Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 237: 235: Winter Preparation, Bookstore Trivia

Liu Sisi couldn’t help but laugh too!

In the past, Di Yelei often went hunting, but she never gave it much thought. It was only after he got injured recently and suddenly couldn’t go hunting that she realized how much this man had been quietly doing, and how many hardships he had taken on for her and their children.

Even when he’s injured and in pain, he is still doing his best to create a warm home for Liu Sisi and their children.

“Ye Lei, your health is more important. Stay at home and rest for a while, don’t tire yourself out,” Liu Sisi trembled as she spoke.

“Don’t worry! I know my limits, and I won’t overexert myself.”

His hands were skillfully skinning and slaughtering the prey, never once faltering, but he was quietly contemplating in his mind.

The Frost Descent had passed, and the Start of Winter was approaching.

As the days got colder, the income from the bookstore was sustaining their household expenses, but it was ultimately unstable and could disappear at any time.

Without enough meat to eat during the long winter nights, how would they survive the winter?

Moreover, the engagement banquet for Ying Er and Yun Er would consume a lot of food as well. He needed to prepare more while it had not started snowing yet. Once there was heavy snow blocking the mountains, how could they still go in?

Considering all this, he still needed to dig more traps and try his best to hunt more food. As for the Gan Family, it was also time to end his leave and get back to work…

The reason Di Yelei was concerned about working for the Gan Family was naturally related to the two visits from Gan Miaoruo.

Gan Miaoruo came early in the morning on both occasions and didn’t leave until dusk.

Apart from two maids, she was accompanied by Zuo Xingyu!

Every time Gan Miaoruo came, she studied diligently with Xuan’er and listened to Liu Sisi’s explanations.

Di Yelei would then chat leisurely with Zuo Xingyu. It was unclear what the two men had to talk about so much!

Whenever Gan Miaoruo left, both of them would seem reluctant to part.

The sight of this stirred Liu Sisi’s heart greatly! Zuo Xingyu was such a difficult person to read!

It was better to stay away from him!

However, she couldn’t find the courage to say it, and the hints she gave to Di Yelei were dismissed casually. He would agree to her suggestions at the time, but still chat casually with Zuo Xingyu the next time they met, completely oblivious to what Liu Sisi had meant.

When Zuo Xingyu saw Liu Sisi, his expression didn’t change, as cold and indifferent as ever.

Because of this, Liu Sisi couldn’t bring herself to say what she wanted to.

As the days grew shorter and colder

One early morning, Di Family had an early breakfast and waited at the roadside.

Liu Sisi arranged with the driver, Little Wang, to take them to the foot of the mountain and happily go to the market while also stopping by the Gan Mansion.

Upon arriving at the entrance of the bookstore, everyone got off the bull-cart and brought Xuan’er and Ying’er inside.

“Third Uncle, Third Aunt!”

Di Cheng and the others, who were cleaning inside the house, hurriedly greeted them with smiles on their faces.

“Second Cousin!”

Di Xuan and Di Ying greeted each other and happily ran into the house. It was already cold outside, and the house was much warmer.

“Di Cheng! How is the business in the past two days? How is the profit?”

Liu Sisi never strays from talking about business. She and Di Yelei entered the shop one after another.

“Third Aunt, the business has been pretty good in the past two days. A few days ago, Old Master Liu’s family came to take away thirty packs of white paper, and a certain number of calligraphy tools. I have kept detailed records. You can take a look.”

Di Cheng talked while walking inside, and picked up the “account book” he had been keeping records in from the counter.

Because Di Cheng learned to read and write later in life, there were many characters he couldn’t recognize or write. Liu Sisi came up with a solution, letting him use symbols instead, such as a triangle to represent white paper, and a quadrilateral to represent an inkstone, and then record how many were bought each time.

Thankfully, Di Cheng had learned to write the numbers one to ten when he was young, and Liu Sisi taught him the corresponding Arabic numerals. This method of recording was a bit tedious, but with Liu Sisi’s comparison and copying, a proper account book was quickly compiled.

“Hmm! Indeed, it is not bad. These two days, we have an income of over 11 taels of silver. Just in time, I will use this silver to buy some winter clothes. It’s cold now, and you should change into winter clothes as well.”

Liu Sisi looked at Di Cheng, who was shrinking in the cold wind. Like Xuan’er and Ying’er, he was wearing last year’s winter clothes.

However, the most uncomfortable was herself. When she first got married, she only had two summer clothes and didn’t even bring any winter clothes. Now she had almost put on both autumn clothes and was still shivering from the cold.

Di Cheng’s eyes lit up, but he immediately waved his hands: “Third Aunt! How can this be? You…the other day my mom took two taels of silver, saying it was charged against my salary. Now you…this cannot be done!”

“Salary is salary, and clothing is clothing. How can you mix them up? Buy it for you and just take it easily. Be careful in the daily transactions, and Third Aunt will be content.”

Liu Sisi calmly spoke while quickly counting the current inventory of goods in the store. She was using a price list format now, which was much clearer.

Soon, the accounts for inbound and outbound goods that needed to be restocked were sorted out. Naturally, this was a traditional account book.

“Here! You give this list to Old Six of the Carriage Shop later and let him deliver it. This is the payment for the goods!”

Liu Sisi handed the list and payment to Di Cheng, put away the remaining silver and left some small amounts of silver for change.

After a pause, she couldn’t help but say again: “As for your mom, there will be no exception! If she takes the money from the bookstore at will next time, I will go straight to her door and have her arrested as a thief and put in jail, letting her eat free prison meals for a few days.”

Ms. Wang was the kind of person who would cause trouble if not scolded for three days.

When Di Ah-bao got married a few days ago, she didn’t make any noise, and Liu Sisi thought she was sensible for once.

But in less than two days, Di Ah-bao revealed that Ms. Wang had embezzled nearly three taels of silver during the procurement, secretly putting them in her pocket.

No wonder she was so well-behaved during the entire wedding!

However, when this shocking news came out, the first person to bear the brunt was naturally Ms. Wang.

Ms. Zhao and her fought directly, pulling out chunks of each other’s hair, and the quarrel between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law escalated quickly.

Soon, the brothers Di Ah-bao and Di Gaoyuan started clashing, turning the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflict into a war between the brothers. Ms. Xin occasionally went out to mediate and casually made friends, quickly standing on her own feet and soon became the head of the old house…

Listening, Liu Sisi could only shake her head. This Ms. Xin was not a simple person.

Fortunately, her side of the Di family had been separated long ago, so she didn’t have to worry about the drama.

However, Ms. Wang was no easy person either!

After her silver was forcibly taken away by Ms. Zhao, she set her sights on the bookstore and targeted it.

The first time she came, she took away a piece of ink. The second time, she took away 300 copper coins. The third time, her courage grew even larger and she forcibly took away two taels of silver. No wonder Liu Sisi didn’t want to indulge her any longer!

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