Chapter 19 Making a Quilt

As soon as Xiao Wu and Bei Bei saw Xia Juanjuan coming back, they immediately ran out and happily hugged Xia Juanjuan's legs, looking up and shouting:

"Mom! You're back!"

"Mom! My brothers and I are very good!"

Xia Juanjuan rubbed the two little guys' heads lovingly and said with a smile, "Do you miss your mom?"

The two kids nodded vigorously immediately: "Yes! We both miss mom so much! My brother misses her too!"

Xia Juanjuan was stunned for a moment before she realized that the 'brother' they were talking about was Li Wen.

When Li Wen heard his brother and sister betray him, he turned away and said awkwardly: "I... I didn't think about it! I just..."

...They were afraid that she would be like their biological mother, and once she left the house, she would never come back!

Beibei tilted her head and said in a baby voice, "Brother has it! Just now, brother went to the east end of the village to check it out!"

Xiao Wu also nodded and said, "Mom! My brother has said it many times, why hasn't Mom come back yet!"

Li Wen: ...

These two cheap brothers and sisters are really good at ruining things!

Xia Juanjuan curled her lips, knowing that Li Wen would not be able to get over his awkwardness for a while, so she did not continue the topic and said with a smile: "Xiao Wu, Bei Bei, help mom move the things into the house. Xiao Wen, you have to help too."

Li Wen frowned and said in a rough voice: "Of course I will help!"

As he said that, he ran over, picked up the thermos and carried it into the house.

Xia Juanjuan smiled, quickly moved the things into the house, and then sent the ox cart to the sales point.

After returning, Xia Juanjuan first took out candies and cakes and gave each of the three kids an egg cake, one watermelon candy, one orange candy, and one White Rabbit milk candy.

The three kids haven't had enough to eat in the past six months, so they haven't had any snacks like candy, eggs and cakes.

Looking at the snacks in his hand, even Li Wen, who had always resisted Xia Juanjuan, had his eyes lit up and started drooling.

However, the three little guys were reluctant to eat it just by looking at it.

Xia Juanjuan smiled and said, "Eat quickly. There's more after you finish! But you have to promise mom that when you go out to play with other children, you can't tell them that you have snacks. Otherwise, they will snatch them away!"

The three kids nodded heavily and ate the cake and candy happily.

Here, Xia Juanjuan spread the bought cloth on the kang, then spread the cotton on it, covered it with a festive red quilt cover, and then started to needle to make a quilt.

At this moment, someone suddenly knocked on the door.

Xia Juanjuan looked up and saw a young daughter-in-law standing at the door, looking into the house shyly: "Is the fourth brother's wife back?"

Xia Juanjuan didn't recognize who it was and was wondering.

Xiao Wu and Bei Bei suddenly ran towards her, shouting, "Auntie!"

Even Xiao Wen, who always looked at everyone with hostility, called out, "Third Auntie."

Only then did Xia Juanjuan guess that this should be the wife of Lizhan's third brother Lijie, whose name seemed to be Zhou Qiuhe. They also had three children, two daughters, aged five and three respectively, and a son who was only six months old.

Seeing that the three kids were quite friendly to the visitor, I thought that the third sister-in-law would not be as mean as the second sister-in-law. But the purpose of the visit was unclear. It was better to keep quiet for the time being.

She smiled and greeted, "Are you the third sister-in-law? Come in quickly."

Zhou Qiuhe walked in a bit reservedly and said, "I wanted to come and see you last night. But your third brother told me to stay out of this matter, lest my second brother, second sister-in-law and mother say anything... so I didn't come. I heard that my fourth brother is back too? Has he left already?"

Xia Juanjuan didn't understand why she came, so she answered, "Yeah. She left after lunch, saying that the team had approved a half-day leave."

