Chapter 152 Going to see my sister
Back home, the fourth brother was feeding the donkey hay.
He had already unloaded the things from the donkey's back and put them in the donkey pen.
Song Chunxue observed his expression and found that he was no different from usual.
I don't know if he's heard about it.
I stir-fried some pork slices and made buckwheat noodles for lunch, as a way of comforting him.
The fourth brother didn't say a word, and went back to his room to sleep after finishing his meal.
Song Chunxue washed the dishes and took a quick nap.
It was too cold in the afternoon, and there wasn't much to do in the fields, so she decided to start making clothes.
She took out her favorite fabric, drew lines on the clothes with a clod of dirt, and cut out the outer fabric according to last year's clothes.
She found some old cotton fabric for the inner material, and then she layered the cotton on the peacock blue fabric, already imagining how beautiful it would look on her.
She hadn't heard any sound of her fourth brother going to herd sheep, so she got off the heated kang and went to the room on the east side.
I leaned close to the door and listened for a while; it sounded like someone inside was crying softly.
Song Chunxue was stunned for a moment. Was the fourth brother so sad?
She gently pushed the door open and went in. "You know?"
The fourth brother didn't respond, lying under the covers, not wanting to be seen by her.
Song Chunxue patted the back of his head. "Don't be sad. It's the best choice for her to stay away from trouble. Even if I don't mind her, if you marry her, she's a young girl. No matter how thick-skinned she is, there will be times when she can't take it."
"She must have run far away and met a good man who doesn't ask about her past. She'll be a good wife and mother, and over time she'll forget all the troubles here."
The fourth brother suddenly crawled out of bed, sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), and angrily cursed, "She lied to me! I was even thinking of saving money to elope with her, but I only found out today that she also took off the pants of the Zhang family's shepherd boy when he was only thirteen!"
"..." Song Chunxue was speechless.
I didn't know how to comfort him for a moment.
After a while, Song Chunxue said softly, "Then you can rest for half a day this afternoon, add some grass for the sheep, and go again tomorrow."
The fourth child lay on the quilt, sobbing, "Mother, go add some more. I don't want to do anything today. Waaah, women are all liars, liars."
"..." Song Chunxue pondered for a moment, "Who told you to willingly fall for it? A decent girl wouldn't dare to easily pull down a man's pants even after marriage. I think you deserve it."
She closed the door and went to add hay to the sheepfold.
Ignoring what the fourth sister was thinking, she packed up and prepared to visit her three older sisters.
I can also visit my second brother's house while I'm there.
She made several large crispy lard cakes, cut them into four pieces, and stacked them neatly on the cutting board.
For dinner, we ate crispy pork lard pancakes and stir-fried potato slices with meat.
She worried that if she arrived too late, her fourth son would become rebellious and abandon the sheep to go out and make a living.
From now on, she will have to take on the task of herding sheep.
But then she thought again, she didn't necessarily have to let the sheep go.
She's a wealthy woman now, why would she need to herd sheep? Next year, when Sanwa goes to study in the countryside, if they find a place for a house in the county, they'll go directly there.
The fields were full of grain, and she no longer diligently weeded as before; as a result, it was all for naught since the rain didn't come.
Anyway, they're all at the mercy of the weather, so let them fend for themselves.
She's rich, why would she still suffer like this? Isn't she stupid?
However, she couldn't announce it before buying the yard.
"I'm going to visit my older sisters tomorrow, and also your second uncle's house. It might take several days. If I stay for a long time, I might not be back for ten days."
She chewed on the fragrant pork lard crisps, ignoring the surprised expressions of Sanwa and Lao Si.
“I made a lot of steamed buns. If you don’t have enough, you can make your own. Third Brother can make crispy lard cakes.” She looked at the fourth brother indifferently. “If you don’t like herding sheep anymore, then you should guard the house properly and not let anyone come in to steal things. If you are hungry, learn to cook for yourself.”
"You all know where the pork, lard, wheat flour, and mixed grain flour are at home."
"Oh, don't forget to feed the livestock, don't forget the pigs and chickens. Sanwa, you and Lao Si should divide them up, so that no one is neglected and they come back starving. I'll hold you accountable."
The third child was fine, but the fourth child looked very unwilling.
"Mom, you need to come back soon. I don't want to starve. Sanwa's cooking isn't as good as yours. The house will be so lonely without you. What if I end up fighting with Sanwa?"
Song Chunxue looked at Sanwa; this was indeed a problem.
"Third Brother, if Fourth Brother fights with you, don't let him get away with it. If he's slacking off, beat him with a stick."
"Oh right, I need to ride that bigger donkey. It's such a long walk, and you guys are short one to feed."
The fourth son complained incessantly, "Mother, don't rush off, I still have something to discuss with you."
"We'll discuss it when I get back. If you don't like herding sheep, just fill the area with grass and throw them sorghum and corn stalks to eat slowly. If you really don't want to stay on this farm anymore and have already decided to go out and make a living, then sell the sheep when I get back."
Song Chunxue said calmly, "We won't raise sheep anymore. The money from selling sheep is enough for Sanwa to study for ten years. There's no need to continue raising them."
“Mother, we can’t sell all those sheep at once. If Fourth Brother doesn’t want to release them, I’ll come back…” Sanwa was reluctant to part with those sheep. He had raised them for more than ten years and suddenly had to sell them. He felt very uneasy.
“No, you should continue reading your books. We’re not starving at home. You’ve been herding sheep long enough; there’s no need to continue being a shepherd.”
She looked at her fourth son calmly and said, "I didn't mean to stop you. You used to be so spoiled, but now you can keep herding sheep for half a year. I already think highly of you."
"Staying in the village will lead to nothing; you'll spend your whole life farming. If you go out and explore, even if you eventually come back to farming, you'll have lost that free spirit."
"I only have one request: wait until I've finished visiting my relatives before you leave, otherwise I won't give you any travel expenses."
The fourth brother kept his head down and didn't say a word.
Sanwa said no more. The two brothers were like wilted eggplants, each with their own thoughts.
Song Chunxue didn't have time to care about that; she washed the dishes and started tidying up.
To avoid confusion when they arrived at her sister's house, she carefully packed each item she had prepared for her sister.
Silver and cloth, clothes she would need to change if she played for too long, a booklet she had recently learned to read, and a short knife for self-defense.
Fearing that her fourth son might break into her trunk in a fit of anger, she left three taels of silver in the trunk as travel expenses, and put the rest in the cellar where she stored potatoes, burying it very deep so that no one would find it.
The next day, the weather was clear and cloudless.
Overwhelmed with excitement, Song Chunxue rode her donkey, carrying a large bundle, and happily left Li Family Village, amidst the reluctant gazes of Sanwa and Lao Si.
She crossed Daping Mountain wearing her best-kept, graphite-blue long cotton coat and wrapped in a cloth.
She wanted to go to her second sister's house first, as it was the farthest away, in Baicaoyuan Township, a 60-mile walk, which she should be able to reach before dark.
It was almost noon, and there was no one around.
She rested under a large willow tree on a flat plain and heard the sound of bells coming from the mountain path not far away.
Before long, a beautiful chestnut horse came into her view.
Upon seeing the person on horseback, Song Chunxue exclaimed in surprise, "Senior Brother!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
