Chapter 231: Return

Perhaps it was the distraction or maybe the porridge with pickled vegetables really worked, but by the hour of Hai, Shen Lie managed to prepare a small bowl of porridge. Although Sang Luo was still unwell, she endured and managed to eat half a bowl.

Shen Lie truly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

With his worries eased, the joy of becoming a father bubbled up inside him. That night, as he lay down to sleep, Shen Lie felt an unreal sense of being in a dream, his hand gently resting on Sang Luo’s abdomen, not daring to apply any pressure.

Sang Luo, feeling sleepy, curled up in Shen Lie’s arms and fell asleep, while Shen Lie, too excited to fall asleep himself, thought about what Sang Luo said about soybean milk being beneficial. He carefully got up and soaked some beans.

The next morning, he ground the beans to make soybean milk, and also prepared some tofu and bean curd. The tofu was saved for dinner, and Sang Luo was free to choose from the soybean milk and bean curd.

Shen Ning, with better culinary skills, made a mixed bean porridge and a few pieces of rice cakes.

Just a few pieces.

Since his sister-in-law was pregnant and couldn’t eat much, he had to be considerate and make sure she got the best. Given the lack of fine grains right now, he made sure to prioritize his sister-in-law’s needs. He also worried that Sang Luo might not be able to eat much, so he made just a few pieces to test.

Sang Luo slept well through the night, and when she got up, breakfast was already prepared. Shen Lie was ready to bring her portion to her room, but Sang Luo waved her hand and said, “It’s not that serious. Just leave it in the kitchen. I’ll wash up and come eat.”

Washing up was naturally uncomfortable, but when she entered the kitchen, she saw that soybean milk, bean curd, and rice cakes had been prepared just for her. The bean curd was accompanied by small dishes of pickled vegetables with scallions and ginger, all neatly arranged on a plate.

“Try this first. If you don’t like it, we can switch to something sweet. I’ll scoop out some hawthorn candy for you.”

Sang Luo nodded. Her stomach was still unsettled, so she thought for a moment, then went to the cupboard, opened it, and took out a piece of sour jujube cake from a ceramic jar.

Fortunately, seeing the cake didn’t make her nauseous, and it even made her mouth water.

She took a piece and returned to the table. With a bite of the salty bean curd and a small piece of the sour jujube cake, this strange combination actually helped alleviate her morning sickness a bit.

Seeing her eat a few bites, Shen Lie’s eyes brightened. “Does the sour jujube cake work?”

Sang Luo nodded. “I remembered it this morning after eating the pickled vegetables last night.”

This was a snack she made, but she didn’t usually eat it often, so she hadn’t thought of it yesterday.

Shen Ning, seeing that the sour jujube cake was effective, expressed some regret. “I should have made more if I had known.”

Previously, when they lived in the mountains, they didn’t have a yard. To avoid missing the recipe, they only secretly dried a small jar of it on the tree last autumn, so they didn’t have much.

Sang Luo smiled. “It should be enough. It won’t always be like this. The doctor said it would get better after a while.”

For breakfast, she had a small bowl of bean curd, a piece of rice cake, and a piece of sour jujube cake. Compared to yesterday, this was already a significant improvement. Shen Lie was so pleased that he was almost tempted to kill a chicken to supplement Sang Luo’s diet. However, remembering that she had suffered from the fishy smell of the fish he killed yesterday, he suppressed the thought and decided to wait until she felt better before supplementing her diet.

Shen An went to wash the dishes, and Sang Luo asked Shen Lie where the Chen family’s bowls were. She prepared to take a dozen pieces of sour jujube cake to give to Zhou Ge. As she was about to leave, Shen Lie instinctively lifted his foot to follow.

Seeing him, Sang Luo glanced at him. Shen Lie stopped and realized he was overly nervous. Clearing his throat, he eased the awkwardness. “Go ahead, don’t go near the fields. I’ll check your plans and ask Xiao An to dig the pits for the fruit trees first.”

Sang Luo had chosen a few acres of land for fruit trees and chickens, which was a bit of distance from the sheep pen. The chicken coop and rabbit hutches could be built by Zhao Dalang and Zhao Silang, but they had no place to buy fruit tree saplings at the moment. Shen Lie and Shen An had to go into the mountains to find them.

Sang Luo chuckled. With Shen An and Shen Ning absent, she took Shen Lie’s hand and said, “Don’t be too nervous. Just do what needs to be done. I’ll be careful with everything.”

As new parents, both of them were quite cautious.

Before she could finish speaking, Shen An’s surprised voice came from outside. “Brother Wenqing, Uncle Gan, you’re back?”

Then came Xu Wenqing’s call to his master and mistress.

“Master, look what we brought back!”

Shen An’s voice had a hint of urgency. “Brother Wenqing, wait. Don’t bring the meat inside.”

When Shen Lie and Sang Luo stepped out of the kitchen, they saw Xu Wenqing and Gan Erlang. Xu Wenqing was carrying a deer, and Shen An was anxiously trying to stop him.

Xu Wenqing thought Shen An was worried about blood dripping on the floor. Although they had hunted it the day before, it wasn’t bleeding anymore. He placed the deer on a side table.

Sang Luo stopped at the doorway and asked Xu Wenqing and Gan Erlang, “Did you return this morning? Have you had breakfast?”

Gan Erlang nodded. “We just arrived. Mistress, don’t worry about us. We came to deliver the deer and to wish you and Master a Happy New Year. We’ll be heading home soon.”

Xu Wenqing also said that there was breakfast at home and cheerfully wished Shen Lie and Sang Luo a Happy New Year. “We hunted this deer yesterday morning. We got several, and this one is our New Year gift to you both.”

