Chapter 323: Glowing with Spring
Yan Shuqin was the first to see Yan Xiaosi and waved at her.
“Mom, Xiaosi is back.”
Ms. Zhong looked up to see Yan Xiaosi tiptoeing into the mushroom greenhouse.
Yan Xiaosi hadn’t returned to Shaoyao Village for many days, and she had been worried that Yan Xiaosi was sick or injured in the military camp. Now seeing Yan Xiaosi lively and energetic, her heart could finally be at ease.
“Why are you only coming back now?”
Yan Xiaosi walked up to Ms. Zhong and smiled roguishly.
“Did Mom miss me?”
Yan Shuqin said: “You haven’t come back for so many days. Mom was worried you were sick or injured.”
Yan Xiaosi quickly explained: “Mom, I’m perfectly fine. I haven’t been sick or injured. During this time, there were quite a few wounded soldiers in the camp, so I was rather busy.”
“Young Master Yan.”
Liu Xu approached and bashfully bowed to Yan Xiaosi.
Only then did Yan Xiaosi remember that her future third brother-in-law was also here. She quickly shifted her gaze to her future third brother-in-law, smiled slightly, and returned the courtesy.
“Young Master Liu, just call me Xiaosi. We’ll all be family in the future, so there’s no need to be so formal.”
Liu Xu had changed from his usual attire. Today he wore long pants and a short shirt, with his sleeves rolled up for work, his hands covered in mud, very down-to-earth.
Looking at this down-to-earth and bashful third brother-in-law, Yan Xiaosi was quite satisfied.
Liu Xu said: “Then Xiaosi needn’t call me Young Master Liu either.”
Yan Xiaosi playfully curved her lips.
“How about I call you Third Brother?”
Liu Xu’s cheeks turned slightly red.
He knew that Yan Xiaosi was accepting him as her third brother-in-law.
“Yun’er, Xiaosi wants to call me Third Brother. Do you agree?”
Yan Shuyun glared at him, her pretty face flushing: “Why are you asking me?”
Liu Xu looked innocently confused: “I was afraid that if Xiaosi called me that, you’d be angry.”
“Why would I be angry?”
Yan Xiaosi’s gaze shifted between the two of them as she pursed her lips and smiled secretly.
Her third sister was quite capable. Even before marriage, she already had her future husband completely under control.
Tian Dazhuang waited quite a while before getting a chance to speak with Yan Xiaosi.
“Xiaosi, you’re back.”
“Mm, Brother Dazhuang, thank you for your hard work.”
Tian Dazhuang pointed to several rows of mushroom cultivation beds on the ground and said seriously: “Xiaosi, we all did this according to your instructions. Take a look and see if we did it correctly.”
Yan Xiaosi walked around the greenhouse and was very satisfied.
“The mushroom cultivation beds should be exactly like this. You did very well.”
In a moment, she would send Ms. Zhong and Tian Dazhuang away so she could take spiritual spring water from her space to irrigate everything.
“There’s not much work left here. Mom, Big Sister, Second Sister, Third Sister, Third Brother, why don’t you all go back first? Brother Dazhuang and I can handle the remaining work.”
Only a little bit of mud containing mushroom spores remained to be spread, and the work wasn’t tiring.
Ms. Zhong thought about it, put down the dustpan in her hands, and patted the mud off her hands.
“Alright then. Your Auntie Tian has to cook and boil pig feed all by herself, so she’s quite busy. We’ll go back first to help your Auntie Tian.”
Liu Xu said: “How about I stay? As a grown man, I can’t help much going back anyway.”
Yan Xiaosi said: “Third Brother, don’t you know tailoring? My third sister is helping make new clothes for the family. You should go back and help my third sister. Otherwise, if the winter clothes aren’t finished before the temperature drops, everyone will be cold. You couldn’t bear to let my third sister freeze, could you?”
“I couldn’t bear it.”
Liu Xu bashfully replied with those words and left with the women.
