Su Qingyu had a good impression of Grandpa Lu. Seeing the old man making arrangements, she did not stop him and let him do as he pleased.

She took out the things sent by Lu Shengcai and the gifts she brought distributedbute them to everyone.

Grandma Lu took the two taels of silver, touched them happily again and again, and then put them in her arms.

After receiving the clothes, she stared at them, touched them, and kept muttering, “Oh, it’s not a festival, why are you making me clothes? Such good material, it’s a waste to wear it in the countryside.”

Old Lu also touched it a few times happily, and said to Su Qingyu with a pleasant face: “Thank you for your trouble.”

It was rare to see a horse-drawn carriage in the village, and when they saw a carriage parked in front of the Lu family’s door, they all gathered around to watch the fun.

Seeing that it was the newly married wife of Old Lu’s grandson in the town who came to visit them and brought them gifts, they all praised Old Lu for being blessed. Even though the grandson had left, the granddaughter-in-law still helped to fulfill her filial piety.

Old Lu and Grandma Lu smiled happily and responded.

Su Qingyu felt a little embarrassed by the praise.

Father Su happily chatted with everyone. When others praised his daughter, they were also praising him. He happily chatted with everyone, talking about the crops and production in the fields.

Soon, the courtyard was crowded with people. The new bride had come for the first time after marriage, and no one knew her yet. Lv Bocheng’s wedding was not held in the village, so no one had ever seen her.

Su Qingyu was led by Grandma Lu to greet everyone one by one. Seeing that this granddaughter-in-law from the town was not arrogant, everyone was more willing to talk to her.

Lu Bocheng’s grandparents had five children in total, three sons and two daughters, the eldest and the youngest were sons, with Lu Shengcai being the third. Eldest bó ^[1]father’s elder brother Lu had two sons and two daughters, the second son was the youngest, and the oldest one was conscripted just after getting married. Youngest shū ^[2]father’s younger brother Lu had three sons and one daughter, all of whom were not yet adults. At this time, they were also in the yard, staring at Su Qingyu.

Su Qingyu gave candies to the villagers, gave gifts to her tángdìmèi, and chatted and laughed with them.

Su Qingyu was a person who could not leave a dull moment, and she could find topics to talk about. The tángdìmèi ^[3]wives of paternal male cousins ​​were shy, so she was the one who got them talking. For a while, the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

The children in the family seldom go to the town, and Lu Shengcai’s children seldom return to Shanghe Village, so the brothers and sisters do not get along very well.

Now seeing that Su Qingyu was approachable and didn’t sound condescending when talking to them, they immediately liked her.

Su Qingyu also gave a piece of cloth to her tángxiōng Bo Shou’s wife, Huang Shi, who was also pregnant and talked to Su Qingyu for a long time.

Uncle Lu’s youngest son, Lu Boxiang, was only seven years old. He was more lively than his brothers and sisters. He pulled Su Qingyu and said, “Second sǎo, the cakes you brought are really delicious. My name is Lu Boxiang. I didn’t get to talk to you last time at Third Uncle’s house.”

“Your name is Lu Boxiang, Second sǎo will remember you. Next time you come to Fengting Town, come find Second sǎo and Second sǎo will take you to eat better cakes.”

“Really? Okay! I’ll definitely go.”

“Second sǎo, I want to eat too.”

“Me too.”

“Okay, I’ll take you all to eat.”

Old Lu was very happy to see that Su Qingyu got along well with his grandchildren, and he took Father Su aside and said a lot of good things about her.

After having lunch at Lu’s house, when Grandma Lu heard that Su Qingyu was going to burn paper for Bocheng’s mother, she grabbed her and started crying.

“My third daughter-in-law was so unlucky. She passed away early and couldn’t enjoy the blessings of her son and daughter-in-law…”

Old Lu also felt emotional: “When Bocheng left, I told him that I would help take care of his mother’s grave. He must be worried about his death.”

Father Su comforted him: “With you here, he has nothing to worry about. It’s just that as a daughter-in-law, she wants to show her filial piety. Since she can’t take care of her mother-in-law, she wants to come to the grave to burn some paper.”

