Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Yesterday, the things she had ordered were already done. She held and examined them with satisfaction.

Then she went to the grocery store and returned home. She locked herself in a room for a while, only coming out when night fell.

That night, Di Yelei did not return. Liu Sisi found it unsurprising.

Early the following morning, she urged Granny Hu and Ms. Gao to steam a few loads of steamed buns and bought half of a piece of pork. The pork was directly chopped into small pieces, stir-fried with minced buk choi, loading them into a carry basket to keep them warm. Once again, she put everything in the carriage and headed directly to the riverside.

She arrived at the familiar riverside, and because of the long journey, it was already three quarters past 9 a.m to 11a.m when she got there. Countless people were bustling about at the riverside, carrying stones, digging deep trenches, and working frantically.

Before the carriage could stop, somebody sharp-eyed recognized it.

“Look! It’s Deputy Leader Di’s carriage!”

“Eh! It really is his carriage, it must be his wife coming.”

“Maybe there’s delicious food too!”

Everyone was overjoyed!

No wonder, normally when Old Cheng came to deliver food, he came on a horse. The last time this carriage came, it was naturally Deputy Leader Di’s wife.

Soon, everyone’s chatter reached Di Yelei’s ears, letting him know about the commotion. Before Liu Sisi could get out of the carriage, he had already come down from the riverside, leading a few people.

As soon as he approached, he couldn’t help but say, “Sisi! Why did you come again? Didn’t I tell you last time that there are many people at the riverside…”

“Hurry up and help unload this food from the carriage and distribute it to everyone. It won’t be good if it gets cold!”

Liu Sisi interrupted him before he could finish, pointing at the many layers of carry baskets on the carriage.

Upon casually lifting the thick cotton wadding covering the carry baskets, an array of white and clean steamed buns still emitting heat were revealed!

“Wow! It’s all steamed buns! This time the brothers are in for a treat! Sister-in-law, your cooking skills are simply superb!”

Before Di Yelei could speak, Zhang Peng, who followed behind him, shouted back.

“Hey! Deputy Leader Di is treating everyone to meat and steamed buns again! Come and help, brothers! Give us a hand! – Come, more of you!”

With his roar, the crowd immediately boiled!

People cheered and flocked to help, gathering in front of the carriage.

Di Yelei hurriedly jumped onto the carriage, looking down at the crowd below and shouted!

“Everyone, don’t push! Don’t push! Line up by groups down there. Get your shares and have your foreman help distribute them. Ah! Go back and get a big basin to divide the meat. Everyone will get a share! Don’t be hasty…”

His loud and deep voice immediately calmed the crowd, as the temporary leaders quickly stepped forward to move the carry baskets. Some smart people went back to get tools to pack meat and vegetables. In no time, the riverside was bustling and everyone was smiling happily.

Di Yelei was generous, allowing the leaders to distribute the food after the baskets were removed from the carriage. The task of distributing the meat was given to Liu Sisi.

Liu Sisi looked at the meat in the large basin and learned that everyone on the riverside was divided into ten teams. She simply divided the meat in the large basin into eleven portions. One portion for each team, and the remaining portion was naturally reserved for Di Yelei and the others.

Di Yelei scanned the crowd eating and continued to inspect the riverside.

“The County Magistrate has given us the task of repairing this section of the riverbank. You all know that this riverbank was once destroyed by the raging Dragon King.”

“At that time, the leader in charge of rebuilding the riverbank was directly punished and exiled! Everyone involved was also affected: some suffered from punishment and others had to pay silver fines. This year we’ve taken on the task of repairing this section of the riverbank. If anything goes wrong, let alone the families and fertile land living downstream, we’re bound to suffer! ”

“What we have to do is to try to finish repairing this section of the riverbank as soon as possible before the snow on the mountain top melts and before the flood peak arrives! This will fulfill the task assigned by Lord County Magistrate! Then we can all go home early, how nice would it be to embrace our wives and children with a warm meal! Brothers, isn’t that right?!”

“Yes! Yes! Yes!”

People around responded in chorus, with laughter and cheerful voices continuously echoing.

Everyone ate meat and steamed buns heartily until their stomachs were full, their faces filled with joy and their hearts felt contented.

An old man stood up from the crowd, “Deputy Leader Di is right! Why did Deputy Leader Di provide us with his white flour steamed buns? It’s to motivate us to work harder and fix the riverbank sooner! My old companion at home is still waiting for me!”

His last sentence immediately made the crowd burst out in laughter!

Someone familiar on the other side stood up, “Old Man Lu! You’re this old, and you’re still thinking about your old companion at home? Can you still climb that Wufeng Mountain?”

The crowd burst into laughter again!

Old Man Lu was quite pleased, “Heh heh! At least I have a mountain to climb. I’m afraid you, being so young, might find it hard to climb those two big mountains!”

With this vulgar remark, the crowd exploded with laughter, teasing each other.

It made the familiar person blush and embarrassed, hardly able to raise his head.

Old man Lu waited for everyone to stop laughing before speaking again, “Deputy Leader Di is a righteous man. Seeing that I’m old, he arranged for me to do lighter work. We can’t treat other people’s kindness as nothing. The riverbank construction is Deputy Leader Di’s responsibility. If something goes wrong, he has to bear it. We’ve eaten his food, so we can’t be immoral. As an old man, I’m going to lead by example and do my best to finish repairing this riverbank as soon as possible, so we can go home early!”

“Good! Old Man Lu is right this time! We must not be immoral! Everyone, let’s eat and drink well, and while we’re still strong, hurry up and work on the riverbank! Whoever dares to slack off, we won’t let them off! Let’s go!”

“Let’s go! Time to work on the riverbank!”