CH 35

Chapter 35 – The Journey Home

Chen Yulian was worse off than a divorced woman because after receiving a divorce letter, a divorcee could still set up a household of her own.  However, a woman like Chen Yulian who had her status revoked was like a woman without roots and could not go anywhere except to return to her maternal home.

“In the future, you and your children are not allowed to touch the family’s money and take whatever you want.  We’re also the sub-branches of the Chen Family in the imperial capital so we have to follow the rules as well.  Yulian, you will receive 7 silver taels while Zhaohua and Zhaoyang will receive 3 silver taels each.  You’re not allowed to touch the income from the shops or the money in the family’s treasury.”

Instantly, both the mother and daughter let out ear-piercing wails when they heard and then started to shout that they could not survive with so little money.  The mother and daughter cried bitterly and complained that Chen Dasheng was too ruthless……..

***☆☆☆***

“Father!”

“Um.”

“Father!”

“Um.”

“Father!”

“……Um.”

Shuangming who had never called anyone ‘Father’ before, was so happy that he could not keep his mouth close.  Whenever the thought of having a father came to mind, he would call out excitedly while the man beneath him would grunt a reply.

In the shop, they bought a lot of cloth for sewing clothes for males, females, little girls, and boys.  The shopkeeper also gave them a piece of slightly flawed pale blue satin that could be used to make a quilt.  Just a few embroidered peonies would be able to cover up the slight flaws.

Embroidery was not difficult for Li Jing’er since the original owner had good embroidery skills.

Then ‘the whole family’ went to the quilt shop to buy ten catties of cotton for stuffing the quilt.  With an additional person, the quilts at home were no longer enough.

“Father!”

“Um.”

“Father!”

“Um.”

“Father!”

Before Shuangming’s father could reply, Shuangming’s mother replied with an ‘Um’.

“Why are you still sitting up there?  How long do you want your father to carry you?  Do you think you’re a water bag?”

It’s truly uncomfortable to watch.  The son was raised by her but the son always likes to look for a stronger man……..er, father.

“Oh.”  With a drooping smile and a disappointed expression, Shuangming made a move to get down.

“Sit tight, Father can carry you.  You must eat a bit more!  Son, you’re so light that Father can’t even feel you’re sitting up there.”

He can still carry the child around for a few more years.  When the child grows up, he won’t be able to do it even if he wants to and it’s only these few years that he can get close to him.

“Father?”  He did not know whether he should get down or stay up there and secretly felt happy.

“Listen to what Father says, Father is the head of the family.  Your Mother has to listen to Father too.”

In front of the child, Xiao Jingfeng showed the attitude expected of a man.

“Huh, head of the family?!”  His thought is indeed beautiful!

Based on child psychology, since the child is present, Li Jing’er did not dispute with him but it was inevitable for her to curse him in silence as she walked ahead while holding Shuangzhen’s hand.

Then Xiao Jingfeng let out a dry cough and said.  “I mean Father will decide on major matters while your Mother will decide on minor matters.  Since there’s nothing major in our family, so we will follow your Mother.”

Hmph!  That’s more like it!

The corners of Li Jing’er’s lips curled up slightly.

“Come, Shuangzhen, sit on father’s arm.  Look, your brother and younger sister don’t have to walk on their own, so you should also rest for a while and don’t tire your calves.”

Xiao Jingfeng treated the children equally and was willing to be the children’s ‘sedan’ when he saw Shuangzhen rubbing her legs.

Upon seeing his wife treat and take care of the children equally, he could not help but feel ashamed and wanted to treat them better although both the boy and girl were not his biological children.  After all, in the hearts of the children, both the husband and his wife were their biological parents.

“Mother?”  Shuangzhen lifted her head to seek her mother’s permission.

“Alright, go ahead.  Anyway, that’s an old bull.  Even when he doesn’t need to work in the fields, he still wants to shoulder the weight of the shepherd boy.  Your light weights won’t crush him.”

She had a mischievous thought and wondered whether he can withstand the weight of breaking a boulder on his chest.

“What old bull?  This is a strong healthy bull.  Don’t listen to your mother’s nonsense.”

Xiao Jingfeng lifted his arm and patted the muscles on his raised arm to show off his strength and power.

“Thank you, Mother.”

As Shuangzhen showed an innocent toothful smile that a child should have, she was lifted high by her father and she let out an ‘Ah’.

“What are you thanking your Mother for?  Father is obviously the one who is doing all the hard work.”

He deliberately complained about the unfairness.  The unhappy man who put in a lot of effort did not receive any praise at all.

“……..And thank you, Father.”  She smiled with her eyes squinted while she pulled and played with her brother’s leg.

Shuangming was very good-mannered and allowed his sister to play.

“…….And?  That’s perfunctory!  It’s like Father is mentioned in passing.  Father feels so sad.”

The girl is more thoughtful and it could be seen she was on guard against others.

Shuangzhen covered her mouth and laughed.

“Don’t be too greedy.  You’re lucky they became close to you in such a short time.  Grandmother Hu in the village took care of them several times but they didn’t even smile at her.”

