Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 290: Chapter 288: Warmth in the Snowy Night

Di Yelei kept busily coming and going.

He carried several large bundles of straw into the kitchen and piled them up in one corner, followed by the items taken from the house, which were stacked on top.

Liu Sisi also managed to find time to check on Liu Zhi’er.

At the moment, Liu Zhi’er’s cheeks were flushed, and she was sleeping restlessly, constantly muttering in her sleep and breaking out in sweat.

Feeling anxious, Sisi uncovered the quilt and quickly unbuttoned her coat. The sticky smell of pus and medicine mixed with the unpleasant odor of the medicine on her inner clothing. The smell was quite unpleasant.

Sisi fetched a set of her own clothes, helping Zhi’er out of her damp clothes, and used hot water to wipe her clean skin.

Seeing the scars all over her skin, Sisi couldn’t help but feel a sudden pain in her heart.

She applied ointment to Zhi’er’s wounds again, changed into dry clothes, and covered her with the quilt. Seeing Zhi’er gradually fall back asleep, Sisi then took the dirty clothes back to the kitchen.

There were already two big pots of hot water boiling in the kitchen. Liu Sisi added more firewood to the stoves and fetched half a bucket of hot water, a ladle of oats, and a bundle of hay to take to the stable.

The stable where the jujube red horse was kept was not completely enclosed, and the cold wind outside swept through, causing the stable’s roof to rattle loudly.

The jujube red horse was chewing its food in the feed trough. Seeing Liu Sisi arrive, it raised its head and neighed loudly, snorting.

After interacting with the horse for several days, Sisi had become much more familiar with it. She poured the cooling hot water into the water trough, added oats to the feed trough, and placed hay inside.

The jujube red horse affectionately leaned in, and Sisi patted its head, carefully checking the blanket on the horse’s body.

This blanket was different from ordinary ones, with a waterproof layer on the outside and a warm layer inside. She cleaned up the horse manure, disinfected the area with dry lime, and cleaned the stable before she returned to the house.

In the kitchen, Dad was already dressed in clean clothes, sitting by the brazier adding charcoal and stirring the stew with a ladle from time to time.

The moment Liu Sisi opened the door, an icy gust of wind rushed into the room. She hurriedly closed it and took off her straw coat and bamboo hat.

“Dad! You must be tired tonight too, so you should eat something first to fill your stomach.”

While talking, Liu Sisi quickly washed her hands, fetched a bowl and chopsticks, and handed them to Dad.

“You eat too… Eat!”

Dad gestured to the meat soup that was already boiling in the pot.

“Dad, you eat first. Sisi will eat with Yelei after he’s done with his work.”

Liu Sisi replied, already walking to the side of the straw pile, talking to her father-in-law as she did so.

“The main beam in the original room is broken, and so are many purlins and rafters. The damage extends to the mud wall near the eaves, creating a crack two palm-widths wide. That room is no longer fit for habitation, so I was thinking we could temporarily live in a corner of the kitchen until it’s repaired and we can move back in.”

As she spoke, she first laid out several clean wooden boards on the ground, then spread a thick layer of straw, and finally laid out a blanket.

The blanket and canopy on the head of the bed were filled with rubble and black mud from the melting ice and snow, which would need to be washed and dried before they could be used again.

Having no other options, Liu Sisi reluctantly placed a thin quilt on the bed.

Fortunately, the cotton quilt had been folded in a corner of the bed, so it was unaffected – a stroke of luck amidst the misfortune!

After Liu Sisi had made up the bed, she saw Dad weaving something with the straw.

“Dad, what are you weaving? It’s getting late. Why don’t you rest now, and work on it tomorrow?”

“Make… make a fence to… to block…” He struggled to speak and pointed to the temporary bed in the corner of the kitchen.

Liu Sisi suddenly understood!

Her father-in-law was weaving something like a screen!

“Father-in-law, please do this tomorrow! It’s cold now, be careful not to catch a cold. Tonight, I’ll just open up a piece of cloth and temporarily prop it up,” Liu Sisi hurriedly said.

Elderly Mr. Di stubbornly refused to let go: “Block tonight, cold…”

Seeing that it was useless to argue, Liu Sisi could only make the charcoal fire in the corner burn more vigorously before she continued to work.

It was not until the bed was made that she checked on Liu Zhi’er again, naturally going through another round of hassle before coming out with a pile of dirty clothes.

It was not easy for clothes to dry in this heavy snow, and if this continued, she wouldn’t even have clothes to change into herself.

Liu Sisi hurriedly soaked the clothes in plant ash water, and finally sat down by the bonfire.

As soon as she picked up the bowl, Di Yelei entered, looking exhausted and soaked from head to toe, with hardly a dry spot on him.

He ignored the need to take a bath for now and went straight to sit by the bonfire: “I’m starving! Huh? Dad, why are you still busy? Have you eaten? Do you want to eat more? Once you’re full, go straight to rest. These chores can be done tomorrow.”

“Dad is weaving straw mats, intending to temporarily block the edge of your bed. I tried to persuade him to do it tomorrow, but he won’t rest.”

Liu Sisi hurriedly handed the bowl to Di Yelei and got up to fetch another set of bowl and chopsticks.

Elderly Mr. Di just looked at Di Yelei with a smile without speaking.

Di Yelei picked up the spoon and directly scooped a few large pieces of ribs into the bowl: “So that’s what’s going on! Dad, just don’t tire yourself out. Sisi, come and eat too. By the way, has your Second Sister not woken up yet?”

As he spoke, he began eating the ribs in his bowl.

“She hasn’t woken up yet. She’s been having a fever on and off. I’ve fed her medicine and changed her clothes. We’ll see if she can wake up tomorrow morning. By the way, have you fixed the roof?”

After saying this, she sat down and began eating as well.

Di Yelei frowned: “No! The snow is falling too heavily, and there’s no way to deal with it. I simply propped up some wood inside the house and temporarily laid some straw on top to prevent water intrusion. We’ll have to deal with it after the snow stops.”

“Oh, you need to take Elderly Di to the county government early tomorrow morning, right? It seems like we’ll have to take it slow.”

For a moment, everyone fell silent.

After Liu Sisi had washed and hung up the clothes, Di Yelei had also taken a bath and was now weaving straw mats with Mr. Di.

They nailed the woven straw mat to the ground with bamboo strips and secured it in place to create a temporary screen.

“It’s past midnight now, so you should take a break too! In just an hour or two, it’ll be dawn.”

Liu Sisi urged, adding some charcoal fire, finally ready to rest.

She was originally feeling around the edge of the self-made screen when her body was suddenly embraced by a strong figure. Di Yelei hugged her with a deep affectionate expression on his face, his words full of sweetness.

“Sisi – I missed you…”

At these words, Liu Sisi’s legs went weak and she almost fell, but he quickly caught her.

Immediately after, a low chuckle came from behind, flushing Liu Sisi’s face with embarrassment.

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