Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Liu Sisi’s face showed no trace of a smile, her expression tense.

She finally realized that this Miao Cuihua was someone who remembered the beatings but not the blessings. If you gave her a bit of dye, the dye workshop idea would quickly bloom in her mind.

“You better remember what you said today. Otherwise, you won’t even realize why your wages were deducted when the time comes.”

Liu Sisi spoke so heavily, but Miao Cuihua still laughed carelessly, which was simply intoxicating.

Seeing that everyone else had stopped talking, Di Yelei hurriedly stepped forward to mediate: “Alright, let’s all say a little less. Di Cheng, have you finished settling the accounts on that side?” There were more customers coming to settle their bills.

“Almost done, it will be ready soon.” Di Cheng answered hastily.

As Miao Cuihua turned and exited the shop, Liu Sisi burst into laughter: “Oh my! Shou Hou, your Cuihua really makes my stomach cramp from laughter. She’s too funny.”

Shou Hou was a little caught off guard and chuckled awkwardly.

“I know Cuihua doesn’t mean any harm, but she’s always going on about this shop being mine. I’ve told her twice, but she doesn’t listen. I don’t want to argue with her, so I can only wrong you. But don’t worry, I’ve seen your abilities! The bustling business in this shop today is thanks to your management, as well as Di Cheng’s. I know how hard you work, so just rest assured and work in the shop. We’ll open a new shop right after the Lunar New Year!”

Liu Sisi’s words immediately brightened Shou Hou’s mood!

Among all the tasks in the bookstore, he was most satisfied with receiving customers and doing some light cleaning. Even more importantly, working here allowed him to avoid his wicked mother-in-law. The wages for working in the store for one month were much higher than carrying stones for three months.

How could he ever give that up?

“Di Family’s Third Sister-in-law, you’re just teasing me, Shou Hou. If we’re talking about who works the hardest in this shop, it’s Di Cheng. He’s really diligent! I just help out here and there, not taking all the credit.”

Shou Hou’s words made Di Cheng almost knock over the inkstone, causing quite a bit of chaos.

He stuttered: “Third Aunt, don’t listen to Uncle Shou Hou’s nonsense, I just…I…that’s not true…”

“Alright, alright! Third Aunt understands the hard work you both put in. But once we close the shop later, be sure to properly hide your wages. In the future, when you want to get married and have kids, you’ll have to rely on that money.”

Liu Sisi joked with him, but in fact, she was also reminding him.

Di Cheng had never been favored by Ms. Wang. After the Lunar New Year, the boy would be 16 years old but still no sign of Ms. Wang arranging for a matchmaker. Most likely, she was planning to use Di Cheng to make more money for her.

A bitter smile appeared at the corner of Di Cheng’s mouth. After settling the accounts for the last customer, he said sadly, “My mom… she borrowed my wages from this month…”

It was called borrowing, but taking by force would be more appropriate.

Ms. Wang came to the bookstore and took two taels of silver, fearing Liu Sisi wouldn’t give him his wages. Di Cheng chased after her and forcefully took back one tael, which led to Ms. Wang chasing and cursing him down the street, making everyone in the neighborhood laugh.

“No problem, your share of the money won’t be less this month.”

Seeing that it was getting late, and there were no more customers, Liu Sisi went to the inner room to settle the accounts.

She wasn’t used to using an abacus, but her mental arithmetic skills were exceptional. When everyone had finished tidying up, she had finished the accounts.

“Alright, we’ve calculated our accounts. From the 24th of Lunar December, there are three more days left. With that, each person’s share… Di Cheng, you get 10%, so that’s 103 taels and 4 maces of silver. Congratulations! This month, you can have a good Lunar New Year celebration with ease!”

While talking, she carefully counted the silver coins and handed the silver taels to Di Cheng.

She actually had 413 taels and 7 maces, which was quite a lot! Adding the silver coins from a few days ago, it was indeed like celebrating a bumper harvest year!

However, Liu Sisi naturally wouldn’t flaunt her wealth openly, but she still showed Di Cheng the accounts.

Di Cheng happily took them and then took out 15 taels of silver from the inside to give to Liu Sisi, his face full of embarrassment: “Last time Brother Gao came, he took a set of calligraphy tools without paying for them…”

While he spoke, he felt his face burning hot, deeply embarrassed to have such a relative.

Liu Sisi glanced at Di Cheng and pursed her lips without saying anything, then took the silver, tossing it into the cost column without a care.

She had already said a lot, and saying more would be too much of a busybody!

She then takes out 7 taels of silver and carefully puts away the public accounts and the portion belonging to Nan Tianzong before leaving the inner room.

Miao Cuihua was sneakily peeking from the doorway. When Liu Sisi opened the door, she almost bumped into her. She laughed awkwardly and stood up straight.

Outside, Shou Hou had already organized the goods and was putting the shop door panels back one by one, leaving the last two for people to enter and exit.

Liu Sisi took out Liu Zhi’er’s share and handed it to her: “Here, Second Sister, this is the silver you earned.”

Liu Zhi’er’s share of silver was as much as 4 taels, obviously more than usual, and this was the result of Liu Sisi’s favoritism.

People say the human heart is soft, and Liu Zhi’er has had a hard life. Within her means, Liu Sisi gave her 4 taels of silver, which was only 2 maces more than usual.

However, deep inside was her sincere wish for her second sister’s wellbeing.

“Thank you, Sisi…”

Liu Zhi’er’s eyes welled up with tears as she quietly took the silver, clutching it tightly in her hands without speaking for a long time.

“This is the result of your hard work. These past few days, you’ve hardly slept at night, spending all your time cutting window decorations and fortune children. You deserve this.”

After she finished speaking, Liu Sisi turned around and handed 3 taels of silver to Shou Hou: “Your wages were paid on the 23rd of December, but the Lunar New Year is coming up in a few days. On behalf of Brother Nan, I’m giving you a bonus, hoping that you will work hard next year and not slack off.”

Shou Hou took the silver while trembling in excitement, stuttering: “Thank you, thank you… I’ll definitely work hard next year…”

“That’s good!” Liu Sisi also smiled sincerely.

Miao Cuihua, who was standing beside them, was staring wide-eyed. As soon as Shou Hou finished speaking, she snatched the silver from his hands and carefully tucked it into her arms.

Then she closed the door of the shop and prayed with incense for a while before finally finishing this year’s business.

As she looked around, the neighbors on both sides had also closed their shops. Everyone greeted each other with fists, wishing for a prosperous New Year and thriving business!

Since the two of them needed to rush to the Gan Mansion, they asked Shou Hou and Guihua to help carry the New Year goods back, while Liu Zhi’er took the two children along.

It was not until they could no longer see the figures of the others that Di Yelei and his companion led their horses and turned towards the direction of the Gan Mansion.