Xie Yushu carefully looked around Xiao Yi's house, which was now also considered her home.
The courtyard is at the entrance of the village, consisting of three thatched houses. It is quite spacious, but the thatched roofs are a bit messy, making the houses look somewhat dilapidated.
The house has stone walls that are smooth and thick. If the roof were repaired, the house would be quite nice.
The yard was quite spacious; apart from the three thatched houses, the two acres were enclosed by brambles to form a vegetable garden.
Xiao Yi and Xiao Jinyu lived in the east room, while she and Xiao Haitang lived in the west room, with the kitchen in the middle.
Although Xiao Yi married her, the two did not consummate their marriage and slept in separate rooms.
In the original owner's memories, it seems that Xiao Jinyu's mother left a will stating that Xiao Yi could not marry and have children before Xiao Jinyu grew up.
Now Xiao Yi has no choice but to marry her, but he has obviously not forgotten his ex-wife's request. The original owner is a little worried about this, but she accepts it gladly. She can't stand suddenly having a man!
Xiao Jinyu was four years old, with delicate features, but she was a bit thin.
In these times, it's hard not to be thin. Even the landlord Wang Pangzi from the next village has lost a lot of weight, let alone ordinary people!
Haitang is six years old, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a heroic air about her. She has a bit of Xiao Yi's shadow, probably because she took after her father, Xiao Laosan. She is also thin and weak from the harshness of the harvest.
Because this place is located in the north, there is no bed in the house, but a heated kang (a traditional heated platform bed).
The two returned to the room, and Xie Yushu fell asleep on the kang (a heated brick bed).
The original owner had to travel a long way to find a slightly damp patch of land and dig a hole to get this little bit of water!
These days I only drink a little porridge and a few sips of water, and I still travel such a long distance. I'm already exhausted and don't wake up until evening.
At this moment, only half of the sun's face was hanging on the mountaintop, and the weather was finally no longer unbearably hot!
Xie Yushu instinctively wanted to take a shower, but then she realized that even washing her face was a luxury these days, so she had no choice but to resign herself to going out to cook. She was starving!
When they arrived at the kitchen, they saw that Xiao Haitang had already started a fire, and the pot was bubbling away, smelling a bit like sweet potatoes.
Second Aunt
"Um,
What's cooking in the pot?
Sweet potato, corn, and tree leaf porridge
"Okay, I'll go set the table!"
Seeing that Haitang was quite skilled at starting a fire, Xie Yushu stopped paying attention, turned around and took out the bowls and chopsticks and placed them on the table outside, then sat in the courtyard and fanned herself with a palm leaf fan to cool off.
The food was ready in no time.
"Xiao Yi, Xiao Jinyu, come out for dinner!"
Xie Yushu shouted
Xiao Yi, who was fanning Xiao Jinyu, raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
The crisp voice carried a hint of nonchalance, which made him feel strange!
Even the listless Xiao Jinyu raised his head, though he still couldn't see Xie Yushu.
Xiao Yi took Xiao Jinyu out to eat
The sweet potato and corn porridge was already laid out, and Xiao Jinyu weakly called out.
"mother!"
Xie Yushu was stunned for a while before she realized that this was someone calling her.
"Hey! My big son! Time to eat!"
After saying that, he awkwardly picked up his bowl and started eating!
This is so embarrassing! She's suddenly become a mother and doesn't know what to do!
The eldest son, Xiao Jinyu, picked up a small spoon and scooped up a mouthful of porridge, looking bewildered.
Seeing that he was eating well, Xiao Yi also picked up his bowl and started eating!
A thin bowl of sweet potato and corn porridge, mixed with some tree leaves, was slightly bitter. It wasn't filling, but at least I wouldn't starve!
As the group was carefully enjoying their porridge, a questioning voice suddenly rang out.
"Second brother's wife! Did you steal the fourth brother's wife's water, you ill-mannered little vile woman! Do you want your brother to die of thirst?!"
Our fourth son is a scholar, destined for great things! If anything happens to him, I'll take your life!
Xie Yushu turned her head and saw a tall, thin old woman with a long face and triangular eyes walk in aggressively, followed by Xie Yujiao!
Grandma Xiao walked straight up to Xie Yushu and raised her hand to slap her. Xie Yushu instinctively stood up and raised her foot.
Xiao Yi stood up and blocked her way before she could react.
Old Mrs. Xiao slapped him across the chest, making his hand tremble in pain, and he cursed.
"You've gone too far! You wretched child, I'm your mother, how dare you lay a hand on me!"
He was about to hit him again, but looking at the wretched child before him, whose bones were as hard as iron, hitting him would be harmless, but his own hand would hurt. He had no choice but to withdraw his hand and point at Xie Yushu, saying to Xiao Yi...
"Your wife is a vicious woman! She stole all the water your sister-in-law worked so hard to fetch! How dare you drink the water you stole? Aren't you afraid of choking to death? Hand over the water right now!"
Xiao Yi remained standing in front, letting Old Madam Xiao point and say...
"Yu Shu fetched this water herself. She went out to find water before dawn, while my fourth sister-in-law didn't go out until late afternoon. I saw her outside the door. By then, there was no water left near Luofeng Slope. Everyone who went out to find water knew that they had to go to the edge of the mountains to get water. My fourth sister-in-law left around nine o'clock and returned at noon. That wasn't even enough time to walk to the edge of the mountains!"
Xie Yujiao's eyes darted around before she spoke.
“Who said we had to go all the way to the edge of the mountains? I found a water source nearby that no one else had discovered. I fetched this water myself, but my second sister-in-law, being stronger than me, just took it from me! Mother, my husband is so thirsty he’s hoarse. Is my second sister-in-law going to watch us die?”
Old Mrs. Xiao also spoke up.
"Bring out the water!"
Xie Yushu laughed in anger; this was simply a case of not wanting to reason!
But Xiao Yi didn't move, and neither did she. Old Mrs. Xiao turned to Xie Yujiao and said...
"Go find it, let's see who dares to stop you!"
Xie Yujiao hurriedly said
"Ah! Mother is so fair! In the future, your fourth brother and I will definitely take good care of you. When your fourth brother becomes an official, he will definitely earn you a title of Lady of the Imperial Decree!"
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