When Lin Shu saw Lu Shaotang this time, she didn’t want to hide it from her in-laws and children, but the problem was how to explain it?

When her in-laws and children asked her what she talked about with Lu Shaotang, and what she and Lu Shaotang had said to each other, she had to admit that she hadn’t really said anything.

What did they do?

She couldn’t say!

It was really troubling her.

She thought about bribing Sister-in-law Lu Da to keep it from her parents-in-law.

However, Sister-in-law Lu Da went to the village to plow the fields as soon as she got home and changed her clothes.

So, after Yao Naiwen left, Lin Shu was at home, washing clothes and trying to figure out how to explain things to her in-laws and children.

Her mother had been out for two days and nights before coming back.

Tian Tian and Pan Pan missed their mother, so they stayed by the basin, helping Lin Shu wash clothes instead of playing.

Seeing Lin Shu lost in thought, they exchanged glances.

Tian Tian asked, “Mom, what are you thinking about?”

Pan Pan wondered, “Are you thinking about Dad?”

Lin Shu’s cheeks visibly reddened, and she felt her face heating up.

When she looked at herself in the water, she was startled.

The two children burst into laughter.

“Mom is blushing because she’s thinking about Dad!”

Just like the story Grandpa told about the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, where the Weaver Girl would blush when she saw the Cowherd.

Grandpa also said that on the seventh day of the seventh month, you could hear the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl whispering under the grape trellis, and see magpies building the magpie bridge.

Unfortunately, their grape trellis hadn’t grown yet.

This year, even if they hid under the trellis for a long time, they didn’t hear anything and were eventually carried back to bed by Grandpa.

To get herself out of this awkward situation and avoid being embarrassed in front of the kids, Lin Shu started to distract them. “If someone was peeking while you were bathing and took your clothes away, what would you do?”

Tian Tian immediately responded, “Beat up the pervert! Arrest him! Parade him through the streets!”

Pan Pan added, “Punch him until his teeth fall out!”

The two little ones were indignant for a while, looking at each other, and suddenly found the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl no longer fun.

Tian Tian whispered, “Is the Cowherd a peeping Tom?”

The term “peeping Tom” was something Lin Shu had taught them.

She told them that if someone peeked through their window or watched them in the bathroom, they should shout loudly.

The kids remembered it well.

Pan Pan said, “Ew~ disgusting.”

The two children quickly lost their good opinion of the Cowherd.

At noon, Fang Dihua came back with food.

She saw her daughter-in-law with a flushed face, unable to answer the questions from the two kids.

Tian Tian asked, “Mom, did you really see Dad…”

“Did you see Dad? What did he say? When is he coming back?” the children asked eagerly.

Panpan asked, “What does Dad look like now?”

Lin Shu replied, “He looks just like in the photo.”

Panpan said, “So, he looks exactly like Grandpa?”

Lin Shu corrected, “Dad and Grandpa don’t look the same.”

The children argued, “But the photo looks exactly like Grandpa!”

Lin Shu was speechless.

They continued to ask what Dad was doing, what he said to Mom, and what everyone was up to.

Lin Shu’s face turned as red as a shrimp.

She could easily deceive people like Zhao Meifeng, but she felt shy around her own children.

Fang Dihua, with her experience, understood the situation well.

She called the children over, and they excitedly greeted her.

The children asked in a small voice, “Grandma, did Mom see Dad?”

Fang Dihua smiled and went inside to ask Lin Shu, “Did you meet him in the city? Did he say when he’ll come back?”

Lin Shu showed her a note.

The children were excited, “Wow, there’s a letter?”

They tiptoed, eager to see.

Fang Dihua sat on a small stool to read the letter with them.

The children looked at the sweet and affectionate letter with big smiles, so happy they could hardly see their eyes.

They took turns kissing the letter.

Tian Tian said, “This looks just like the last letter!”

Panpan immediately ran to get Chen Yanming’s letter from the big wooden chest in Grandpa and Grandma’s room.

The children liked to read the letters frequently.

Fang Dihua stopped locking the chest since the money was already saved.

Other valuable items were stored in a small locked box hidden in the wardrobe.

Lin Shu thought, “I’m just a clown here. Everyone believes this is Lu Shaotang’s handwriting, but I don’t.”

Fang Dihua smiled and said, “He’ll probably stay for a couple of months when he returns.”

The children were so excited they started looking for clothes to dress up and present the best image to Dad.

Children have no concept of time; whether it’s two months or a few days, it feels like tomorrow to them.

Lin Shu thought, “There’s no need to make such a fuss.”

Fang Dihua understood the young couple’s excitement and didn’t ask Lin Shu about what she and her son talked about.

She just looked at the note. For her, it was enough that her son was alive; the rest didn’t matter much.

Lin Shu sighed in relief.

If her in-laws asked again, she’d have to make up something to keep them satisfied.

To cover up her embarrassment, Lin Shu started making up stories to distract the kids. It was truly mortifying.

