The moonlight was bright and clear.
Cheng Loanloan was dreaming again.
She dreamed of the man she secretly loved in her previous life. He was tall and handsome like jade, with gentle eyes, kneeling on one knee before her to propose.
In her dream, she was like a startled golden deer, overwhelmed by unexpected joy.
Before she could accept the ring, she was kicked by some child and woke up.
It was a long dream, and after waking, she felt a sense of sadness and loss.
In this era, she had lost the right to talk about love. She hadn't even held a man's hand, yet she had to arrange marriages for her sons.
Cheng Loanloan sobbed as she sat up from the bed.
Outside, the sky was already bright. Zhao Dashan had already returned with buckets of water, placing them in the courtyard.
Before, he wouldn't fetch water in the morning because the family didn't have the habit of rinsing their mouths and washing their faces in the morning.
These past few days, Cheng Loanloan had issued a decisive order: everyone must rinse their mouths and wash their faces every morning, otherwise they couldn't sit at the dining table.
Wu Huiniang boiled water, sat in the courtyard washing clothes, and then hung them out to dry.
Cheng Loanloan used a key to open the food cabinet. They ate three to five catties of grain every day, and then she replenished two catties, so it still looked like a lot.
She took out more than two catties of millet and put it into the pot to cook porridge. Then she took out some lotus roots, mixed flour to make lotus root sandwiches. Normally, meat would be put inside, but unfortunately, there was no meat at home, so she replaced it with two chicken eggs taken from the nest. After frying the eggs, she placed them in the lotus root sandwiches, and finally deep-fried them in oil.
She wasn't very skilled at making them; she mostly instructed Wu Huiniang verbally.
The three little rascals were still asleep in bed. Smelling the aroma of fried oil, they licked their lips, closed their eyes, and walked out of the room, accurately heading to the side of the stove rack, their saliva dripping.
"Go wash your faces first!"
Cheng Loanloan slapped away the children's hands.
Zhao Ergou scooped a handful of water and splashed it on his face, and his sleepiness instantly vanished.
When he looked up and saw someone standing at the courtyard gate, he thought he was dreaming, rubbed his eyes, and looked again.
Zhao Sidan was the first to call out, "It's Shuiqin Jie!"
Cheng Loanloan also saw the person standing at the gate. Young people in the throes of passionate love were truly inseparable. They had just met yesterday, and she was here again early this morning.
A lonely person like her really didn't want to eat "dog food" (witness public displays of affection).
"Auntie." Sun Shuiqin was a little shy, trying her best to act generous as she greeted, "I came to say a few words to Ergou Ge."
Cheng Loanloan waved her hand, "You two chat, don't mind me."
She lowered her head and got busy, but her ears were perked up, listening to the commotion over there.
Her actions were not called meddling, but rather concern for her own son's romantic life.
"Ergou Ge, when I just entered the village, I saw a few people walking back and forth at the village entrance. They asked me a lot of questions when they saw me. What's going on?"
Sun Shuiqin's voice was gentle and pleasant to listen to.
Zhao Ergou, who was usually so clever, now had a muddled brain.
Cheng Loanloan was originally eavesdropping, but when she heard Sun Shuiqin ask this, she instantly sobered up quite a bit.
Sun Shuiqin's surname was Sun. All the Sun family members in Dahe Village were women who had married in from Guihua Village. Could it be that these people were sent by Guihua Village to gather information?
She coughed and said, "Sidan, tell your Shuiqin Jie to come inside and sit, and eat breakfast with us."
Sun Shuqin hurriedly waved her hand, "No, no, no, how could I stay and eat anything? Actually... Auntie, actually I am, am..."
She stammered.
Zhao Ergou quickly said, "Shuqin, if you have something to say, just say it. My mother is very easy to talk to." Cheng Loanloan's lips curved into a smile.
It had only been a few days, and this boy had already forgotten her previous fierce and terrifying demeanor?