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At Lu Xinghe’s house, Lu Laifu, Lu Laicai, and Lu Shoucheng saw Li Pozi walking away and continued to eat the pig intestines from the bowl with satisfaction.
Lu Laifu took a sip of wine with a look of pure delight.
“Third Sister-in-law, if that old woman bullies you in the future, don’t be afraid. If it really gets out of hand, go to the old house and call your mother and your sisters-in-law. They’re good at fighting, and they’ll definitely teach that old woman a lesson.”
Yun Cuihe covered her mouth and smiled.
“We don’t usually have any trouble with her anyway. When we move into our new house, we’ll have some peace and quiet.”
Lu Shoucheng nodded: “That’s right. Just live our own lives. Don’t bother with her. It’s not worth getting yourself involved in trouble.”
…
The three brothers finished their meal and went back home.
Yun Cuihe called Lu Xinghe aside and told him about her discussion with Chu Yue about building a brick and tile house.
Lu Xinghe listened and nodded: “I was also thinking that a brick and tile house would be better.”
Yesterday, he had hesitated about whether to build a brick and tile house after hearing Chu Yue ask about buying a house in town. Now that Chu Yue had suggested it, he decided to go with a brick and tile house. After all, the family would be living here for a long time.
The three of them agreed on the idea, and that was that.
However, the crops in the field were about to be harvested. They would need to irrigate for another ten days, and then, once the rice was harvested, they could start building the new house.
Lu Xinghe waited until the sun was setting and went to the field to carry water for an hour.
Later that evening, Lu Tiesheng came to the house.
Yun Cuihe heard Lu Tiesheng’s voice and quickly put down her needlework and went out.
“Father, why did you come?”
Lu Tiesheng frowned: “I heard Shoucheng say that you’re going to build a new house?”
Yun Cuihe quickly nodded.
“Yes, after Big Brother and Second Brother’s houses are built, we can start building ours.”
Lu Tiesheng hummed in agreement, picked up his dry pipe, and puffed on it a couple of times.
“Do you have enough money? If not, go ask your mother for some. Just return it to us later when you have the money.”
Yun Cuihe was touched and quickly said, “We have enough. We made our calculations before deciding to build the house. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have dared to start. But still, thank you, Father.”
Hearing that Yun Cuihe had enough money to build the house, Lu Tiesheng nodded.
“You’re living your own lives. As long as you have your own ideas, that’s fine. Let me know when you start construction. I’ll go and help out.”
“Yes, I’ll have Xinghe tell you then.”
Lu Tiesheng hummed in agreement, turned around, and left the yard.
“I’m going back. You don’t need to buy me wine anymore. Just live your own lives well, that’s better than anything.”
Watching Lu Tiesheng leave, Yun Cuihe was moved and wiped a tear from her eye. After closing the courtyard door, she turned and went back inside.
Over the next few days, Lu Xinghe carried water to the fields in the morning, read books and practiced calligraphy at home in the afternoon, and sometimes wrote short articles. During this time, in order not to disturb Lu Xinghe, Chu Yue would try to lower her presence as much as possible. She would even spend most of her time in Yun Cuihe’s room, learning needlework with her.
When the sun went down a little in the afternoon, Lu Xinghe would take Lu Xingping and his brother to the fenced-off mountain area to dig soil and level the foundation.
He also had Lu Xingping and Lu Xingan pick up a lot of stones to fill in the foundation.
Thinking about building a new house soon, the two children worked particularly hard.
Aside from learning needlework every day, Chu Yue spent the rest of her time cooking with Yun Cuihe or going up the mountain to gather herbs and wild vegetables, taking care of the household chores.
In these days, Chu Yue’s two new outfits were completed. Having taken better care of herself lately, she looked even more beautiful in the brand-new light pink cotton top and dark blue skirt.
Yun Cuihe looked Chu Yue up and down, smiling from ear to ear. “I have to say, Yueyue looks great! It’s the way the clothes fit her that brings out this effect. Xinghe, don’t you think so?”
As she spoke, she glanced in Lu Xinghe’s direction.
Lu Xinghe had been looking at Chu Yue. Hearing Yun Cuihe’s voice, he was momentarily taken aback, then nodded slightly.
“Looks good.”
Seeing his pink earlobes and awkward expression, Yun Cuihe burst out laughing.
Chu Yue lowered her head, feeling her cheeks burn with heat.
…
Soon, the day arrived when they had agreed with the Huang family to go to town to remove Madam Huang’s stitches.
Lu Xinghe naturally wanted to go with her, as he was worried about Chu Yue going alone. Chu Yue had wanted to take Yun Cuihe along, so that they could ask Zhu Daifu to check on her when they returned, but Yun Cuihe didn’t want to spend the money. She said they would go when the house was built and they had more money.
Since she insisted, Chu Yue didn’t push it further.
They would have a carriage ride going there, but it would be awkward to ask for a ride back. Yun Cuihe’s health had improved somewhat in recent days, but walking a long distance would still be difficult for her. It would be great if there was a doctor willing to come to the village for a consultation.
It wasn’t even dawn, and Chu Yue and Lu Xinghe had already left Banpo Village. They hadn’t walked far when they saw a carriage parked by the side of the road waiting for them.
After all, a carriage coming to this village was a rare sight, and if anyone knew about it, there would be a crowd of people watching.
The steward knew that Chu Yue didn’t want to make a big fuss, so he had parked the carriage in a relatively secluded spot.
As soon as Chu Yue and Lu Xinghe appeared, the Huang family’s steward jumped out of the carriage and bowed to them.
“Miss Chu has arrived.”
Chu Yue smiled and greeted the steward, then got into the carriage with Lu Xinghe.
The steward immediately turned the carriage around and drove towards Nanping Town.
The carriage was much faster than walking. They reached Nanping Town in less than half an hour. Because the carriage had a clear Huang family emblem on it, people on the road all stepped aside as they entered the town.
The carriage stopped steadily in front of the Huang Mansion. Lu Xinghe jumped out first, then turned and gently helped Chu Yue down.
Chu Yue got out of the carriage, adjusted her clothes, and then, along with the steward, entered the Huang Mansion with Lu Xinghe.
Lu Xinghe, being a man, couldn’t go to the back courtyard, so he had to wait in the front yard as he had done last time. Chu Yue was taken to Yi Mei Yuan by a maid.
“Madam, Miss Chu has arrived.”
Inside the room, Xiaolian, under Madam Huang ‘s instructions, immediately said, “Quickly let the young lady in.”
When Chu Yue entered the room, Xiaolian was helping a woman support Madam Huang as she walked around the room. Seeing her enter, they quickly helped Madam Huang back onto the bed.
Madam Huang leaned to the left on the bed and looked towards Chu Yue.
The young girl appeared to be around fourteen years old, her figure still youthful, with bright, round apricot-shaped eyes that were very charming.
This girl looked familiar, and she must be kind-hearted as well.
Madam Huang slightly nodded her head towards Chu Yue.
“Thank you for saving me and my child the other day.”
Chu Yue quickly waved her hand, saying, “Madam, please don’t be so polite. The situation was urgent at the time, and I was just doing my best. Fortunately, heaven was on our side, and both you and the young master were safe. Otherwise, this matter would have left a shadow in my heart for a lifetime.”
Seeing Chu Yue’s expression of lingering fear, Madam Huang couldn’t help but cover her mouth and chuckle.
“You child, you are both brave and resourceful. I heard from Xiaolian that even Doctor Zhu couldn’t do anything, and it was you who came up with the solution. After I woke up, Xiaolian nearly praised you to the skies.”
As she spoke, she glanced at Xiaolian, who was standing nearby.