Ye Panjiu smiled and said, "I'm also a little worried about home, but unfortunately we don't keep in touch with each other."
Ye Taohua moved her chopsticks, "Don't worry, Mom. I've already told Ling'er to write me a letter at least every three days. It should be time for her to write soon. Grandpa, Grandma, and Uncle will definitely make Ling'er write one too."
Madam Sun slapped her forehead, "Look at me, I almost forgot about Ling'er!"
Ye Taohua gave her a complicated look, "Second Aunt, you won't forget about me one day, will you?"
Madam Sun leaned over and pinched her cheek. "What are you saying? I forgot for a moment that Ling'er can read. She's really promising; she can read at only seven years old."
She still can't read. She's too old. Even if Ye Panjiu wanted to teach her to read, she would find it too difficult and give up.
As they were talking, there was a knock on the door of the Wang residence.
Ye Panjiu was closest to the door, so she went to open it.
The door opened to find a somewhat familiar servant boy. "Madam Ye, I am Lord Duan's servant. This is a package delivered by the Ye family."
Ye Panjiu took the package, which was quite heavy. "Thank you."
He then took out twenty copper coins and handed them to him, saying, "Thank you for your hard work. Take these and have a meal."
The servant took it, thanked him profusely, and left with a smile.
The Ye family was very approachable and polite, and they would always give him some money as a reward. So he always rushed to take on any job the Ye family had to do.
Ye Panjiu returned to the house and put down the package.
Mrs. Sun eagerly leaned closer, "Are you from home?"
Ye Panjiu nodded.
Sun was quick and swiftly opened the package.
"My sister-in-law made fried glutinous rice balls! And a jar of pickled radishes. Why are there so many letters?! Read them quickly, see if anyone is thinking of me!"
Ye Panjiu picked up the letter. Ling'er's handwriting was not very neat, with many ink smudges.
"Mother, it's me, Ling'er! I miss you so much! Hao'er and Nannan came with me to the academy too. Oh right, Aunt Guan misses you too, saying you never visit her."
Children's letters are often messy, written on a whim.
"The rest were all written by people who asked me to. Grandpa said: 'Second son's wife, daughter, your parents are all doing well. We just bought another five acres of land. It's only been a year since the New Year, and we haven't found tenant farmers to work next year yet. Dad is still strong and healthy. He took our black ox to the fields to hoe the land. That black ox is really amazing. It's so effortless. It just eats some grass, yet it's so capable!'"
Before the land was even fully tilled, your mother threw the stones out of the field. In a few days, she'll be carrying fertilizer to the field. No, wait, we have an oxcart, so we don't need people to carry it! Oh, you don't know, everyone in the village envies our family for having an ox. After I finish tilling the land, I'll lend them the black ox!
Your mother said she wants to plant more fruit trees this year and dry some fruit so you can take it with you on your journey. Please take good care of yourselves while you're away, and make sure you stay safe! Don't worry about home.
Ye Panjiu felt a lump in her throat and her heart was burning as she read.
Sun put his arm around her shoulder and said, "Little sister, let's go home and stay for two or three days before we go to the next place. Anyway, we have horses, and we can ride fast."
At this point, she glared at Ye Erniu, "I'm afraid to ride a horse, so why don't you hurry up and learn to ride one yourself? Who are you expecting to teach you then? You're a grown man."
Ye Erniu scratched his head and looked at Ye Taohua with a wronged expression, "Taohua, you have to teach your second uncle a lesson."
Ye Taohua patted her chest and said, "Leave it to me!"
Ye Panjiu's bittersweet homesickness was instantly dispelled.
The desire to leave home and the longing for home are always at odds, especially since she had been lonely all her life and had no family affection. It was only after she transmigrated here that she gained family affection.
It's still such a warm family bond; it's hard to bear for a moment.
After Ye Taohua finished eating and drinking, she took the letter from her hand and continued reading.
"What Grandma said next is what Mom wanted to say. The old man talks a lot, but it's what Mom wanted to say too. Don't overwork yourself. Mom is staying home and waiting for you to come home."
Ye Taohua paused for a moment, "Grandma didn't say much. My eldest aunt said that Jiujiu Braised Food Shop reopened on the tenth of the month and business is still booming. With Cuihua's help, she asked our neighbors Aunt Tian and Aunt Wang to join us, plus Ye Santian. The wages haven't been set yet, we'll wait for my younger sister to decide. The five of them are managing to handle the delivery, preparation, and opening of the shop, so there's no need to worry. If you want anything to eat, just write a letter and I'll make it and have someone deliver it to you. Eat three meals a day on time and make sure you're full."
Ye Panjiu took out the paper and immediately answered her sister-in-law Liu's question.
Those members of the Ye family who participated in the operation of the shop received a 20% cut, the shopkeeper received 120 coins, and the rest of the employees were paid 60 coins per day.
Sixty coins is quite a lot, far exceeding the wages of ordinary shops.
"Uncle, family, after we got home on the eighth day of the lunar new year, I went to see the horse farm that Su Yan told me about that night. I was so excited! I've never seen so many horses before! If you want horses, don't buy them outside. When you get back, your older brother will bring them to you!"
Ye Panjiu's excitement was palpable; she was even a little worried that her elder brother might not be home.
Ye Guihua looked at Ye Panjiu and felt a little regretful. If she had known that her father had horses, she would not have asked her aunt to buy them in the first place.
It's all silver.
Ye Taohua, feeling thirsty from reading, passed the letter to Ye Panjiu and then drank some water.
"Cuihua said that she would take good care of her grandparents and parents, and hoped that everyone would live in harmony and happiness."
Ye Guihua smiled, "I bet you've thought about these words over and over again for a long time."
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a little embarrassed when he thought that he would have to have Ling'er read his reply aloud.
On the last sheet of paper, one side was Nannan's scribbles. You could vaguely make out the sun and a few little people with big smiling faces.
One side has Hao'er's domineering handprint, stained with ink. I wonder if Cuihua was angry when she washed his hands.
Mrs. Sun took the letter and looked at it carefully. "This one, the person with a mole on their forehead must be me. Look how clearly my daughter remembers me!"
Ye Erniu leaned closer to look and immediately pointed out that the other one also had a mole. "Wife, how can you tell which of these two is yours?"
Madam Sun stroked her chin, lost in thought, and remained silent.
Ye Panjiu was both amused and exasperated. Knowing that everything was alright at home, she smiled and began writing a reply.
Of the six women, only Ye Erniu and Sun Shi couldn't write, so they all came over.
"Little sister, tell Mom and Dad that the second son is doing well. When you go back, bring him some nice things!"
Mrs. Sun also pointed to the table, "Tell my sister-in-law that I want to eat her dumplings, I'm really craving them, we'll eat them when we get back!"
Thinking about it, she touched her clothes and said, "Yes, yes, I also sewed new shoe uppers for them, following the style commonly seen on the streets of Shuzhou. They look so nice!"
Sun was very talkative and kept chattering away, but Ye Panjiu didn't get impatient and quickly wrote down her thoughts.
Finally, just as they were about to fall asleep, they stopped writing, having filled more than twenty pages.
Ye Taohua chuckled as she looked at the thick stack of letters, "Oh dear, I feel so sorry for Ling'er, how long will it take her to finish reading this!"
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