Chapter 28
Han Qiao’s original plan was to go by herself. Seeing that her room had been tidied up, she summoned Sun Xiu, Sun Yi, and Sun Ke to go with her.
The four nieces of her youngest brother’s family also looked very eager to help.
The four children’s bodies were shabby and worn. They looked dirty and pitiful.
“You guys can come too.”
The four children lit up.
“Aunty, I wanna go with you too.” Han Yuanyuan had heard them.
Compared to her four cousins, Han Yuanyuan’s life was much better.
She was much livelier than them.
“Okay.”
Han Qiao carried the pumpkin soup, and Sun Xiu the basket.
The group of eight walked towards the new house.
It wasn’t far at all from the Han family, and it was even closer to Uncle Yao’s house. If you stood at the door of one, you could shout and still be heard at the other.
The location was very good indeed. It was at the foot of the mountain, so it would be easy to go into the mountain to collect firewood and herbs. There was also a small stream not far away. Very convenient for laundry.
Going to the stream to catch crabs and small fish to satisfy one’s craving would also not be difficult at all.
“Mother, I like this place.”
“I like it too.”
“Me too.”
After Sun Xiu spoke, Sun Yi and Sun Ke were not far behind
The small house was surrounded by green mountains and rivers. Tilling soil to grow vegetables and raising a few chickens and ducks was much more preferable than living in fear in the town.
It would be even better if they could get the divorce finalized as soon as possible.
Han Qiao’s father had five brothers, and each of them had a few children. After his son got married, he had even more children. His first uncle, second uncle, and third uncle even had great-granddaughters. They were a very prolific family.
That day, there were not only a few uncles and cousins who came to work, but also a few nephews.
Han Qiao greeted them one by one and offered them pumpkin soup.
Actually, pretty much every family there had access to pumpkins. They would all plant lots of them. Some of it they ate at home, and the rest they would sell to the town in exchange for some money to support the family.
However, since Han Qiao was able to cook them herself, their regard for it was much stronger.
No one wanted to work hard. And their niece was an ingrate who didn’t know what was good for her.
Everyone drank a bowl each, and they all tasted the strong sweet flavor. Han Qiao gave the remaining spoonfuls to the eight children, and they ate with great relish.
The main thing was the sweetness.
“Qiao, my dear, come and take a look. How do you plan to build your courtyard?” Uncle Yao asked.
Han Qiao had originally planned to build two fewer rooms that she and her daughters could squeeze into. However, after thinking about it, she felt that that may not do.
“Uncle Yao, I’d like two more rooms. The four of us living here are going to be a little uncomfortable at first. I’ll talk it over with my parents. Maybe we have Dacheng and Dayong stay overnight for a period of time. I’ll raise two fierce dogs so that we can guard the house.”
It was going to take some time to raise this dog.
Uncle Yao nodded. “But to build two more rooms, we will need a lot more tiles.”
“We don’t need to buy any furniture or other wares. We can save a tael of silver that way. I still have a few taels left. It should be enough.”
Han Qiao drew a sketch on the ground.
There were three main buildings, but they still needed a central building.
If others ever came over to the house, they wouldn’t be able to just sit in the courtyard. They had to have a formal venue to talk about official business in.
Behind the kitchen and the warehouse, there was a spring nearby. It was convenient to get water. Han Qiao’s idea was to enclose the spring with a wall and plant some thorny trees outside the wall.
She could plant fruits and vegetables inside the courtyard wall.
Of course, she wouldn’t be living in this small mountain village forever, so there was no need to be meticulous.
She was very strong. What was it to her if two or three petty thieves showed up? As long as they didn’t know martial arts, that is.
“Okay, then we’ll do as you say,” Uncle Yao said.
“To save some money, the carpenters and stonemasons I found are all relatives. I saved a lot of money, but you’ll have to take care of the food.”
“Don’t worry, Uncle Yao. I understand.”
They were all family members, so she was more than happy to help out.
