Inside the eastern hut, one after another, everyone else woke up.
As soon as Li Man sat up, she saw the sun shining radiantly outside, and her mood immediately rose up. But, what time was it? Had she woken up late again? She looked towards the bed. Sure enough, Li Mo and Li Hua had already gotten up.
“Wife, are you awake?” Li Shu turned over on the bed. With his hands propping up his chin, he greeted her with a bright smile.
“En.” Li Man raised her head to look at him, then she saw that Little Five had woken up too. He rolled over, sat up, and was rubbing his eyes. Li Yan was also slowly opening his eyes.
Last night, she had gone to sleep without taking off her outer clothing. And so, she directly got up from bed. She left the hut once she folded up her quilt.
Her comb was in the western hut. After closing the door to the eastern hut, Li Man headed over to her own hut and saw that Li Mo was leaning over to clean her bed.
Li Man looked at him and called out a greeting, “Oh, you’re here.” Remembering what happened last night, she felt it was both a bit embarrassing and humorous.
Li Mo turned his head and saw that she was leaning against the wardrobe. His lips curved into a slight smile. “Awake?”
“En, I’ll go cook breakfast after brushing my hair.” Li Man loosened her hair, cursorily brushed it a few times, then tied it up into a ponytail.
Li Mo stood up straight. In his eyes, her simple, tidy ponytail looked indescribably pretty. “Fourth brother is already cooking.”
“Oh, I’ll go over there to see.” Seeing that he was still staring at her, Li Man hastily put down her comb and left the hut.
Li Mo wasn’t bothered by her attitude of fleeing from him. He turned his head back and continued to clean up the bed. Since the weather was good today, it would be the best if the sunlight could dry out the bed by tonight. It was obvious that their wife wasn’t comfortable sleeping on the bamboo couch.
—
Li Man went straight to the kitchen. Li Hua was bustling by the stove. He had finished making a pot of congee. The pot was only partially covered up to allow the congee to cool down. He was mixing cornmeal in a bowl to make steamed corn buns.
Li Man went over and asked him, “What are you making?”
“Some steamed corn buns.” Li Hua lightly smiled at her. His clear, bright eyes looked liked the morning dew on a sunny day.
(T/N: Below is a picture of steamed corn buns.)
Ch 126 – steamed corn buns.png
Without being aware, Li Man’s gaze lingered on his perfectly smooth and clear face. “Is there something I can help with? I can tend the cooking fire.”
Li Hua quickly stopped her. “It’s okay.”
Li Man awkwardly stood in place. It was true that she was very good at managing the fire. She couldn’t always successfully light the fire and hadn’t mastered how to keep the fire at the correct temperature once it was started.
“Go wash up. The food will be ready soon,” said Li Hua as he placed the corn buns he had finished making into the pot to steam. Once he covered the pot with the lid, he went to start the fire.
Li Man scooped out some room temperature water, then went outside and sat down on a bench underneath the eaves to freshened up. Right after she had finished washing her face and was going to rinse her mouth, she saw a beautiful teenage girl that was wearing wooden clogs. She was carrying a small basket and struggling to walk over here. She looked somewhat familiar.
Other than herself and Xing-niang, their neighbor, Li Man hadn’t seen another female coming to their home before.
Curious, Li Man took one step forward and asked, “Miss, who are you looking for?”
The teenage girl paused. She looked at Li Man with her limpid eyes. After blankly staring at Li Man for a moment, she approached her and answered, “I’m looking for older brother Li Yan.”