Chapter 263 Heartbroken

One hundred?

Song Chunxue couldn't help but laugh.

When she first asked her senior for some, she seemed to want a hundred of them.

"Don't be so greedy. Besides, aren't you afraid that what I draw now won't work?" she said with a smile, annoyed. "I'll draw ten for you at most, one penny per drawing."

"Hey! Okay." Li Dazui laughed, "Let's try it and see if it works. I see you've become a city dweller now that you're successful, and you're anxious all the time. Before, you were content with nothing and just waiting to die, but now you're obsessed with getting lucky, thinking that one day I can also soar to the sky like you."

"..."

To be honest, Song Chunxue is very curious about where everyone thinks her money comes from.

“Didn’t you say you picked up a jar on the road? Now, people in our village clean up any chamber pots that our ancestors used and sell them as treasures. If I hadn’t stopped you in time, you could have used them to pickle vegetables in the kitchen.”

Song Chunxue looked at him with disgust, "Don't say such disgusting things."

Li Dazui chuckled and said, "This is nothing. In the past, when wealthy people died, they would put a big jade bead in their back, right? Some people didn't know that and bought it from tomb raiders, thinking it was something to be put in their mouths..."

“Stop, stop,” Song Chunxue frowned. “I’ve heard of this before. Some people have something wrong with their brains and will put anything in their mouths.”

"I'm not going to waste my breath on this nonsense. I'm going to draw some talismans."

Upon entering the courtyard, Song Chunxue found that the fourth son was asleep on the kang (a heated brick bed).

That little rascal, all he knows is how to slack off.

But she didn't wake him; instead, she took out paper and pen and drew talismans on the table.

I drew ten of each of the amulets and the wealth-attracting talismans.

She picked up the talisman that had been written in one go and examined it closely, feeling quite pleased with herself.

Hard work pays off; she never imagined that one day she would be involved with this thing.

Stepping out of the courtyard, Li Dazui took out ten coins, held the lucky charm in his hand, and grinned from ear to ear.

"I bought it from the Taoist priest before, and it really works. My daughter came to my house and gave me money. The buckwheat hull collector came the next day and offered a very satisfactory price. Isn't that amazing?"

He carefully tucked the talisman into his pocket, "Hahaha, mission accomplished, I'm off."

Song Chunxue was both amused and exasperated. "So you came here specifically to buy talisman paper?"

"Of course. Nothing is more important than making a fortune. My son is getting married soon, and I hope to earn more money."

Only after seeing Li Dazui's departing figure did Song Chunxue remember this matter.

The eldest brother happened to be coming from behind.

“I won’t be coming to his son’s wedding. You can give the money for me and write my name on it.” As she spoke, Song Chunxue took out five copper coins from her bosom. “Oh, and these two amulets, sew them onto the child’s clothes.”

The eldest brother dropped the shovel and found his hands covered in dirt.

"Mother, put her in my arms."

Song Chunxue put it into the pocket inside his clothes.

Tomorrow is Qingming Festival, and she casually asked, "Are you coming with us to visit the graves tomorrow?"

In their past life, ever since the family split up, the eldest son was like someone who popped out of a rock. They never went to the ancestral graves to pay respects, and they never brought their ancestors home for the New Year on New Year's Eve.

“Yes, I’ll go with you,” the old man said. “I’ve bought the paper and even made some paper money myself.”

Wow, he bought it in advance?

Song Chunxue couldn't help but ask, "Why did you suddenly decide to do all this?"

After she died, he wouldn't have spent money to buy paper money to burn for her if it weren't for the loss of face.

The eldest son stammered, "Because everyone says that your good fortune only improved because you burned paper money for my father."

"..." It seems everyone is quite shrewd.

The eldest son dusted himself off and said, "Mother, I'm going back."

As the sun set, it was time for him to go home.

Song Chunxue finally couldn't help but say, "Wait a minute, I'll go get something for you."