In just one day’s time, everything that could be dug out of the wasteland was dug out. The random rocks scattered about, if usable, were put to some use or other. If not usable, they were smashed. Just like that, in another two days, a fresh acre of land appeared.
There were many people in the family who were strong enough to work, so two or three days was more than enough time to carry the lumber to the new house.
On the way back to the Han family, Han Qiao looked back at her family members who were still busy with work. She decided to come back to work tomorrow.
At the very least, she would head out in the mountains with Sun Xiu and Sun Yi to gather whatever herbs or plants could be shared with the family.
When they returned to the Han family home, her sisters-in-law had already returned from working in the fields. The two sisters-in-law were very generous people. When they saw Han Qiao, they even comforted her, “Now that you’re back, you can put your mind at ease.”
“Thank you, sister-in-law.”
Sister-in-law Han nodded and went to fetch water to bathe with.
She carried the water into the bathroom. Looking at the bath beans Han Qiao had brought on the shelf, she was stunned for a moment.
She picked them up and took a sniff. They smelled excellent.
Then, she gently put them back and used homemade shampoo to wash her hair and body.
When the other sister-in-law came to take a shower, she was also extremely surprised.
“Sure enough, they came from the city. How extravagant.”
She took it and smelled it before putting it back.
She wouldn’t dare to recklessly use such precious items.
The older sister-in-law wasn’t planning to stay at her parents’ house for long. She was going to move out after the courtyard was finished.
There was no need to make a fuss over such small things.
In the courtyard, a few children were playing hide-and-seek. Sun Xiu, Sun Yi and Han Yuanyuan were helping to prepare dinner in the kitchen.
The second sister-in-law looked at the children in the third room. She hesitated for a while, but ended up saying nothing.
Even though she had been pregnant for ten months, she didn’t at all feel troubled. She didn’t want to cause too much of a fuss.
Han Qiao came out with water. “Hi, Second Sister-in-law.”
“Sister, what are you doing?”
“I’m having Zhaodi wash a few things. Coincidentally, Ke has a few sets of clothes that she can’t wear anymore. They happen to be just right for Zhaodi.”
Cloth was a precious commodity. Even if they couldn’t wear it, they wouldn’t throw it away. They would wash and put it away. And they would only give it to close relatives.
The second sister-in-law was very surprised.
Han Qiao had already called over Zhaodi and the others to take a bath.
Sun Xiu and Sun Yi came over to help. They washed their four cousins clean and changed them into clean clothes and pants. They looked completely different.
Han Yuan smiled when she saw this.
She couldn’t help but remind them, “It’s good to clean up like this. But don’t play around in the mud and you won’t get so dirty in the first place.”
“Got it, Grandma.”
Han Qiao went into the house and took out the rest of the caramel for the children to eat.
Having been given candy from her, the children felt much closer to Han Qiao.
Especially Han Shidi. She just couldn’t stop shouting, “Auntie! Auntie!”
Han Qiao brought back the stewed pig, so there was no need to cook that night. Han Yuan steamed some wotou, pumpkin soup. She heard Han Qiao mixing together vegetables and cucumbers.
They even prepared an extravagant egg-fried loofah.
“My goodness! Quite a feast today.” Han Dacheng laughed.
He quickly fetched water to wash his hands.
While they were eating, Han Qiao couldn’t take her eyes off her brother’s wife Mrs. Mu. She had a big belly, and her face was full of worry.
Han Qiao went forward to help her up. “What’s wrong?”
When Han Qiao asked this, Mrs. Mu’s eyes turned red and she almost cried.
“It’s…it’s nothing.”
Han Qiao was too embarrassed to ask further.
She helped her sit down.
She turned around and went to help bring out the dishes.
There were many people at home, so many that, even though they had two tables, there weren’t enough seats. So, they had to divide everyone into three tables.
Looking at the dishes on the table, Father Han smiled. “What a marvelous feast today. Dinner is served.”
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