Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 70: Chapter 67: Don’t Show Off Your Wealth

If it were someone else, Ms. Wang might have tried to renege, but since she was facing Land Officer, she could only swallow her bitterness and show a smile that was uglier than crying: “Yes, exactly 20 taels of silver.”

“Good! Ye Lei, take back the IOU. Everyone here can testify, from today on, the 20 taels of silver that Ye Lei lent to Ms. Wang is considered completely repaid!”

After hearing Land Officer’s words, Liu Sisi finally showed a satisfied smile.

Returning the silver was as hard as fighting a battle, it’s really not easy!

When Land Officer left, Ms. Wang’s face suddenly changed, and she began to curse again.

Three years’ interest on 20 taels of silver was not a small amount, no wonder she was in pain!

Guihua wasn’t afraid of Ms. Wang’s rashness, and she put her hands on her hips and cursed back at Ms. Wang.

The two of them went back and forth with each other, making quite a scene!

It wasn’t until Elderly Mr. Di stepped in and yelled at Ms. Wang a few times that she finally stopped cursing and left.

“Humph! To deal with this kind of rash woman, you need to be even more rash and unreasonable! Sisi, you’re just too nice, always letting people with no shame walk all over you. You, sigh!” Guihua couldn’t help but shake her head and sigh as she looked at the pitiful Liu Sisi.

Liu Sisi smiled helplessly.

Her body was naturally pitiful-looking, prone to tears at any moment, which also left her speechless.

However, since she had this natural advantage, she would be a fool not to use it!

“Sister Guihua, thank you for today. If it weren’t for you helping me invite Land Officer, I…”

As she spoke, her eyes began to turn red.

“Alright, Sisi, don’t be sad. You don’t have to worry about your wicked mother-in-law and gossiping Second Sister-in-law. Besides, you’ve already separated your families. From now on, all you have to do is give them their annual share of the filial money and let other people talk. Everyone knows what kind of person Ms. Wang is.”

“Mmm, don’t worry, Sister Guihua, I know what to do now.”

Liu Sisi naturally understood Guihua’s sincerity towards her.

“As long as you know. The sun is about to set, and I need to go back and cook. If anything happens in the future, remember to call me, alright?”

After saying that, Guihua hurriedly left with Zhang Yun.

When everyone left, Liu Sisi closed the door and entered the kitchen.

The food in the kitchen had long gone cold, and the family sat around the table without moving their chopsticks.

“We should be happy now. Our family’s debt has been repaid, and our lives will only get better from now on. Why are we still feeling down?”

Li Sisi spoke softly, hoping to improve the gloomy atmosphere.

Di Yelei still kept his mouth shut, not saying a word.

“By the way, Xuan’er, The Four Treasures of the Study was carefully chosen by your father to give to you. What your mother said outside earlier was just for the others to hear. You’re not young anymore, and you should understand the principle of not showing off your wealth. So, don’t worry and use that set of Four Treasures of the Study, okay?” Liu Sisi said earnestly.

Di Xuan’s eyes lit up immediately, and he showed a shallow smile, nodding vigorously: “Xuan’er understands, Mom! Do not show off wealth!”

Di Yelei moved his lips but eventually didn’t say anything with his eyebrows still furrowed.

He believed that men should not be too cautious about money, otherwise it would be difficult to achieve greatness! The thought that he had hunted for so many years, yet had received so much disdain and not a single praise, caused his long-standing view to waver deep within his heart.

“That’s right! Our Xuan’er from the Di family is the most understanding. When our strength is not enough to protect ourselves, we must carefully hide our wealth. When our strength is strong enough, even if we put a mountain of gold out in the open, who would dare to steal it?”

Di Xuan nodded seriously: “Is it like when our home was burglarized a few days ago, yet today, with all those silver taels displayed in front of Mr. Land Officer, no one dares to steal. Mom, is this what you’re saying, that our strength is not enough to protect ourselves?”

What a clever child who can deduce from one example! Most importantly, this was the first time Liu Sisi heard him speak such a long sentence.

“Our Xuan’er from the Di family is so smart! Actually, the Land Officer is not considered a high-ranking official, and out there are many County Magistrates, governors, and even higher-ranking officials such as the Prime Minister. Those are all influential people. But even so, above them are even more honorable people like the current Emperor and Empress Dowager. So, our Xuan’er from the Di family must not be shortsighted…”

In Liu Sisi’s light words, the family quietly ate their meal.

Di Yelei’s eyes flashed with confusion as the Liu Sisi in front of him, who was talking eloquently, felt extremely unfamiliar.

This feeling was very difficult to describe; she was clearly just beside him, within arm’s reach, yet it felt as if there was an enormous distance between them, making his heart restless.

Perhaps it was because the two had not consummated their marriage till now?

Or maybe he should…

After the meal, Di Yelei’s figure disappeared in a flash.

Liu Sisi brought out the border oil and pig offal she had bought.

Border oil was of course for oil refining, so she washed it clean, cut it into thumb-sized pieces, and began to refine the oil over a fire.

The oil gradually heated in the pot, and soon a rich and fragrant scent drifted far away. The oil bubbles in the pot attracted the two children to crane their necks and take a look inside.

Liu Sisi scooped out a bit of the dried oil residue into a small bowl, added a bit of white sugar she had bought, and handed it to the two children.

This delicious dish was something she especially loved during her childhood in her previous life. The unique taste of freshly fried oil residue was unmatched by any other snack!

Especially in those poor years when even eating oil was a luxury.

Di Xuan and Di Ying happily held their new bowls, eating from the newly purchased white ceramic bowls that were adorned with many flower and grass patterns, which the children couldn’t let go of.

When the border oil was refined, she filtered out the oil residue and poured it into a large bowl. The oil residue from the border oil was used to make soup, especially when making cabbage soup, adding a handful of border oil residue would make it even more delicious than meat.

After letting the lard in the pot cool down a bit, she poured a small amount into a small oil jar, and the rest into a large oil jar, planning to seal it and put it in the cellar for later consumption.

After doing all this, Liu Sisi finally let out a long sigh of relief and turned to clean the pig offal.

Although there wasn’t much pig offal, the good thing was she had a piece of rice sausage and a section of pig intestine, so Liu Sisi thought about how to turn them into delicious dishes.

First, she picked a few pumpkin leaves, poured them into the small intestine to remove the mucus, and repeated the process several times before rinsing with clear water.

Washing the large intestine was naturally more troublesome. After turning and washing it repeatedly, Liu Sisi even used a small amount of wheat flour and table salt to rub and wash it, further removing any unpleasant odor from the intestine.

Afterwards, she washed her hands and went out to gather some ingredients for cooking.

The Di family’s seasonings were quite complete now, but they needed some vegetables to go with the meat.

Liu Sisi walked around and dug up a cluster of wild scallions, which were even more fragrant than ordinary scallions for seasoning!

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