stingy landlady

Chapter 112 Entering a new house (6)

As Qian listened to the gossip, she was amazed at how much Dazhu's family had changed—it was beyond her imagination!

No amount of meat seemed to appeal to her anymore! She ate her meal hastily and then quickly said goodbye!

"Dear sisters-in-law! I'm here for the feast as soon as I get back! I haven't even visited my eldest sister-in-law yet! Please have a seat, I'll take my two children to pay our respects to her!"

"Go! Go! We're all family! You should go and see!"

Inside, Li was eating a lightly salted postpartum meal that had been prepared especially for her. It was bland and tasteless, but the lively sounds outside made her incredibly restless.

The thought that she couldn't get out was entirely caused by the Zhao couple, and she felt an intense hatred in her heart! Then, the thought that the miscarried baby might be a boy brought another wave of heartache.

Madam Qian led the children in and saw Madam Li wearing a light blue silk dress embroidered with lotus flowers and a plum blossom hairpin in her hair. She was leaning against a pile of quilts, her eyes closed as she digested her food.

Zhou Qiong was tidying up the postpartum meal that Li Shi had just finished eating, and was about to take it out when Qian Shi came in and called softly:

"Sister-in-law!"

When Li opened her eyes, she saw Qian. The two sisters-in-law usually didn't talk much. Li used to be a little afraid of her; Qian was good at getting information out of people—she'd gotten all the details about the lunchbox seller back then!

But with so much noise outside, she was really bored by herself, so she was very happy when Qian came to visit her!

"It's my third sister-in-law! When did you get back? Did you have the feast? Come and sit down. Wow! The two children have grown quite a bit taller!"

"Gui Ling couldn't stay inside, so she ran out to see what was going on. Why don't you two go find her and play together?"

Xiaoquan and Guizhi were about the same age, and Xiaoli shook her head, indicating she wouldn't go out to see the children. Xiaoli, however, was tempted. She looked at Qian Shi, who nodded in agreement.

"Go if you want! Have fun with Fourth Sister! She's younger, you're older, so be considerate of her!"

After speaking to her daughter Xiaoli, Qian asked Li:

"Sister-in-law! We're late. We had the feast first before coming to see you. Are you angry?"

Li said weakly:

"Don't be angry! I'm overjoyed that my third sister-in-law still thinks of visiting me when she comes back!"

Ms. Qian asked with a concerned expression:

"Sister-in-law! I just heard at the banquet that you weren't feeling well! How are you now? Is there still any blood?"

Mrs. Li sighed and slowly said:

"Sigh! It's normal that you don't know if you're in town! It's not something to be proud of, so I'm giving you a heads-up!"

"I'm taking medicine every day! There's still a little blood! But I'm afraid to get out of bed, afraid that if I move around too much, I'll lose more blood!"

"Sister-in-law needs to take good care of herself! I heard that extra care is needed during postpartum recovery!"

Madam Qian looked around the room. It was spacious and bright, with a newly made kang (heated brick bed) decorated with exquisite comic books. There were two newly made cabinets on the floor, holding a set of porcelain teapots and cups. Opposite was a narrow kang, just wide enough for one person. It was comfortable to sit on and convenient for drying clothes and shoes.

"Sister-in-law! Your house is so spacious and bright, it looks so comfortable! Did you have someone draw up the blueprints to build this house? You couldn't have imagined it yourself!"

"Yeah! I don't know either. Your older brother found the construction team, and they drew up the plans. The construction team did the building!"

"Sister-in-law! My brother is really amazing! This whole courtyard must have cost a lot of money! You and my brother are really generous!"

"It'll cost at least several hundred taels! We can't refuse! There's only one room in the old house! The children are all grown up, and it won't look good if they all squeeze onto one kang (heated brick bed)!"

"Absolutely! Gui Xiang and Gui Hong have grown into young women in the blink of an eye! In another two or three years, Gui Xiang will be looking for a husband! Sister-in-law! Time really flies!"

People say that if the seedlings are good, they will grow tall! We don't need to look forward to these children growing up. Before we know it, they'll be grown up, and we parents will be old!

"Yes! Time flies when you have a child! Sister-in-law, look at my Xiaoquan, he was only this big when he was born, and now he's almost as tall as me! In a few more years, it'll be time for him to get married!"

As Qian spoke, she gestured with her hands, making Xiaoquan feel embarrassed.

Li looked closely at Xiaoquan, "This child is quite tall! His face looks like my third brother's, and his eyes are like yours! He's fair-skinned and clean-cut, so adorable! With such good looks, he'll have no trouble finding a wife!"

Qian feigned a worried expression:

"How can we not worry, sister-in-law! The little house we rent in town isn't even as big as our old house! The four of us are crammed onto one kang (heated brick bed). As the children grow up, we'll definitely need to build a house. And when the boys grow up, they'll need to come home to get married, so they'll need a place to live too!"

Li felt deeply empathetic:

"Then you have to make sure your third brother works hard! Earn more money for you to save! Once you have some money, don't be stingy, building a house is a big deal!"

Mrs. Qian smiled and said:

"Sister-in-law, you're so kind! You know how to persuade people! Sister-in-law, I heard you opened a restaurant in town? Where is it? I didn't know. Third brother should go and help out more often when he has time! We're all brothers, and it's convenient since we're all in town!"

After thinking for a moment, Li said to Qian:

"It's just a fast food shop! It's located at the entrance of Xing'an Academy. I'm too sick to go there, so Gui Xiang, Gui Hong, and Gui Zhi are taking care of it."

It would be good if my third brother and sister-in-law could go and check on them when they have time! Sometimes I really worry about just those few young girls!

Mr. Qian then asked:

"I heard it's quite profitable there? Is the initial investment quite large, sister-in-law?"

Just as Li was about to speak, Sun came in, "Eldest sister-in-law! Third sister-in-law!"

Qian cursed inwardly:

"That fourth son's wife really came at the worst possible time! She had to come at just the right moment!"

When Li saw Sun, she smiled and offered her a seat.

"Fourth sister-in-law is here too! Don't stand there with your pregnant belly, sit down! Your third sister-in-law is here, let's have a chat!"

Sun was clever; she didn't inquire about their conversation. She simply asked Li:

"How is your health, sister-in-law? I haven't been able to come to your room these past few days, but I took this opportunity to come and see you! If Mother finds out, she'll scold me again!"

Li Shidao:

"I'm fine! It's just like that! Mom didn't let you come over because you're pregnant! She heard from the older generation that pregnant women shouldn't go into the postpartum room, but you can see me, that's enough! It's nothing serious, I'm just taking care of myself like this every day!"

Sun then looked at Qian:

"Third Sister-in-law! I just saw Zhou Qiong taking Xiaoli to play with Guiling! You're late, have you eaten yet?"

"Fourth sister-in-law! I've already eaten. I only heard that my sister-in-law wasn't feeling well during the meal, so I came over to check on her!"

Ms. Qian didn't want to stay any longer; the banquet outside had already ended. People who were close to Ms. Li would come to say goodbye, but it wasn't convenient to talk to them.

Qian stood up and said to Li:

"Sister-in-law, you've talked to me for so long, go lie down and rest! My fourth sister-in-law and I are going out to see our parents. We haven't had time to come back for months. They're probably looking for us later!"