Chapter 713: Father's Persimmons

After walking for nearly three minutes, Xia Yu arrived under the ancient banyan tree.

The ancient banyan tree, which is more than 800 years old, is like a huge umbrella. It is 30 metres high and more than 50 metres in diameter, covering an area of more than three mu. Because banyan trees are evergreen, although it is now November, the tree is still covered with green leaves. The sunlight filters through the leaves and spills onto the ground, creating small bright spots.

Xia Yu stood under the tree and felt very cool. In the summer, this would definitely be a great place to cool off.

Listening to the birdsong in the tree, Xia Yu walked closer, stroked the bark, and a sense of nostalgia welled up in his eyes.

This banyan tree had been a part of Xia Yu's childhood memories in his past life. Although the circumference of the base of the tree was 13 metres, which would take seven adults holding hands to encircle, it was easy to climb. In his past life, Xia Yu had always liked to climb trees as a child and play in them, searching for bird nests.

'This banyan tree is really big. I have seen taller and bigger trees in the primeval forests of Southeast Asia, but as far as banyan trees go, I haven't seen any bigger than this one!'

Li Wuming, who was following Xia Yu, patted the thick banyan tree trunk and said with emotion.

Hearing Li Wuming say this, Xia Yongquan's face was filled with a sense of pride as he said, 'According to the old man who originally came to our village, the banyan tree in our village is one of the best in the whole country.'

Xia Yongquan's sense of pride made Xia Yu feel strangely familiar. He suddenly realised that in his previous life, he had also been just as proud when introducing it to outsiders. He smiled slightly and nodded, saying, 'It's true, there are definitely bigger banyan trees in the country, but there can't be many more.'

'More than 800 years old, it's not easy to grow this big, not to mention that it was planted by the Xia ancestors. It must be protected well. I'll mention it to the authorities and put a sign on the banyan tree to protect it.'

Xia Yongquan was pleasantly surprised and quickly said, 'Ah Yu, thank you. Everyone will be so happy when they find out!'

'What are you thanking me for? I'm a member of the Xia family. Since I'm capable, of course I can't just stand by and do nothing,'

Xia Yu waved his hand and laughed.

Xia Yongquan's smile grew even wider, and the look in his eyes for Xia Yu grew even more intimate.

'Let's go, let's take a stroll, let's go this way!'

Saying this, Xia Yu pointed to the middle of the three forking roads, and the group continued walking.

Along the way, they met villagers from time to time. Everyone was very enthusiastic when they saw Xia Yu, inviting him to go into their homes and sit down. At first, Xia Yu agreed, but later he just smiled and refused.

However, because of the villagers' enthusiasm, Xia Yu's heart felt warm.

After walking for another 500 meters, Xia Yu stopped in front of the courtyard of a family.

The courtyard was made of stone and was only 1.5 metres high. There was a wooden door in the middle, which was open, so Xia Yu could see the scene inside. In the distance there was a row of four or five adobe-walled houses, a green cypress tree on the right of the courtyard, and a persimmon tree on the left that was five or six metres high. The tree had very few leaves, but was full of red persimmons. A few children were picking the persimmons from the tree, laughing and joking.

Looking at this scene, Xia Yu's fists couldn't help but clench, his eyelashes trembled slightly, and his eyes were full of complex emotions.

Seeing Xia Yu stop, Xia Yongquan subconsciously introduced Xia Yu, 'Ah Yu, this is Uncle Xinhua's house. I guess he's gone to work in the fields now. Do you want to go in and have a sit?'

Xia Yu nodded, controlling his emotions, took a deep breath and said, 'Let's go in and have a look.'

'Okay! I'll go in first,'

He said, Xia Yongquan volunteered to go forward, and before entering the courtyard, he shouted, 'Uncle Xinhua, aunt, are you at home?'

'Afang, Awen, are your parents at home?'

Seeing no one answer, Xia Yongquan shouted again at the few children in the tree.

'My mom is in the vegetable garden behind the house, and my dad went to work in the fields!'

A child in the tree said loudly, eating a persimmon in his mouth.

Xia Yu looked at the child in the tree who was talking, and his pupils suddenly contracted. Memories from his previous life came flooding back, and his eyes became slightly moist.

