Chapter 40 Hare Skin

When the woman heard this, her eyes dimmed for a moment, and then she couldn't help but burst into tears: "Alas... If I had known that the village where that family lived would be flooded and even the village would be gone, I... I wouldn't have sent him to live in the village. But my newborn child has pity, it's better for the whole family to die together than to be separated from his family with no whereabouts..."

Mother Yao sighed and said, "Sister Wan, maybe the family was lucky enough to escape the flood, but they just moved away. Don't be too anxious. If the child is still alive, we can definitely find him! I'll go ask around tomorrow."

Shen Wanxue sighed and said, "Thank you, Aunt Yao. Don't worry too much. Alas... Even if I find him now, I can't recognize him in this state, otherwise I will implicate him. I just... As long as I know that he is still alive, I will be satisfied..."

*

No words were spoken all night.

The next morning, Xia Juanjuan woke up refreshed.

First, I used the leftover mutton soup and mutton from last night to make a few bowls of mutton soup and baked a few pancakes for breakfast.

After breakfast, Li Wen took his younger brother and sister to collect firewood, carrying a small bamboo basket.

Xia Juanjuan didn't plan to stop them, after all, the three kids went there voluntarily.

Moreover, she provided them with meat for three meals a day and only let them go out after they were well fed. Unlike Wang Guixiang, she made them work on an empty stomach and did not give them any food if they did not work the required amount!

Besides, children in every household have to go out to collect firewood and cut pig grass. They can play with their peers and exercise their bodies, which is much better than staying at home and just eating and gaining weight.

After they left, Xia Juanjuan was just about to go out to find Zhou Qiuhe to ask her to help teach her how to make shoes, when Lin Yuru suddenly came in with a basket.

"Juan'er...are you home?"

Xia Juanjuan let Lin Yuru in and said with a smile, "Mom, how come you have time to come here today?"

This was the first time that Lin Yuru came to the Li family. Thinking of the poor situation of her daughter's marriage, which did not even have a wedding banquet, and she and Xia Shuangshan were not sent to the Li family, she could not help but feel sad.

She quickly turned her head away, removed the cloth from the basket, and said with a forced smile, "Your father asked me to bring this to you."

Xia Juanjuan looked inside and saw that they were actually two pieces of intact hare skins that had been dried and preserved, and looked very warm and furry. In addition, there was a piece of tender red meat that looked like hare meat.

"These two rabbits were hunted by your father in the mountains yesterday. I'll give you all the rabbit skins so you can make a pair of boots. Otherwise, your feet will get frostbite in winter. Your father and I kept one of the rabbit meat, and I'll give you this one so you can enjoy it."

Xia Juanjuan was deeply moved when she heard this, and couldn't help asking with a sour nose: "Mom, have you and my dad been doing well these days? Have Li Cuihua and the others been giving you trouble?"

Lin Yuru grabbed her daughter's hand and said with a smile, "Don't worry. Li Cuihua did come here with her two sons to cry a few times, but your father was determined this time and sent her back coldly, or just pretended not to see her.

This winter, other production teams are reinforcing pig pens and sheep pens, and your father has done a lot of masonry work. He earned nearly a dollar in just a few days! And the white flour and sweet potato noodles you brought last time are enough for us to eat for a while. Otherwise, could your father not have worked yesterday and went into the mountains to catch rabbits?

Although he didn't say it, he felt sorry for you in his heart. He said he wanted to get some animal skins to make some clothes and shoes for the young lady! Alas... when you got married, we didn't give you any dowry. From now on, we will slowly make it up to you."

Xia Juanjuan's eyes could not help but turn red. She touched the soft wild rabbit skin and said with a smile, "This rabbit skin feels warm and nice. Why don't you keep it for yourselves? With this division of the family, except for the house, you are almost leaving the house with nothing. I still have a subsidy for you..."

"Silly girl! If you have money, can you buy rabbit skins? Your father is still strong and capable! Let him go to the mountains to catch a few rabbits in a few days, and then we can have some! If you keep refusing to your mother, I will feel even worse!"

Seeing this, Xia Juanjuan accepted it and said with a smile, "Then mom, go back and say thank you to my dad!"

Lin Yuru said, "Silly girl, why are you saying thank you? Your father and I have figured it out. It's all nonsense that a daughter who is married off is like water spilled out. You will always be our daughter. Why are you being polite to your own parents?"

Xia Juanjuan nodded and said, "But I can't accept this rabbit meat. You should take it back, Mom. I have meat for every meal here, and it's delicious!"

Lin Yuru was unwilling to do so, and quickly said, "Don't tell me you lied to your mother! In this situation, who can eat meat every meal? Even this wild rabbit is so hungry and skinny. You can just stir-fry the rabbit meat with some dried chilies, it will be delicious!"

Seeing that Lin Yuru didn't believe her, Xia Juanjuan sighed, went to the kitchen, took out the remaining mutton soup from the kitchen, which was still steaming hot, and gave it to Lin Yuru.

Lin Yuru smelled the aroma of the mutton soup. Looking at the clearly visible slices of mutton liver and other ingredients in the milky white soup, she couldn't help but widen her eyes and swallowed subconsciously.

Xia Juanjuan handed it to her and said with a smile, "Mom, this is the mutton soup I made last night. You can eat the rest. You came so early, you must have missed breakfast!"

Lin Yuru still couldn't believe it. She took the bowl in a daze, then looked at Xia Juanjuan: "Juan'er... where did you get the mutton soup?"

Xia Juanjuan smiled and said, "Of course I bought it from the butcher shop in town. I've already said that I live a more comfortable life than you do. I really need the rabbit skin, but you can take the rabbit meat back."

Seeing this, Lin Yuru said, "Well... okay. But... although the allowance from your aunt is a lot, you have to spend it sparingly. Don't be extravagant. When it's all gone, you're a woman, your husband is not at home, and you have to take care of his eldest brother's three little brats. How are you going to live?"