Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

“Will that happen?” Liu Sisi paused in her work, taken aback.

A cold sweat was breaking out on her brow, why hadn’t she sensed this?

“Better if you don’t remember, the past you was pretty unlikeable,” Liu Zhi’er responded, then buried herself back in her paper cutting.

“That’s enough, stop now. It’s getting late, what if you overwork yourself and fall ill?”

Liu Sisi spoke, moving forward as if to take the scissors from her.

Liu Zhi’er hastily concealed them behind her back, a slightly ingratiating smile on her face, “Good Sisi, let me cut for a little while longer, I promise I’m going to bed soon, okay?”

That smile was too powerful! Liu Sisi’s outstretched hand froze in place.

“Alright then, but remember, just a little bit longer then bedtime.”

“Don’t worry, just a little longer. I’ll finish cutting this piece and then go to bed.”

Liu Sisi moved her mouth, but said no more, then left the room.

She scooped some barley, grabbed a handful of hay, and turned to go feed the horses.

Unbeknownst to her, light snow had started falling quietly outside. It must have been for quite some time, as a thin layer of snow had already accumulated on the ground.

The jujube red horse neighed at her approach. Liu Sisi gently patted it, feeding it two sugar cubes before turning to look at Ah-Huang and Ah-Hua. These two puppies were snuggled together for warmth, with Ah-Huang sleeping on the outside to block the wind and Ah-Hua inside, hidden behind most of Ah-Huang’s body. On noticing Liu Sisi looking at them, they just whimpered a little, wagged their tails, and went back to sleep.

Liu Sisi smiled; these two puppies shared a strong bond!

After stoking the fire to make it burn brighter, Liu Sisi returned to her bedroom.

The moment she entered her old room, a chilly aura struck her.

The room had no signs of life, more importantly, it lacked Di Yelei’s presence.

Taking off her clothes, she climbed into the cold bed, shivering under two quilts.

Without Di Yelei nearby, she was always uncomfortable. Without that person in her heart, the room felt unbearably cold.

Unable to resist, she got up and spread out another quilt, laying on one and covering herself with two. Hugging her knees, she forced her eyes shut, wondering how Di Yelei was faring now?

She tossed and turned all night, only managing to fall asleep as dawn was breaking.

But just as she dozed off, the recurring nightmare that hadn’t plagued her for a long time invaded her dreams once again.

Blood! So much blood, a shocking crimson, everything in sight was stained red!

The repeated dream once again played out, causing Liu Sisi to struggle in her sleep, trying to escape from the nightmare.

But the nightmare continued, Zuo Xingyu’s hideous face and the dagger held high, slashing fiercely…

“Ah!”

Liu Sisi jolted upright in bed, gasping for breath, covering her face.

The nightmare hadn’t visited her for many days. She thought she had forgotten about it, yet with Di Yelei’s absence today, it had returned!

She lay back down and grasped for the blanket, just then realizing that her entire body was soaked through, clearly she had been scared quite significantly.

What exactly was this dream about? Why did it cling to her so persistently?

Was that scene of wielding a dagger in her dream reality? Or simply a creation of her mind?

She didn’t have an answer.

After daybreak, the light snow not only didn’t abate, instead it seemed to be getting heavier.

Liu Zhi’er looked at the road outside and adamantly refused to allow Liu Sisi to accompany him to the small town.

“The road is icy in this snowy weather. If you slipped and fell on a normal day, it would be okay, but right now you’re not the same as before, if you really were to… encounter any kind of accident, what would you do?”

Liu Zhi’er asserted with all seriousness.

“But I…”

Liu Sisi hesitated, she was already carrying an unstable pregnancy, if anything were to happen… she simply dared not imagine it!

“Alright! I won’t go today, be very careful on the road, and come back early in the evening. Don’t stay out too late. Understand?” Liu Si instructed him again and again.

“I understand, don’t worry.”

As they spoke, Liu Zhi’er put on his bamboo hat and briskly left.

Da Mao attempted to chase after him, but YingEr caught a hold of his hand. He could only yowl pitifully at the doorway, “Mum! Mum! Mum…”

Liu Zhi’er halted for a moment, but didn’t look back, he determinedly strode away quickly.

Da Mao let out a wail and burst into tears!

Liu Sisi quickly stepped forward to hold him, trying hard to calm him down.

Thankfully, he didn’t cry for too long. The baby beside him was soon calling out to him, “Da Mao, should we go play together? Please don’t cry! If you keep crying, I won’t play with you!”

“Come on, Da Mao! Would you like to play with the lantern? Your mother will return tonight! Please don’t act like this anymore! Come on, Da Mao….”

Only after a long while, did Da Mao reluctantly get off Liu Sisi, though he refused to play, and stubbornly stood guard at the entrance of the yard.

Only at noon when it was time to eat lunch, did he reluctantly leave the doorway.

In truth, was it only Da Mao who was waiting?

Liu Sisi was also waiting for Di Yelei and Liu Zhi’er to return home.

According to the local customs, today was the 25th day of Lunar December – the day to “welcome the Emperor Jade”. Everyone believed that after the God of Stove ascended to heaven, the Emperor Jade would personally descend to the mortal world on the 25th day of Lunar December to inspect the good and evil of mankind, and to determine the fortune or misfortune to come in the next year. Hence, every household must make offerings to pray for blessings, also known as “welcoming the Emperor Jade”.

On this day, everyone must be exceedingly cautious in their eating, living, and speaking, trying their best to win the favor of the Emperor Jade in hopes of being blessed with favorable weather and a bountiful harvest for the year ahead.

Early in the morning, even before daybreak, Elderly Mr. Di had already soaked the soybeans, in preparation to grind them into tofu.’

Once Liu Sisi managed to soothe Da Mao, she saw Elderly Mr. Di, leaning on a crutch, adding soybeans into the grinding hole.

“Father, let me handle this. I’ll grind the beans. You should go and rest for a bit.”

This stone mill was specifically bought by Di Yelei for grinding beans. It only weighed about ten-plus kilograms, hence it was extremely easy to handle. However, the ground bean flour wasn’t very smooth, requiring them to repeatedly pour it into the grinding hole to grind it a second time.

Elderly Mr. Di refused to leave, insisting on helping to add the beans to the mill. No matter how Liu Sisi tried to persuade him, he wouldn’t leave.

When Guihua arrived, Liu Sisi finally felt relieved: “You’ve come at the right time, you can help with grinding the beans.”

Guihua also laughed: “I came over here yesterday and you weren’t here, so I thought you should be here today. Making tofu is not an easy task. I thought we could cook together, and I could also chat with you, it saves a lot of trouble.”

Seeing Guihua arriving, Elderly Mr. Di finally left, yet he then grabbed a broom and headed to the courtyard to sweep the snow.

“Your father-in-law is quite a restless person, I really envy you. As for my big brother Zhang, we don’t have any elders here, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t be envious.”