Chapter 59: Returning to the Qin Manor

On the way back, Xiaoguo asked Mrs. Yang if there were any carpenters nearby. “Mrs. Yang, do you know anyone who can build livestock sheds?”

Mrs. Yang found it very strange. “The livestock shed is very easy to construct. No workers would take on this job because there isn’t much they can make from a single job, and the construction duration is short. Profits are low for them. When there were still men around in the village, the sheds were all built by them.”

Xiaoguo nodded, but this was a problem for Xiaoguo. What could she do if she couldn’t find someone? Seeing Xiaoguo frown, Mrs. Yang seemed to remember something. “By the way, isn’t your brother still living at your maternal home?” From Mrs. Yang’s past conversations with, she remembered that Xiaoguo had mentioned about her brother. He didn’t go anywhere for conscription since there weren’t many men within the household.

Hearing this from Mrs. Yang, Xiaoguo recalled that she had not contacted her family since she married into Peach Blossom Village. The only time she met them was when the two elders of the Qin family had passed away. Xiaoguo could vaguely remember that she had an older brother.

Xiaoguo was deep in thought as she chatted casually with Mrs. Yang. Soon, they arrived at the village. Mrs. Yang entered her house and Xiaoguo drove the donkey cart home.

Zhuang Zhuang nestled in Xiaoguo’s arms. He was so hungry that he didn’t want to move. Xiaoguo comforted him in a low voice, “Open the door. I’ll make you something delicious once we get in, okay?”

When Zhuang Zhuang heard this, his eyebrows shot up. “Okay!” He took the key from Xiaoguo’s hand and jumped down. He ran to the door and unlocked it with the key.

Xiaoguo got off the donkey cart and pulled it through the door. She first removed the plates from its body and then tied it to the chicken coop. Xiaoguo stroked the donkey and whispered in its ear, “When the shed is set up, you won’t have to sleep in the open anymore.”

The donkey seemed to understand. It looked up at the sky and grunted.

Xiaoguo found it amusing and went straight to wash her hands and start cooking. She still had a little hungry kid waiting for her!

While Xiaoguo was cooking, Zhuang Zhuang fed grass to the animals in the house. He first grabbed a bundle of grass to feed the chickens and ducks, then he ran to the corner of the wall to grab another bundle for the donkey. He didn’t forget to feed the cows which were still kept in the house. As the vegetables in the courtyard had sprouted—the cows couldn’t be let out to roam. However, this cannot be a long-term solution. It seems that Xiaoguo will have to hurry to Qin Village tomorrow to seek her brother’s help to build a shed.

Xiaoguo quickly stir-fried some pork belly. When the oil was released from the meat, she added the chives. When the chives had turned a darker shade of green, salt was added. The last thing to go into the pot was the pancake strips. These were leftovers from the pancakes that she had made the day before. As there were still three pieces left, she cut them into strips and cooked them with the meat.

Covering up the pot with a lid, XIaoguo went on to make another pot of spinach soup. When the soup was done, the pancake strips were completely cooked too. Zhuang Zhuang helped to bring them into the house.

After dinner, Xiaoguo told Zhuang Zhuang to take his afternoon nap. She would wash the dirty clothes that Zhuang Zhuang had worn earlier. She had to wash and sun them before the sky turned dark.

Using the soap that she had made, Xiaoguo rubbed the soap on the clothes and a lot of foam bubbled up. Xiaoguo checked the laundry she had just washed and saw that it was relatively clean. If only there was a fragrance to the soap.

With this thought in mind, Xiaoguo’s eyes lit up. She would go and pick some flowers the next time. With those flowers, she could make soap with a floral fragrance. Xiaoguo decided to keep this idea in mind.

Xiaoguo washed all their dirty clothes and hung them on the rope to dry. She gave her body a long stretch. Xiaoguo saw that there was still a lot of grass in the house, so there was no need to cut more. Since there was nothing much to do, she decided to go back to the house and take a nap with Zhuang Zhuang.

The next morning, Xiaoguo traveled to the other space and carved out a piece of pork and also took two pork ribs from there. She would bring them to Brother Qin.

She put the meat in the basket and went back to the house to check on Zhuang Zhuang.

Zhuang Zhuang would be tagging along. He got up early in the morning and laid out the two sets of clothes that Xiaoguo had made for him on the bed. He looked at them, unable to decide which outfit to pick. It was his first time seeing his uncle, so he felt a little nervous.

