Cheng Xiaobao：“!!!”

Jiang Lin was in the middle of chopping vegetables and looked up just in time to see it.

Cheng Xiaobao was caught red-handed.

His eyes widened, and he quickly took the spoon out of his mouth and held it near Cheng Dabao’s mouth, as if to say, “Dabao, you can have some sugar too.”

But as soon as he opened his mouth, a mouthful of white sugar was revealed.

He couldn’t deny it, so he smirked and said, “Linlin, would you like a spoonful too?”

Jiang Lin: “…”

Yan Runzhi discreetly turned her face away, her shoulders shaking slightly.

She didn’t want to get involved in this.

Because her sons had a tough childhood, she always tried to make life a little sweeter for them.

Even when they were poor, she managed to save up to buy a few pounds of sugar, just to sneak some sweetness into their lives.

Little did she know, she inadvertently nurtured Cheng Xiaobao’s sweet tooth.

Jiang Lin didn’t say anything.

She just said to Cheng Xiaobao, “This spoonful of sugar is enough to keep you sweet for three days. There won’t be any sugar cubes left for the next three days.”

Cheng Xiaobao immediately looked like he had swallowed bitter gall.

His face crumpled in disappointment.

Cheng Dabao burst into laughter and pointed at him, saying, “Serves you right!”

Cheng Xiaobao sniffled and asked with a mournful expression, “Mom, can I stand in the corner as punishment?”

Whenever he wanted something from Jiang Lin, he called her “Mom,” but at other times, he called her Linlin, Mother, or Dongsheng’s wife without any consistency.

Jiang Lin replied coolly, “Stop talking nonsense. Wait until your dad comes back.”

Cheng Xiaobao’s eyes lit up. “When Dongsheng comes back, he’ll definitely let me have some.”

Jiang Lin: “…”

Yan Runzhi chimed in, “Xiaobao, if you eat too much candy, your teeth will rot, and you won’t find a wife.”

Cheng Xiaobao muttered quietly, “If I don’t get to eat candy, what use is finding a wife?” He glanced at Jiang Lin as he spoke.

Jiang Lin didn’t change her expression. “To eat meals.”

During dinner, it was already so dark outside that they could barely see.

Jiang Lin lit the kerosene lamp and they ate at the old elm wood dining table in the main hall.

Eating at this table always felt particularly satisfying to Jiang Lin.

Moreover, the qiqiao fruit was cute and sweet, while the qiqiao noodles were rich and delicious.

The noodles were chewy, the peanuts crunchy, and the vegetables crisp. It was a meal that was both refreshing and delightful to eat.

Because there was sugar in the soup, sweet and delightful, Xiaobao drank until his belly was round, wiping his mouth, “So satisfying.”

Dabao also ate his fill, holding his stomach and rubbing it.

Jiang Lin led the children to tidy up the yard, walking around to aid digestion.

Xiaobao put his hands on his hips and started teasing his mother, “Linlin, does your waist hurt?”

Jiang Lin: “My waist doesn’t hurt, but my teeth do.”

Xiaobao chuckled, “Da Bao, does your waist hurt?”

Dabao rolled his eyes at him, “Silly kid!”

Seeing that neither Jiang Lin nor Da Bao were participating, Yan Runzhi quickly chimed in, “Little Xiaobao, what if Grandma’s waist hurts?”

Xiaobao immediately perked up, “I’ll teach you a trick. If you say this phrase without stopping, the pain will go away.”

He solemnly recited, “Cowherd, Weaver Girl, left star, right star, say it seven times, no more waist pain!”

This was something Yan Runzhi taught him, hoping to please Jiang Lin and get some extra sweets.

He looked at Jiang Lin, “Linlin, you should learn this too. Say it seven times and your waist won’t hurt.”

Jiang Lin replied, “But my waist wasn’t hurting to begin with.”

They strolled around the yard, played games, and by around eight-thirty or nine o’clock, they went to bed.

Since Yan Runzhi was there too, Xiaobao and Dabao asked her to tell a story.

Yan Runzhi told the story of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl.

After finishing, Cheng Dabao solemnly declared, “Tonight it’s cloudy, the sky is pitch black, Cowherd and Weaver Girl couldn’t see clearly and ended up falling flat on their faces.”

Jiang Lin: “…!!”

Yan Runzhi chuckled, “Dongsheng must be thinking about Linlin, right? Linlin, do you miss Dongsheng? The old folks say you can hear Cowherd and Weaver Girl whispering under the grapevine.”

Cheng Dabao and Cheng Xiaobao really wanted to go listen, but there was no grapevine in their yard.

They started whispering to each other about where Dongsheng was, what he was doing, and if he missed them.

Jiang Lin: ‘.. I’ve already fallen asleep, say whatever you want.’

She really fell asleep quickly and dreamed of Cheng Rushan.

He held her hand, smiled gently at her, and said, “Miss me?”

Jiang Lin: “Didn’t miss you at all, not even a bit.”