It's so similar!

This little boy of about ten years old is a miniature version of his father from his previous life.

If you do the math, there's no mistake!

Xia Yongquan's conversation with the little boy confirmed Xia Yu's thoughts.

Xia Yongquan just shouted at the little boy, 'Fang, pick some delicious persimmons, we have guests at home!'

'Okay!'

the little boy shouted, then climbed up a branch like a monkey, very quickly. Xia Yu was shocked, and couldn't help shouting, 'Be careful, don't fall!'

The little boy laughed, a little smugly, and said, 'Don't worry, persimmon trees are very tough, I'm good at climbing trees, I won't fall!'

Xia Yu was slightly relieved, and his face was full of a smile.

He never imagined that his honest father in his previous life was also such a naughty boy when he was young.

At that moment, a younger boy slid down the tree trunk, said to Xia Yu and the others, 'I'll go get my mum,' and then, with bare feet, he dashed into the house, shouting, 'Mum, mum, Ah Quan is here with the big brother who gave out candies yesterday, mum...'

Xia Yu was amused. His second uncle, Xia Dongwen, had been interesting enough as a child. It turned out that he had only left them with the impression of "the big brother who gave out candies" yesterday.

'Yu, let's go in and sit down!'

As Xia Yu and the others were just entering the house, they happened to see a rural woman in her thirties walking over. When she saw Xia Yu and the others, she greeted them with a smile, saying, 'Mr Xia is here, a distinguished guest, and Ah Quan too. The house is a bit messy, don't mind it. Sit down, I'll pour you a glass of water.'

'Auntie, don't bother, we can do it ourselves!'

Xia Yongquan said, and hurried over to help.

'No, no, you sit down first. You're here, so there's no need for you to do anything. This is not showing disrespect to your aunt, so sit down!'

The woman was very enthusiastic and quick. She poured out some water from the kettle, carried a tray to the table, and handed Xia Yu a cup with her own hands. She said with a smile, 'Mr. Xia, have some water!'

Grandma from a previous life poured the water, and Xia Yu immediately took it with both hands, smiling gratefully and saying, 'Thank you, auntie. I'm not a stranger, so don't call me sir, just call me Ah Yu.'

At the same time, his heart was greatly touched. In his memory, his grandmother, Gu Yue Di, was already old, with silver hair and a face full of wrinkles, unlike how young she looked now.

Gu Yue Di looked at Xia Yu and saw that his face was sincere, so she nodded repeatedly and said, 'Very well.'

'There are peanuts here, home-grown, just dried the other day, they're sweet!'

With that, Gu Yuedi opened the cupboard again and broke out a plate of peanuts onto the table.

In the expectant gaze of Gu Yuedi, Xia Yu picked up a bag and peeled it open, pouring the peanuts into his mouth and chewing. He smacked his lips in admiration and said, 'They really are sweet and delicious!'

'If they're delicious, eat more, I'll pack some for you to take back later.'

'Auntie, no, no, you sit down!'

Seeing that Gu Yuedi was about to fill up some more peanuts, Xia Yu quickly laughed and stopped her.

At that moment, Xia Dongfang, Xia Yu's father in his previous life, ran in, his shirt lifted up to reveal a pile of red persimmons. He came up to Xia Yu and grinned, 'Big brother, eat some persimmons, they're sweet!'

After admiringly looking at his eldest son, Gu Yuedi also warmly greeted him, 'Yes, the persimmons at home are especially sweet, Yu, you try some!'

Looking at Xia Dongfang's expectant eyes and innocent smile, Xia Yu's eyes gradually became moist, and he kept saying 'good', picked up a persimmon, peeled it open, and took a big bite, mumbling, 'It's very sweet, thank you!'

The persimmon was really sweet, and the taste was very refreshing, making Xia Yu's taste buds bloom.

But at this moment Xia Yu didn't care about any of this at all, he just felt his heart being tightly grasped, his eyes watering, and he tried hard to control himself from letting the tears fall.

This was his father, the man who had worked hard to raise him in his previous life, the man who had toiled from dawn to dusk to send him to university!

Although the person in front of him was just a child, Xia Yu seemed to see the old figure in him, looking at him with a kind face.