Chapter 175 - 175 Did you see a Ghost?
175 Did you see a Ghost?
Xie Laogen furiously glared at Lu Jiao before he left. Behind him, the next person came up to leave his thumbprint.
The matter of leech keeping was pretty much settled. Lu Jiao asked the leaders to get organized regarding the participants and assign duties. Right now, they needed people to get leeches, make a temporary leech pond for the caught leeches to stay in, and most importantly, construct the leech-keeping pond.
The leech pond construction was a big problem. If they had plastic film, they could use that at the bottom of the pond. Sadly, that did not exist in this era. The other option was to use cement, which also did not exist.
Lu Jiao then thought of using fired clay bricks on the bottom. She did some mental math and decided those bricks were too expensive for them. In the end, she suggested they send villagers to dig for rocks and use those as the bottom of the pond. That would save them labor costs.
After all, it’ll take at least one to two years to get the permanent pond fully ready. This was a long-term business and required lots of work upfront. It’ll get easier later.
The villagers became busy right away. The women from each household would harvest herbs while the men would capture leeches or dig for rocks. The leaders also sent some people to the hills to plant honeysuckles.
Though these businesses were not yet making money, the villagers were excited and optimistic.
At the Xie family, Xie Yunjin’s legs were healing nicely. Though he still couldn’t walk, he was able to move around freely in his wheelchair.
He started to teach the village children the Hundred Surnames and the Thousand Characters.
As for Lu Jiao, she stayed consistent with learning from Xie Yunjin. More and more, she learned those characters and her writing progressively got better. Now, she was able to write short and basic prescriptions.
Though her learning progress was decent, she felt that more and more, Xie Yunjin started to treat her like they were from the same family. She suspected that he had forgotten about their separation agreement. Should she remind him?
Lu Jiao pondered. Beside her, Xie Yunjin took out a boiled egg from the bowl, cracked it against the table, peeled it in an organized manner, then placed it in Lu Jiao’s bowl.
“What are you thinking about so deeply? Have an egg.”
Lu Jiao glanced at him and found him to be staring at her softly.
His gaze was like it had been injected with flowy water and he was staring at someone he truly valued.
Lu Jiao shuddered.
She must’ve interpreted it wrong.
She blinked hard and looked over again. Xie Yunjin chuckled and patted her head, “What is it? Why are you acting like you have seen a ghost?”
Lu Jiao couldn’t help but mumble to herself.
She did see a ghost! Why was he treating her so nicely?
Was it because she was treating the quadruplets and the villagers well? Even if that was the case, there was no need to act in such an exaggerated way. It made her suspect that he didn’t want to separate.
Lu Jiao denied that thought. That wasn’t possible. The future first assistant was a logical man and there was no way he would change his mind about the separation. She must be overthinking.
At the table, the four little ones saw the intimate gestures between their parents and hid their faces like squirrels to giggle.
Xie Yunjin placed his hand against Lu Jiao’s forehead and decided she had no fever. He then went back to peeling eggs for the four little ones while suggesting, “Let’s have dumplings for lunch?”
The four little ones cheered, “Mommy, let’s do that!”
“I love dumplings.”
“I do too. I want to eat five giant dumplings.”
Lu Jiao scanned around the table and reminded them, “We haven’t eaten breakfast yet and you’re already planning out lunch?”
Xie Yunjin smiled, “It’s because your cooking is delicious. I bet the dumplings you make are also tasty.”
The four little ones started to flatter Lu Jiao, “Mommy is a great cook. Everything she makes is tasty.”
The First Born used a very serious tone and the other boys nodded, “That’s right.”
The Fourth Born then acted in a spoiled manner, “Mommy, then can we make dumplings for lunch?”
What else could Lu Jiao say? She’ll have to wrap them.
“Do you want eggs and chives, or chives with pork?”
Xie Yunjin made the decision, “We can make a bit of both. We like to eat both kinds.”
Lu Jiao joked, “You wrap?”
Xie Yunjin had no plans on pushing that off, “Sure!”
The four little ones wanted to try as well, “Mommy, I want to wrap too!”
“Me too!”
While the family happily chatted, a shrill voice came creeping through, “Ah, you’re having breakfast.”
That voice immediately put everyone in a bad mood.
Lu Jiao stared at the gate with a frown. Her mother-in-law only settled down for a few days and she was here asking for trouble again.
The four little ones cautiously kept their eyes on Lady Ruan. While the air around Xie Yunjin was cold, his expression remained casual. When he saw Lady Ruan, he greeted, “Mom, have you had breakfast?”
Lady Ruan glanced at the food on the table and sat down. She then ordered Lu Jiao, “I haven’t had the chance to eat. Get me a bowl of porridge.”
Though Lu Jiao didn’t like Lady Ruan, she was still her mother-in-law. She didn’t make a face and went to get the requested porridge.
The four little ones shriveled up right away and started to eat soundlessly.
The happiness that was just here evaporated quickly. Sadly, Lady Ruan was completely unaware. She asked Xie Yunjin caringly, “My third son, how are your legs? Can you walk?”
Though Xie Yunjin could now move around in the wheelchair and would try to do some light exercises, he could not walk yet. After all, his bones were crushed and it would take at least 100 days to heal. The only reason he was healing as fast as he was was because of Lu Jiao’s spiritual stream water.
“Not yet.”
Lady Ruan smiled, “Then, you must rest well.”
Just then, Lu Jiao returned with porridge. Lady Ruan ordered, “My son’s legs were injured, which means he needs bone broth. Have you bought pork bones to make him soup with?”
Though she acted like a kind mother, Xie Yunjin found her disgusting.
Lu Jiao’s face remained collected. Xie Yunjin was recovering well and after another month, she’ll be able to separate from him. Then, she’ll have nothing to do with this old hag.
“He frequently drinks pork bone soup. Mother, don’t worry.”
Lu Jiao then placed the porridge before her.
Lady Ruan started to eat right away. Very naturally, she grabbed herself an egg, peeled it, and ate it. After she was done, she grabbed another one, then another.
The four little ones were furious and their tiny faces dropped. They had enough eggs to each have one – six eggs for the six of them. Their grandma ate three herself. What was there left for them to eat?