Chapter 766 Something's Wrong
By the time Li San Niang, along with Lu Zhu'er and Qiu Xiang, finished packing up, there were hardly any people left in the Li family.
"Hurry up, there's some meat porridge left for you and Dewdrop in the pot."
Dewdrop was well-behaved by Li's mother and sister-in-law. She was not picky about food at all and ate happily with her own spoon, without needing anyone to chase after her to feed her.
Xiao Wulang, Xiao Liulang, and Xiao Ping'an, who had gotten up early, were already playing in the yard. Xiao Ping'an even came over to Lu Zhu'er and said, "Zhu'er, eat slowly. Wulang, Liulang, and I are waiting for you."
Li San Niang felt that the Li family home was unusually quiet at the moment. Apart from the children playing in the courtyard, there was no sound coming from the street.
Li San Niang looked up at her mother: "Mother, is the court not open today?"
"Your ears are so sharp. Your father gave Li Gui and Yunshan (apprentices at the Li family's pharmacy) a day off. Since the pharmacy isn't open today, the door is closed."
Li San Niang looked as if she had known this all along, then lowered her head to continue eating her porridge. As she ate, she suddenly looked up at her mother again: "Father took my eldest and second brothers to the Jingzhao Prefecture?"
Li's mother couldn't bear to look at Li San Niang's startled behavior, so she just glanced at her and didn't answer her question.
Sister-in-law Li looked up and smiled in response to Li San Niang's words: "Your eldest brother also invited Da Lang and Er Lang, and they went along too."
Li San Niang was not surprised by this, after all, this was a major event for Li Da Xiong's family, and it was only right to call on the young man who was about to come of age.
Everyone in the Li family, except for Li Da Xiong and Li Da Sao, thought that Li Da Xiong's father took him to the Jingzhao Prefecture to separate the households according to what Li San Niang had said, so that Li Da Xiong's branch of the family could be separated separately.
But Sister-in-law Li, who had been chatting with Brother Li until midnight yesterday, knew that Brother Li did not want to separate the property from his father's name.
After finishing the meat porridge in her bowl, Lu Zhu'er told Li San Niang and then couldn't wait to go to the courtyard to play with Xiao Wu Lang and the others.
Seeing this, Li San Niang said to Li's mother and sister-in-law, "I finally have a day off, and I'd like to take Lu Zhu'er out for a stroll. Mother and sister-in-law, would you like to come with me?"
“I’m worried, so I won’t go today. You and Mei Niang (Li Da Sao’s real name, Jiang Mei Hua, mentioned earlier) go.”
Li's mother declined her invitation, which didn't surprise Li San Niang at all. After all, dividing the household was a big deal, and it was understandable that Li's mother was worried and wanted to get the news at home as soon as possible.
Li Da Sao glanced at Li Er Sao, who was doing needlework and watching the children in the yard, paused for a moment, and then shook her head. "San Niang, I'm not going either."
Putting aside family matters, there are also matters concerning the Women's Assistance Association. We can't always rely on Mr. Qin to look after things for us.
Call Bao Ya and take her out with you.
If Sister-in-law Li didn't mention it, Third Sister Li wouldn't have had time to ask about the recent events at the Women's Assistance Association.
Seeing that Sister-in-law Li was very attentive, she was about to take out the account book she had recently completed to show to Li Sanniang. Li Sanniang quickly stood up and said no, "Sister-in-law, I feel very at ease with you taking care of things."
I'll look at these accounts again around the New Year.
After saying this, Li San Niang quickly called Lu Zhu'er into the courtyard. Finally, under the envious gazes of Xiao Wu Lang and Xiao Liu Lang, Li San Niang, along with Lu Zhu'er and Xiao Ping An, called Bao Ya, and rode in the carriage driven by Lao Shi, with Qiu Xiang leading the children out the door.
As for why she only brought Xiao Ping'an and not Xiao Wulang and Xiao Liulang, Li San Niang naturally had her own reasons.
Xiao Ping'an's adoptive mother, Linglan, was Li San Niang's own disciple. At this time, the relationship between the master and disciple was very solid, even more so than that between parents and children.
Li San Niang was able to put aside the mess at the drug rehabilitation center in the suburbs of Beijing and return to the Li family to handle family matters, naturally because Ling Lan and Yao Qing Qing were stationed at the drug rehabilitation center.
Therefore, how could Li San Niang not show more care for Xiao Ping An?
Not to mention, Xiao Ping'an is a well-behaved baby. Because he was weak when he was young, although he has grown up and recovered his health, he has developed a quiet personality, unlike Kogoro who is lively and noisy.
In this way, Li San Niang and the others can manage to take care of another well-behaved baby like Xiao Ping An.
But if you bring Kogoro along, things will be a different story.
Kogoro was naturally lively and had a body as strong as a calf, so he was a force to be reckoned with.
In particular, Li San Niang and Li Er Sao do not get along very well. If Li San Niang takes Xiao Wu Lang out and something goes wrong, she will inevitably be blamed by Li Er Sao.
So why bother doing something so unpleasant?
Since we're not bringing Kogoro anymore, we can't be biased, so naturally we won't bring Li's son, Liulang, either.
Taking Lu Zhu'er, Xiao Ping'an, Bao Ya, and Qiu Xiang with her, Li San Niang spent quite a bit of money today to make a summer outfit for everyone, including Lao Shi's, and naturally, she also made one for herself.
Even though Li San Niang had no intention of remarrying, the need to wear new clothes still existed.
As for Li's mother and sister-in-law, Li San Niang didn't forget them either. She bought some pearl hairpins and planned to share them with her family later.
Afterwards, Li San Niang bought a lot of food and pastries, spending money to her heart's content. Only then did she lead Lu Zhu'er and the others back to the Li family home as the sun set.
But as Li San Niang led Lu Zhu'er with her left hand and Xiao Ping'an with her right, followed by Qiu Xiang and Bao Ya carrying large and small bags into the Li family courtyard, she immediately sensed something was amiss.
It's too quiet.
Not only were there no children playing in the yard, but even Big Yellow and his pups were huddled in their den.
No, that's not right.
Seeing that the main hall was completely silent despite the open door, Li Sanniang sensed that something must have happened.
Children are most sensitive to the atmosphere. Dewdrop was originally excited to show Li's mother the new hairband that Li San Niang bought for her, but now she didn't even call out to anyone, and her little face showed a cautious look, as if she dared not breathe too loudly.
This amused Li San Niang. When the group entered the kitchen, they found it was packed with people.
Li Ersao, Wu Qiaolan, Li Sanlang, Li Silang, Xiao Wulang, and Xiao Liulang were all there. Just as Li Sanniang was about to ask why they were all gathered in the kitchen, Wang Dadan and Gao Haiping came from outside carrying two bundles of firewood and said, "Sanniangzi, please make way."
Li San Niang quickly stepped aside to make way for Wang Dadan and Gao Haiping, who were used to doing chores at home, put down the firewood they were carrying and carefully squatted down to stack it against the wall.
When Gao Haiping saw Li Sanniang looking in their direction, he continued to explain, "We noticed that the firewood we bought was too coarse, so we chopped it into smaller pieces while we were at it, to make it easier to start a fire."
Li San Niang quickly thanked them, as they had done this all voluntarily, and of course she had to thank them.
However, she still looked at Li Ersao and Wu Qiaolan and asked, "What's wrong at home?"
Why are they all gathered in the kitchen?
Shouldn't we be preparing dinner by now?
I bought Zhouji braised pork and Liji sesame seed cakes. Second sister-in-law, could you heat them up for me?
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