142 What a Great Day
Lu Jiao smirked and said, “I’m still a little chubby. I’ll buy once I’m skinnier. The clothes will fit me even better then.”
Xie Yunjin disagreed when she said she wanted to lose more weight.
He thought Lu Jiao looked just right. Though a little chubby, it was nice.
Though in the Zhou Dynasty, thin was considered beautiful, he thought women looked better with some meat on their bones.
Xie Yunjin whispered, “I think you look decent like this.”
Lu Jiao started to grind her teeth. She didn’t want him to think she was decent, she wanted herself to think he was decent.
For the four little ones, however, she endured.
“Xie Yunjin, we are going to run out of time if you don’t teach me soon. The four little ones need to teach the kids later.”
Xie Yunjin coughed and started to teach Lu Jiao the characters. He mostly read out loud while she looked at the book.
The Three Character Classic was elementary level for Xie Yunjin. He didn’t even need the book to recite it.
Lu Jiao stared at the book and read it one character by character.
The four little ones heard the commotion and dashed over to find their dad teaching their mom how to read. They couldn’t help but grin.
Their parents were getting along so well.
The First Born placed his index finger over his lips and gestured for the others to not disturb their mom and dad.
They then silently left. Inside the room, Xie Yunjin saw the children peeking from the door. Lu Jiao, however, didn’t notice.
She was focused on the Three Character Classic. She would repeat after Xie Yunjiin and try to memorize the corresponding traditional character in the book.
An hour passed quickly.
Lu Jiao efficiently got some water for Xie Yunjin and dripped a few drops of the spiritual stream water inside.
Lu Jiao smiled at Xie Yunjin in the kindest manner.
The look on her face made Xie Yunjin’s cheeks hot. He silently mumbled how publicly she was revealing her emotions. Even if she did like him, she should keep it more reserved. What kind of women displayed their emotions so obviously?
Xie Yunjin wanted to warn Lu Jiao but if he said anything to her, it might give her a hard time. Given how nice she was to the four little ones, he decided to keep silent.
If she wanted to display her emotions, she could. After all, she was his wife.
Xie Yunjin quietly drank his water with his face beautiful like a flower.
Lu Jiao silently enjoyed it then softly said, “I’m going to make lunch. You rest a bit. Call me if you need anything.”
Those words danced inside Xie Yunjin’s eardrums. Her tone was gentler and merrier than usual.
The decision to not separate was a good one.
His lips subconsciously curled up.
Lu Jiao ignored him and headed outside. At the same time, the four little ones were already bringing the children inside.
There were more children here now than before – other than boys, a few girls showed up too. Even several older children were here now, such as Xie Xiaobao.
Xie Xiaobao was embarrassed to run into Lu Jiao. After all, he was already 13 and he was learning from the four little ones. How embarrassing.
However, his parents forced him to come, saying that knowing a little was better than knowing nothing. He wouldn’t have to end up living like a blind man.
“Third aunt.”
Lu Jiao nodded and advised, “Study seriously. You lose nothing by learning how to read.”
Xie Xiaobao didn’t expect Lu Jiao to encourage him instead of laughing at him. At once, he became fueled with energy and nodded, “Third aunt, I will.”
Lu Jiao went to prepare lunch. Today was a great day with many good things happening. First, she made 5,000 taels of silver, then she gained custody of the four little ones. The Gods truly were kind to her.
Lu Jiao prepared lunch in high spirits. Today, she planned on cooking a few of her holy grail dishes. She took out one of the fish she bought before and mashed it until it became a paste. She then added radish pieces to it and made them into fish balls. She planned on frying them later – kids loved that dish.
Lu Jiao then marinated the fish head and she was going to make soup with it. She’ll also make some braised pork.
She’ll make noodles with bone broth that she’ll make from scratch. Then, she harvested some vegetables from her garden to make two veggie dishes.
Lu Jiao was happily busy as her heart filled with joy. These days, there was nothing she enjoyed more than healthy living.
Outside the trellis, someone entered and headed straight to the kitchen.
“Jiaojiao, are you here?”
Lu Jiao stopped what she was doing and went to greet Aunt Guihua.
“What is it? Something wrong?” Lu Jiao thought someone from Aunt Guihua’s house was sick, so she asked worriedly.
Aunt Guihua flew to her and whispered in her ears, “Jiaojiao, I have some news that you must share with Yunjin.”
Before Lu Jiao could respond, she added in an even quieter voice, “You know your family lives beside a sl*t, right? I’ve been keeping an eye on her every day in case she tries to seduce your uncle. Last night, I saw a man enter her home suspiciously. I couldn’t go to sleep after that and kept an eye out all night, wondering who she seduced. Guess who I saw in the end?”
Aunt Guihua mysteriously stared at Lu Jiao.
Lu Jiao had a good idea. If things went according to the plan, Widow Wang seduced her father-in-law, Xie Laogen. Why else would Aunt Guihua be here telling her right now?
Lu Jiao pretended to be oblivious and shook her head.
Aunt Guihua lived for this drama, “Your father-in-law, Xie Laogen!”
Lu Jiao appropriately shrieked, “For real?!”
Aunt Guihua went back to whispering, “You kid, why would I lie to you? I didn’t get to tell you last night because Xie Laogen is your father-in-law. If I didn’t consider you, I would’ve revealed it to the whole town. I want to slap that Lady Ruan’s old face. She keeps acting like she’s the boss and her husband is a slave to her.
Now, her man is out there stealing time with other women. I sure want to know how she can still act so arrogantly after this.”
Lu Jiao pretended to deny reality and refused to believe this, “Aunty, you must have seen wrong. It’s not like my father-in-law to do this. He’s scared of my mother-in-law like a mouse is scared of a cat. Where would he get the guts? Don’t you think so?”
The certainty Aunt Guihua had disappeared a little. After all, it was dark last night, and she didn’t get to see his face. It may not have been him. After all, plenty of men shared similar silhouettes in this village.
Was she wrong? Aunt Guihua originally wanted a praise from Lu Jiao by sharing her discovery but it didn’t go as planned. She was a little crestfallen and hissed, “They might not let me catch them again. If I do, I will skin that Widow Wang alive.”