Xiao Jinyu's shout was heard by everyone, and the people building the house saw it.
"Hey! Second Brother Xiao, Second Sister-in-law has bought a donkey and a donkey cart!"
Donkeys hold a great attraction for any farming family; some people even put down their work and took a few steps forward to greet them!
When the donkey cart arrived, they immediately surrounded the donkey, touching and looking at it with great interest. Fortunately, the donkey was well-behaved and did not kick or kick anyone!
"Second Aunt, you're finally back! I've missed you so much!"
"Mother, I miss you too!"
Xiao Haitang and Xiao Jinyu crawled to Xie Yushu's side, one hugging Xie Yushu's waist and the other hugging Xie Yushu's legs.
Xie Yushu hugged Xiao Haitang, then picked up Xiao Jinyu and casually asked...
"Have you two been eating properly these past few days? Have you been listening to me?"
"Yes! I eat my meals obediently every day!" Xiao Jinyu reported first.
"Jinyu is such a good girl!"
"I've been very obedient, and I even help Aunt Liu cook every day!" Xiao Haitang reported back.
"Aunt Liu?"
"That's right, Second Aunt, you've only been gone for two days, and Grandpa and Grandma have already called Uncle and Aunt away. Just then, Aunt Liu from next door came back from fleeing the famine. Seeing that no one was cooking lunch, she asked Second Uncle to come and help with the cooking. Our family only needs to take care of Aunt Liu, Liu Ye, and Liu Ye's two younger brothers' meals!"
Xiao Haitang briefly recounted the situation at home over the past few days.
Xie Yushu had just arrived home and didn't have time to ask any questions. Seeing so many people surrounding the donkey cart, and finding it difficult to unload the goods, she took some plums and gave each person four or five plums to try. There were about ten workers and a few children. With this distribution, half of the basket of plums was gone.
Everyone initially declined, but seeing how generous Xie Yushu was, they accepted. Most of them tasted one and put the rest in their pockets to give to their children at home, since fruit was so scarce at that time!
Having received their goods, and seeing that Xie Yushu and the others had rushed back covered in dust, they assumed they must be exhausted. Realizing that their presence around the donkey cart and watching the donkeys had kept them from resting, they all made way and went back to their work.
Qu Xiaodie drove the donkey cart into the courtyard, and Xiao Yi followed. Once inside, they carried the items from the cart into the house one by one.
Holding the plums, Widow Liu watched as Xiao Yi carried more than a dozen bags into the house, and there were several large bamboo baskets on the cart, filled with chirping chicks of chicken, duck and goose seedlings. She was extremely envious, wondering how much money she had to dare to buy so many things!
Is Xiao Yi an idiot? How can he just let that Xie guy squander his time like this!
Thinking that Xiao Yi not only managed to take out ten taels of silver to marry Xie Yushu during this famine year, but also lent money to Xiao Yuanhang to study and allowed Xie Yushu to buy donkeys and carts, as well as so much food and clothing, he must have hidden a lot of wealth. Moreover, he was easy to control, otherwise he wouldn't have let Xie Yushu, a young girl, run around in charge of the household.
With such a substantial family fortune, even if she were to become Xiao Yi's concubine, she would still live a life of luxury!
In an instant, Widow Liu's mind raced with a thousand thoughts as she listened to Xiao Haitang's introduction to Xie Yushu.
"Second Aunt, this is Aunt Liu!"
He finally came to his senses and greeted Xie Yushu warmly.
"This must be Xie's daughter! You must be tired from running all this way. Come in and rest, I'll cook right away! We'll eat together later!"
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Sister-in-law Liu!"
Xie Yushu responded and followed Qu Xiaodie into the house!
Xiao Yi hid or put away what needed to be hidden, leaving only enough food for three to five days outside. He then moved Xie Yushu's heavy iron kang cabinet into Xie Yushu's room, placed it against the headboard, and went outside to find a place to tie up the donkey before continuing to call on people to work!
Xiao Haitang and Xiao Jinyu hid inside the house and ate a few plums and peaches, then ate a piece of candy before running out to see the donkey.
Xie Yushu and Qu Xiaodie fetched a basin of water, washed up briefly in the room, and then lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed) to rest!
Qu Xiaodie was probably exhausted, and fell asleep as soon as she touched the kang (a heated brick bed).
Xie Yushu first tallied up the accounts. Including buying land, hiring people, and acquiring so many other things, she left fifty taels there, spending almost five hundred taels in total. Now she has two one-hundred-tael gold notes, one five-hundred-tael silver note, and more than five taels of loose silver left in her hand!
She rolled up the two gold notes and one silver note along with the land deed and hid them in her hairpin. She then stuffed the ginseng box, snake venom and gall, more than forty indentures, and the piece of cloth she had just put into the cabinet and locked it. Only then did she, like Qu Xiaodie, drift into a light daze for a while.
About an hour later, Xiao Haitang woke Xie Yushu and Qu Xiaodie up and told them it was time to eat.
When Xie Yushu and Qu Xiaodie went out, the men who had been working had already set up a table and started eating. Widow Liu set up another table next to them and invited Xie Yushu and Qu Xiaodie to eat there.
Xiao Jinyu was held in Xiao Yi's arms as they ate at the men's table, so this table only had Xie Yushu, Qu Xiaodie, Xiao Haitang, Widow Liu, and her three children.
Widow Liu had already served everyone their meals, which were still noodles with wild vegetable sauce. The noodles were well-pressed, but the sauce was much worse. Before Xie Yushu could even pick up her bowl, Widow Liu's three children had already slurped down a bowl of food, and each of them went to get another bowl and scooped up several spoonfuls of sauce.
The three children finished digging out the brine, and the vegetable basin was almost empty. Xie Yushu and Qu Xiaodie stared in disbelief, while Xiao Haitang, having probably seen it before, simply devoured the food.
Widow Liu explained with a smile
"The children are growing, and Second Brother Xiao couldn't bear to see them go hungry, so he told them not to be shy and to just eat their fill! I hope Sister Xie won't mind!"
The tea-scented tone made Xie Yushu feel a little nauseous, but she was too embarrassed to say that the three children shouldn't eat their fill, so she could only say lightly, "I don't mind!"
Anyway, the roofs of the three main rooms and two side rooms had already been tiled, and the beams of the east wing and gatehouse had been installed. All that was left was to lay the roof tiles. It should be finished in three days at most. She figured that making do with them for another three days wouldn't bankrupt her! So she put up with it.
Upon hearing this, Widow Liu seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and began to eat as well.
Disrupted by their presence, Xie Yushu and Qu Xiaodie lost their appetites. They each ate a small bowl of noodles with the first spoonful of gravy they had served and then put down their chopsticks.
Widow Liu also downed three bowls without any hesitation, and her two sons each ate four bowls, even scraping the broth clean. They were so full that they held their stomachs and dared not speak, as they felt like they would vomit if they spoke, before finally putting down their chopsticks!
Qu Xiaodie rolled her eyes so hard they almost flew to the sky, and whispered to Xie Yushu...
"I've never seen anyone so ill-mannered!"
After finishing her meal, Widow Liu put down her chopsticks and went to the men's table to help serve rice, offering them words of encouragement.
"Everyone, don't be shy, make sure you eat your fill. You've put in so much effort, if you don't eat well, it'll be my fault!"
Qu Xiaodie clicked her tongue.
"Good heavens, she's got some nerve! Talking like she owns the place! She's acting like she's the lady of the house, trying to barge in!"
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