Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 331: 331: Good News Brought by the Land Officer

The thin lips pursed tightly, like a hawk standing proudly on a mountain in the darkness of night, cold, aloof, and yet bearing an air of solitary defiance against the world!

As Liu Sisi’s eyes met those cold, star-like hawk eyes, the man’s arms crossed over his chest, raising an eyebrow arrogantly.

A complete stance of confidence and control!

Such demeanor made Liu Sisi shudder, and she hurriedly pulled down the carriage curtain to block out the view outside.

Why is Zuo Xingyu here?

Could it be that he was waiting here specifically for her to pass by?

She had said clearly before that the next time they met, he should have thought about the price he needed to pay before showing up. Could it be he had found that price to pay within such a short time?

She couldn’t help but frown.

“What’s wrong, Sisi? What’s outside the carriage?”

Di Yelei asked curiously, and as he spoke, he reached out to pull the curtain open…

“No! Nothing, Ye Lei, really, there’s nothing!”

Liu Sisi became flustered for a moment, hurriedly looking out the curtain that Di Yelei had pulled, only to see that the figure leaning against the stone pillar by the roadside had disappeared, as if it had never been there at all.

Di Yelei looked suspiciously from side to side before finally lowering the curtain.

He glanced casually at Liu Sisi, whose panicked expression made his face darken slightly, but he didn’t expose her little secret.

“It’s fine, let’s go.”

The swaying carriage continued on, with the two unusually quiet passengers lost in their own thoughts and falling silent.

When they arrived home, it was already dark. As they entered the house, a fragrance of cooked dishes wafted through the air.

“Mom! Ying’er is so hungry, I feel like I could eat a whole cow!”

The moment she returned home, Ying’er was back to her innocent self, clearly feeling stifled during their time at the official residence.

“Fine! Our Ying’er shall have a cow to eat later!”

Di Yelei laughed heartily, lifting her up and holding her high above his head as they entered the house.

Bowls of food had already been prepared in the house. Elderly Mr. Di was standing at the courtyard door, continuously stretching his neck to look out. Seeing them entering the courtyard, he got up and walked inside, leaning on his crutch with a wobbly gait.

In the kitchen, sitting beside the bonfire stirring the pot was none other than Liu Zhi’er. Da Mao sat quietly by her side, not making any noise.

Seeing the four of them return, she smiled and said, “The food is already cooked. I also made a pot of Laba Porridge, you can choose what you want to eat.” Her voice was still very hoarse.

“Second Sister, you’re not healed, why aren’t you resting in bed? I can do this work myself.”

Liu Sisi quickly approached, ready to take over.

“It’s okay, this is much more leisurely than what I used to do.”

The words of Liu Zhi’er were indifferent, and there was no sorrow in her voice when mentioning the past.

“That’s good too… ”

Liu Sisi didn’t stop her either, perhaps letting her second sister do some work would make her feel even more at ease.

Little sparrow Ying’er at the side couldn’t stop chattering, and as soon as she returned, she went up to hold Da Mao’s hand, gesturing excitedly to her.

“Da Mao! We went to a beautiful, beautiful residence today. There were so many people, so many flowers, so many pastries, and so many dishes – but those dishes looked better than they tasted…”

Ying’er wrinkled her little nose.

Liu Zhi’er laid out the bowls and chopsticks one by one, adding the rice. Liu Sisi called everyone to eat, and after calling a few times, she saw her father-in-law standing at the doorway of the kitchen, constantly looking outside.

“Father, it’s time for dinner. What are you looking at? Is there something wrong outside?”

Liu Sisi was also very curious, bending over to look outside.

The sky had already darkened, and the cold, windy winter nights were almost pitch black. It was unclear what her father-in-law was looking at.

Eat, eat…”

Elderly Mr. Di lowered his head somewhat disappointedly and went into the house in silence.

Liu Sisi was curious but didn’t say more. After everyone finished eating and the house was tidied up, Liu Sisi noticed Elderly Mr. Di standing outside again. Seemingly noticing Liu Sisi’s probing gaze, he sighed and went back to his room with his crutch.

“Dad must be waiting for someone from the old house to come. But it’s so late now, and there shouldn’t be anyone coming.”

Di Yelei suddenly spoke from behind.

“Ah! How do you walk without making a sound?”

Liu Sisi looked up at the pitch-black night sky: “How do you know Dad is waiting for someone from the old house? Is there some hidden meaning to this?”

Di Yelei looked at the night sky for a moment, his facial muscles twitching slightly: “Because…in the past, Dad would always be the first to move chopsticks today, eat Laba Porridge, and give out some pocket money so everyone could prepare for the New Year. For example, last year Xiao Wei got five copper coins and used the money to buy a bag of scrap cloth, sewed a few sachets to sell, and had thirty copper coins for the New Year. She really had a good year.”

Di Yelei sighed, shook his head, and turned to walk back inside: “Now that I think about it, these thirty copper coins were so little…”

Liu Sisi deeply agreed, as money really was like that. They used to wish they could split every copper coin to spend, but now even the pocket money they give Xuan’er every month was more than their entire family’s wealth before.

Di Yelei went straight to Elderly Mr. Di’s room when he entered the house, and Liu Sisi took a look and turned to her old bedroom.

Although the room had been refurbished, the floor was extremely damp because of the leaky roof and was not suitable for people to live in. Therefore, the two did not move in yet.

Liu Sisi carried the lamp around the room, estimating that it should be habitable in a few more days before leaving the room.

Looking back at the lamplight spilling from her father-in-law’s room and listening to the faint comforting voice of Di Yelei from inside, she moved towards the kitchen with her lamp.

Just then, she heard a knock at the courtyard door and couldn’t help but feel thrilled!

Could it be someone coming to invite her father-in-law to the old house?

She hurriedly walked faster, “Coming, coming!”

As she opened the yard door and looked up, she saw Mr. Land Officer’s smiling face: “Sisi! Is Third Son Di at home? I have something to discuss with him.”

“Yes, Yelei is at home. Mr. Land Officer, please come in.”

The Land Officer didn’t stand on ceremony and walked straight into the house, calling for Di Yelei: “Third Son Di, Third Son Di!”

Di Yelei came out of the house, followed by a delighted Elderly Mr. Di, but his smile faded as soon as he saw that the visitor was the Land Officer.

The Land Officer didn’t notice and still had a face full of happiness.

He stepped forward to grab Di Yelei’s hand: “Come, come, you come over here. I brought some good news today. I guarantee you’ll be satisfied with this news!”

Land Officer’s face was full of excitement and delight.