Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

“These yam eggs are good, you can eat them raw, roasted, fried, or boiled! They can fill you up any way you eat them. Very good! Good!”

As he spoke, he had already placed a circle of sweet potatoes around the bonfire and began to roast them.

The darkness of the night deepened.

Outside, the rain continued to fall softly.

Liu Sisi changed the hot water several times, finally finishing washing the clothes. She then moved the stove, lined the clothes up, and hung them on bamboo poles to dry.

Old Cheng had a lot to say and was very cheerful. Many interesting words came out of his mouth, quickly attracting Elderly Mr. Di’s attention. Elderly Mr. Di also occasionally interjected, chatting idly with gestures.

Seeing that Liu Sisi started to dry the clothes, Old Cheng also casually took one to help.

“By the way, Old Cheng, where are you from? Where is your hometown? How many people are in your family?”

With nothing better to do and to prevent herself from getting lost in thought, Liu Sisi casually asked.

Old Cheng laughed heartily: “My family has many mouths to feed, so I came out early to make a living. Later, I heard that it was easy to make money in Southern City, so I teamed up with a few people to try my luck. After a few years, I did make some money. I wanted to settle down, marry a woman, and have two children. But because I was busy making money to support my family, I neglected her, so I became even busier making money. What I didn’t expect was that in the end, I just became a cuckold, raising someone else’s child…”

Liu Sisi looked up in surprise, not expecting that Old Cheng had such a bitter past.

But then she thought about it, since he could do something as desperate as selling himself, there must be a story behind it that no one would believe if he said he didn’t have one.

“What happened after that? They…”

Elderly Mr. Di was attracted and asked curiously.

Old Cheng held the back of his head with his hand, sighing, “What else can you do? Although that woman has done me wrong, I admit that I haven’t taken care of them for years. So, I picked up the baggage they threw away, went to the Carriage Shop, and boarded a random carriage. Then, I came here.”

Indeed, every family has its own bitter past!

“It’s good to come out. Your easy-going disposition is great. Now, just settle down in Di’s family. I, Liu Sisi, can’t guarantee anything else, but I can promise you that after a hundred years, I will still be able to take care of you in this circle of land!”

Old Cheng trembled, not even noticing that the sweet potato he was turning in his hand had fallen into the fire.

His lips trembled several times before he asked, “Is this true?”

At this moment, the circle of land Liu Sisi was talking about refers to the place where people are buried after they die. It was actually indirectly telling Old Cheng that he would not be wrapped in straw and discarded directly in the chaotic burial mound.

For a slave who sells himself, this is precious!

Wasn’t what he saved up for by selling himself so he could have a place to lay his body after death?

“True!” Liu Sisi nodded seriously!

“But let me make it clear, this is all based on your sincere and hard work. If I find you slacking off, playing tricks, and being disloyal…”

Old Cheng finally came to his senses, disdainfully replied, “When I, Old Cheng, do things, I always live up to my conscience! I would never do anything to betray my master for my own glory!”

“That’s good. From now on, just work hard. My Di family will definitely not treat you unfairly!”

Liu Sisi also said seriously.

It seemed that Old Cheng hadn’t fully relaxed from the conversation just now, reaching to pick up the sweet potato from the fire, and accidently burning his hand. He quickly withdrew his hand, only to throw the sweet potato back into the fire.

He pulled back his burnt hand, rubbed it with his other hand, and pinched his ear for a while before casually picking up a piece of wood to scoop the sweet potato out of the fire and holding it in his hand.

“The reason why I, Old Cheng, sold myself is to have a place to live before death and a place to lay my body after a hundred years. Since Madam has said so, I, Old Cheng, from now on, my life belongs to Di’s family!”

He said seriously.

Liu Sisi also laughed sincerely! She nodded seriously.

“Good! Since your life belongs to the Di family, I’ll entrust it to you for safekeeping. You must take good care of it and don’t let anything happen to it casually every two or three days. Now it’s not early, go to rest quickly!”

“Alright… No! I’ll stay with Elderly Master tonight, and wait for the Old Master to come back before going to sleep.”

Old Cheng insisted.

“Well…”

Liu Sisi didn’t force him, and slowly turned the clothes in her hands.

Time was slipping away little by little. Outside on the street, the sound of the timekeeper’s drum rang three times. The timekeeper shouted: “The cold wave is coming, turn off the lights and close the doors! ——Bang! Bang! Bang! ——”

Liu Sisi looked at the clothes in her hands, which were almost dry, and then got up to ask the others to rest.

Lying back in bed, she thought she wouldn’t be able to sleep. But unexpectedly, her drowsy body since becoming pregnant fell asleep as soon as it touched the bed.

Once in dreamland, that disgusting nightmare struck again!

She tossed and turned all night, only to wake up and realize that the sky outside had already begun to lighten, and Di Yelei hadn’t returned last night.

She followed her routine, doing chores, and after eating, only escorted Di Xuan to the doorway before watching him gradually fade into the distance.

Raising her head, she noticed that the clinic diagonally opposite was still closed, apparently not yet awake.

Liu Sisi stood for a while, then went inside to make a list, and called Old Cheng before leaving the house.

What she needed to do was simple: stock up on food!

Although the Di family bought farmland and Elderly Mr. Di had dozens of acres of land, she could only plant vegetables. How would she grow crops on the ground?

With the spring military recruitment beginning soon, who knows if the price of grain will skyrocket?

She couldn’t afford to run out of food at home, so it’s best to stock up early!

When she went out, it was still early, and the rice and grain shop hadn’t opened yet. Liu Sisi let Old Cheng knock on the shop door directly. At present, prices were almost at par, and a dan of grain was priced at three taels of silver. Liu Sisi bought a whole carriage of grain at once, priced at one dan two taels and eight maces, and hurriedly loaded it on the carriage and brought it home before daylight.

She didn’t stop there. Instead, she went to two more rice and grain stores in the small town and almost bought all the grains from the three stores before finally closing!