“Hey, hey. Bocheng married a good woman. He married a good woman…”

After talking to Father Su, Old Lu asked Lu shū and Lu shěn ^[4]wife of father’s younger brother to take Su Qingyu, and asked all the younger ones in the family to go along, and a large group of people went to the back slope together.

On the hillside behind, the grass was green and there were scattered graves of various sizes, recording that they had all been in this world.

After finding the grave of Bocheng’s mother Liu Shi, Su Qingyu went forward and cut the grass on the grave and the surrounding area, cleaned it up, wiped the tombstone carefully, placed fruits and snacks in front of the tombstone, and burned paper.

Fifth Lu shū said to the tombstone: “Third sister-in-law, Bocheng’s new wife has come to see you. Dad said that he made a good choice for his grandson’s wife. She misses you. You must bless them to be safe and sound in the afterlife, and bless Bocheng to come back alive.”

Fifth Lu shěn couldn’t help feeling sad after hearing this.

Not long after she got married, her third sister-in-law died. She only learned a little about her daily life from her mother-in-law and others and felt very sympathetic about her experience.

Now her only son had gone to the battlefield, and his future life or death was uncertain. This daughter-in-law looked good now, but what if Bocheng was gone? Could she still stay with Bocheng for the rest of her life? Who in my third brother’s family would remember her in the future, and who would burn paper for her?

As she thought about it, she glanced at Su Qingyu who was burning paper silently, and stepped forward to help burn it.

This child brought so much today, it must have cost a lot of money, burning so many things, it should take a long time for the third sister-in-law to use them. Third sister-in-law, you have to bless your son well, let him live, so that you can have your son and daughter-in-law come to burn paper for you often so that you can spend it down there.

A gust of wind blew, sweeping up the black ash and slowly flying away.

Because she had to go to Xiahe Village to look at the land, the Lu family did not keep her for long. They were very surprised to hear that she had opened a shop specializing in selling vegetables and poultry.

Lu Shengcai worked as a peddler for several years before he opened a shop. How long had it been since she got married, and she had already opened a shop?

“It’s good to open a shop. Grandpa will help you collect vegetables, chickens, ducks, eggs, and poultry in the village, and deliver them to you when the time comes. It will also help the family and the village earn a few more copper coins.”

“Okay. Grandpa, just ship it to me and I’ll pay you on the spot.”

Su Qingyu saw that there were not many good farmlands in the village, but every household had a vegetable garden. If some poultry were raised on the wasteland, more income could be earned.

“Okay, then I’ll ask your uncle to go to the village and talk to them.”

“Thank you, Grandpa.”

“We are all family. It’s good for both of us.”

In the days that followed, the villagers of Shanghe Village heard that the granddaughter-in-law of the old Lu family opened a shop to collect vegetables, and they all sent vegetables to the Lu family to help sell them. They also heard that the granddaughter-in-law of the Lu family went to burn paper for her deceased mother-in-law after returning, and they had a better impression of her.

Since then, Su Qingyu had two stable supply bases, Shanghe Village and Xiahe Village.

Xiahe Village was not far away, and Su Qingyu first went to see the house of Lu Bocheng’s maternal grandfather. Seeing that someone was renting it, she did not go in but just walked around the periphery to take a look. Seeing that the house was indeed just as Lu Bocheng said, he had renovated it last year, and it did not look shabby at all. It looked like it could be lived in for another ten or twenty years, so she felt relieved.

Next, accompanied by her father, she went to take a look at the 15 acres of land and met the people who rented the land.

She also told them that she wanted to harvest vegetables, poultry, chickens, ducks, and goose eggs. Seeing that these families had no objection, she signed a new contract with them. After they harvested the crops in the fields, they would switch to growing vegetables and other things, and she would provide the seeds.

Each family was a little worried at first, but when they saw that she had written contracts and that if the crops could not be sold, she would pay them based on the price of the crops produced in previous years, they all signed new contracts.

By sunset, the job was finally done.

Fortunately, Father Su was there. Su Qingyu was not very familiar with the work in the fields. When she heard that they were going to grow vegetables instead of crops, everyone almost started arguing. It was Father Su who helped to calm them down.

“Thank you, Dad.”

“Silly girl, why are you telling me all this? No matter whether you get married or go somewhere else, as long as I am still here, I will always protect you.”

“Yes.” Su Qingyu nodded heavily.

(End of this chapter)