Chapter 104: Chapter 102: The Murder Case: Soldiers Officers Knock on Sisi’s Door and Her Heart Becomes Chaotic
Watching the disappearing figure, Liu Sisi, full of confusion, made her way home across the small stream.
Before she reached the front door, from afar she noticed something unusual.
The water in the canal next to the small path that usually ran clear was now incredibly murky, carrying yellowish-brown mud.
Scaling the small hill, two little puppies came bounding towards her, their joyful barking ringing out. They frolicked around the three of them, playing with the two children.
The two children were very well-behaved, staying close to her, neither crying nor fussing.
Such a long distance to and from, YingEr was still okay as Liu Sisi could carry her, but Di Xuan had to rely on his own feet which was quite tiring. It seemed that it wasn’t sustainable to always bring the two children along for their errands. She would have to think of a better solution.
Arriving at the courtyard, she heard noises coming from inside the house. She hurriedly quickened her pace into the courtyard. The noise was coming from near the north-west corner. As Liu Sisi carefully approached to take a look, she immediately let out a sigh of relief.
Turns out, it was Di Yelei digging a well.
In the past, Di Yelei would fetch water from the ancient well in the village. With his strong physique and quick speed, obtaining water never troubled Liu Sisi.
The shadow in the sky caused Di Yelei to raise his head. With his head covered in mud, he smiled at Liu Sisi and said, “Sisi, you are back!”
While speaking, he climbed out of the well in an agile manner, using both limbs to push against the well’s walls, then leaped out of the opening of the well.
Sitting on the ground and wiping the sweat, he said, panting heavily, “Last time you said we could dig a well here. That way, for laundry and stuff, we won’t have to go to the riverside. Today, after I got back from the old house, I figured I’d complete the well.”
On his honest and bronze-colored face, covered in dirt and splattered mud, was a cautious, obsequious look as he gazed at Liu Sisi with a pitiful look.
Liu Sisi felt something stir within her!
She wanted to say something, her lips moved, but in the end, no words came out, so she simply turned around and decided to leave.
“Sisi…”
Di Yelei’s call echoed from behind her, filled with inexplicable panic.
Liu Sisi stopped in her tracks and quietly sighed, “I’ll go cook lunch.”
“Ah! I’ve marinated some rabbit meat by the chimney. You take it down and cook some of it!”
Di Yelei’s voice sounded crisp and exuberant, indicating his excitement.
Liu Sisi didn’t answer and quickly walked into the kitchen.
Did Sisi not rejecting him this time mean that she had forgiven him?
Di Yelei couldn’t help but beam, as he looked down at the half-dug well. Suddenly, he felt full of energy.
Sisi forgave me!
He laughed heartily a few times and jumped right back into the well.
The noise from behind startled Liu Sisi!
She rushed back toward the well. Hearing the sound of stones being struck again, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But then she grew frustrated again!
What was she doing? Hadn’t she agreed to divorce? What did it matter to her if he lived or died?
After mulling it over and not finding an answer, Liu Sisi went back to the kitchen to continue cooking lunch. She added water and rice to the fire, then cut a quarter of the rabbit meat and soaked it in the water used to rinse the rice, preparing it for cleaning.
From outside came YingEr’s voice, calling the little rabbits and wild pheasants to eat, while Di Xuan went back to his desk as soon as he returned, working on the homework assigned by Liu Sisi.
He took his writing exercises seriously. Besides the basic strokes, she also taught him all the ways to write the dotting, lifting, folding, and hook strokes. At the moment, these were the strokes he was practicing.
When the coarse grain porridge in the pot was ready and the rabbit meat was put in, Liu Sisi added some firewood and then went outside to pick vegetables.
She had saved some of the vine vegetables, purple greens, perilla, and amaranth that Guihua had given her a few days ago to plant. Even if there weren’t enough plants to eat from, collecting seeds for the next planting was worthwhile. At the moment, seeing that the plants were all thriving, it was clear they were growing well.
She picked a large handful of potato seedlings, as well as some water spinach.
The potato vines had already climbed up the fence. The water spinach was growing more and more lush. Initially, Liu Sisi thought there wouldn’t be enough to eat since they only covered an area the size of a horse trough. But after they started growing, they couldn’t be eaten quickly enough. The long vines had spread out from the trough, stretching along the ground.
Liu Sisi sent YingEr to call Di Yelei for lunch.
Covered in mud from head to toe, he took two tubs of water to rinse before entering the kitchen.
Liu Sisi didn’t wait for him, she just started eating on her own.
Di Yelei didn’t care and continued to laugh and eat the cooked dishes heartily.
Truth be told, he was very easy to feed. No matter what she cooked, he always finished it all, leaving no leftovers. It was as if he was eating the most delicious food in the world.
The braised rabbit meat required a lot of oil, and to save oil, Liu Sisi just lightly oiled the pan for the greens. The taste wasn’t much to speak of. Watching the father and son burying their heads to eat their fragrant meals, Liu Sisi found the food difficult to swallow. She’d only eaten less than half a bowl of porridge before setting it down.
“Why are you eating so little? Have some more pieces of rabbit meat.”
Di Yelei spoke, adding two more pieces of rabbit meat to her bowl.
The several pieces of rabbit meat he had added to her bowl beforehand were still piled up, untouched by Liu Sisi.
At the moment when she put down her bowl, and he was still adding rabbit meat, she glared at him fiercely. Not wanting to have anything to do with him, she got up and left the kitchen.
Once Liu Sisi left, the smile on Di Yelei’s face disappeared, and he fell silent.
What should he do to avoid making her angry?
“Dad! Mom went to the Gan Family today, and she’s planning on becoming the female tutor for Miss Gan.” Di Xuan, who was quietly eating next to them, put down his bamboo chopsticks and commented on Liu Sisi for the first time.
“Which Gan Family?” Di Yelei was confused.
Di Xuan paused for a moment: “I heard it’s the Miss Gan from the family who has a high official in the capital. The bookstore boss introduced mom to them.”
Even though Di Xuan was still young, he instinctively felt that he should tell his dad about this.
From a young age, he occasionally heard about his uncle Di Hongyuan’s success in the imperial examination and his tenure as an official. Everyone still chattered about him, so a young boy like him believed that a man should study and serve his country. Therefore, even if conditions at home were not conducive, he tried his hardest to learn.
Di Yelei narrowed his eyes and a glimmer of intelligence flashed through them.
He knew well of Liu Sisi’s graceful demeanor and virtuous heart! But he never ever expected, that Sisi would dare to answer a call for a female tutor.
Over recent days, he had learned quite a bit about Liu Sisi. She would never fight a battle she was unsure of winning. If she was applying for the job, it means in her heart, she is confident she was fully capable of being a female tutor.
It’s because of this that he felt more surprised!
But what about himself?
As an ordinary countryman, is he really a match for her?
He felt lost again.
