Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 456: Chapter 456: Mother Zuo’s Misfortune
When the cooked dishes in the kitchen were ready, Liu Sisi finally went down to check the cellar.

The residence’s ground area was not small, and the underground cellar was quite spacious.

Di Yelei had carefully cleaned the cellar after sprinkling quicklime, and then neatly piled up the grain on the shelves.

Seeing Liu Sisi coming in, Di Yelei hurriedly led her out.

“Why did you come down? The air in the cellar is not good, and the space is narrow. What will happen if you accidentally bump into something?”

In the meantime, he shook off the pure flour on his body, choking Liu Sisi with a cough.

“Bastard! Cough cough… You did it on purpose, didn’t you? Cough cough…”

“Hehehe… I really did it on purpose…”

As he spoke, he stealthily stole a fragrant kiss on her cheek, then grinned and laughed.

Liu Sisi twisted his waist hard: “Look at you, an old man with no respect. What if the children see you? What then?”

While speaking, she poked her head inside and took a look: “How’s it going? Have you finished stacking these grains in the cellar?”

“It’s not that fast. I was thinking, why don’t we dig another cellar and put the grain in there. That would be better.”

Di Yelei rolled up his sleeves and wiped a handful of sweat: “If these grains are not stored properly and become moldy and deteriorated, then they will be useless.”

Liu Sisi thought for a moment: “Instead of digging a cellar here, why not bury some of the grain in the cellar on our back mountain, seal the cellar entrance after taking good moisture-proof measures, and use it as emergency food. What do you think?”

These words made Di Yelei’s eyes sparkle! He slapped his thigh right away.

“That’s a great idea! Didn’t I dig two more cellars back there? In addition to the original one, there are three cellars in total. Although there are some sundries inside each, they are not many. It just so happens that I also rented a carriage from the Carriage Shop. I’ll take them with me to transport the grain back overnight and then hurry back under cover of darkness. Tonight, the rain has stopped, and I can move the sweet potatoes in the cellar back.”

Di Yelei became more and more excited as he spoke, and turned to call people.

Liu Sisi hurriedly reached out and grabbed him: “Are you confused? How can you do it at this hour? Eat first, and do things when you have the energy.”

“Yes, yes, yes, I’ll listen to my little kitten!”

Di Yelei grinned with an honest face!

Liu Sisi rolled her eyes at him: “What are you waiting for? Hurry up and fill this cellar with grain, seal it, and get ready for dinner.”

With that, she turned and left.

“Ai! Coming!”

Di Yelei happily shouted with his throat, then cheerfully hummed a tune as he went back to the cellar.

After dinner, Liu Sisi brought out the cotton and bedding on one side for Granny Hu and Ms. Gao to renew the quilts, and even seven or eight-year-old Xue Lan and Xue Yi came to help. On the other side, Di Yelei led Old Cheng, Hu Daniu, Hu Erniu, and others to harness the carriages. Two carriages plus one horse were quickly loaded, and they quietly left the courtyard under the cover of darkness, heading straight for Upper Village.

Because the cotton had not been carded, Granny Hu and Ms. Gao used cotton thread to sew cross lines to renew the quilts, sandwiching the cotton wadding in between, a similar method to making cotton-padded clothes.

The needlework of the two was extremely skilled, and compared to Liu Sisi’s half-baked level, the difference was like day and night.

Liu Sisi knew that her needlework was not good, so she assisted them from the side, helping with the cotton renewal.

However, when she turned her head back and found that the cotton padding by Xue Lan and Xue Yi was much neater and more evenly thick than hers, she decisively let go, leaving the task to them.

Only then did she return to Xuan’er’s room.

Today Zhang Yun was also there, occupying one side of the desk with Di Xuan, writing under the oil lamp. The newly bought attendant student Le Ping was grinding ink carefully beside them, his eyes widened, staring at the books in their hands, full of excitement. Sensing Liu Sisi, he wanted to bow down to greet her, but she stopped him with a raised hand.

Liu Sisi walked up, took off the hairpin from her head, and gently turned up the oil lamp to make it brighter.

She casually glanced at Di Xuan’s homework, noticing he was studying the contents of the Zhu Family’s Instructions.

Perhaps Liu Sisi had been standing there for a while, Di Xuan straightened up a bit, saw Liu Sisi coming, and hurriedly got up to greet her.

Liu Sisi waved her hand: “Is there anything you don’t understand?”

Seeing Di Xuan’s brows knit together, she didn’t leave directly.

“Well, I didn’t understand this part, so I’ve been thinking about it for a long time…” Di Xuan casually asked about his studies.

This action made Le Ping, who was by their side, widen his eyes!

Madam? She… she can actually read? That’s so unexpected!

While Liu Sisi was answering Di Xuan’s questions, there was a series of knocking sounds at the main entrance.

“Eh? Are Yelei and the others back so soon?”

Liu Sisi then remembered that Old Cheng had also returned to Upper Village, and there was no one outside to answer the door, so she got up and went out to open the door.

As the door opened, she saw Zhang Peng’s exhausted figure.

“Why is it you, sister-in-law, who came to open the door? Where is Ye Lei? Something happened to Mother Zuo.”

“What happened? What’s going on?” Liu Sisi hurriedly asked anxiously.

Zhang Peng shook his head, a heavy expression on his face: “It’s hard to put into words. I’ve brought Mother Zuo here, and she’s now at Old Doctor He’s Clinic. Sister-in-law, you should go and see her.”

Liu Sisi thought for a moment and said, “Brother Zhang, wait a moment. I’ll be back soon.”

As she spoke, she went back and put on a cloak, then told her father-in-law in the room before leaving the house.

Seeing that Zhang Peng was talking to Zhang Yun and Xuan’er about something, Liu Sisi came out, and he quickly drove the two children away: “Go, go, go! Hurry back to your room and study. If you dare to slack off and make do, be careful with your skin!”

When the two little guys went back to their rooms, he then led Liu Sisi outside.

“When I went to South Mountain Village, I went to the town there first, then turned to the Zuo Family. When I got to the Zuo Family, I knocked on the door for a long time, but no one answered. Thinking that there was only an old lady at home, I apologized and opened the door myself. It’s a good thing I did; otherwise, the consequences could have been unimaginable. Mother Zuo had already fainted by the bed. I couldn’t wake her up despite calling her for a long time, and she was ice cold. Only after I boiled some hot water to warm her up did she catch her breath. It turns out she had already run out of food at home for several days, and had been living on the leftover pastries and sugar from the New Year…”

Liu Sisi couldn’t help but think of the pastries and candies she left at Zuo’s house, and a line stretched across her forehead.

What was Zuo Xingyu up to?

Didn’t he stay at home for a few more days before leaving? Was he even neglecting his own mother?

——

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