The little faces would usually tense up as if Li Jing’er was going to abandon them and all of them had teary eyes.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingfeng felt happy from the bottom of his heart.

“Mother, Granny Hu snatches my flatbread.”

“And she doesn’t even give us water to drink.”

Shuangming and Shuangzhen talked about Grandmother Hu’s evil ways one after the other.

Li Jing’er was taken aback.

“She doesn’t give you water to drink and snatched your flatbreads as well?”

“She said her teeth are bad and our bread is soft and easy to eat.”

But they had to bear with the hunger!  And Little Sister Yue was often so hungry that she cried before eventually falling asleep.

“And we had to go to pee after drinking a lot of water.”  Grandmother Hu was not bothered to take them to relieve themselves.

Li Jing’er finally understood and nodded.

“Later, Mother will make a few trips to move some things from the house in the mountain to the house in the village so that the three of you can wait for me in the house, will that be alright?”

Three little heads nodded in unison but Little Sister was drowsy and was about to fall asleep.

“Let me do the work and you can take care of the children.”

He did not know they lead such a hard life traveling back and forth and climbing up and down the mountain.

It was indeed inconvenient to take care of the three children.  Every time Li Jing’er would carry goods from the mountain to sell in the city.  She would assess the goods she had collected and then make 2 to 3 separate trips to transfer the goods down the mountain. Since the children were still young, they cannot be left alone, so they were brought down from the mountain first and then sent to Grandmother Hu to take care of them.  She would then work hard and make a few more trips before they take Uncle Niu’s ox cart into the city together.

It was naturally the same when they came back from the city and rode on the ox cart on their return trip.  Sometimes she would buy a little more of the daily necessities and rice grains.  The return trip was the same as she would entrust the children to Grandmother Hu for a few hours and would take the children back to the stone house after all the things had been transferred up the mountain.  It was to ensure the children would have a safe journey up and down the mountain and to prevent any accidents from happening.

However, this kind of situation rarely occurred.  She would always buy less and make do as long as there was enough.  After all, a lot of edible things were found on the mountain except for rice, sauces, salt, condiments, etc., which were impossible for her to produce on her own.  Other miscellaneous items were easy to obtain and she could make up for them after putting in a little extra hard work.

Although Grandmother Hu’s conduct was not too bad, she was a bit greedy for petty gains and when she sees others having something, she wanted to have it too.  She thought the children were naive and took them for herself.

Li Jing’er often turned a blind eye to Grandmother Hu’s actions and treated the loss of such small worthless items as a form of interaction between fellow villagers.

However, when she thought of Grandmother Hu snatching away the children’s bread and not giving them water, she felt Grandmother Hu had gone overboard.  It was over the limit she could tolerate.  Adults could suffer a little but not children.

Although she had been here for more than a year, her habit of living in seclusion made her unfamiliar with the villagers.  There were only a few villagers she knew and if there is a need for someone to take care of the children, who should she look for?  So she started to worry and wondered whether it was time to train her children to be independent.

“Don’t you need to train and lead the troops to a place further away for patrols?  The transfer of troops is unpredictable so don’t make arrangements so hastily.  I always believe that instead of being dependent on others, it’s better to depend on oneself.”

If she is used to relying on a particular person and one day, that person is no longer around, she would be at a loss.

Being a practical person, her thoughts were far-reaching.  When she was the Captain of the Fire Brigade, she was the one who gave orders.  Although her body is no longer the same as before, her thoughts and concepts remain the same.  She was a person that others relied on and helping others was her mission in life.  If things could be done within the scope of her ability, she would never bother others.

She had cultivated an independent spirit and was used to doing everything for herself.

“I don’t dare to say that there isn’t such a possibility but it’s winter now and the land is covered with ice and snow.  The enemy can’t fight in the heavy snow, so during this winter period, the enemy won’t be sending out troops and we won’t as well.”

His meaning was…….I am still very reliable, so you can come to me if you need anything.  It can be rough work or heavy work or dirty work, I can handle all of them!

The corners of her mouth curled upwards.

“I still don’t dare to bother you.  You have a lot of things to do and are a very busy man.  I’m afraid even though you have the ability, you can’t accomplish it.  Now thinking about this, I find it strange.  You’re not young anymore but why are you still so popular?”

A peach blossom beginning to bloom on a branch.

Upon hearing her words, Xiao Jingfeng understood she was referring to Chen Yulian and the smile on his face disappeared.

“She had hinted to me before but I ignored her and I’ve never been to Lord Zhenfu’s residence in the city.”

He gave a quick explanation to clear the matter.

In fact, he and Chen Dasheng’s younger sister only met a few times.  Once it was to help Chen Dasheng move house, then it was to help him to entertain guests during a banquet, and another time was to send him back home after he got drunk.

The time when he helped Chen Dasheng entertain guests, the banquet was held in a restaurant outside while the other two times, he did not even step into the rear courtyard of the residence.  He knew Chen Dasheng’s younger sister was staying in the rear courtyard, so he took precautions to avoid any suspicions.  He tried his best to remain with his comrades and made sure he would not be alone with her so as not to give rise to gossip.