House Dad's Literary Life

Mo Fei couldn’t enter the ancestral hall. Not to mention that she hasn’t been included in the Yang family’s genealogy yet, even if she was, the ancestral hall wasn’t a place one could casually enter!

The Yang family’s ancestral hall could be considered more lenient in its rules. Due to the heavy casualties of war, only Yang Chonggui’s branch was left in the old Yang family, so the rules were decided by Yang Chonggui. Before, he didn’t allow Dong Yue’e to enter the ancestral hall, saying that one could only enter once in a lifetime. However, later on, he reluctantly changed the rule to allow female family members to enter the ancestral hall to worship the ancestors during festivals after failing to resist his wife’s insistence.

But now Mo Fei couldn’t enter, and Yang Huan didn’t dare to secretly bring Mo Fei in. If the old man saw it, Yang Huan would be beaten!

What to do?

Yang Huan’s eyes turned, and she smiled cunningly, saying, “I got it! Follow me!”

……

Yang Yi knelt in the gloomy ancestral hall, and the chilly night wind seeped in through the door crack. Fortunately, his body was strong and he wasn’t afraid of the cold, so he knelt calmly. In his heart, he was still criticizing his father’s traditions and ignorant views, and he felt that the “being obstinate and self-righteous” mentioned in the ancestral teachings could be applied to his father!

Of course, he was only silently criticizing Yang Chonggui’s way of doing things. As for the reason why Yang Chonggui blamed him, Yang Yi had already figured it out and recognized his own mistakes.

Someone once said, “The essence of a person is not an abstract thing inherent in an individual. In its reality, it is the sum of all social relations.”

He still existed in this world after all, and he couldn’t ignore social customs just because of his previous casual attitude toward life. He was also someone with a family, and even if he looked down on the binding force of that piece of paper, he should know the significance of this commitment to Mo Fei…

In this quiet ancestral hall, Yang Yi thought a lot.

However, this quietness was quickly broken.

A faint rustling sound reached Yang Yi’s ears. In this dim and quiet ancestral hall, it seemed very loud!

Yang Yi frowned and looked over. His hearing and vision were very good, and he quickly found the source of the sound. Then, in a ventilation hole in a corner of the wall, he saw a pair of eyes.

The eyes blinked and then retreated.

“Sister-in-law, look, Big Brother is inside.” Yang Huan’s voice came over, and after a while, a pair of familiar eyes appeared at the hole.

It was Mo Fei’s!

Yang Yi recognized it right away and also saw her sad expression when she saw him kneeling there.

“Mo Fei, it’s nothing big. I’ll probably be done in a little over half an hour. You should go back quickly, it’s quite cold outside.” Yang Yi hurriedly said before she could respond.

Mo Fei heard it, although it was a bit unclear outside, but she heard the second half of the sentence very clearly. She pursed her lips and said stubbornly, “No, I want to accompany you.”

“Why accompany me? I’m not cold inside, but you’re going to freeze outside. Silly, listen to me!”

“I won’t listen, I won’t listen, I don’t like seeing you being punished for me.” Mo Fei shed a few tears but managed to hold back, stubbornly retorting.

“It’s not a punishment. In our family, this kneeling punishment is very normal. If you don’t believe me, ask Huanhuan. Haven’t Yang Qing and I been punished like this often?” Yang Yi coaxed her.

Yang Huan also pulled Mo Fei and said, “Yes, it’s just an hour of punishment, nothing serious. We better not wait here, otherwise, when Dad comes back, things will get worse.”

Mo Fei was persuaded by Yang Huan to leave, but she didn’t just go back at ease. Instead, she went upstairs to get a coat for Yang Yi and asked Yang Qing to deliver it to him.

Then, she went to find Dong Yue’e. Although she was a bit nervous without Yang Yi, but still plucked up the courage to tell Dong Yue’e about her and Yang Yi’s current work situation, explained why they hadn’t gotten married yet, and wanted Dong Yue’e to help mediate.

At this moment, Xixi still didn’t understand what had just happened. She hopped over and grabbed her mother’s hand, asking, “Mama, where did Papa go?”