Xiaoguo knew that Zhuang Zhuang was feeling uneasy. Xiaoguo had been married for more than three years—other than contacting Brother Qin once when her parents passed away— they have never gotten in touch ever since.

During New Year celebrations, it was customary for a woman’s maternal family to pick up their daughter who had been married off, and bring her back to her maternal home. Xiaoguo didn’t know why, but her parents had never come to pick her up even once.

Thinking of this, Xiaoguo couldn’t help but feel a little upset.

“Mother! Mother! Which outfit looks better?”

Zhuang Zhuang’s voice roused Xiaoguo who was deep in her thoughts. Upon hearing his words, Xiaoguo went over to the bed—two outfits were neatly placed on the bed. “Yes, pick this!”

Xiaoguo replied to his question and pointed to the light blue set.

Zhuang Zhuang had always listened to Xiaoguo. Upon hearing her words, Zhuang Zhuang obediently changed into the selected outfit. Even his shoes were picked out by Xiaoguo.

This was the first time Zhuang Zhuang was going to meet his uncle, and he regarded this very seriously. He had heard his mother mention his uncle before, but they had never met. He wondered if his uncle was easy to get along with.

Along the way, Zhuang Zhuang excitedly asked Xiaoguo questions about his uncle. Xiaoguo answered them patiently. She couldn’t help but feel a little worried. The impression she had of her brother was a little blurry.. She hadn’t seen him in a long time. She wondered how he was doing and if he was doing well.

Based on the memories she had of the previous owner, Xiaoguo felt a little worried. If she were to meet with her brother, she really would like to ask on behalf of the previous owner, why had the family stopped contacting her. Did they not want her anymore?

However, the love that she could remember was definitely real. There was no food at home, and the last mouthful of food would always be given to the previous owner. Everyone in the family would rather not eat a single bite than have Xiaoguo go hungry.

Xiaoguo frowned at the thought.

Zhuang Zhuang noticed a change in Xiaoguo. “Mother?”

Hearing Zhuang Zhuang’s wary voice, Xiaoguo sighed and relaxed her eyebrows. She said softly, “Mother is fine. It’s just that I haven’t seen Uncle for too long.”

The mother and son duo moved forward on the wobbly donkey cart. Xiaoguo saw a familiar bridge in the distance. At the end of the bridge was the entrance to the village where Qin Manor was situated.

Xiaoguo looked at the familiar road from her memory and felt an inexplicable feeling in her heart. Perhaps this is what it feels like to be homesick.

As they approached the village, they bumped into a group of men and women. Each of them was carrying a hoe on their shoulders. It seemed that they were going to work in the fields.

One of the women saw Xiaoguo and looked shocked. She pointed at Xiaoguo and whispered something to the man beside her. The man then looked up at Xiaoguo before turning to say something to the people around him.

Upon hearing the man’s words, the group looked towards Xiaoguo and started whispering among themselves.

Xiaoguo saw everything but paid no attention to them. She headed for the door which she remembered.

Before long, someone called out to Xiaoguo from behind.

“Xiaoguo? Is that you?”

There was an uncertainty in the voice. Xiaoguo stopped the donkey cart and turned around.

A woman who was dressed in a robe with a baffling color, was calling out to Xiaoguo. Xiaoguo looked at the person and said with uncertainty, “Second Aunt?” It turned out that she was a neighbor living across from the Qin family.

The woman came up to Xiaoguo and looked at her from head to toe. She then looked at Zhuang Zhuang, whom she had in her arms. “Yes, it’s me. Why are you back today?”

“Ah, I came back today for a visit.”

Second Aunt said, “I don’t know if your brother is at home now. If he isn’t, he should be in the fields.” Second Aunt informed her warmly.

Xiaoguo responded accordingly. Seeing that she was about to continue chatting, Xiaoguo quickly took her leave.

Second Aunt didn’t say anything else and let Xiaoguo go.

After Xiaoguo left, the Second Aunt remained where she was and watched as Xiaoguo left. Within a short while, everyone had gathered around her.

“Auntie, why is Xiaoguo back?”

“That’s right. How long has it been since she came? Why is she back today?”

“Did she hear about her brother?” one of the men asked.

The others looked hesitant. “I don’t think so. How could she know?”

“Who knows.”

“Qin Anming is really pitiful. He’s sick and living alone, and has no one to take care of him.”

“Exactly.”

Everyone was trying to guess why Xiaoguo was here.