When the pears are green

Chapter 253 Family Letter

Just after noon, Song Li and his family returned to town.

Jiang Qingzhou handed the key to Jiang Huan who jumped off the ox cart first, and then got off to pick up Jiang Yao who was lying drowsy in Song Li's arms.

Song Li followed closely behind and handed the cloth bag in her hand to Jiang Huan who came to help carry things. Then she held the cloth, cake boxes, etc. in one hand and took out copper coins from her purse with the other hand and handed them to the coachman waiting on the side.

After the ox cart left, Jiang Huan followed Song Li into the yard. Jiang Huan looked at the familiar environment and couldn't help but sigh to Song Li: "Mom, although the city is prosperous, I still feel that home is better."

"Yes, we are at home and can do whatever we want." Song Li patted Jiang Huan on the head and put the things on the eight-immortal table in the main room with Jiang Huan.

A "gurgle... gurgle" sound came from Jiang Huan's stomach. Jiang Huan pulled Song Li's sleeve and said aggrievedly, "Mom, I'm hungry."

"Eat less first, I'll go cook for you." Song Li said as she opened the paper box of white jade cake and handed it to Jiang Huan.

Jiang Huan quickly assured Song Li that he would never eat more. Song Li smiled and rubbed Jiang Huan's hair, then hurried into the kitchen to feed him.

Song Li's family moved into this house last winter, which is only a hundred meters away from the alley where Chen Yuan and Yang Yu's families live.

Because of the heavy rain last summer and the fact that the Jiang family’s house was built before Jiang Qingzhou was born, although the roof is inspected every year, the house still inevitably leaks everywhere.

Song Li was afraid that the heavy snow in winter would collapse the roof, so before the Mid-Autumn Festival, she discussed with Jiang Qingzhou whether to tear down the house and rebuild it or buy a new one in town.

After two days of discussion, the two asked Chen Yuan and Yang Yu for help in buying a house in the town on the grounds that Jiang Huan would go to school in the future.

With the help of Chen Yuan and Yang Yu, Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou spent two hundred taels to buy two adjacent houses in Nanguan. Song Li's family lived in one house, and the other was left for Jiang Qingye to use for his future marriage.

The three main rooms face north and south, with a wing room on the east side and two parallel wing rooms on the south side.

There is a clump of green bamboo in front of the east wing, and the kitchen is to the south of the bamboo.

Song Li turned the open space south of the kitchen into a vegetable garden and built a small chicken coop. The vegetable garden was planted with leeks and cabbages dug from Jiangjia Village.

The two south wing rooms were temporarily converted into silkworm rooms, and a new bathroom was built not far from the south wing rooms.

There is a paulownia tree near the gate of the courtyard. An old black dog is tied under the tree to guard the gate. The two cats are not as lively as before and always lie lazily next to the black dog.

There is a wheel well under the paulownia tree.

The backyard of the house is quite large. Jiang Qingzhou planted a peach tree near the northwest corner of the wall and a jujube tree between the south wing and the corridor leading to the backyard.

Jiang Qingzhou built a thatched shed in the northeast corner of the backyard, where he kept a mule and a donkey.

The two-year-old mule was born from the Jiang family's female donkey and the stallion from the town's dental shop.

To the west of the thatched shed is a newly built kitchen used for making tofu, and to the west of the kitchen is another thatched shed, with a stone mill under it.

Hu Zhimin and Lingling left Heihe Town after they got married three years ago. The management of Hu's Restaurant in the town was handed over to Manager Sun and Zhang Er.

The restaurant in the town officially opened on the 20th of the first lunar month, which allowed Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou to have time to take Jiang Huan and Jiang Yao to the city to celebrate the Lantern Festival.

Just as Song Li was reminiscing about the past, a piece of white jade cake was stuffed into Song Li's mouth.

Jiang Qingzhou patted the residue on his hands, took the kitchen knife from Song Li, and asked while cutting the cabbage: "What are you thinking about, Xiaoli? You are so absorbed in it."

Song Li slowly swallowed the white jade cake in her mouth, cleared her throat and answered, "I was thinking about what happened when we bought this house. Time flies so fast. In the blink of an eye, we have been married for eight years. Qingye and Xiaoxing, who were around you and me at the beginning, one went to Bianzhou to study, and the other followed the caravan to travel all over the world. We only see each other a few times a year. Qingye often writes some letters home, but Xiaoxing writes less than two letters a year. Is Yaoyao asleep?"