Cheng Rushan: “Actions speak louder than words.”

Cheng Xiaobao: “Linlin is naughty.”

Cheng Dabao: “Jiang Lin, how can you be someone’s wife?”

Crack! Jiang Lin felt like thunder was rumbling overhead, which startled her awake.

In the darkness, lightning flashed brightly, followed by a loud clap of thunder.

Outside, the rain poured down.

It was raining?

Feeling the rain on her face, Jiang Lin was completely awake.

Why was it raining inside?

To her surprise, she found it was pouring rain outside, but inside the house, it was only drizzling!

Actually, it had started raining heavily around midnight.

As the rain got heavier, many old houses couldn’t withstand the leaks.

Many local farmhouses were built with sorghum stalks as beams and mud mixed with wheat straw as tiles.

If not properly done or over time, the tiles would crack and leak rainwater.

Jiang Lin quickly got up, scrambling to find a basin, but slipped and almost did the splits—when did the floor become flooded with water?!

Yan Runzhi woke up too, and upon hearing the commotion, immediately struck a match to light a lamp.

As the flame flickered to life, Jiang Lin realized this wasn’t just a house; it felt more like the Water Curtain Cave from Flower Fruit Mountain, with at least four small waterfalls, some larger than others, and growing.

Raindrops fell on DaBao and Xiao Bao’s faces.

Da Bao frowned, rolled over to avoid them, and continued sleeping. Xiao Bao giggled and smacked his lips, sticking out his tongue to taste the rain.

Yan Runzhi hurriedly carried Xiao Bao to a dry spot, while Jiang Lin lifted Da Bao over.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law hurriedly got busy, removing things from the eastern room that might get wet from the leaking roof.

They brought over pots and pans to catch the water—what couldn’t be caught on the kangs soon turned the floor in front of them into meandering streams.

Jiang Lin muttered, “… Looks like it’s still a brick-and-tile house!”

She looked at Yan Runzhi, who seemed as baffled as she was, both unable to hold back their laughter at how badly this brick-and-tile house was leaking.

They exchanged glances and burst out laughing.

Yan Runzhi clapped her hands, pinched a “lantern flower” gesture, and in an unknown tune, started humming, “Under the dark, dark sky, Cowherd and Weaver Girl had a falling out, thunder clapped, lightning flashed, whooshing, they come to flood us~~~ Peaceful peace~~~”

Jiang Lin was laughing so hard it hurt her stomach, hearing for the first time that even Cowherd and Weaver Girl might cause trouble once a year.

Yan Runzhi suddenly gestured to her quietly, “Bao’er’s mother, do you hear that?”

Seeing her act like she’d grown antennae and could communicate with heaven and earth, Jiang Lin solemnly respected her, pricking up her ears to listen.

How could she vaguely hear from not far away that Cheng Ruhai’s family was howling? Was that Liu Honghua’s miserable cries for help?

With such heavy rain, the brick-and-tile houses hadn’t suffered, but those poorly maintained adobe houses were just pitiful.

Not only did the roof become a sieve, but the ground in front of the kangs turned into a muddy puddle, and rain poured through the windows.

Moreover, Liu Honghua’s house had been poked a leak by Cheng Rushan in the roof, though Cheng Rushan was one who fixed it, she patched the small rain.

Liu Honghua was still asking Xiao Xin what she needed to be careful of when suddenly she felt a tingling sensation on her head.

Instinctively, she looked up and saw a big clump of softened mud leaking from a cracked roof basket, splatting onto her face with a loud smack.

“Ah—Jiang Lin, it’s all your fault! Cheng Rushan, Yan Runzhi! I’m going to kill you all!” Liu Honghua wiped her face and stormed off to confront Jiang Lin, but her hurried steps caused her to slip and fall embarrassingly.

The heavy rain continued until dawn, causing almost every household to struggle.

Whether it was leaking bedrooms, pigsties, or sheds, or water accumulating in yards and seeping into homes, the night was a nightmare.

As soon as it got light, Jiang Lin couldn’t wait.

She told Yan Runzhi, “Granny, watch the kids. I’m going to check the roof.”

She went out barefoot, glanced around, and decided to climb up using a tub against the wall as a step.

She rinsed the mud off her feet with water to prevent slipping, rolled up her pants to her knees, revealing a slender and fair section of her leg.

Her feet were also clean and delicate, clearly unaccustomed to hardship.

If it weren’t for the different environment, she would have thought this was her own body; it was that similar.

Apart from her strength, she had another advantage from her previous life: her skin was resilient, fair, and spotless, an oddity that attracted much attention.

She hoped this body had the same resilience.

Yan Runzhi assumed she was checking the yard and planning to call for help to fix the roof.

She didn’t expect Jiang Lin to climb up herself.

Alarmed, she rushed out, “This won’t do, dear! You can’t go up there. Come down, come down quickly!”

Jiang Lin had already climbed onto the roof like a nimble cat. “It’s okay, I’m just taking a look.”