The delicate voice of a little girl accompanied by the tears on her face immediately attracted everyone's attention in the direction she pointed.
As expected, on Di Ying's arm where she pointed, there were visible tearing marks on the sleeve. It was just that Liu Sisi had been hugging her arm tightly the whole time, so no one had noticed!
"Enough! I believe the situation is clear now,"
Land Officer clearly understood both sides and made his final judgment: "Ms. Wang, you have repeatedly taken things from others, from someone's turnip to another's green pepper. Not only are you never serious, today you even tried to steal the wild boar meat. This is your fault. Of course, there's also... Ye Lei, you shouldn't have hit your Second Sister-in-law."
Land Officer didn't side with either, sentenced each to five beatings on their boards, then said to Ms. Wang with an iron-for-steel expression: "Ms. Wang, initially, when Ye Lei owed your family twenty taels of silver, you've made a fuss countless times now. Ye Lei is not a debtor, so as his sister-in-law, why do you have to put him down in front of the bride? You... sigh!"
"Mr. Land Officer, I... this, I..."
Ms. Wang stammered for quite a while without giving a clear reason. Just like Land Officer said, everyone around was their fellow villagers; who wouldn't know her true nature?
Land Officer looked back at Liu Sisi before turning and walking out of the courtyard.
Land Officer, I have something to say," Liu Sisi suddenly called out to him. She hadn't said anything before, was it because she was too easygoing?
"What else do you have to say?" Mr. Land Officer looked unhappy, did these people never end?
Mr. Land Officer, as you can see, if Second Sister-in-law continues to harass us like today every two or three days, it will not be a long-term solution. Sisi has no other requests, just wants Second Sister-in-law to make a statement in front of everyone, so as to ease the children's minds."
Liu Sisi's eyes were red and wet, but her tears never fell.
The onlookers nodded in agreement; they really needed to be on guard against such a sister-in-law!
Land Officer also agreed, turned back to Ms. Wang and ordered: "Ms. Wang, did you hear clearly what your Third Sister-in-law said? If there's a next time, I won't care about right or wrong, I will give you ten beatings first!"
Ms. Wang was used to being rash, but she dared not disobey Land Officer's words, so she bitterly promised Liu Sisi.
Secretly, her hatred for Liu Sisi grew even deeper.
"Third Sister-in-law, don't worry! It was me who was possessed by a ghost, next time I won't dare! You rest assured, with Mr. Land Officer as my witness, I won't act recklessly."
Only after the Land Officer and the onlookers left did Liu Sisi release the two children she had been holding in her arms the whole time.
"Did any of you get hurt? Is there anywhere you feel uncomfortable?"
At that moment, Di Xuan's face seemed much better, and he no longer resisted Liu Sisi's touch. Instead, it was Di Ying next to them who tugged on Sisi's clothes and refused to let go.
"Mom... "
The soft, milky voice struck Liu Sisi's heartstrings.
"Ah, Mom is here!"
Wiping the tears off YingEr's little face and gently pinching her nose, Liu Sisi had a tender expression on her face: "If any of you feel uncomfortable, remember to tell... Mom, okay?"
She could hardly call herself 'Mom,' but she was glad she had taken this step.
"Mom, YingEr is hungry." YingEr said, somewhat embarrassed.
"Alright, you guys go outside and wait for a moment. Mom will clean up the house and cook."
Liu Sisi looked around and picked up the broom to sweep up the mess on the floor.
She propped up the fallen small table and bench, the cooked dishes and leftover chicken soup from yesterday were all scattered on the ground, clearly not edible anymore. Several large bowls were shattered, but she reluctantly found one with a slightly smaller crack that could still be used.
Feeling annoyed, she had been preoccupied with shielding the two children, and had forgotten about the food and broken bowls. If she dared to make trouble again next time, old and new accounts would be settled together.
After rummaging through the cabinets and drawers, she found nothing except a small bag of what seemed to be sorghum rice behind the bowl cabinet. She decided to cook some meat porridge with the wild boar leg meat she had snatched back.
It was already approaching noon, and they hadn't had breakfast yet.
With lightning speed, she washed the pot, added water, covered it, and turned to start the fire at the stove. After searching for quite a while, she couldn't find a lighter, so she had to make do with two strangely shaped stones she found by the stove. After much fuss, the fire was finally ignited.
"Mom, YingEr can make the fire..."
Little Ying spoke softly from the side.
"I'll make the fire, YingEr, you go and play on the side."
Di Xuan's hostility towards Liu Sisi had finally eased significantly, but he remained cautious as always.
Liu Sisi didn't object, as it was normal for a seven-year-old child to start a fire. She didn't plan to spoil the two children.
"YingEr, how old are you this year?"
After measuring a portion of sorghum rice, Liu Sisi casually asked YingEr before pouring some grains back, deciding it would be better to eat a bit less for a few meals. There was practically nothing in the house except bare walls.
"YingEr is four years old this year, mom." YingEr closely followed Liu Sisi, tightly gripping her clothes without letting go.
"Oh, so our YingEr is four years old now. Can YingEr eat by herself and take a bath by herself?"
Liu Sisi chatted casually with YingEr while washing the sorghum rice carefully, then pouring it back into the pot and covering it with the lid. She cut about 2 taels worth of lean meat from the wild boar leg, washed it, chopped it into small pieces and marinated it with some salt.
"Yeah, there are so many things YingEr can do! Not only can she eat and bathe by herself but also dress herself and pick vegetables."
With a pitiful look on her face, Di Ying shyly said, "Mom, will you do the same as YingEr's own mom and leave YingEr to go very far away and never come back?"
It wasn't until the water in the pot began to boil that Liu Sisi let go of Di Ying and seasoned the pot with some salt. She watched the sorghum rice cook just about right before adding the lean meat into the pot.
Such a child had never received her mother's love and care! Liu Sisi sighed in her heart.
"Our YingEr is so capable."
She put down the pot lid, washed her hands, and gave Di Ying a tight hug. She kissed YingEr's little face and said, "Never again! From now on, mom will make delicious food for our YingEr and buy her beautiful patterned skirts, and raise YingEr to be fair-skinned, okay?"
"Really? Mom, when YingEr grows up, she will take care of you too." Di Ying stood on tiptoe and imitated Liu Sisi's movements, kissing her chin.
She originally wanted to kiss Liu Sisi's cheek, but she was simply too short to reach it.