60, Farewell (3 updates)
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law worked silently, both quick and nimble with their hands, and taking their tasks seriously and precisely.
The dull girl followed behind Xie Zhinuan, looking very well-behaved.
If it had been before, Routuan would have run out quickly, but recently, it walked slowly, obediently ahead of Xie Zhinuan.
They arrived at the Yuan Family’s main gate.
Xie Zhinuan hesitated for a moment before reaching out to knock on the door.
“Coming!”
Old Lady Ni opened the door with red eyes.
Seeing it was Xie Zhinuan, she couldn’t hold back her tears, “Zhinuan!”
“Grandma, I’ve come to get some things,” Xie Zhinuan said softly, unable to bear the sight of Old Lady Ni’s sorrow.
“Grandma, it’s all in the past now, I blame no one, and you shouldn’t either, let’s just let bygones be bygones. If you want, you’re welcome to come and sit at my place any time!”
Upon hearing this, Old Lady Ni cried even harder.
She wanted to ask her to stay but couldn’t find the words, only stepping aside to let Xie Zhinuan enter the yard and move her things from the house.
Xie Zhinuan’s belongings mostly consisted of fabrics, quilts, bedsheets, and pillows. There were hardly a few sets of clothes which she wrapped in a big piece of cloth that the dull girl could easily carry on her shoulder without much effort.
“…”
Watching her, Xie Zhinuan thought to herself that this person was worth the purchase.
She neatly folded the clothes Old Lady Ni had given her when she first came to this family and laid them on the kang bed before leaving the room.
As soon as she stepped out, she saw Old Lady Ni supporting Old Master Yuan in the yard.
The dull girl turned her head to look at Xie Zhinuan.
“Dull girl, go wait outside!”
The dull girl quickly nodded and carried the big cloth bundle outside.
Xie Zhinuan, carrying a big bundle too, took a few steps forward and looked at Old Master Yuan and Old Lady Ni, “Grandpa, Grandma, I’m leaving now. Take care of yourselves in the future!”
“Zhinuan…” Old Master Yuan called out softly.
He didn’t expect Xie Zhinuan would still be willing to call him grandpa.
He had thought…
“I’m going now. Grandpa, Grandma, if you’re free, please come and sit at my place!”
Worried that Old Master Yuan would continue to dwell on the matter and suffer from depression and guilt, she added, “Grandpa is not to blame for this matter, and I will never bring it up again. You mustn’t take it to heart!”
“I’m off!”
After saying this, Xie Zhinuan called for Routuan and left the house.
She was bound to move out sooner or later, it just happened sooner rather than later.
After leaving the Yuan Family, she called for Routuan and headed home.
Old Master Yuan followed out to the courtyard, watching the distant figure of Xie Zhinuan before softly saying, “If we had given her a little time, if we hadn’t been so heartless, things wouldn’t have turned out this way!”
If they had just discussed it with Xie Zhinuan from the start…
Alas, there are no ifs in life.
When Xie Zhinuan returned home, she saw the things were divided into several piles. After a moment of surprise, she smiled and said, “Let’s set up the bed first, then we’ll cook!”
Dividing the bedding, Xie Zhinuan brought it into the room, first fitted the sheet over the mattress, sewed it up, laid it on the kang, and placed the quilt and pillow on top to sleep on the kang that night.
Aunt Chen came in to help, “Miss!”
“Aunt Chen, have you finished tidying up?”
“Yes, it’s all done. Where shall I put these things?” Aunt Chen asked.
“My clothes go in this room. As for the fabrics…” Xie Zhinuan pondered for a moment then took a few pieces out, “Take these to make clothes, each of you should have two or three sets!”
Aunt Chen happily accepted them.
They also had clothes, but they were old and patched. Making new clothes was certainly a good thing.
Xie Zhinuan tidied up the house and then went to organize the kitchen. She had to take out the seeds for planting later and moved the grains into the stove room, storing them in big jars and the storeroom next to the kitchen.
As for the meat, what could be pickled was pickled, and the fat was rendered into oil.
Then she simmered stew in the pot since there were no fresh vegetables at home, so they had to make do.
“Tomorrow I’ll ask the villagers to buy some vegetables, or pick some from the field, and get some more seedlings to plant. The seeds we bought need to be planted too. For today, we’ll make do with what we have!”
Chapter 62