Chapter 94 - 94: When is the Return Date_l

Translator: 549690339

Yingbao and her two younger brothers did not attend Sister Dani’s engagement banquet.

Yuanbao and Huzi also did not go, only Erni accompanied Dani.

Today was a school’s rest day. Taking advantage of their parents’ absence, Yingbao fetched a basket of chives from the storage and prepared to make some chive pockets.

She originally wanted to make pork and chive dumplings, but no one went to town to buy meat.

Even if she had meat, she couldn’t mince it. It was simpler and easier to make chive and egg pockets.

After kneading the dough, she washed the chives, drained the water and chopped them up. Then, she cooked an omelette, chopped it up, and mixed it with the chives. The next step was to roll out the dough and make the pockets.

Yuanbao and Huzi were playing in the yard with their two little brothers, while Little Yingbao was painstakingly making the chive pockets alone.

After she finished making them, she had to slowly cook them over low heat.

Just as she had finished a few, the four boys ran in, each grabbed one and started eating. They didn’t care that the chive pockets were half-cooked, they still kept complimenting how delicious they were.

Yingbao: …

Well, this was her first time cooking chive pockets. Her lack of experience led to one side being burnt while the other wasn’t even cooked yet.

It was hard on the four kids who didn’t even complain. They each took one and ate it heartily.

The second batch was much better. Although a little burnt, at least they were cooked and edible.

But the second batch was also taken and eaten by the four rascals.

Yingbao was speechless, but she was also happy because those burnt pockets didn’t go to waste.

By the third batch, the chive pockets were cooked perfectly. Yingbao finally picked up one to eat herself.

Not bad, her skills were really not bad. They weren’t burnt at all, they were nearly as good as her mother’s.

“Yingbao, are you at home?”

Wen Shu’s voice was heard from outside the courtyard.

Yingbao immediately ran to open the gate and saw Wen Shu and Wen Hengyin walking in.

The four little rascals also ran over to greet Wen Hengyin, each one with black around their mouths.

Wen Hengyin was surprised and asked Huzi, “What did you guys eat?” Making such a mess.

Huzi: “We ate the chive pockets made by Yingbao, do you want a taste? They’re really good.”

“No!” Wen Hengyin shook his head. He didn’t want to eat anything black.

Yingbao led Sister Wen into the kitchen, cooking and listening to her talk.

“Yingbao, I came to say goodbye. Tomorrow, my mother will take us to Prefecture City, and we probably won’t come back till next March.” Wen Shu sat down on a small stool.

When Yingbao heard this, she became a bit worried.

Because this time happened to be when the Wen family had trouble, she didn’t want Sister Wen to leave.

“Sister Wen, can you not leave?” Yingbao removed the fire and came out from behind the stove.

Wen Shu stirred her handkerchief and sighed: “We haven’t heard from my father for over a month. My mother and I are very worried. We are going to Prefecture City to find out what on earth happened in Yuzhou.” Yingbao frowned, “Can’t you write to your relatives to ask?”

She feared that once Wen Shu left, it would be hard for them to meet again.

Wen Shu shook her head: “Mother said instead of waiting idly, it’s better to go to Prefecture City. They are well-informed there, unlike our isolated small village. We can always know something there.”

“Well, can you and Madam Wen really come back next March?” Yingbao asked.

Wen Shu nodded, “No matter what, we will be back.”

Yingbao scratched her head, unable to think of a way to help Sister Wen.

Her own precious golden habiliments and Xue’er had been bought by Lady Wen, so they didn’t need her Five Dingzhi.

After a long hesitation, she spoke earnestly, “Sister Wen, not long ago, I had a bad dream. I dreamed that your house was ransacked, and you were separated from your little brother… Don’t laugh, my dreams are very accurate, you and your husband must be careful.”

Wen Shu stopped smiling, deep in thought. “I’ll go home and tell my mother to interpret your dream for you.”

“Right.” Beyond that, Yingbao could think of no other good method.

Wen Shu left with her brother. Before leaving, she gave Yingbao a few medical books she had brought with her. “On the days when my mother and I are not here, you must study these books diligently. If you don’t understand anything, note it down and wait for my mother and me to come back to explain it.”

Yingbao nodded, hugged Sister Wen, and said quietly, “Sister Wen, you must take good care of yourself and your little brother. In my dream, you were separated from your little brother.”

She wasn’t afraid that such words might upset Wen Shu, she blurted them all out. “For many years after that, you never found him again.”

Wen Shu was taken aback. She patted Yingbao’s head without showing any displeasure, “Thank you for the reminder, Yingbao. I will keep an eye on him and not let him run around.”

After Sister Wen and her brother left, Yingbao, a little depressed, finished cooking her chives pancakes, then sat on a stool, dazed.

She suddenly remembered that it had been a long time since she had dreamt about that book. She wondered about the final fate of Chen Zhao and Chen Tiantian.

Early the next morning, Yingbao rode Youyou to see off Lady Wen, only to find the school’s door tightly locked. They had already left, even the snails had been brought along.

Yingbao stood at the door, saddened for a long time before she reluctantly returned home.

Since there was no school, Yingbao proposed to move to the new house on South Slope.

After discussions with her husband, Chunniang decided to move the entire family to South Slope.

Now it was the cold twelfth month, and there was no work to be done in the fields. It was the slack season for farming, and the village folks had nothing to do.

Whenever it was sunny, the men of the village would sit under the south wall, basking in the sun and chatting, some even took off their cotton-padded clothes, turned them inside out to pick off the lice.

The women would gather with their needlework and baskets to gossip about recent events.

Jiang Sanlang first used the mule cart to transport some bedding and clothes to South Slope. Then it was the daily necessities, followed by people.

Yingbao rode Youyou and arrived at South Slope early to tidy up the house.

The house and yard on South Slope were quite large, and at first it seemed a bit empty and even colder.

But here it was open, with a good view, and there were not many households. In snowy weather, they could hunt for birds and Youyou could go out for a run by itself, without anyone having to walk it. After a round, it would return home on its own.

Seeing his younger brother’s family move to South Slope, Jiang Erlang also decided to move in with his children. Every day he would cut some bamboo to make bamboo stools, and weave a few bamboo baskets for later to dry Xue’er.

Old Man Jiang had already been living on South Slope, watching over their granary with his two grandsons and incidentally fattening two pigs.

Before they knew it, a month had passed and in no time, it would be the New

Year.

One day, the peaceful mountain village was suddenly disrupted because a small group of soldiers drafted last year had returned, and all of them were wounded.

“My son, what happened to you? How did your leg get injured like this?”

The Clan Leader’s second wife, Tang Family, cried and wept as she hugged her son who was lying on a stretcher.

“Da Lang, you hurry and go to the town to invite the doctor to take a look at your brother,” the Clan Leader instructed his eldest son at the sight of this.

Seeing the misery of his younger brother, Chen Da felt uncomfortable and rushed to town in a carriage to fetch Doctor Li.

Having examined the condition, Doctor Li shook his head and said to the Clan Leader, “Your son’s situation isn’t good. His right thigh has necrotized, and the toxins from the rotting flesh have already spread throughout his body. I’m afraid it’s difficult to treat.”

Upon hearing these words, Tang Family fainted.

The youngest daughter-in-law quickly pinched her mother-in-law’s point of consciousness and her tiger’s mouth.

Seeing this, Doctor Li hastily pried open Tang Family’s mouth and tucked a slice of ginseng under her tongue..