Chapter 156: Liumao

You actually treated him like this…? A pure and honest man from the mountains? You actually took advantage of a good man like him?!

Ye Lulu was stunned for a moment and kept reminding herself that this was an ancient person!

The ancient people were very reserved and conservative. They were not as open-minded as the people in the modern era! Holding someone’s hand like this is considered molesting them, do you know that?!

Ye Lulu controlled her hand with difficulty, but she could not help but grab the corner of Guan Chibei’s clothes.

She looked up at him innocently.

Guan Chibei looked at her silently for a while. He knew what her situation was now. In that instant… his heart softened and he said to her, “I’ll stay.”

“To look after you and the children.”

Ye Lulu nodded vigorously and found an excuse. “Yes, yes, I’m afraid that someone will come again, so I want you to be closer these two days.”

Guan Chibei looked at her meaningfully. She had found a good excuse.

He nodded.

Thus, Guan Chibei did not rest. He entered the house and sat by the table to quietly guard Ye Lulu and the children. With Guan Chibei around, Ye Lulu felt very comfortable and fell asleep quickly.

The house was silent…

…

At night, Mother Rong and the rest returned with a cold aura, but they were especially happy! This was because their business had been improving these days. The money they earned had also stabilized. Now, the capital they had invested had been transferred back. Everyone was making use of the time to earn pure profits.

Before the voyages stopped, ships came and went especially frequently on the Yuan River. Mother Rong and the rest were busy every day, doing business until it was dark. They would fall asleep the moment they returned.

The days passed by slowly. Soon, ten days passed.

It was late autumn and the weather was getting colder.

It felt like winter was about to arrive immediately. Actually, that wasn’t the case. However, the feeling of autumn and winter was very strong. The villagers covered themselves tightly and seized the opportunity to store their grains.

The pond in the Guan family was mostly dug up

A three-meter long and two-meter wide pond was built outside the kitchen window. The bamboo that Father Guan had processed could already be used as material. The brothers from the Guan family made a bamboo stand in the shed and propped it up.

After donning the newly bought oilcloth, the pond looked pretty good.

It had been freezing for the past few days.

Mother Rong tried to open the window and start a fire in the kitchen. She found someone to stand in the shed and indeed, she could feel the heat!

Everyone was overjoyed. It seemed that this method worked!

“We’ll rear fish at home in winter!” Guan Chixi clapped his hands and said, “If it’s freezing due to the snow, we won’t be able to set up our stall to sell congee in winter. Then, we’ll rear fish at home. When spring comes, the fish would have grown and when we go out to do business, there’ll be fish meat.”

It was indeed a good idea.

Guan Chibei went to the river to fish again. This time, he would fish regardless of size. It would be best if he could catch some baby fish and bring them back to the pond at home to raise.

As they were baby fish, he could not bring them home immediately after scooping them up from the river like before.

Baby fish required water to be nourished, which meant that they had to be carried home bucket by bucket. It was too inefficient for Guan Chibei to fish alone.

However, the children at home could help!

The younger ones would have no strength and could only cheer on. However, Damao, who would be eight years old this spring, could already help carry the smaller buckets.

Although the children were young, they had nothing to do and could run around often. Furthermore, Ye Lulu had mentioned that it was easy for one to grow taller by running more. It was suitable.

Therefore, Father Guan specially made a few light wooden buckets. They were all shaved very thin. Guan Chibei went down the river to fish. The big fish were placed in the fish basket, and the baby fish were placed in the small wooden buckets. After filling them with some water, he asked Damao and the rest to bring the small buckets home and then run back again.

Of course, some villagers noticed Guan Chibei’s actions and asked in surprise, “Guan Chibei, what is your family doing? Are you going to scoop up all the fish in the river?”

Some people were still a little hostile.

Guan Chibei glanced at the villagers and said, “No, it’s almost winter. I was afraid that we wouldn’t be able to fish if the river froze. I was just fishing for more so that they could be reared in the vat. If you’re afraid that there will be no more fish, you can go into the river now.”

The unhappy woman immediately restrained her expression and was a little angry. That was right. In any case, ordinary villagers could not fish in the river. Guan Chibei was probably the only one in the village who had the ability to fish, so why was she angry?! Even if Guan Chibei did not fish, they could not eat this fish.

It was really infuriating.

They could only watch as Guan Chibei and the children from the Guan family fished around. Although the younger ones were carrying small fish and did not have big fish, it still made people jealous.

