Zhao Sanniang was twisting hemp rope in her hand. She was currently pregnant and could not go out to work, so she could only twist some hemp rope to supplement her family's income.
Sitting next to her was her sister-in-law's youngest daughter, Gu Yin, who had just turned ten. She twisted the hemp rope quickly and evenly, her speed no slower than Gu Yin's.
The eldest daughter of the family, Gu Xue, was only eight years old and her fingers were not yet very nimble, so she could only stand beside them and help split the silk.
"Third Sister, what are you still sitting here for? Your sister-in-law is back. Why don't you hurry home and greet her?"
"Are you kidding me? Nobody sent word that they're coming to ask for it today."
"Why would I tease you? I saw them enter the village with my own eyes."
Zhao San Niang then believed it and hurriedly put down the basket in her hand to arrange for the two girls beside her.
"Yin'er, your aunt is helping out at the tofu stall at the village entrance right now. Go and call her home, and tell her your aunt is back."
"Xue'er, your father and your two brothers are working in the fields of Landlord Li right now. Go find them and bring them back. Don't go to the wrong place. It's the five brick houses at the east end of the village."
She herself was heavily pregnant and hurried home. When she arrived, there were already some people standing in the yard watching the commotion.
Seeing her walking in such a hurry, Madam Gu quickly went up to help her, saying, "Sister-in-law, what's the rush? Do you think I can run away? You're already five or six months along, you have to be careful."
"Second sister, I was just happy to hear you were coming. You really are something, not even sending a message before you came back. It just so happens that no one was home. I just sent Yin'er and Xue'er to call for help."
"I came here at the last minute, so I didn't ask anyone to pass on the message. No rush, let's sit down and chat for a while."
When Zhao Sanniang's family suffered a famine, her entire family died while fleeing. She was the only one left who fainted by the roadside. She happened to meet Gu Changwu, who was carrying a shoulder pole to sell his goods. He called for help and rescued her.
The Gu family was poor and couldn't afford to marry him off. Zhao Sanniang was also all alone. Although she was four years older than Gu Changwu, both of them were aware of their own circumstances, so after discussing it, they decided to get married.
When they got married, Gu was already married, so the two didn't see each other often, but they always got along well.
Before they had even finished their water, Aunt Wang Jinlan led Gu Yin back in a flurry of activity.
Gu Xue also came back first to report that her father and the others hadn't finished their work, and Landlord Li wouldn't let them leave; they would have to wait until lunchtime to return.
The Gu family, along with their two daughters-in-law, were chatting together, while Meng Zhao sat in the courtyard watching the children play.
The Gu family's courtyard looked about the same size as the Shen family's, but it didn't even have a courtyard wall. There were five or six mud-brick houses with yellow mud ramming, where a large family lived.
Gu's father died early, and the old lady raised her three children entirely on her own.
After Gu got married, the two brothers were unwilling to separate the family property and continued to live together. The relationship between the brothers and their wives remained harmonious.
After playing in the yard, Shen Qingze and Shen Qingyu ran over to snuggle up to Meng Zhao, and even the two little girls, Gu Xue and Gu Yin, sat down next to them.
Meng Zhao took out a few candies from his pocket, shook them in his palm, made a few feints, looked at the children, stretched out both hands, and said with a smile, "Guess which hand it is. If you guess right, you can have candy."
Shen Qingze and Shen Qingyu leaned forward, trying to see if there were any flaws, but Meng Zhao's two hands were the same size, making it impossible to tell the difference. They could only guess based on their intuition.
Gu Yin and Gu Xue had been watching from the side. They weren't very familiar with their cousin-in-law yet, but seeing Meng Zhao's smiling face and gentle voice, they boldly stepped forward and each chose one.
"Ta-da!" After all four people had made their choices, Meng Zhao opened both hands in front of them.
Her hands were empty, and the four of them stared wide-eyed. The twins even grabbed her hands and shook them.
"It was definitely there just now."
“I saw it too, where did it go?”
Meng Zhao laughed and reached out to touch the top of Shen Qingyu's head.
"Haha, here it is." Then he handed it to Shen Qingyu, and sure enough, he had a piece of malt candy wrapped in candy paper between his fingertips.
"Wow~" A chorus of surprise rang out as Meng Zhao used the same method to take a candy from Shen Qingze, Gu Yin, and Gu Xue, making the children giggle.
Shen Qing, who had watched the whole thing from the side, smiled helplessly. He clearly saw that his sister-in-law had already stuffed the candy into her sleeve before she even clenched her fist.
Shen Qinghe, who always had a gentle and indifferent demeanor, was now laughing so hard that his shoulders were shaking, which made him look a bit more youthful.
That's true. He's only fourteen years old now, just a teenager. If his father and brothers hadn't died young, he wouldn't be in this state now.
Meng Zhao had the children stand next to Shen Qinghe, raised his left hand and waved it in front of Shen Qinghe, then raised his right hand and waved it in front of Shen Qinghe. He clasped his hands together, rubbed them together, blew a breath of magic, and with a slight turn of his left hand, another candy appeared at his fingertips, which he handed to Shen Qinghe.
"Here, take this."
Looking at the candy in front of him, Shen Qinghe reached out and took it, opened the wrapper and put it in his mouth. It had a sweet malty aroma, as if he were walking on clouds, which made him feel warm inside.
"Sister-in-law, I want more, please make me another one."
"I want one too! I want one too!" The two children pestered Meng Zhao to give them another one.
Even Gu Yin and Gu Xue looked at her with anticipation.
"No, we're going to eat soon, we can't eat too much candy." Meng Zhao had no other choice, so she took five candies with her in her pocket and gave them all out.
She learned this skill of conjuring sugar out of thin air at the orphanage. When the orphanage was short-staffed, she had to help take care of the younger children when she was older. To prevent them from crying, she learned this skill.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