Now it was pitch black outside the big house, and Xixi couldn’t see anything clearly. She was a bit scared and didn’t dare to go on an “adventure” in the yard anymore. But neither her mother nor father were playing with her, and even her most lovable grandpa wasn’t there. The little girl finally felt bored.

“He, he has something to do right now. He’ll be back in a little while.” Mo Fei pulled Xixi into her arms, gently stroked her hair, and whispered.

Dong Yue’e looked at Xixi with a smile and came up with an idea. She said to Mo Fei, “Actually, what I usually say still has some effect. But now that the old man’s temper is up, he doesn’t listen to anyone, and my persuasion is useless. If he wants to make Tiesi kneel until dawn, he is also thinking of enforcing the law for the ancestors, disregarding family ties. But I think there is one person who might be able to persuade him!”

“Who?” Mo Fei asked anxiously, like a drowning person had grasped onto a straw.

“Little Yang Xi!” Dong Yue’e said with a smile.

……

After a while, Yang Chonggui slowly returned from outside with his hands behind his back. He didn’t rush to go to the ancestral hall to talk to Yang Yi, but first returned to the main hall. Upon seeing Dong Yue’e, he instructed, “Yue’e, pour me a cup of tea!”

But as soon as he sat down on the Taishi chair, a little person walked over with a teacup in hand, swaying.

“Grandpa, I’ll give it to you. Drink your tea.” Xixi’s crisp voice came over before she even arrived.

“Oh, quickly put it down, give it to Grandpa. How come you’re serving Grandpa tea? What if it’s hot?” Yang Chonggui looked anxious. Before he even warmed up his seat, he quickly stood up, went over to his granddaughter, took the teacup from her hand, and scolded her playfully.

“Hee hee, it’s not hot.” Xixi smiled sweetly at her grandpa.

Yang Chonggui touched the rim of the cup. He probably had a sense of things, took a sip, put it down, and indeed, it wasn’t hot. The tea had been allowed to cool, indicating that someone had prepared it in advance.

“It’s not okay even if it’s not hot. This is a porcelain cup. What if it falls and hits your foot, or cuts your foot?” Yang Chonggui picked up Xixi, and sat on the Taishi chair, scolding her in a concerned tone.

Although he was speaking to his granddaughter, the person he was really addressing knew it in their heart.

“Grandpa, grandma said, you locked up my Papa.” Xixi pouted and said, “Grandpa, don’t be angry, okay? My Papa, my Papa is not a bad person.”

“Okay…” Xixi shook Yang Chonggui’s hand as she spoke. This childish charming and innocent plea, even if Yang Chonggui was hard-hearted, he couldn’t resist.

“But your Papa did something wrong, so grandpa got angry.” Yang Chonggui explained.

“But, but please don’t lock him up, okay? I’m scared.” Xixi said sadly, “If Papa is disobedient, I’ll ask him to apologize to you, okay? Papa said a good child admits their mistake and corrects them. Please don’t be angry, okay…”

Xixi’s soft voice was so persuasive that Yang Chonggui didn’t know how to deal with it. He couldn’t be hard-hearted towards Xixi, and after being coaxed by his granddaughter, his anger had long dissipated.

“Okay, okay, okay! I won’t punish your Papa, Yang Xi, don’t cry. Grandpa promises you, I’ll let your Papa come back right away.” Yang Chonggui saw Xixi’s eyes turn red, and quickly said.

“Really?” Xixi held back her tears and looked at her grandpa with a face full of surprise and joy.

“Of course, when grandpa speaks, it’s a gentleman’s word, it couldn’t be taken back. Grandpa will let your Papa come back right now!” Yang Chonggui looked at his granddaughter’s surprised eyes, immediately patted his chest, and said boldly.

“Grandpa, you’re so nice!” Xixi leaned over and kissed her grandpa on the cheek.

This time, even Yang Chonggui, who had been keeping a straight face, couldn’t hold back anymore. A smile broke across his face, and the wrinkles seemed to bloom like a flower, making his countenance more lively than ever before.