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Wang Xuelan forcefully shoved an egg into Yun Cuihe’s hand, saying, “Take it if I tell you to! In the past, we relied on the third child, but from now on, we’ll need to rely on Xinghe.”
Yun Cuihe had no choice but to take the egg and led the children home.
“Xinghe, your mother has been in poor health these past years, and I haven’t been to your maternal grandparents’ house. Every year, your two uncles take turns sending something over. The Moon Festival is coming soon, and fortunately, your grandfather and fourth uncle have been overseeing the foundation work these past two days. How about we go to Canghe Town tomorrow?”
Her maternal family was In Qingjiu Village, close to Canghe Town. The distance was about the same as going to Nanping Town, but since Canghe Town required crossing a river, and their family had been in poor condition in the past, along with her being frail, she didn’t want to worry the elderly parents by going.
Now that her health had improved a bit, she was eager to visit and let the elderly see her so they could rest easy.
Furthermore, the harvest this year wasn’t good, and she needed to remind her parents and older brother’s family.
Lu Xinghe showed concern. “Mother, your health…”
Yun Cuihe gently patted his arm. “I know my health. Besides, we won’t need to walk much on the boat. When we return tomorrow, your uncle can drive the ox cart to the ferry, and it will be fine.”
Thinking that it had been eight years since their family visited her maternal home, Lu Xinghe nodded.
“Okay.”
Hearing this, Yun Cuihe wiped her eyes and went inside.
Over the past eight years, not only had she burdened Xinghe, but she also felt guilty toward her parents, leaving them to worry about her at their old age. Every year when her two older brothers visited, she asked them to assure her parents that she was doing well. But after eight years without returning to her maternal home, how could the elderly truly feel at ease?
Her mother hadn’t visited since leaving in tears five years ago, perhaps due to worsening mobility.
The entire afternoon, Lu Xinghe was reading in the house, while Chu Yue sat on a chair under a big tree in the corner of the courtyard, doing needlework.
She had only recently learned needlework. Seeing the patches on Lu Xinghe’s waist pouch, she decided to make him a new one.
She had only been sitting for a while when she noticed a gaze looking at her from the side. She turned her head and saw a girl who was three or four years older than her.
The girl wasn’t the type who was stunningly beautiful, but she was pretty in a delicate way.
Chu Yue quickly put down her needlework. “Who are you?”
She then looked towards Yun Cuihe’s room, wanting to tell her that there was a guest, but she heard the girl whisper, “Shh. Don’t call out.”
Chu Yue stepped back in confusion. She had never seen this girl before. She came to the house but didn’t want her to call anyone, and she was so sneaky. Could she be trying to steal something?
Really, you can’t judge a book by its cover.
She had hidden a lot of silver in the house.
“Help! There’s a thief!”
Seeing Chu Yue treat her like a thief, Lu Shanshan stomped her feet in anger. To avoid being misunderstood, she quickly ran away and disappeared in a flash.
Yun Cuihe and Lu Xinghe both ran out of the house.
Yun Cuihe grabbed the broom leaning against the door and came to Chu Yue’s side. “Yueyue, where’s the thief?”
Chu Yue pointed in the direction where the girl had run. “She ran that way.”
Yun Cuihe breathed a sigh of relief.
“You’re alright.”
Chu Yue shook her head. “Mother, I’m fine. It’s just that the person looked strange, and I thought she might be a thief.”
Lu Xinghe glanced in the direction Chu Yue had pointed, then turned his gaze back to her. “Go inside. Don’t stay out here.”
“Yes, yes.” Yun Cuihe also said quickly. “Go inside. This year really hasn’t been peaceful.”
Chu Yue nodded and went inside with Lu Xinghe.
Lu Xinghe continued reading by the window, and she sat on the bed making a pouch. When it was almost time for dinner, Lu Xingping and Lu Xing’an came back carrying baskets, looking listless.
Seeing this, Yun Cuihe quickly asked, “What’s wrong?”
The two brothers frowned and said, “Mother, even grass is hard to find on the nearby mountains.”
Yun Cuihe patted their heads. “If you can’t find anything, then you can’t. We’re going to your maternal grandparents’ house tomorrow anyway. We should just avoid going to the mountains for the time being. Your elder sister-in-law saw a thief today. Maybe they’re kidnapping children.”
Upon hearing this, both of them looked at Chu Yue.
“Is elder sister-in-law okay?”
Chu Yue, who was washing rice, smiled. “I’m fine. That thief was sneaky. She hadn’t even entered the courtyard when I yelled and she ran away.”
Seeing that everyone was safe, they breathed a sigh of relief.
Lu Xing’an put the basket back in the kitchen and went to tend the fire.
Lu Xingping chopped up the tender leaves he had picked on the way back and mixed them with the flattened rice husks from a few days ago to feed the chickens. He grumbled at the three chickens, “Recently, there’s not even a worm to be found in the mountains. You’ll have to make do with this.”
For dinner, Chu Yue cooked a pot of porridge and took some braised meat from the cellar, cutting a few slices to put on a plate. There were no vegetables, but at least they could have a couple of slices of braised meat with the porridge, which would help supplement their nutrition.
As the night grew quiet, Chu Yue lay in bed and felt increasingly uneasy. She recalled the girl who had come earlier; her attire had been quite refined, and she had even worn a hairpin. Could it be that she had misunderstood?
She turned her head to look at Lu Xinghe.
“Husband, are you asleep?”
Lu Xinghe, who had his back to her, opened his eyes upon hearing her voice.
“What’s the matter?”
Chu Yue lay flat on her back.
“Husband, who do you think that girl who came to our house today might be? I’m wondering if I misunderstood her.” She continued, “But she did seem quite strange at the time. I didn’t recognize her, and she actually told me not to call anyone, so I thought she was a thief.”
Lu Xinghe turned his body to face her, glancing her way.
“If she’s a stranger, why overthink it?”
“Isn’t it strange?” Chu Yue replied, yawning before drifting off to sleep.
She had been talking just a moment ago, but in the blink of an eye, she was asleep. Lu Xinghe couldn’t help but chuckle and pulled the blanket up over her, saying, “You say you’re not a child, but only children can sleep so carefree.”
After saying this, he raised his hand and placed it behind his head, reflecting on Chu Yue’s words.
The thief who came today was a woman?
This was indeed quite odd.
However, some women were good at pretending to be weak and using sympathy to deceive others into giving them money.
Better to believe there was some truth to it.
With this thought, Lu Xinghe got out of bed, gathered all the bamboo tubes where Chu Yue had hidden silver in various corners of the house, and placed them in the beam groove on the ceiling by stepping on the desk. He then pushed the old wooden beam, which had been worn out, into the groove, completely concealing the silver.
That way, even if a thief really did come, they wouldn’t be able to find it.
After all, it was silver earned by the little girl herself, and if it were stolen, she would be heartbroken.
The next morning, after Lu Xinghe put away his writing materials and books, he moved his desk to Lu Xingping and Lu Xing’an’s room.