Chapter 149

149 Heartwarming Aunt

Li Mei carefully placed the bedding, clothes, and embroidered blankets that Liu Changmin had pulled back onto the bed. She felt uneasy and counted them again to make sure that there were twelve sets of blankets before looking at the stacked blankets on the bed. Some were embroidered with dragons and phoenixes, some were embroidered with dragonflies playing in the water, some were embroidered with a hundred children, and there were also pomegranate flowers...

Li Mei touched the blanket and the wedding dress, then touched the row of embroidered shoes on the bed and muttered to herself, “Ah Shan, Sister-in-law, don’t worry! Yu’er has found a good husband who is a Top Scorer. Our lives are getting better and better. If you’re in heaven, bless the children to be safe and sound.”

Zhaodi entered the house and saw Li Mei sitting there in a daze, muttering to herself. She walked over worriedly and sat beside Li Mei before seeing her face filled with tears. Her heart ached as she asked, “Mother, what’s wrong? Who made you angry again?”

Li Mei touched her face and realized that it was covered in tears. She smiled at Zhaodi in embarrassment. “I’m just happy! I’m happy that your cousin found such a good husband. I’ll have the cheek to see your uncle and aunt when I die in the future.”

Zhaodi heaved a sigh of relief and smiled reproachfully. “Mother, you’re really something. You’re talking about dying on such a good day! Didn’t you consider that Cousin’s big day was coming? How inauspicious!”

“You’re right. I shouldn’t be talking about such inauspicious things. I’m just too happy.” Li Mei looked at Zhaodi’s beautiful face and smiled in relief. “My Zhaodi has also grown up. Two days ago, Little Bean’s mother even asked someone to propose marriage. She wanted me to agree to betroth you to his eldest son, Chen Xu. I thought to myself that your Uncle Chen is famous for doting on his wife. The brothers in the family are also harmonious and have good family manners. What do you think?”

Zhaodi blushed shyly and whispered, “Mother, I’m not talking to you anymore. How can you ask me? You and Father can decide on the marriage.”

When Li Mei saw her daughter’s expression, she knew that she was willing. She was a little happy and disappointed. “Sigh! No wonder everyone wants to raise a son. It wasn’t easy for me to nurture this daughter. She looks like a flower and in the blink of an eye, she’s someone else’s family.”

Zhaodi was also a little sad when she heard this. She leaned on Li Mei’s shoulder affectionately and hugged her arm. “Mother, Cousin and Mr. Zhou are leaving after they get married. I don’t know when we’ll see each other again. Mother, I can’t bear to see Cousin leave.”

Li Mei touched Zhaodi’s hand and said faintly, “I can’t bear to part with your cousin, but we can’t keep her forever!”

Liu Changmin came back from outside with Brother Pig and shouted in the courtyard, “Aren’t you two going to cook? Our Brother Pig is hungry.”

Brother Pig lifted his red top and patted his stomach. He shouted in a childish voice, “Mother, Brother Pig’s stomach is flat. I want to eat meat.”

Li Mei and Zhaodi came out of the house. Zhaodi picked up Brother Pig and gently bit his chubby little face. “I want to eat meat too.”

Piggy also bit Zhaodi’s face and saliva smeared her face. Piggy looked at the saliva on Zhaodi’s face and giggled. Laidi pressed her head against Piggy’s and the siblings both laughed.

Li Mei and Liu Changmin also smiled happily when they saw the siblings.

After dinner, Li Mei and Liu Changmin carried the bedding items to Li Yu’s house and placed them on the bed. The two of them made a few trips before they finished moving the things.

When Li Yu returned home from the farm, she looked at the pile of blankets, covers, pillowcases and the wedding dress hanging on the hanger. There were pairs of embroidered shoes neatly arranged on the bed. Li Yu touched the lifelike patterns on the wedding dress and felt poignance in her heart. How much time and effort did it take to embroider so many things?!

Li Yu’s eyes were wet. She looked at Li Mei, who had come in from outside, and said in a choked voice, “Aunt, when did you start embroidering? You have to manage the workshop and bring Brother Pig along. It’s so tiring to embroider so many things!”

