Adorable Kids in Space: Lucky Wife is So Carefree

"Have you heard? Tang Dashi is getting married in a few days, and he's going to marry a concubine. You'd never guess who he'll marry." Auntie hadn't gossiped with Ruxiu in a long time.

"It's Widow Qin, isn't it? Hasn't she been staying in Qinghe Town lately? She's so arrogant and domineering, acting like a pheasant about to become a phoenix. Who else could it be but her?"

"You guessed it right the moment! I heard she's already heavily pregnant. That's why Madam Jiang agreed to let her in. Two tigresses in one family, things are going to get lively!" Second Aunt said gleefully.

"I heard that because of this, Zhang's family gathered a group of people to go to town to find her father, but they only stopped when Tang Dashi threatened to divorce her."

"Given Widow Qin's personality, Zhang is in for a rough time. She used to bully you by taking advantage of Jiang, but now she's a pushover."

"I heard the wedding is in five days and they've invited a lot of people to a feast. Anyway, they won't be inviting our two families, but we can still watch the excitement."

After Ru Xiu's conversation that night, Shi Jie seemed to have taken it all in. She continued to go to bed early and get up early every day to learn and recite characters with Xi Ge and Le Ge, and no longer stayed up late into the night. She would also take a break to water the vegetables in the backyard, and occasionally her mother would take her up the mountain to check on the fish and chickens, but she was still busy the rest of the time.

Now everyone in the village knows that Ruxiu has gotten involved with Baixianglou and started doing business with them, and that her second aunt's family has also gotten a share of the profits.

Many people specifically brought a bunch of vegetables and a melon to inquire about the possibility of selling their produce to Baixianglou. Of course, Baixianglou wouldn't reveal the prices they charged, as Xiuhe, her second aunt, and Caifeng would. But selling several large baskets at once was far better than occasionally picking a few bunches for a pittance.

Upon learning that Baixianglou also had a fixed quota for purchasing vegetables, the villagers gave up on the idea. They had only come with the intention of giving it a try, without having high hopes.

When they returned the gifts, Ru Xiu would give them back, either a few eggs or a few cakes, always more than what she had brought. This reciprocal exchange made Ru Xiu happy, and everyone was willing to make friends, which improved the neighborhood relations considerably.

After finishing the previous round of clothes and quilts, Auntie Er was urged by Ruxiu to make an extra set of thin cotton-padded jackets for the children, and also an extra set of thick cotton-padded clothes.

Anyway, the fabric and cotton are readily available, and Ruxiu is no longer short of money. There is no need to mistreat the children and herself. Besides, the children only have one set of cotton clothes, and if they get wet, they have no change. It's not good to suffer in such a cold winter.

Besides delivering vegetables, Ru Xiu also helps Shi Jie with chores whenever she has free time. Cai Feng, in addition to growing vegetables, occasionally goes up the mountain to help out, and has also made quite a few dolls.

Even at such a young age, Taozi would take a piece of cloth and practice a few stitches with her second aunt. She did a pretty good job, which made Ge'er join in the fun. She didn't cry even after her hand was pricked several times, but it was still impossible to tell what she was embroidering.

Cai Feng and her son-in-law planted a lot of vegetables on the mountain. With the nourishment of the spiritual spring water, they should be ready to harvest soon. None of the chickens died; they are all growing well.

The stone house was built, and Caifeng's family would occasionally go up there to stay one night. When Pingzi wasn't studying or learning to read, he would also go up the mountain with his mother to help out, pulling weeds and getting rid of insects, and he would often bring back small insects and grasshoppers to feed the chicks.

On the day Tang Dashi got married, after such a long drought, dark clouds suddenly gathered and a heavy rain began to fall, soaking Qin the widow to the bone and turning her red wedding dress red all over the ground.

Firecrackers went off early in the morning, and more than twenty tables of food were set up for the banquet. It was even more lively than when Zhang was married back then. After the heavy rain, Tang Laoqi’s house was surrounded by people who came to watch the excitement. Even people from neighboring villages came over after hearing about it, not minding the fatigue.