Jiang Qingzhou saw Song Li sitting at the dining table with her chin propped up listlessly, and hurriedly comforted Song Li: "Yaoyao is asleep, Huan'er is watching over her. Qingye is introverted, and he has grown up by your side. Although you are only six years older than him, he regards you as half a mother in his heart, so he is willing to tell you everything. Xiaoxing has been loved by his parents since he was a child, and he will tell his parents more often if there is anything. Qingye and Xiaoxing have grown up, so naturally they have to leave us to create their own world. Not only will they leave, but Huan'er and Yaoyao will also leave when they grow up."

Song Li suddenly felt even more heartbroken.

In the afternoon, Chen Yuan knocked on the door of the Jiang family with red eyes. Jiang Qingzhou held Jiang Yao, who had just woken up, and invited Chen Yuan in.

Chen Yuan shook his head and took out a letter from home and said to Jiang Qingzhou: "Cousin, I won't go. This is a letter from Qingye."

Jiang Qingzhou took the letter from home and asked Chen Yuan, whose face was heavy, what had happened.

Chen Yuan rubbed his nose and a line of tears rolled down from his eye sockets.

Jiang Qingzhou thought something happened to Ruyi, so he put Jiang Yao down and walked quickly to Chen Yuan. He shook Chen Yuan's arm and asked in panic, "Is it true, is there something wrong with Ruyi? Wasn't she fine when we went to the city yesterday?"

Chen Yuan wiped away his tears with his sleeve and explained to Jiang Qingzhou: "It's not Ruyi, it's that my fifth child is gone. Qingye's letter came with my eldest sister's letter of mourning. My eldest sister said that my fifth child started to get sick five years ago, and the famous doctors in Bianzhou were helpless. In the end, he went to accompany his mother who passed away a few days ago."

Jiang Qingzhou patted Chen Yuan's shoulder and comforted him softly: "Chen Yuan, the dead cannot be resurrected, don't be too sad. Your brotherhood..."

"Cousin, we didn't have a deep brotherly relationship. He was five years younger than me and always secretly went to my elder sister to complain about me when we were little. I saw the news of his death in my elder sister's letter. I thought it wouldn't matter to me, but I was still very sad. My elder sister was counting on him to pass the exam to become a scholar, but after going to Bianzhou, he refused to go to the academy to study, and every time he did that, my elder sister would be furious." Chen Yuan nagged about Chen Ting to Jiang Qingzhou like a child.

As Chen Yuan continued speaking, he felt someone tugging at his sleeve. He looked down and saw it was Jiang Yao.

Jiang Yao handed a candy to Chen Yuan and opened her mouth to signal Chen Yuan to eat it.

"Aunt, uncle... don't cry, it's sweet." Jiang Yao stood on tiptoe and continued to raise the candy in her hand.

Chen Yuan quickly took it and put it in his mouth. While chewing, he squatted down and told Jiang Yao: "Thank you, Yaoyao, it is really sweet. My uncle's family has something to do these days and cannot come to Yaoyao's house. After this period of time is over, my aunt, uncle, Lingyi and Lingze will come to see Yaoyao together."

Although Jiang Yao didn't quite understand what Chen Yuan said, she still smiled and nodded after hearing the names Ling Yi and Ling Ze.

Chen Yuan then said goodbye to Jiang Qingzhou and his daughter, and his usually straight back bent down.

Jiang Qingzhou picked up Jiang Yao and returned to the main room, handing the letter to Song Li who was teaching Jiang Huan to read.

Jiang Huan saw Song Li opening the letter and hurriedly came over to ask, "Mom, is this from uncle?"

Song Li nodded as she read, then looked up and smiled as she told Jiang Qingzhou: "Qingzhou, Qingye said in the letter that he would bring a girl home when the peach blossoms bloom in March. We should clean up the house next door."

"Really?" Jiang Qingzhou asked in surprise.

"Of course it's true. It's written in black and white on the letter. How could I lie to you?" Song Li smiled and handed the paper to Jiang Qingzhou.

Jiang Qingzhou took the paper and looked at every word on it carefully, but he always felt that something was wrong.