Soon, only Yan Xiaosi and Tian Dazhuang remained in the mushroom greenhouse.
Tian Dazhuang moved closer to Yan Xiaosi and asked: “Xiaosi, has that War King bullied you?”
Of course he has, even bullying me onto his bed.
When Tian Dazhuang asked this, Yan Xiaosi immediately wanted to answer that way, but realizing it was inappropriate, she quickly swallowed the words back.
“No, look at my glowing complexion. Do I look like someone who’s been bullied?”
Tian Dazhuang scrutinized her.
He felt she wasn’t glowing with health, but rather glowing with spring.
“That’s good. If you are bullied, you must tell me.”
Even if she were truly bullied by Long Yu, telling Tian Dazhuang wouldn’t be of much use, but Yan Xiaosi still nodded along with his words.
“I know, my big brother-in-law. You’re so long-winded.”
The words “big brother-in-law” hit Tian Dazhuang’s head like a muffled hammer blow.
“Let’s get to work quickly. Once we finish, we can go home for lunch.”
Yan Xiaosi grabbed some mud containing mushroom spores from the dustpan and scattered a few handfuls, then suddenly said to Tian Dazhuang: “Brother Dazhuang, your family’s old yellow ox is still penned up and hasn’t been let out, right?”
While spreading mud on the cultivation beds, Tian Dazhuang replied: “My Mom will feed it sweet potato vines until it’s full. No need to worry.”
“Feeding it sweet potato vines is such a waste. There’s still grass in the fields at this time of year. Go lead the old yellow ox out to graze, and while you’re at it, help me bring out Red Cherry too. Save the sweet potato vines at home for winter. In winter when heavy snow covers everything, there won’t be any grass in the fields.”
Tian Dazhuang thought what Yan Xiaosi said made sense. Besides, going back to lead the ox and horse wouldn’t take much time.
He put down the dustpan and instructed Yan Xiaosi as he left: “I’ll go back for a moment. Xiaosi, if you get tired, just stop working. I’ll come back and do it.”
Yan Xiaosi waved at him.
“Go ahead, Brother Dazhuang.”
As soon as Tian Dazhuang left, she hurried to lower the oiled paper curtain at the greenhouse entrance to block outsiders’ view.
The oiled paper of this era wasn’t as transparent as glass or plastic film. Although oiled paper could let light through, it could block sight, which is why people of this era used oiled paper not only for umbrellas but also for windows.
The greenhouse was some distance from the building site, so whatever Yan Xiaosi did inside the greenhouse, she wasn’t afraid of being seen by the craftsmen at the building site.
Taking advantage of Tian Dazhuang’s absence, she quickly concentrated and took spiritual spring water from her Portable Space to irrigate the mushroom cultivation beds.
By the time Tian Dazhuang had tied Red Cherry and the old yellow ox in a grassy area and hurried back, she had already irrigated every mushroom cultivation bed once.
Because of the recent irrigation, the air in the greenhouse smelled rather humid with an earthy scent.
Yan Xiaosi had a manure bucket by her feet and held a wooden ladle in her hand, pretending to sprinkle water on the mushroom cultivation beds.
“Brother Dazhuang, you’re back just in time. You can sprinkle the remaining half bucket of water.”
The bucket also contained spiritual spring water, though it looked no different from ordinary river water.
Hearing Yan Xiaosi deliberately panting, Tian Dazhuang frowned and walked over, taking the wooden ladle from her hands.
“Who told you to go fetch water from the ditch?”
Not far from the mushroom greenhouse was a ditch that channeled water from Yunluo River. Tian Dazhuang thought the water in the bucket had been carried by Yan Xiaosi from the ditch.
Yan Xiaosi continued her act, straightening her back, patting her chest, and taking a few heavy breaths.
“I noticed the cultivation beds were a bit dry, and thinking the ditch wasn’t far away, I went to fetch water. I didn’t expect carrying water to be so tiring. If I’d known it would be this exhausting, I would have waited for you to come back and do it.”