe River and seen with his own eyes how his eldest son had fallen into the water, and how the boundless fallen timber from the upper reaches of the great river had come crashing down, crushing everything in its path.

That He Lingchuan could survive was nothing short of a miracle.

"How long did you drift with the current?" He Chunhua had a vague impression that there indeed seemed to be a river bend in Xulu Kingdom called Shabu Port, and it was indeed downstream on the Hanhe River. He knew this because he had studied the battle map with the northern front commander, Zhao Pan.

"I'm not quite sure, maybe two or three days?"

He Yue asked curiously, "Brother, I'm not trying to be difficult, but after drifting in the water for two or three days, you were still breathing?"

He Lingchuan took a bead out of his pocket and shook it at him: "Look at what this is? A Turtle Bead!"

"This thing helps with breathing underwater; I put it in my mouth the moment I fell in."

"Oh, I remember now, you got this near County Magistrate Lake?" He Yue still remembered the intense battle near County Magistrate Village.

"Good memory." He Lingchuan praised his younger brother.

Lady Ying urged, "And then?"

"And then I forgot who I was."

"Huh?" What kind of crazy plot twist was this?

He Lingchuan rubbed the back of his head and said, "After I woke up, I had no idea who I was or where I came from. The physician said I had suffered a heavy blow to the head, causing blood stasis that blocked my memory. I couldn't fish, and I didn't want to farm; I was completely lost there and couldn't even afford the medical bills."

At this point, he gritted his teeth: "I don't know which heartless bastard took all my money and belongings while I was unconscious! I woke up with nothing!"

The storage ring on his finger had long since been replaced—swapped in Lingxu City—so he didn't fear He Chunhua recognizing it.

"Luckily, a passing merchant caravan saw that I was strong and skilled in martial arts, so they recruited me as a caravan guard."

The steaming pan-fried buns were brought out, the bottoms still sizzling. With a scrape of chopsticks, the entire layer of oily, crispy skin was revealed. He Lingchuan picked one up and took a bite; the hot juice inside sprayed out two feet, nearly splashing onto He Yue's face.

He dodged nimbly: "And then?"

"I wandered with the caravan for a long time. Memories would occasionally surface like fragments; I could remember your faces, and I remembered snippets of Heishuicheng and Shihuancheng, and scenes from the battle at the Hanhe River would even flash through my mind. But... they just weren't coherent, and I just couldn't remember who you all were!"

He Lingchuan wore a look of sadness and grievance.

He couldn't very well say, "I beat up the puppet master Dong Rui, drifted into the nest of the ancient demon Zhu Xiuer, was entrusted by her to go to Beijia City to find a celestial transformation, then became best friends with the Red Yan Crown Prince, investigated the case of the missing messenger for Red Yan, and ended up escalating it into the Elixir of Immortality case that shook Lingxu City. Finally, after offending many big shots in Lingxu City, I blew up the Star-Plucking Tower of the Heavenly Palace, and Lingxu City suffered a great disaster."

Lady Ying would definitely say, "Your brain is broken, you need to take some medicine."

Rather than that, it was better to just make up a story about his brain being broken and him drifting around doing odd jobs.

To Lady Ying and He Yue, this was quite bizarre; to He Lingchuan, this was just shamelessly copying a melodramatic plot.

But between being outrageous and being bizarre, he preferred the latter.

After all, this barely fit into normal human cognition, didn't it? He Yue patted his brother's shoulder in comfort: "Brother, you're back after all!"

"Yes, later the caravan went to the Rongshan territory, and there was a cicada plague there..."

When his eldest son mentioned the two words "Rongshan," He Chunhua's gaze froze slightly.

In one day, he had actually heard "Rongshan" twice; what a coincidence?

(End of chapter)