Next, Lin Shu stayed home, and Sister-in-law Lu Da threw herself completely into the autumn harvest.

For the production teams in each brigade, everything had to give way to harvesting and planting crops.

During the spring planting, summer harvesting, autumn harvest, and autumn planting seasons, unless dealing with funerals, no weddings or house constructions took place.

Everything had to wait until the harvest was completed.

Strong laborers worked in the fields, children picked up fallen grains, and the elderly were busy in the fields—watching over the fields, peeling corn, braiding corn cobs, drying cotton, drying corn, or using rollers to thresh the corn.

In short, everyone, from the elderly to the children, was occupied.

Even at Old Man Lu’s clinic, there were fewer patients.

Only those with severe illnesses continued to seek his help for acupuncture, while others who could endure their ailments participated in labor and waited for the harvest to finish before seeking treatment.

Old Man Lu focused on preparing medicines for the hospital.

He went to stay with Doctor Yan for a while to produce a batch of Baohuwan, Sanhuang Ointment, Zicao Ointment, and cough syrup.

The Sanhuang Ointment he made had good effects, with easily obtainable raw materials and low cost, so the hospital planned to promote it vigorously.

Recently, Lin Shu also received two orders for clothes, both from clients brought by Aunt Zhang Si.

Although Lin Shu didn’t like Zhao Meifeng, she put a lot of effort into making clothes for Aunt Zhang Si.

The clothes were not only well-fitted but also tailored to conceal some of Aunt Zhang Si’s figure flaws.

Understanding the eagerness for new clothes, Lin Shu promised to have them ready a couple of days before the Mid-Autumn Festival and asked Zhao Meifeng to deliver them.

That morning, Lin Shu started working on the clothes, trimming the threads, and setting up the ironing board under the shelter.

She spread the clothes out on the board, placing a white cloth underneath.

While cooking, she also heated the iron to press the clothes.

Just then, Fang Dihua came back with the two kids, followed by Lu Shaocai.

The two children had a broken bottle filled with half a jar of bean worms!

The worms were greenish-blue and so fat they could barely move. As soon as the weather got colder, they would turn into pupae.

Even in the most impoverished times, no matter how hungry people were, these worms always remained plump.

In autumn, with plenty of bean worms and locusts around, Lin Shu wasn’t as scared of them anymore.

Since Lu Ping and his brother couldn’t catch cicadas, they started catching bean worms instead.

Roasting them was also a tasty fatty treat.

Children weren’t afraid of bugs as long as adults didn’t scare them with them; they had no concept of fear.

The kids washed the bean worms in water and, seeing Lin Shu busy cooking, wanted to roast them.

Lin Shu said, “Put them aside. I’ll roast them for you after I finish ironing the clothes.”

Tian Tian asked, “Mom, can we have barbecue?”

Lin Shu had previously mentioned that they could skewer beans to make grilled snacks, and the children remembered it.

Panpan went to get bamboo skewers.

Lin Shu had made them from an old bamboo rake she had, originally intending to use them for knitting.

She had never managed to buy the yarn she needed.

Panpan skewered about twenty bean worms onto the sticks, and he and Tian Tian each had two skewers.

They sat by the stove, helping Lin Shu tend the fire while roasting the beans.

Lin Shu was ironing clothes and had to keep an eye on the children to prevent them from getting burned.

She also listened in on Lu Shaocai and Fang Dihua’s conversation.

Fang Dihua was picking vegetables while Lu Shaocai chatted away.

Lu Shaocai asked, “It’s been several days. My uncle still hasn’t come back?”

He hoped that his uncle wasn’t being delayed by the city’s elderly.

Fang Dihua asked, “Why do you need him?”

Lu Shaocai explained, “The medical office is quiet now. My second uncle shouldn’t be idle. I thought I’d give him some work to keep him busy.”

Fang Dihua replied, “Your second uncle is not uncomfortable at all. He doesn’t need you to arrange work for him. You should manage your own tasks better.”

She suspected that Lu Shaocai was just looking for his uncle’s help with accounting.

Lu Shaocai’s skills were insufficient for accounting.

While he could handle simple tasks, during busy farming seasons, he struggled with calculations.

The collective farm and production team had many transactions, and if the daily accounts weren’t completed, they could easily become chaotic.

Lu Shaocai also made mistakes in his calculations.

In the past, Old Lu handled the accounts perfectly. His figures were always accurate, unlike Lu Shaocai’s.

After Lu Shaocai became the accountant, the community members became more diligent in checking their own accounts.

Many who previously didn’t want their children to attend school started sending them to at least complete a few years of education so they could handle basic calculations and work in the fields.

Lin Shu picked up on Lu Shaocai’s hints and asked, “Cousin, if you hire someone to help with the accounts, do you pay them?”

Lu Shaocai casually replied, “They’re family…”

Lin Shu coldly responded, “So you’re only exploiting family members?”

“The brigade leader wants my father to settle accounts and also give soybeans and work points.”