Chapter 1232 Song Chunxue, are you there?
"Mother, you're back."
Hongying came out of the kitchen with a smile, patting her apron with both hands. "Young man, you two go and wait in the main room. The food will be ready soon."
"Where's He Chuan? Let's talk about it when he gets back. I'm not hungry." Song Chunxue sat on a chair under the grapevine. "These grapevines have grown so big. You've taken such good care of them."
Hongying bought this tree, and it's been five years. Although it hasn't fully climbed the trellis yet, the vines are very long and have many branches.
“It’s just a random one. The one in my yard died, but this one is growing very well, Mother.” Jiang Hongying asked, “Mother, you’ve been gone for two days. Did you encounter any more bandits? I heard that a woman killed all the bandits in the area. Could they be talking about Mother?”
Song Chunxue picked up the tea that Xiao Xu had poured and took a sip, her expression indifferent.
"They shouldn't have all been killed yet. There were about eighty of them the night before." She looked at the children sitting on the ground playing with the dog and said gently, "Your second aunt passed away. I came back this morning after her burial."
"Ah? Second Aunt passed away?" Jiang Hongying stood helplessly at the kitchen door. "Why didn't Mother stay a few more days and tell me and my eldest son? You didn't help her, did you?"
That must be so painful.
“My apprentice is here,” Song Chunxue smiled gently. “He even bought pine coffin boards for your aunts and uncles, and your uncle didn’t curse anyone.”
Jiang Hongying paused for a moment, then laughed out loud, "It's a lot of money, why would they scold us? They know that's what Mother meant."
Xu Dahong came over from the backyard carrying the child. "Mom, you're back."
"Where's the boss?"
"I went outside to the field with my brother-in-law to pick corn. We'll cook the corn this afternoon, and I guess we'll dig up a few new potatoes too." Xu Dahong put the child on the ground. "Jiang Huan, watch the child. I'm getting an IV drip to water the vegetables."
"Oh." Jiang Huan, who was sitting on the ground playing with the dog, stood up and hugged the one-year-old child in his arms.
Song Chunxue looked away, a feeling she couldn't quite describe.
Children without a mother's protection are often well-behaved and sensible.
Qi Yun sat down opposite her. "Master?"
"What's wrong?"
Qi Yun smiled and blew on a tea leaf, "You seem to be in a bad mood."
“No,” she said, twirling her teacup in her hand, “it’s just that I haven’t heard so many children making noise in a long time, and I’m not used to it.”
Qi Yun picked at his ear. "To be honest, I'm not used to it either."
"You want to stay at an inn?"
"right……"
"Let's talk after we eat. Didn't you want to experience our local customs and culture?" Song Chunxue said with a smile. "Everyone here is very fertile. Even though food is scarce, there are still many families with seven or eight children, and even more grandchildren."
Looking at the child who was past his most mischievous age, Qi Yun couldn't help but cover his head with his hands and say, "That master is really amazing, he gave birth to five. If it were me, I would have a hard time even having one."
"Can male fox spirits even have babies?"
"How could that be? I mean, if I were a woman, I wouldn't want to have any children. They're too noisy and give me a headache."
Song Chunxue lowered her eyes, "What's a little noise? Morning sickness and breastfeeding, getting up in the middle of the night to feed the baby, needing to pee or poop, and then having to cook—that's the real headache."
Qi Yun covered his ears with both hands, "Master, please stop talking. I know that raising people is different from raising fox cubs. I've seen them, and they're terrifying."
Song Chunxue took a sip of tea and smiled without saying a word.
When the eldest brother and He Chuan returned, the two families, along with Li Dazui's wife and children, couldn't all fit at one table.
Jiang Hongying rolled out two round dough pieces, each over a meter long, and Li Dazui's wife also rolled out two, but it wasn't enough for them.
Luckily, they had a lot of wheat flour saved up, otherwise this way of eating would be terrifying to look at. People with smaller granaries wouldn't dare to eat like this, for fear of starving to death the next day.
After finishing his meal, the eldest brother brought the child to Song Chunxue.
"Mother, I heard that the bandits outside have run away. I want to go back this afternoon. The food at home can't wait, and this pig tied up in the backyard is almost pushing the wall down."
"Okay, that's fine. You guys go back first, I'll go back tomorrow." Song Chunxue still wanted to visit the Taoist temple on the mountain.
"Alright, I'll go get ready now." The eldest brother was genuinely anxious. Farmers can't live without their crops; they get restless if they don't go to the fields for a day.
When Li Dazui's wife heard this, she also wanted to pack. He Chuan told her to hold the child while he went to the donkey pen to add hay to the donkeys, and put all her things on the donkey cart.
Qi Yun climbed up the fort wall. "I'll stay up there for a while."
Actually, once you spend enough time with a chattering child, they can be quite adorable, but he's just not naturally good at interacting with children.
Song Chunxue stayed with the children, watching them help sweep the floor and yard, feed the dogs and pigs, and chop firewood. She felt quite happy to see her grandchildren occasionally.
But if you ask her to take care of her grandchildren like she did in her previous life, she will run away in panic.
After washing the dishes, Hongying learned that they were leaving, so she went from one room to another, searching for her belongings. She packed some for the eldest son, some for Song Chunxue, and some for Li Dazui's wife.
They are clearly distinguished, from vegetable seeds and flower seeds to buckwheat noodles and sweet buckwheat noodles, as well as gray beans, chickpeas, and broad beans.
Li Dazui's wife declined repeatedly, but Song Chunxue smiled and said, "Take it if you want, don't be shy."
"But this..."
"Li Dazui often helps the boss out, here, it's just a small token of my appreciation. Your lard crispy cakes are delicious, very white."
Li Dazui's wife then stopped stopping He Chuan from putting the bags in his car.
They skipped their afternoon nap, eager to get home, and set off as soon as they finished packing.
The eldest brother stood in the yard and shouted, "Da Hong, let's go! What are you dawdling for? If you don't want to go back, stay a couple more days. I'm going back now. The sesame should be harvested, and if we don't bring the wheat home soon, the crows will eat it all."
"Wait a minute, the baby's nursing, what's the rush? What's wrong with waiting a little while? We'll get there before dark, right?"
"It's the middle of the night, you can't see anything, so it's better to go home early and have peace of mind."
Qi Yun said from behind Song Chunxue, "The two of them live a pretty good life, with both hardships and joys."
Song Chunxue didn't reply; that depends on the couple.
If it's a wealthy family, and the man is a devoted lover who dotes on his wife, then the couple's life is indeed sweet.
In poor families, most people endure each other's misery, all for the sake of food and clothing, and for the sake of the next generation.
Countless times I wanted to turn against them, countless times I wondered why the next life was so far away, and when it would ever end.
"If you want, you can be a couple too..."
"Song Chunxue, are you there?"
Suddenly, a familiar voice reached her ears, and Song Chunxue froze in shock.
"I heard there's banditry and drought where you are. You went back to your hometown, did it go smoothly?"
Xie Zheng's voice echoed in my mind again.
Song Chunxue almost burst into tears of joy, thinking that he had remembered her.
But upon closer listening, he called out Song Chunxue, not Ah Xue.
Can't you hear me?
"My senior brother said that this way we can hear it..." He muttered to himself when he didn't get a response from Song Chunxue.
"I can hear you. I'm alright. I killed the bandits, saw my second sister off, and plan to stay in my hometown for a long time," Song Chunxue replied gently. "Why did you suddenly ask me? Aren't you afraid I'll pester you?"
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