SFS Chapter 67 The Gift
Chapter 67 The Gift
"Mom, you're back!" Song Jiaojiao, who had just gotten off the bus and settled down, was rushed over by Mu Xue and was embraced by her.
"Yes, Mother's back. Did you take good care of my sister at home?" Song Jiaojiao asked softly, holding Mu Xue in her arms.
"Yes, I've been very good, and I think about Mom every day," Mu Xue's childish voice came through, with a hint of coquetry.
"Second sister is so good. Mother brought you a gift too. Let's go inside and talk." Song Jiaojiao pulled Mu Xue into the courtyard and called Aunt Li over as well.
Meng An and Xu Da then unloaded the items.
Song Jiaojiao sat down on a stool with Mu Xue. "Auntie, guess who I met this time?"
Aunt Li was puzzled as to why Song Jiaojiao would ask such a question. Suddenly, she thought of her youngest daughter, who hadn't come home for the New Year. "Jiaojiao, you...you didn't run into Baozhu, did you?"
"As expected, nothing can be hidden from Auntie. Yes, I ran into Baozhu this time. She even brought you a lot of things."
Aunt Li exclaimed with delight, her voice rising involuntarily, "I really ran into her! Baozhu, how is Baozhu doing?"
After her initial surprise, Aunt Li cautiously asked, afraid of hearing bad news. Indeed, no matter where you are, the people you care about most are always your parents.
"Don't worry, Auntie, Baozhu is very happy. She's grown up beautifully and has servants with her whenever she goes out. I even saw her son; he's chubby and healthy, clearly well taken care of. It's just that Baozhu misses you all very much, but her child is still too young to come back easily. She said she'll bring her brother-in-law back when the child is a bit older."
Song Jiaojiao slowly recounted Wang Baozhu's situation, and Aunt Li breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that her daughter was living a happy life.
She murmured, "As long as we're doing well, there's no rush. The kids are still young, and we're not going to run away."
"Baozhu bought a lot of things for you. I'll have Meng An deliver them to you later." Song Jiaojiao thought that most of the things were bought by Wang Baozhu, so she had no choice but to send them down by carriage.
"Why did you buy so much stuff, child? We don't need anything," Aunt Li said with a hint of disdain, but her face lit up with joy.
“This is all thanks to Baozhu for her filial piety. You should be happy.”
"Happy, happy, Jiaojiao, thank you so much! It's such a hassle for you to bring this back from so far away," Aunt Li said to Song Jiaojiao.
"Auntie, aren't you treating me like an outsider? Bringing a few things is nothing. If it weren't for your help before, I wouldn't know where I would be," Song Jiaojiao said, feigning displeasure.
"Alright, alright, I won't say anything more. Okay, I'll go back now. You've had a long journey, I won't bother you any longer." Aunt Li noticed the slightly dark circles under Song Jiaojiao's eyes and thought it best not to disturb her.
"Alright, I won't keep you here, Auntie. I'll have Meng An bring the things to you later."
"No rush, it's the same if I deliver it when I have time," Aunt Li said before leaving.
Song Jiaojiao called the two sisters to her side and looked at them gently, "That's great, eldest sister and second sister have grown up and can share the burden with their mother."
Hearing this, Mu Xue proudly raised her head and said, "That's right, I can help Mother too, so that Mother won't have to work so hard."
"Second sister, would you like to know what gift Mother brought you?" Song Jiaojiao asked with a smile.
"What did Mother bring me?" Mu Xue looked at Song Jiaojiao expectantly.
"Go open them and take a look! Those two wooden boxes over there are your gifts. Mu Qing, go and see them too." Song Jiaojiao pointed to the wooden boxes on the table.
It was a very simple wooden box, with the natural grain of the wood. Mu Xue opened the box and saw a pair of hair clips inside. The silver butterflies on the hair clips were extremely realistic. When a breeze blew, their wings fluttered as if they were really moving.
Mu Xue was delighted to see it. Wang Jinfeng from the village always boasted about her hair clips and wore them out every day. Now that she had a pair, she was sure to cause a sensation when she went out.
Mu Qing's gift was a pair of silver earrings in the shape of a camellia. They had no complicated craftsmanship, just like Mu Qing's personality.
"Thank you, Mother, I love it." The moment Mu Qing saw the earrings, she knew they were carefully chosen by her mother.
"We don't have much money at home right now, but when we earn more, Mom will get you a gilded wig," Song Jiaojiao said with a smile.
"No need for Mother, this is enough to make me happy." Mu Qing said with a faint smile, holding the wooden box. It was hard not to see that she was very happy at this moment.
"Mother, Mother, I like them too. When I grow up, I'll buy you silver hairpins so you can wear a different piece of jewelry every day." Mu Xue held two hair ornaments, twirling around and dreaming about the future.
"Okay, then I'll just wait to enjoy my retirement," Song Jiaojiao replied happily.
Mu Xue's silvery laughter flew out of the courtyard and soared into the sky.
Days passed by, and although the absence of two people in the family occasionally made Song Jiaojiao feel a little dazed, the busy farming season had arrived, and Song Jiaojiao didn't have time to think too much about it.
The day after returning from the county, Li, along with Wang Shui and Xu Da, transplanted the saplings from the greenhouse to the barren mountain. Just as they finished planting the fruit trees, Aunt Li brought over some chicks that the villagers had brought from their homes—about two hundred chicks and about twenty ducks.
With so many chicks, keeping them warm was a big problem. Luckily, there were many people in the family, and they managed to build a chicken coop on the barren mountain in one day. Song Jiaojiao put a lot of straw inside to keep them warm. Fortunately, most of the chicks survived, and only about ten died.
Thinking about having an endless supply of eggs and chickens, tears streamed down Song Jiaojiao's face. She had no idea that she would later worry about having too many eggs to eat.
Before long, the workshop finally finished before spring planting. The vegetables had already stopped being sold by early February, as the vegetables planted earlier had already grown well and no longer had any advantage.
During this time, Wang Hefan did not return, but instead sent a letter and gifts to everyone through the escort agency.
After the workshop was built, Song Jiaojiao moved the sweet potato workshop downstairs. The new workshop was much larger and more than enough to meet the current daily production. Because spring planting was approaching, she hadn't seen anyone selling sweet potatoes for several days.
Having no other option, Song Jiaojiao had Meng An take Meng Qi to a distant location to collect the goods.
Mu Qing and Mu Xue learned quite a few characters from Bai Shuqin. Seeing how diligently they studied, Song Jiaojiao went to town and bought them primers like the "Three Character Classic" and "Hundred Family Surnames."
It must be said that books in ancient times were really expensive. Two books cost Song Jiaojiao five taels of silver, which could buy a lot of grain. Indeed, it was difficult for families that were not well-off to support a student.
As everyone had been waiting, the long-awaited spring rain finally arrived; otherwise, the spring planting season would have passed.
These farmers, who depend on the heavens for their livelihood, are entirely at the mercy of the weather. What was expected to be just two or three days of rain turned into half a month of intermittent rain. Whenever the rain lessened slightly, the villagers would go to the fields to check for standing water, fearing that the newly grown crops would be ruined.