Ru Xiu continued delivering fish, shrimp, and vegetables as usual, not having time to join in the fun. However, apart from Xi Ge, the younger children all followed their second aunt to gossip. According to their second aunt, since they were no longer family, there was no need to be timid or afraid of them.

Before leaving, Auntie Er and Sister Shi stuffed Ge'er and Taozi's little pockets full of their own sweet cakes. Brother Le also grabbed a handful for Pingzi, so that they wouldn't be envious of other people's.

Tang Laoqi's face, usually full of wrinkles, was unusually beaming with a smile. He wondered how Tang Dashi and Widow Qin had managed to win over Jiang Shi, as he had heard that marrying a widow involved a dowry of five taels of silver.

The new house was set up in the main room in the west wing. Zhang didn't go out all day. The second wife didn't kowtow to the first wife as usual when she entered the house. Tang Xin was even forced to come out and serve tea and water.

She must have been beaten the day before. Tang Xin still had bruises on her face and was a little unsteady on her feet. It's unclear whether she deliberately spilled tea all over Widow Qin, which led to Widow Qin slapping her in front of everyone and then scolding her by Madam Jiang until she cried.

"You don't know that Tang Dafu and Tang Ercai only came back when they saw the guests off at night. They scattered joss paper all over the ground and set off a string of firecrackers, like sending people up the mountain. It scared all the guests away."

"For this matter, Tang Dashi even beat Zhang Shi up. What kind of thing is this? It's true that if the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked too."

"Second Aunt, I want to buy an oxcart. It will be more convenient for us to deliver vegetables to the children when they go to school, and even when I'm not home, my son-in-law can deliver them himself. He can also bring back some rice bran or something."

"Now that the vegetables, fish, and shrimp from the mountain are ready to sell, I'd like to buy some half-grown chickens to raise together. Once the chickens are ready for market, we'll need even more cattle."

Since she didn't have an oxcart and had to ask someone for help every time, Ru Xiu still found it too troublesome.

“If you have the money, buying a cow would be a good idea. Then your son-in-law can take it under his wing, and your brother-in-law won’t have to travel dozens of miles back and forth.” Second Aunt also agreed. Usually, when people have money, they buy land, buy cows, and build houses. Ruxiu isn’t short of a few taels of silver.

"It's convenient to let the cattle graze on the mountain, unlike other families where the elderly and children have to go out and herd cattle."

Ru Xiu was a little worried because she didn't know how to drive an oxcart, so it wouldn't be as convenient for her to catch fish, shrimp, or chickens from the space in the future.

“Mother, I used to drive an oxcart with Grandpa. I can drive it myself when I go to school. Driving an oxcart isn’t difficult. I can buy one and teach you.”

"I want to learn too, I want to learn too, big brother, you have to teach me too." The two brothers were very happy to talk about buying an oxcart. Only a few families in the village had oxen, not even Tang Laoqi's family. Owning an ox was like owning a BMW or Mercedes.

It was a pleasant surprise that Xige could drive an oxcart.

If Ruxiu didn't know how to care for cattle, she entrusted the matter of buying the cattle to Li Guye. He was naturally very happy, and from then on, he would raise the cattle himself. For a farmer, the cattle were his life.

Even if you've never seen a pig, you've seen it walk. Farmers all know how to look after cattle. Even if they don't have a cow at home, when someone buys one, they'll still admire it and make comments.

I've heard a lot about what makes a good cow and what makes a bad cow.

Ru Xiu specifically instructed him to buy an oxcart, a spacious one, since there were many people in the family and they would be carrying a lot of vegetables in the future. She also suggested building a canopy on top so that they wouldn't have to worry about wind and rain.

In fact, Ru Xiu was thinking that it would be convenient for the fish, shrimp and chickens to come and go in the space, and the shed would at least provide some shelter.