While the Guan family was busy, the few younger children, such as Wumao, Liumao, and Qimao, could not help much. As for the only girl in the family, it wasn’t good for her to touch cold water so she stayed in Ye Lulu’s house to look after the babies. As for Wumao, Liumao, and Qimao, they were free to move around. They stood on the road and watched their brothers carry water buckets back and forth. They would either cheer them on or run off to play.

Guan Chibei specially chose a time when there were many people in the village. The villagers walked around and there was no need to worry about the children’s safety.

Liumao was only four and a half years old this year. He was only a year older than Qimao. He was wearing a set of blue rough clothes and a thin cotton jacket. He stood by the side of the road and watched as Damao carried a wooden bucket. Then, his attention was diverted. He gnawed on his fingers and turned around. He went to the side to play for a while.

Further ahead was some barren land!

Barren grasslands were extremely interesting to children. There might be grasshoppers, butterflies, and even small dragonflies by the river! It was cold now, and these were rare. If they could find one, that would be interesting…

Furthermore, some villagers had planted sweet potatoes there in the past. Perhaps, they could dig out a few sweet potatoes casually! After all, these things had strong growth rates.

Children were the closest to nature and loved such expeditions.

Liumao walked over. There were fewer villagers there. After all, this was not on the main road of the village, but it was also not a remote and desolate place. Not far away, there were villagers who were busy farming in the vegetable fields.

There was no land in the village to grow food, but many villagers would open up fields to grow vegetables.

In short, it was not considered dangerous.

However, not many people noticed Liumao.

Liumao was playing when someone suddenly walked over. She had a weak body and a fair face. “Liumao. You must be Liumao~”

Liumao looked up and was stunned, but he was not afraid. He knew this person. She was Sister Liu Ya from the village.

Children were the most familiar with people who came out to work in the village every day because they would bump into them when they wanted to play.

Therefore, compared to Guan Chibei, Liu Ya was more familiar with the Guan family’s children.

Liu Ya smiled at Liumao. She was born well. When she smiled like this, she was amiable and beautiful, making this child like her very much.

“Liumao, Sister Liu Ya will give you a piece of malt candy, okay?” Liu Ya went forward and handed a piece of brown sugar to Liumao with a light smile.

Liumao was stunned. Candy!

“Sister Liu Ya picked mushrooms to sell the day before yesterday and exchanged them for sweets. Eat it secretly and don’t tell anyone. Sister Liu Ya only has one piece and she gave it to Liumao. The other children don’t have any to eat. Furthermore, the ones in Sister Liu Ya’s house don’t have any either, so Liumao should eat it quietly and must not tell anyone.”

Liu Ya looked at Liumao. After seeing Ye Lulu in the Guan family’s backyard once, she felt extremely troubled when she returned home. She thought for a few days and finally felt that she could not give up.

After thinking for a long time, she finally wanted to come out and do something. Coincidentally, she bumped into the Guan family’s Liumao today. Liu Ya’s heart moved slightly and she felt that she could ask Liumao to help her.

Liumao was stunned. His saliva flowed down as he stared at the fragrant candy. However, the Guan family had a good upbringing. Liumao looked at Liu Ya and asked, “Sister Liu Ya, don’t you want to eat it?”

Liu Ya said gently, “Sister is already an adult. Candy is for children to eat. Sister doesn’t want to eat it. Liumao, eat quickly.”

Liumao hesitated for a moment, but malt candy was so attractive. Liu Ya squatted down and handed the malt candy to Liumao. Then, she said, “Then Liumao, can you do Sister Liu Ya a favor? Just think of it as Liumao helped Sister, so Sister gave Liumao candy.”

That made sense!

Liumao’s eyes lit up. This solution worked! He gripped the candy tightly and nodded.

Liu Ya took out a headband. It was light green, thin, and narrow. It was smooth and elegant. It was the only headband she had ever had since she was young. Her mother was kind enough to buy it for her when she was fifteen years old.

This headband also looked like a willow branch, which secretly matched Liu Ya’s name. It was destined with her.

As for this headband, Liu Ya brought it out almost every day. Other than when she took it off to wash it, everyone in the village had seen this headband of hers and knew that it belonged to Liu Ya.

Liu Ya loved to comb her hair up and put half of it down behind her thin shoulders. She didn’t comb her hair in a bun and only used this headband to tie it loosely.

This elegant and slightly messy hairstyle would accentuate her frailty.

