Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 239: 237: Booming Business, Ye Lei Sneaks Out, Sisi Gets Angry

It’s quite annoying how every time she tidies up Ah-Huang and Ah-Hua’s den, it’s a mess the next day when she checks on it.

Her words made everyone laugh.

“You just want to keep the horse. Didn’t you hear him say that raising a horse also requires feeding various beans and coarse grains and cutting grass? If it keeps getting colder, where can we find grass?”

Liu Sisi doesn’t find the horse appealing.

“How much fodder can one horse eat? Once we bring the horse back, I’ll take care of everything.”

Di Yelei is excited.

The continuous hills behind the house have no shortage of grass to feed a horse. But the stable must be tidied up first.

“Alright! Remember, these words are coming from you!”

Liu Sisi doesn’t want to crush him too much and lets him be.

On the other hand, as Yelei’s injury has improved, a good horse would be more convenient to replace walking when he goes to the governmental office.

As everyone talks and walks, they reach the doorway of the bookstore. When they hand the new clothes and quilt for Di Cheng, his eyes turn red.

“Third Aunt… I… this… ”

“Don’t dilly-dally, hurry up and take it!”

Liu Sisi pushes the cotton quilt and cotton-padded jacket towards Di Cheng and says assertively, “I’m not giving these clothes and quilt for free! If I find you slacking off or being dishonest, don’t blame me for being harsh on you!”

Di Cheng forces back the tears in his eyes and nods vigorously, “Third Aunt, rest assured! Di Cheng is definitely not a lazy and cunning person!”

“That’s good! Put them away quickly.”

Liu Sisi’s tough demeanor disappears, and she smiles broadly.

As they’re talking, Old Six from the Carriage Shop happens to be delivering goods and sees Liu Sisi. He bows and walks up to her, “Ah, so Miss from the Liu Family is here today. How rare!”

“Oh, it’s Master Old Six. It seems you’ve been quite busy lately, your Carriage Shop must be doing well?”

Liu Sisi smiles gently and responds in kind.

“Not bad! It’s like this every year, and I’m used to it. This is a batch of goods. I have already sent the order you placed today along with the carriage. It should arrive in a couple of days.”

Old Six speaks and hands over the paper order.

Liu Sisi takes it, checks it, and signs her name at the end.

“Alright! Next time you deliver goods, just deal with my nephew as usual.” Liu Sisi casually points at Di Cheng, who is busy moving the goods.

“Miss from the Liu Family, you can rest assured! We’ve been doing business for a long time, and my credibility is absolutely guaranteed!”

Old Six slaps his chest with a guarantee, takes the reward money given by Liu Sisi, and leaves happily with his carriage.

“Everyone, get to work. I still have goods to deliver, so I’ll take my leave.”

“Take care, Master Old Six!”

Liu Sisi’s gaze lingered on the departing carriage, her heart churning. If her family had such a carriage for transportation, wouldn’t it be more convenient?

However, just as one must eat a meal one bite at a time, one can’t expect to become a Fatty in just one gulp!

For the following days, the weather was gloomy and rainy, with each day colder than the last.

Stepping out for a walk in the morning, Sisi felt like her face was covered in ice crystals, her breath turning into a misty fog. But by noon, the sun would come out, and the temperature would rise again.

The newly purchased cotton clothes and cotton quilts had just come in handy.

Liu Sisi took out the three blue fabrics and cut them according to the size of the quilt. As planned, she made a covering for the quilt to be sewn on, which would be easy to take off, wash, and provide extra warmth.

However, this was no small project, and Liu Sisi wasn’t in a rush, sewing it together stitch by stitch.

If she had to say what her greatest improvement was since coming to this era, it might be learning to use a needle to sew clothes and mend shoe soles, which she was gradually getting the hang of.

Following the sewing habits of the people around her, she threaded a long needle with thick cotton thread, wrapped a large piece of cloth around the outer layer, and sewed the quilt securely with cotton thread around the edge. When it was time to wash the quilt, she could simply pull out the thread, wash the cover, dry it, and sew it back on.

Di Yelei was nowhere to be found early that day.

Liu Sisi continued to dismantle the old quilt cover, truly fed up with the lumpy feel of the old cotton and its faint mildewy smell. Seeing the rare sunshine outside, she hurriedly took apart the quilt, planning to take out the cotton, air it out, and sew it back together as a padded blanket.

Soon, Guihua arrived.

Guihua had been visiting the Di Family more frequently lately, mainly because when Zhang Yun wasn’t playing with the two children at the Di Family, he would be hunting with Zhang Peng in the mountains.

As the Start of Winter approached, many animals in the mountain would hibernate, and nowadays, they were all fat and strong. So people like Zhang Peng spent their days wandering the mountains, making Di Yelei feel like his heart was being scratched by claws.

He would go hunting in the mountains every two or three days, bringing back some wild animals.

“Sisi, didn’t I hear a few days ago that some families in the village are considering sending their children to you to teach? Why has there been no follow-up?”

Guihua, who was mending a shoe sole, casually asked Liu Sisi.

Liu Sisi, who was working hard to separate the cotton wadding, replied with a smile, “What could happen? Although it seems elegant for a girl to be literate, it costs a lot of money. They think the education gift is too high, so they either don’t want to come or their family opposes it. Actually, I’m tired too. You’ve seen my situation; I’m like a spinning top, never stopping.”

“You’re right, seeing you makes me feel tired too.”

Guihua nodded sympathetically, “But now that Brother Ye Lei’s health has improved, it’s natural that your lives will improve as he hunts more in the mountains. Yesterday, Zhang Peng told me, and I was…”

“Wait! Sister Guihua, what were you saying? Who went hunting in the mountains?”

Liu Sisi’s face changed, interrupting Guihua immediately.

“Brother Ye Lei! You…you don’t know that Brother Ye Lei went into the mountains?”

Guihua hesitated to ask, realizing that she had said something wrong.

Liu Sisi threw down her work and rushed into the kitchen. As expected! The place where Di Yelei usually stored his bow and arrows was empty, with nothing left!

“That bastard! What the hell is he thinking?”

Liu Sisi was more than a little upset!

Pulling a bow was not like walking, requiring not only arm strength but also the stretching force of muscles. It was not hard to imagine how much pressure it would put on the chest as one pulls the large bow and how much damage it would do to the broken ribs!

But that damned bastard secretly took his bow and arrows to the mountain behind her back, making her furious!