She pulled out several feet of ochre-colored cotton cloth from her bundle.

"The weather is getting warmer, make some comfortable and clean clothes for the baby, and change the diapers more often." Song Chunxue handed him the cloth. "Try to control your temper and don't get angry so easily. Maybe you and Chen Feng are destined to be entangled."

“It’s not good for the children if the couple argues a lot. Tell Chen Feng to stay away from Chen Guangcai. If she still doesn’t understand, you should really divorce her to avoid harming the children.”

The eldest brother looked at the material he had never seen before and slowly took it.

“I thank you on behalf of the children,” the eldest son quickly wiped away his tears. “I will come at dawn tomorrow.”

After saying that, he grabbed his things and left like a gust of wind.

He was afraid that if he walked too slowly, his mother would laugh at him for being useless.

*

Song Chunxue checked the almanac and learned that the Qingming Festival this year would fall at the beginning of the Si hour.

They chose this time to bury the grave with soil.

After burning the paper money, Song Chunxue returned to find that the alfalfa had already sprouted.

They spent half an hour picking alfalfa tips in the field before going home to cook.

"Mom, would you like to come to my place for a meal?" the eldest son invited them again.

"Forget it, everyone's feeling uncomfortable. I'll have dinner with Lao Si and take a nap before leaving. You don't need to worry about us, go back."

The eldest brother left, looking back every few steps.

The fourth brother whispered, "Do you think the eldest brother is genuinely inviting us to dinner, or does he have other plans?"

"None of that matters, it has nothing to do with me." Song Chunxue picked through the weeds mixed with alfalfa seeds. "When we get back, we need to plant two acres of alfalfa, otherwise we won't have any alfalfa to eat next year."

At 1:00 PM, Song Chunxue and Lao Si checked all the doors and windows, locked the courtyard gate, and drove the donkey back to Zhuanglang County.

However, as soon as they entered the alley, they saw Mei Yang squatting outside the door with a basket in his hand and a book in his right hand.

"You're back, quite early."

When Mei Yang saw Song Chunxue again, he was no longer the roguish guy he used to be.

He seemed like a completely different person, picking up the basket with an air of seriousness.

“I picked some alfalfa and brought it to you, but you probably didn’t have time to pick it yourself. If you want to eat it in the future, just pick it from my alfalfa patch.”

Alfalfa is only eaten for a month; after that, it becomes too old and turns into livestock feed.

The fourth brother opened the courtyard gate, led the donkey straight inside, and refused to acknowledge the man.

But as a man himself, seeing Mei Yang's appearance, he took a step back.

“Brother, stop bothering my mother. Young people are so much better; why do you have to annoy her? Even Lord Xie…”

Song Chunxue glared at him.

The fourth brother stuck out his tongue and led the donkey into the yard.

"I just picked a basketful today, enough for us. You can take it back if you want." Her expression was indifferent. "Don't come again. I don't like causing trouble, and I especially don't like gossiping."

Mei Yang lowered her head, looking uncomfortably at her toes.

"Well, you probably don't believe me, but today when I went to the grave, all I could think about was asking our ancestors to bless me and make my wishes come true, because I've been thinking about you a lot these past two days. I really want to spend my life with you."

"..." Seeing his sudden shy expression, Song Chunxue got goosebumps all over her body.

"Then you should hurry up and find a young and beautiful one. This problem is the easiest to cure for men. I heard there are brothels in this city. If all else fails..."

Mei Yang's expression changed, and he looked up and stared straight at her.

"Do you take me for that kind of person?"

P.S.: Honestly, I wasn't being perfunctory. I check everything before uploading each day, but sometimes I'm not in a good state of mind and might miss something. I do read the comments carefully, though.

Points of error are welcome. There were indeed two obvious mistakes yesterday; I will try to be more careful in the future.

Suddenly realized I forgot to wish you all a happy holiday. Well then, may you be happy every day. *kiss*