Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Di Xuan obviously avoided her gaze today, keeping his head down. Liu Sisi didn’t force him, and focused on eating her meal.

After the meal, Liu Sisi called him: “Xuan’er, I’ve looked at the arrangement of the rooms, and I plan to leave the one on the left side for you to use as a study. The room has good lighting, which is better for reading without straining your eyes. Do you like it, or do you want to change to another room?”

“Whatever you decide is fine, mom.” Di Xuan didn’t object.

“Alright then, I’ll rearrange the room so that it’s more comfortable for you to study.”

Liu Sisi was more particular about the lighting in the study than the classrooms. Back in the Di Family, she had no choice but to accept what was available. Now that they just moved in, she would carefully plan the arrangement.

There were no electric lights in this era. Natural light was used during the day, and candles and oil lamps at night. Both candles and oil lamps cost money, so most people here made their own candles.

The production of such candles naturally required pine resin, which was obtained by cutting open the bark of ancient pines in the mountains. The pine resin was mixed with animal fat or vegetable oil, and then wrapped around an item such as bamboo or hemp to form a twisted shape. The item was soaked in the mixed fat and placed into various sized bamboo tubes or homemade candlesticks, forming a wick or candlestick.

This method of making homemade wicks or candlesticks was more cost-effective than candles and oil lamps. The only drawback was that they smoked a little more, leaving the ceilings blackened over time.

When Di Yelei returned from his hometown, he saw Liu Sisi constantly changing the position of the desk, trying to find the best lighting spot.

“Sisi, don’t move it! I’ll take care of the heavy stuff, it’s not suitable for you in your current condition!”

As he spoke, he pulled her aside and helped her sit down on a chair nearby.

“By the way, check out the vegetables that I brought back. I brought a lot of the good ones we planted, so we don’t have to go out and buy any for the next few days!”

Di Yelei was full of enthusiasm and energy: “The move was so rushed, and when the villagers found out that we were coming to live in the small town, they all came to see us off, saying that we should go back to live there…”

It was clear that he was quite reluctant to leave.

“We will definitely go back to live there. That’s our root, how could we abandon it?” Liu Sisi said casually.

She had devoted countless efforts to that home, how could she abandon it? This trip was merely temporary.

“Even Uncle Land Officer came! And look, he even gave us a basket of taro. I thought about it, and gave him two pieces of beast meat, asking him to help watch over our house.”

In this era, the chances of thieves coming to one’s home were slim, as ordinary households didn’t have much worth stealing.

“That’s appropriate. Uncle Land Officer has helped us a lot, and what we gave him during the New Year wasn’t much. Next time we go back, we’ll bring him two more pieces of beast meat.”

Liu Sisi supported her waist, feeling the difference since becoming pregnant, as if something was always propping her up from her lower back.

“There’s not much beast meat left. I left two pieces in the old house and brought the rest here. When we moved, I realized that our lives have improved so much without us even noticing.”

Di Yelei straightened his back and stepped forward, gently embracing her and rubbing his cheeks against hers.

“Do you remember two years ago during the New Year, when I had to guard the mountain for two nights just to catch a nest of catfish eels? I sold two and kept two to barely get through the holiday. But this year, I finally knew what a prosperous New Year was like! Abundant meat and vegetables, white rice every meal! We even bought a car, hired people, and purchased farmland… And all of this, was because I, Di Yelei, married you!”

“Sisi! You are truly my lucky star!” Di Yelei exclaimed sincerely.

Liu Sisi also laughed!

But as things were getting better at home, she occasionally woke from her dreams, fearing that everything she saw was just a dream.

And she couldn’t tell north from south in her dreams!

Even more afraid that after waking up, she would have to face the smoggy city of her previous life, the small and cramped tin houses as narrow as pigeon cages, and the cold high-rise buildings made of concrete and steel…

Only by snuggling in her husband’s warm embrace did she feel real!

Fi felt like a living person!

Hearing him say all this, she gave him a funny look: “Oh? Is it really as you say? Am I really that good?”

“You’re definitely that good! Since marrying you, originally bad things have turned into good things, and our lives have become more and more prosperous. I, Di Yelei, feel like a blind bear who fell into a honey jar, soaked in a nest of fortune, not wanting to wake up!”

Di Yelei said confidently, laughing with a mouthful of white teeth.

Such a smile made Liu Sisi’s cheeks slightly flushed, and she spat at him.

“Look at how happy you are…”

Di Yelei laughed even harder, “With such a virtuous wife, what more could a husband ask for! I’m indeed delighted! Haha…”

His laughter infected Liu Sisi, and the sweetness spread in her heart.

They cuddled for a while, and then he gently patted Liu Sisi’s shoulder: “All right! Go to the kitchen, the room is too messy. Let me handle the work here!”

It seems that today, this man wouldn’t let her touch the table!

“All right! You put these things here, and I’ll go check the kitchen.”

After Liu Sisi finished speaking, she went to the kitchen.

As expected, there was a large basket of vegetables in the kitchen, garlic sprouts, baby bok choy, turnips, carrots, and bean sprouts—a whole load. In addition, pickling jars for pickled cabbage, soybean paste, and preserved tofu were also placed in a corner of the kitchen. Even the potted Chinese chives had been brought over by Di Yelei!

This man knows how to live a good life!

Liu Sisi laughed!

She wasn’t in a hurry. She first took out a wooden basin, soaked the soybeans in it, then covered it with a towel and placed it on the edge of the stove to grow bean sprouts.

These vegetables could solve the recent supply of greens, but getting more vegetables in the cold winter would be a big problem. She could manage not to eat meat, but she couldn’t bear not eating vegetables!

After getting everything settled, she first took out the bean sprouts, which wouldn’t last long once they were picked, so they had to be consumed first. Next were the baby bok choy and garlic sprouts; finally, the turnips and carrots could be stored for some time, so she temporarily stored them in the bowl cabinet.

A new home signified a fresh start, representing that everything needed to be rearranged and adapted. As she turned around to retrieve the kitchen knife hanging on the wall, she remembered that since they had just moved in, the knife was still in the bowl cabinet…

One by one, gathering and adding, it seemed as if she hadn’t done much, and it was already the 18th day of Lunar New Year.