Liu Ya even maintained this hairstyle when she was working. The villagers didn’t know how to dress up and only felt that Liu Ya’s hair was very beautiful. Even Liu Ya’s family felt that it was indeed outstanding. They didn’t know why, but Liu Ya didn’t need to change into another hairstyle when she was working.

Liu Ya held this headband and handed it to Liumao. She smiled and said, “Liumao, help Sister Liu Ya place this headband on your Sixth Uncle’s clothes. Can you do that?”

Liumao did not know anything and said in confusion, “Why did Sister Liu Ya give me her headband?”

Liu Ya coaxed Liumao and said, “It’s because your Sixth Uncle asked me to give it to you. However, he was afraid that others would see it, so he asked me to ask you to secretly put the headband on his clothes. You don’t have to tell him. Remember to do it secretly. If your Sixth Uncle pretends not to know, no one will be able to tell. They will only think that you picked it up.”

Liumao was confused and could not remember to ask why his uncle would be afraid of being seen. He only followed what Liu Ya said.

In an instant, a thought popped up in his mind:

Sixth Uncle wanted Sister Liu Ya’s headband—no one should know about it—and Sixth Uncle instructed Sister Liu Ya to get Liumao to put the headband on Sixth Uncle.

In the entire cognitive chain, there was the fact that Guan Chibei had a private connection with Liu Ya and used Liumao as a cover.

However, Liumao didn’t know any of this. When he heard Liu Ya say this, he couldn’t remember to ask if it was true or not. He would only be led away by Liu Ya’s words. He nodded and said, “Oh, it’s Sixth Uncle who wanted it. Alright, I’ll help Sister Liu Ya and Sixth Uncle.”

Upon hearing Liumao’s words, Liu Ya’s eyes almost lit up. The effects were better than she had expected!

“Yes, Liumao is so obedient.” Liu Ya even praised him and said, “You helped Sixth Uncle and Sister Liu Ya.”

She emphasized the ‘truth’ again.

Liumao’s understanding deepened again. He nodded and licked his malt candy while receiving Liu Ya’s headband. Because Liu Ya said ‘your Sixth Uncle doesn’t want anyone to know,’ Liumao naturally did it secretly.

It was a big project for Guan Chibei to go into the river to fish today, so he took off his outerwear. It was late autumn now, so it was naturally impossible for him to wear only one shirt. He also wore a dark gray thin cotton jacket.

He placed it on the dry grass beside him.

Liumao walked over in a daze and licked the malt candy with relish. Soon, he arrived at the river.

He subconsciously wanted to call him ‘Sixth Uncle’ and say, “I brought Sister Liu Ya’s headband over for you.” However, he suddenly remembered that Liu Ya had said that Sixth Uncle did not want anyone to know, so he shut his mouth.

He even covered his mouth with his little hand.

Yes, secretly.

Liumao didn’t call him Sixth Uncle. Guan Chibei happened to be releasing his yin energy with his back facing Liumao. As for the Guan family’s children, they weren’t his enemies, so he didn’t pay attention to what Liumao was doing.

Liumao squatted down and placed the headband in Guan Chibei’s pocket.

However, the pocket was too shallow. It would drop after being placed in.

Furthermore, Liumao thought for a moment and suddenly remembered that in that case, what if Sixth Uncle didn’t know that he had already brought the headband over? If he accidentally lost the headband, wouldn’t it be gone?

Liumao was a small child, but he knew how to think.

Thus, Liumao tied the headband onto Guan Chibei’s outerwear with a button at the side. That button was actually an accessory. Farmers would wear outerwear for a long time, especially cotton-padded jackets. They would be washed repeatedly, so there was a hole there specially waiting to be opened when needed to be washed so that the cotton inside could be removed.

Mother Rong was thoughtful to do a button on it. It was beautiful and special.

Liumao used his small hands to tie Liu Ya’s headband to the protruding button. He then placed Guan Chibei’s clothes properly like before and placed the headband downwards. No one else could see it.

After he was done, Liumao stood up with the candy in his mouth. Coincidentally, Damao was carrying an empty bucket and ran past like the wind. Amongst the children from the Guan family, Damao was very strong. He was only eight years old, but he was already like a little man. He was very strong. This was also one of the reasons why Guan Chibei asked him for help today.

When Damao saw Liumao, he stopped in his tracks and asked in confusion, “Liumao, what are you doing here?”

Liumao replied in a daze, “Nothing. I wanted to come and see Sixth Uncle fish.”