“I’m not tired.” Li Mei looked at Li Yu’s beautiful face and walked over to wipe the tears off Li Yu’s face. She looked at Li Yu with red eyes. “My Yu’er is about to get married. Zhou Jia is really lucky to have such a good girl as his wife.”

Li Mei sniffed and endured the reluctance in her heart. She instructed Li Yu solemnly, “Yu’er, remember, it’s fine if Young Master treats you well after you get married. If he doesn’t treat you well, don’t make yourself suffer. Remember to bring a letter to Aunt to pick you up.”

Li Yu hugged Li Mei gratefully and sniffed. “Aunt, don’t worry. I won’t make myself suffer. If Zhou Jia dares to let me down, I’ll divorce him and let him leave with nothing.”

Li Mei hugged Li Yu and laughed. “Crazy girl, how can a woman divorce her husband? Do you still want him to leave with nothing? Where did you learn such crazy words?! Alright, you’ll be someone’s wife in the future. You can’t act according to your whims anymore. Aunt and Uncle will take care of Ah Qing when he goes to school at home. You can get married without worry and live a peaceful life. Let your parents be at ease.”

“Yes! I’ll remember,” Li Yu replied solemnly.

“Come, let’s see if the wedding dress fits.” Li Mei opened the wedding dress for Li Yu to try it on. Her eyes lit up as she looked at Li Yu. “My Yu’er is as beautiful as a flower. That kid Zhou Jia got lucky.”

Li Yu giggled and raised her head proudly. “He got lucky.”

Before noon the next day, Li Qing and Zhou Jia rushed back to Phoenix Village. As soon as Li Qing arrived at his house, he jumped off the carriage and shouted, “Sister, I’m back.” He ran into the house.

“Hey! I’m in the kitchen,” Li Yu replied loudly. She raised her hands which were filled with flour and came out of the kitchen. She looked at Li Qing and smiled. “Ah Qing has grown tall and handsome again. Go wash your face. I’m steaming pumpkin buns.”

“Sister, I bought you a gift. I’ll give it to you when I’m done bathing.” Li Qing looked at Li Yu’s smile and felt sorrowful and uncomfortable. He held back his tears and turned to walk toward the bathroom.

Li Yu watched as Li Qing quickly walked to the bathroom and smiled in relief. “Brat, you even know how to buy a gift for your sister.”

Li Qing sat in the bathtub with tears rolling down his face. He secretly blamed himself for being useless. He was clearly prepared to let his sister get married in peace like a man, but the moment he saw his sister, he could not bear to let her leave him.

Zhou Jia drove the carriage into the livestock shed and tied it up. He carried the phoenix crown box to the kitchen and smiled at Li Yu. “Yu’er, the phoenix crown is ready. See if you like it.”

Li Yu glared at him. “I’ll it later. Look, my hands are covered in flour.”

Old Madam Liu looked at the two of them and smiled. “Miss, leave the rest of the steamed buns to me. You should go and try it.”

“Try it!” Zhou Jia looked at Li Yu with a smile.

Li Yu looked at the smiling Zhou Jia and smiled. “Alright! I’ll try it.”

The two of them went into the house together and Zhou Jia opened the box. He took out a pure gold hollowed-out phoenix crown. The petals on the phoenix crown were layered, and the stamen was even embedded with red gems the size of rice grains. A row of tassels hung down from where the forehead would be, forming the veil.

Zhou Jia put the phoenix crown on Li Yu’s thick black hair. Looking at Li Yu, who had pink lips, Zhou Jia’s heart skipped a beat. “Yu’er, you’re so beautiful.”

Li Yu glanced at Zhou Jia and took off the phoenix crown. “I like it very much. Why isn’t Ah Qing out of the shower yet? I saw that he seemed to be feeling a little unwell just now. Go and see why he hasn’t come out of the bathroom.”

“Okay.” Zhou Jia put the phoenix crown in the box. “Let’s go! I’ll see if Ah Qing is done washing.”

Just as the two of them reached the door, they saw Li Qing coming out of the bathroom. Li Yu saw that Li Qing’s eyes were red and asked worriedly, “Ah Qing, what’s wrong with your eyes?”

Li Qing rubbed his eyes hard to hide the traces of his crying. “Sister, I got soapberry oil in my eyes when I washed my hair. It stung. I had to wash my eyes with water a few times before I felt better.”