Chapter 1033 Holding

The next day, Song Chunxue still went down the mountain.

She originally planned to see not only Sanwa, but also Xia Mulan.

She took Xia's mother down the mountain with her. Before going to Sanwa's house, she picked out a lot of things for the children on the street.

Now that Xia's mother has her own wages, she spends all her time on the mountain without any worries. She dresses neatly and her complexion is even better than it was a few years ago.

In the past two years, she has rarely returned to her husband's home, but her two sons always pass through Jincheng and will come up the mountain to stay overnight.

He claimed to be visiting his mother, but his eldest son actually came to ask her for money every time.

Xia's mother gave everything, but she would also keep some for herself.

She has come to terms with things now and will no longer suppress her feelings or pour her heart out to her child like she used to.

Her second son is alright; he's closer to his younger sister, Xia Mulan, and always stays in Jincheng for a few more days.

However, she still gets sad and sheds tears every time she talks about her daughter seeking folk remedies to have a son.

"Don't worry, my dear in-law, this baby is definitely a son. She already has four daughters." Song Chunxue comforted her. "Even if it's not a son, it's fine. Five daughters are good too. They'll be much more filial than five sons in the future."

"But Sanwa is a man, he is still..."

“What’s wrong with men? If he dares to have any other thoughts outside, I’ll break his legs.” At this point, Song Chunxue lowered her voice, “But it’s also my fault for leading Sanwa astray. He might not keep a mistress, but he’ll go up the mountain to cultivate.”

“What’s wrong with that? Cultivation is good,” Xia’s mother said with a smile. “I used to think that being a Taoist priest was just like being a monk, and Taoist priests are not as proper as monks. But I definitely wouldn’t think that way now.”

As they were talking, the two of them arrived at Sanwa's house.

Xia Mulan was sitting on a soft chair doing needlework, while her three daughters were playing in the yard. Her belly was pointed.

The eldest daughter is now studying at a private school. According to the third child, the eldest daughter doesn't play with her other younger sisters much and always prefers to be alone.

It's the same as before, except now she can read and she'll hold all sorts of books and read them carefully, whether she understands them or not, she just reads them very attentively.

She was like that in her past life, but back then, Sanwa didn't receive much education, and he couldn't afford to support him.

Every time he saw his eldest daughter reading her fourth uncle's books, he would scold her sternly.

In this lifetime, the eldest daughter not only gets to enter the third child's study, but she also has her own desk.

Looking at the grandson she had raised in her previous life, Song Chunxue couldn't help but sigh, "Heaven is truly kind, allowing me to see the different fates of the children."

If all of this is just a dream, she will be content.

After practicing her spiritual cultivation, she wondered which of her past and present lives was truly a dream, and it was hard to say.

However, every time this is mentioned, her senior brother will give her a whack.

He scolded her for being delusional, saying that she had already cultivated and was still talking about useless things. Then he threw her a sword manual and told her to take Wuyou out and have some fun, and once she had enough, she wouldn't want to think about anything else.

As it turns out, her senior brother was a person of great wisdom; she fell asleep as soon as she finished practicing her swordplay.

"Mother, what brings you here?" Xia Mulan stood up from her chair.

The maid Xiaohe helped her up.

"Slow down, you're pregnant, so be careful," Xia's mother stepped forward to help Xia Mulan, and couldn't help but complain, "You're not so poor that you can't make ends meet, so do less needlework."

Xia Mulan knew that her mother was just heartbroken and insisted on having a son.

But her womb just wouldn't cooperate, and she gave birth to four daughters in a row.

“Your mother is right. You shouldn’t be doing needlework now that you’re pregnant.” Song Chunxue sat on the stool, smiling as she opened the cloth bag in her hand as she looked at her three granddaughters who had gathered around. “No rush, no rush, there’s enough for everyone. And your eldest sister too, we’ll share it.”

Actually, Song Chunxue didn't need to emphasize these things. Xia Mulan had been sharing food with them since they were little. If there were a small scale, she would probably weigh them exactly the same.

Even so, the children still complained about her.

So now Song Chunxue doesn't care anymore. When she has time, she goes to see everyone. When she's too busy or lazy, she just looks at the third child.

She just loves listening to the third child talk, and thinks the fourth child is noisy and the second child speaks in circles, so what?

If they have any complaints, they should keep them to themselves.

"Candy, sugar, red sugar, I want red sugar."

"I want red too, Grandma, I want red too."

There was also a toddler who had just learned to walk and was babbling and not very talkative. All three children were dressed neatly and had two little pigtails on their heads.

In the past, Mulan was too busy farming to let her children get too dirty, and now she takes even better care of them, keeping them clean and well-fed.

Even though she had a maid and an old woman in the house, she still preferred to take care of the children herself.

When she had just given birth to two children, she still enjoyed reading and writing. Now, she's either making shoes or sewing clothes.

Mulan is skilled at needlework, and she often prefers to do it herself.

Looking at the tiger-head shoes on the children's feet, Song Chunxue couldn't stop praising them.

"I didn't learn how to make them back then, and the tiger-head shoes I made were really ugly. I was so angry that I smashed the kang (a heated brick bed) before I finished them, and I never made them again," Song Chunxue said with a smile. "How did my mother-in-law teach them? Mulan made them very well. Look, they even have pretty hair ties on their heads."

"I didn't teach her. I was weak back then. After finishing my work, I was too tired to move or even eat. I didn't have time to teach her these things. Mulan learned this and that from other girls in the village. She used to envy the girls who were skillful and beautiful. She would often disappear after meals."

When they reminisce about the past, they sit at the wooden table in the courtyard, chatting and eating snacks and drinking tea. They can talk about anything and everything, going on and on, until dark, or even until tomorrow.

Mulan gave the cook an order, and then she heard more noise coming from the kitchen.

The children loved to join in the fun, sometimes clinging to Song Chunxue's back, sometimes laughing and making faces at them.

Although they were all girls, the second and third girls had the most energy and were most like Mulan. They were very mischievous and just as energetic as the boys. If you weren't careful, they would climb up the grape trellis in the yard.

In the middle of the garden stands a dwarf crabapple tree, its trunk worn smooth and slippery from being walked on so many times; it's clear that someone climbs it every day.

That's good, so they won't be bullied after they get married.

Regardless of whether they are boys or girls, don't discipline them too much when they are young.

Every time Xia's mother said that Mulan's daughter was not like a girl and was as wild as a boy, and that someone should be hired to teach her manners, Song Chunxue would stop her and say that it was unnecessary.

After being stopped so many times, everyone knew her attitude and stopped trying to persuade her.

Before taking a nap after lunch, Song Chunxue came to Xia Mulan's room and gave her a heavy bag.

“Mother, this is unacceptable. You have already given us more than enough. We now have a shop…”

"Take it. You have many children and many expenses. Don't skimp on them just because they are girls. Girls in the Jiang family are more precious than boys, you know?"

Xia Mulan stopped refusing, her eyes reddening as she lowered her head and said, "I understand, Mother."