Zhou Qiuhe smiled shyly and said, "Your third brother has a bad temper. He quarreled with the second brother and mother, and even the fourth brother disappeared. I heard that you asked the secretary to testify this morning that you also divided the property with that place? If he didn't know this, your third brother wouldn't let me come over!"

Xia Juanjuan smiled and said, "Yeah. We have to separate sooner or later. So let's just stay at home and separate."

Zhou Qiuhe whispered, "It's a good split! It's clean now! I've been asking my husband to bring up the matter of splitting up the family, but he refused. I don't know how much he's been upset with over the years. If it weren't for what happened in your eldest brother's family half a year ago, your third brother wouldn't even have mentioned it!"

As she spoke, she placed a small bag on the table and said with a smile, "I just came to see if you need anything. Here is some sweet potato noodles. You just separated and brought these three little kids with you. I'm afraid you don't have enough food."

Xia Juanjuan was stunned for a moment. She didn't expect that Zhou Qiuhe would take the initiative to give her something.

In that era, every family lived a tight life and had no time to take care of themselves. It was rare and precious to be able to generously give things to others.

Xia Juanjuan declined, "Third sister-in-law, no need. Li Zhan left me an allowance, and I have already bought it."

Zhou Qiuhe was rejected, and with a look of embarrassment on her face, she said, "This... should be kept. I know you don't need it, so just think of it as... a gift for the three little ones. I didn't take good care of them in those six months..."

After hearing what she said, Xia Juanjuan accepted it and took out some watermelon candies, White Rabbit soft candies and egg cakes as a return gift to Zhou Qiuhe: "Take this back, sister-in-law, and feed it to the three little ones at home."

"This... How can this be possible!?"

Xia Juanjuan smiled and said, "If Third Sister-in-law doesn't accept it, then I can't accept this sweet potato noodles either."

Seeing this, Zhou Qiuhe accepted it.

She looked at the quilt spread out on Xia Juanjuan's kang and asked, "Are you making the quilt? Let me help you!"

As she spoke, she skillfully took the needle and threaded the sewing quickly.

Xia Juanjuan was not used to sewing, but seeing that the girl was so skilled, she let her help.

Zhou Qiuhe worked very skillfully and finished sewing it in a short while. She smiled and said, "Take a look. Is it okay?"

Xia Juanjuan nodded and said with a smile: "Third sister-in-law is good at sewing."

Zhou Qiuhe was embarrassed by the compliment and smiled, saying, "Then I'll go back first. Fourth brother is not at home, if you need any help, feel free to come to me and your third brother. We'll live in the two rooms at the back."

Xia Juanjuan agreed. At this moment, it seemed that her third sister-in-law did not have any ill intentions.

So she asked, "Third sister-in-law, do you know anyone in the village who can build a stove?"

Zhou Qiuhe was stunned for a moment, then said, "Building a stove? Your third brother can do it. Tomorrow, I'll ask him to work half a day and come over to build it for you."

"Then I'll trouble Third Sister-in-law and Third Brother!"

After seeing Zhou Qiuhe off, Xia Juanjuan went to the kitchen, intending to boil some water to give the three little guys a good bath.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I arrived at the kitchen, Liu Lan came out like a ghost.

"Daughter-in-law Zhan'er, have you received all of Zhan'er's allowance for this month? Please give me the ten yuan that was originally intended for me!"

She hit a wall in Li Zhan, but she was unwilling to give up and still wanted to deceive Xia Juanjuan.

Xia Juanjuan looked at her and sneered, "Mother-in-law, Li Zhan should have told you that you won't get this month's allowance. I don't have these ten yuan even if you ask me for it!"

"You...you vixen, how can you be so disrespectful to the elderly and the young? You even instigated my son to be disobedient to me! Believe it or not, I will go to the commune and sue you!"

Xia Juanjuan was not afraid and said, "Go ahead. I got married and you didn't even invite me to a banquet or prepare any bedding for me. I was so aggrieved that I wanted to complain! Let's go to the commune and let everyone judge it!"