Shen Lie invited them into the house, and Sang Luo also put the bowl she was holding back in the cupboard and prepared to get some water. However, neither of them stayed. Gan Erlang smiled and said, “Mistress, don’t worry about it. We’ve been in the mountains for over twenty days, and we’re almost spoiled. We won’t go inside. We’ll head home first.”

Shen Lie accompanied them out and asked. He learned that only Zhou Sanlang, Gan Erlang, Feng Dalang, and Xu Wenqing had returned. Chen Dashan and Shi Dalang were still outside the city gate, helping those they brought out with registration matters and would return a bit later.

Shen Lie raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Did you bring out a lot of people?”

Xu Wenqing waved his hand. “Just over forty people. They’re from Qiyang County. Master, you might even recognize some of them.”

Shen Lie looked at Xu Wenqing and Gan Erlang. With three people back, Feng Dalang must have stayed to see Feng Liuniang. So only Zhou Sanlang didn’t come. His gaze shifted. “Did you find Zhou’s relatives?”

Gan Erlang smiled. “I said it couldn’t be hidden.”

He continued to Shen Lie, “This time we encountered Changjian’s maternal family. They’re all waiting outside the city gate for registration. However, his grandmother and aunt, along with some younger children from the family, came with Changjian to our village. They had a tough journey, taking twelve days.”

“This is good news.” Considering Chen Dashan had been gone for twenty-five or twenty-six days, Shen Lie asked Xu Wenqing, “Why did it take so long this time?”

The maternal side of Zhou Changjian’s family was trustworthy, if not others.

Xu Wenqing paused and explained, “We actually intended to help find relatives for people in the village, so we specifically went to the mountains near Qiyang County. Besides the area where we initially hid, we went further to the other side, which took eleven days to search. After finding them, the Lin family was hiding in a more secluded part of the mountains. Changjian’s maternal grandfather was willing to come out, but there was some disagreement among the other members of his clan, which delayed things for three days. In the end, only Changjian’s maternal grandfather’s family and his maternal great-grandfather’s family came out with us. The other relatives are still waiting in the mountains for news.”

What Xu Wenqing didn’t mention was that the delay in the mountains was due to the local clan’s resistance, and it took several days to negotiate. If Zhou Changjian hadn’t gone with them and they hadn’t brought several official notices, which someone could read, it wouldn’t have been so easy to negotiate.

Before Changjian’s uncle came out, the able-bodied young men weren’t ready to cooperate.

Ultimately, the 180-plus acres of mountain land was easily earned, largely due to the care given to the neighboring mountain people by the nearby village over the years, and very importantly, Sang Luo’s reputation. These were the foundation of trust.

But thinking about the five taels of silver earned per person and the six and a half acres of mountain land, the trouble and worry seemed worth it.

Xu Wenqing didn’t elaborate, but Shen Lie had guessed some of it. He smiled and made no comments, only asking Xu Wenqing, “Have you told Mrs. Chen?”

Xu Wenqing nodded. “I’ve told her. I see she’s already getting breakfast ready, and she’s probably even heating water for a bath by now.”

He continued, “I won’t keep you any longer. The meat should be either eaten or sold soon. Thankfully, it’s still fresh since the weather is cold. Brother Gan and I will be leaving now.”

The boy had a distinct air of the martial world about him. Calling him Gan Erlang just didn’t sound as good as Senior Brother Gan.

Shen Lie chuckled and waved them off. “Alright, I’ll see you off here. Thank you for the New Year’s gift.”

He returned home and told Sang Luo about the Zhou family. Sang Luo responded, “The Lin family members who didn’t come out this time are likely to regret it. How many good places are there outside Shezhou City? Those people who came back last night, don’t they all need to be settled? There are those who returned home, but there are also many who want to stay near the city.”

Shen Lie said, “Chen Dashan staying there is probably helping the Lin family negotiate.”

After all, Chen Dashan was the father-in-law of Zhou Cunzheng. His group was familiar with the local household officials. If the Lin family were clever enough to make some arrangements, they might secure a good position.

As for the other Lin family members, Chen Dashan and the others would likely make another trip to the mountains if they had money and land. However, if they came out now, they might not find any good land, which was beyond their control. It was all about luck and their own choices.

Shen Lie decided to leave it at that and asked Sang Luo, “How should we handle the deer outside?”

He wanted to save the best for Sang Luo, but she shook her head. “Don’t worry about me. I don’t want to eat meat right now. We should send one of the hind legs to the governor’s office. It’s not wild boar meat, so it’s just right. The rest can be sold. We have a lot of expenses this year.”

Considering Sang Luo’s plans to open a shop with the Chen family and the need to build a courtyard, and now that she was pregnant, the house needed to be built sooner. It was clear that money was needed everywhere.

“Alright, I’ll go out now.”

Shen Lie called Shen An, carrying the deer with a knife and some rope for carrying meat. Sang Luo took the bowl of sour jujube cake and went to the Chen family, with Shen Ning accompanying her. The little girl, no better than her older brother, was now trying to support her sister-in-law as best she could.

Fortunately, she knew her limits and remembered the old lady’s warning not to let others know. Though she was nervous inside, she didn’t show it. She walked side by side with Sang Luo, not actually supporting her but carrying the bowl of sour jujube cake herself.

Sang Luo smiled, thinking that it wasn’t necessary to go to such lengths. However, she felt it would only be a few days before everyone adapted.

Thinking about the baby in her womb, she was in a good mood, wondering if it would be a boy or a girl, and whether it would resemble Shen Lie or her more.

She thought about it and felt that no matter what, it would be wonderful.

Having grown up in an orphanage in her past life and not knowing if there were any relatives left in that world, the idea that she would have a child connected to her by blood in just eight or nine months was an extraordinary feeling for Sang Luo, filled with joy and anticipation.