Chapter 145 Four Letters
Zhang, He and Qiu came forward to greet them.
"Why are you home so late? Are you hungry?" Zhang took the things from Qin Yao's hand and put them on the ground next to the door so that she could take them away when she got home.
Qin Yao nodded honestly, she was very hungry.
He immediately walked to the kitchen, took off the apron hanging behind the door, lit the lamp and started a fire, and said outside:
"I'll make you two some dumpling soup and add two eggs. Hurry up and put down your things and wash your face. It's so dirty."
Zhang led the mother and daughter to the water tank, and Qiu found a clean face towel and handed it to Qin Yao, "Wipe it quickly."
"Thank you, second sister-in-law." Qin Yao smiled politely at Qiu and told her to go back and sit down and not to worry about her.
Zhang filled the basin with water. Qin Yao wrung out a handkerchief with the cold water and wiped her own face first. Then she handed the handkerchief to Dalang and told him to wash his hair as well to avoid wasting the basin of water.
I'll go home and take a hot bath so I can sleep well.
As soon as Dalang responded, he was immediately surrounded by his younger brothers and sisters.
Jin Bao asked him, "What did you catch? Was there a tiger or a black bear?"
Erlang and Sanlang also asked expectantly: "Aniang, have you gone to the city?"
Si Niang and Jin Hua squatted beside the basin, looking eagerly, "Mother bought some cakes, I can smell them."
Dalang wanted to answer, but when he opened his mouth, he found that he couldn't finish his answer, so he simply shut up and washed his hair first.
In the main room, Zhang lit an oil lamp to make it brighter.
Qin Yao was sitting at the table, opposite her were Old Man Liu and his two sons, and next to her was Mrs. Qiu. They were all very excited when they heard Qin Yao talk about encountering a tiger in the mountains.
Zhang walked into the room silently, and after a moment she took out four letters and handed them to Qin Yao.
"This is from the city. You were not here, so I kept it and haven't opened it yet. It was sent the next day. Maybe something happened and he is looking for you urgently. Please take a look."
Qin Yao took the letter, glanced at the words "To my beloved wife" on the envelope, sneered, and put the envelope aside. "Don't worry, I'll take a look when I get back. He just came back from the city today, and he's fine."
After hearing what Qin Yao said, Old Man Liu and Mrs. Zhang were no longer in a hurry and asked Mrs. He if the meal was ready.
"Here it comes!"
He brought in the bowl of noodles with a smile, and put down two more bowls, one for Qin Yao and one for Dalang. In the bowls were two golden fried, crispy eggs.
Dalang had already washed his hair, but Erlang and Sanlang insisted on helping him dry his hair. The three brothers argued for a while before going into the house.
Qin Yao pointed at the bag of pastries by the door and asked Erlang to bring it over so that everyone could share.
I bought two kilograms, but it's hard to divide them. It would be better for the whole family to eat them together, which would be more satisfying.
Zhang said no, but Erlang and his children had already opened the oil paper package. Zhang could only sigh helplessly, "These greedy cats can't walk when they see delicious food."
"No wonder she misses her Third Aunt every day." He also joked, "My Jinbao asks twice a day, 'Is Third Aunt not back yet? When will Third Aunt be back?'"
Amidst the lively conversation and laughter, Qin Yao and Dalang filled their stomachs without leaving even a drop of soup.
Qin Yao got up and walked to the door, took out the pork belly and cloth, put the cloth on the table in the main room, took the meat to the kitchen, cut off two pounds and put them directly in the cupboard, then found the cover and covered it with it as if she was familiar with the place.
He and the others were already familiar with Qin Yao's ways, so without saying anything polite, they went into the house to get a ruler and called the four brothers and sisters of Dalang to come over to measure their sizes.
"The weather is getting colder. Everyone needs a pair of thick-soled shoes." Qin Yao put the remaining three pounds of meat back into her bag and turned back to give instructions.
"Your second sister-in-law will be free these days, so ask her to make it for you." He made the arrangements naturally. Qiu nodded and asked Si Niang what style she wanted.
"Are there any more styles?" Si Niang looked at Second Aunt in surprise.
Mrs. Qiu told her that there were ones with upturned heads, flat heads, and ones with patterns. She knew how to embroider, so she could embroider a few flowers on them for her.
Si Niang had never worn such shoes before, and she was looking forward to it. "Then I want embroidered ones."
Mrs. Qiu smiled and nodded, "Okay, then how about we embroider two morning glories?"
"Yeah!" Si Niang said happily: "Thank you, Second Aunt~"
"Hey, what are you thanking me for? Just wait, Second Aunt will make sure it's done beautifully for you." Qiu touched the little guy's face and felt that Fourth Aunt was becoming more and more lovely, and she was polite and pleasing to the eye.
Jinhua was not happy with this and pouted, "Mom, I want Morning Glory's shoes, too, the same as Si Niang's!"
Qiu glanced at her helplessly, "Didn't I make it for you? You burned a big hole in the upper of the shoe before you wore it for two days. You didn't take good care of it after making it, so I don't want to make it for you."
Jinhua quickly crawled into Qiu's arms, twisting like a bent pepper in Qin Yao's vegetable garden.
"Do it for me, mother, do it for me. I promise that I will take good care of it this time and will definitely not break it."
Qiu was defeated and had to agree.
Jinhua and Si Niang looked at each other, and the two cousins smiled so hard that their eyes were bent. They could wear the same shoes.
The sizes of He's clothes had been measured, so Qin Yao called Si Niang over and prepared to go home.
Before leaving, he asked Old Man Liu to help him keep an eye out for any land for sale in the village.
Old man Liu was shocked. It seemed that he had earned a lot of money this time when he went into the mountains.
But it would be good to buy land. How can a farmer be without land? Renting land from others is not a long-term solution. It is better to have your own land.
"Okay, don't worry, I'll tell you as soon as I have news." Old Man Liu agreed solemnly.
After watching Qin Yao and her family leave, Zhang and Old Man Liu looked at each other and smiled easily. With Qin Yao around, they didn't have to worry about the third brother's family anymore.
After returning to her home, Qin Yao was obviously more relaxed. She put down her weapons and put the meat in the kitchen. Now the temperature was lower day and night, so the meat would not go bad if left overnight.
Qin Yao lit a fire, heated several large pots of hot water, and the whole family took a bath.
During the days she was away, there was no adult in the family to help fetch water, and Erlang and the other two had never taken a bath.
Let's not even mention the old house. Washing it once every half a month is considered diligent. Naturally, He Shi wouldn't have thought of this.
When they finished taking a bath, it was already late at night, but the children were not sleepy at all. They lay on the bed and listened to Dalang's story about what happened in the mountains with great interest.
Qin Yao went to check on the horse and gave it a handful of night grass.
She checked the doors and windows again, asked people to turn off the lights in the children's room, and then returned to her own room, lying on the bed with her hair loose, reading a letter in a relaxed manner.
This time he went into the mountains for eight days, and in just eight days, Liu Ji wrote four letters back.
Qin Yao opened all the letters, sorted them by time, and started reading from the earliest one.
The earliest one was dated the day after she last left the county town.
The content of the letter was simple, asking her why she did not give the driver living expenses to herself.
The second letter, sent a day later, asked if something happened at home that made her unable to send the money, and finally asked if she was okay.
The third letter, also sent a day later, said that he seemed to have seen her in the county town before and asked her if she had been to the county town recently.
The fourth letter was written in a very sensible and pitiful tone, saying that he had borrowed living expenses from a classmate and asked her to focus on her family if she had any difficulties and not to worry about him.