Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 572: Chapter 572: Qingming Festival Ancestor Worship (1)
 

As a son, he should have some responsibilities and obligations. This is not the modern era where he can act as he pleases, but an ancient time where families hold their honor as a unit!

Liu Sisi’s words left Di Xuan silent.

Lately, he had been more cautious about his actions. Ever since his father returned safely, even though his mother still treated him well as always, that “well” seemed to have more superficial aspects, with much of its essence missing.

For instance, she used to personally guide his studies and arrange his meals. Now, she would mostly wait for him to finish his homework, and when they met, she would casually ask a couple of questions. The one arranging his meals had become his attendant student, Le Ping.

Yesterday, she had brought him the clothes and shoes needed for the Qingming Festival. Her speech was even getting more indifferent…

All of these changes made him feel estranged and unsure what to do. Yet, he understood that he had hurt her feelings…

“Gain and loss always come hand in hand. The heavens are always balanced; when you gain something, you are destined to lose something, or you need to exert some effort. There’s no free lunch in this world. Even if there is, you should consider whether the lunch is a bait thrown by others…”

Liu Sisi looked back when she heard nothing from behind for a long while. She saw Di Xuan standing far behind her at the intersection, his eyes full of complicated thoughts and accusations.

At that moment, Liu Sisi felt like the biggest villain…

“Xuan’er, do you have something to say to me?”

Di Xuan quickened his pace to catch up with Liu Sisi, but suddenly didn’t know how to start: “Mother, I…”

What should he say?

Should he say she no longer cared for him? But she still made sure Le Ping took good care of his meals.

Should he say she mistreated him? Even that was untrue. He had everything he needed in terms of food, clothing, housing and so on. The only difference was that the person doing it had changed…

“I… don’t have much to say. I just… I just miss Mr. Xu…” Di Xuan lowered his head.

Naturally, Liu Sisi could tell Di Xuan was not telling the truth; her eyes flashed, but she didn’t press on about it.

“Don’t worry. I will definitely persuade Mr. Xu to come and teach at our academy. It’s just a matter of time!”

After speaking, she turned and walked ahead.

Probably, the reason why Elder Xu disdainfully refused her was that he did not believe in her ability. But what about it? She would show him what she was capable of!

Two days before the Qingming Festival, Di Yelei took Liu Sisi and the children back home with Elderly Mr. Di.

It had been many days since they last returned home. The sudden homecoming gave them a sense of familiarity everywhere.

Especially Ah-Huang and Ah-Hua, as soon as they got home, they started running around joyfully, dashing in and out of the house, then running outside to have more fun and pee a few times.

The sound of dogs barking echoed at the foot of the mountain, announcing to the surrounding villagers that the Di Family had returned!

Di Xuan and Di Ying were also running around happily, with Big Fur trailing behind them, adding Snow Wave, Snowy Delight, and Joyful Peace to the troupe, effectively making them a team of mini-tractors.

Liu Sisi also caught the infectious joy of others’ and looked around Di Family’s inside and out.

Although the stable had been unused for quite a while, it now seemed neat and tidy with a few horses tethered. The chickens in the coop had long since been slaughtered or taken away, and their absence was now replaced by vibrant, youthful wild vegetables. Especially for the fields of rapeseeds, dandelions and small water spinach, the clusters of plants were sprouting forth, their oily greens promising delicious taste at just a glance.

Moved by this sight, Liu Sisi instructed those behind her to start picking these. That sorted out the supply of green leafy vegetables for lunch and dinner today!

She further ventured into what was once a room for cultivating vegetables using the underfloor heating and surprisingly discovered that under the withered stems of white turnip radishes, heaps of small turnip shoots were sprouting, probably the sprouts after naturally sown seeds. This was a delightful surprise!

With a smile on her lips, Liu Sisi continued on her tour, next checking out the lotus roots planted last year.

The water at the edge of the well flowed calmly, constantly overflowing from its opening. A thick ring of green moss had grown around the edge of the well due to the absence of human trampling, showing exceptionally good growth. The water trickling along the edge of the well flowed into the lotus pond below. At this moment, the baby lotuses in the pond were just peeking out of the water.

Although some leaves had begun to unfurl, the majority of the lotus leaves were still in bud pointing upwards, spreading out over the clear pool, clear enough to see the bottom. A kingfisher of a vibrant green color perched on the side of the pond, flew into the air as soon as Liu Sisi arrived, skimming quickly over the water and causing numerous ripples to form before shooting out from over the top of the iron fence and flying into the distance.

In the corner of the wall, the two grapevines had also sprouted green leaves, and clusters of unripe green grapes were hidden among the modest-sized leaves.

Peeping outside from over the top of the fence, a winding path leading to the back mountain seemed more apparent amidst the lush green landscape, brimming with vibrant vitality.

Looking at the scenery before her, Liu Sisi felt increasingly pleased. It’s so good to be home!

“Sisi, Sisi, you’re back?”

A surprised and delighted voice was heard from outside the house.

Liu Sisi replied with joy, and hurriedly made her way outside, “Sister Guihua, I’m here!”

Guihua came over as soon as she saw Liu Sisi, her eyes squinting with happiness, “Sisi, you’re finally back! If you hadn’t returned today, I was considering heading down to the small town to look for you.”

“Of course, not! Tomorrow is Cold Food Festival, and the day after is Qingming Festival. Even if I didn’t wish to return, Ye Lei and father won’t have let me.”

Seeing Guihua here made Liu Sisi feel completely at ease.All places are good, but none is better than my hometown. ‘A golden house or a silver house is not as good as your own dog house.’

She tightly held Guihua’s hand and walked slowly, wearing an open and cheerful smile.

Guihua also looked very pleased, “Absolutely! This annual ancestral ceremony is crucial! Especially now that Brother Ye Lei has been appointed as a sub-captain, we should celebrate even more. But, when I just entered, I saw your mother-in-law heading towards the old house… Is everything alright?” Her voice faded as she spoke on.

Her mother-in-law was at the old house? Liu Sisi hadn’t noticed this.

“Ignore her. As long as she’s not creating trouble, we just need to take care of an old person. It doesn’t matter.” Liu Sisi had a very easygoing view on this.

——

My old computer stopped working, and I’m not used to operating the new one. Thank you, my dear readers, for pointing out any typos. Kisses!