CHAPTER 137: CHAPTER 137: LIU DA NIU’S MAN HAS ARRIVED

Li Jing ate half of a dry fruit cake, licking the crumbs off his fingers.

After finishing, he still refused to go back, looking at the Second Princess with eager eyes, "Second Aunt, I want more."

The Second Princess had a headache and waved her hand repeatedly, "There’s no more, really no more."

"But I still want to eat." Li Jing hugged the Second Princess’s leg, "I still want to eat, Second Aunt."

The Second Princess, "..."

"I still want to eat, Second Aunt." Li Jing looked pleadingly.

Li Yuzhu laughed and said, "Second Sister, don’t you have any more of those dry fruit cakes? Give him another one!" Look at how much the child is craving it.

She didn’t believe the Second Princess only had one dry fruit cake left; this girl was like a squirrel, loving to hoard food.

Back when they were at the Prince Mansion, the Great Princess loved to hoard jewelry, rouge, perfume, fabrics, books, musical instruments—everything a normal girl loved to play with.

The Second Princess, on the other hand, hoarded all kinds of food.

She had large jars filled with all sorts of nuts that could last a long while.

Often sending maids to buy them ten pounds at a time for home.

One pleaded, the other requested.

The Second Princess couldn’t withstand the onslaught from both sides and had to surrender.

"You go out first, let me see if I can find any." The Second Princess picked Li Jing up and placed him outside the door, closing it behind her.

Li Jing pressed his face against the door, "Second Aunt, hurry up."

The little one was clever; after being locked outside last time, he soon got a dry fruit cake, so there should be some today too, right?

He patiently waited.

"I know, I need to look for it." The Second Princess glanced at the door and sighed.

There really weren’t many left, and now she had to give one away.

No, no, she had to give away two.

Li Yuzhu was still sitting in the room; shouldn’t she give her one?

The Second Princess walked to the cabinet, opened the small lock on her shelf, and started searching inside.

Li Yuzhu couldn’t help but laugh, "Second Sister, how much food have you stored in there?"

"Not much, just... just two more." The Second Princess pulled out two dry fruit cakes, handing one to Li Yuzhu, "I ate one, this one is for you, and the other for Jingjing."

Getting a treat from the Second Princess was really a rare occasion.

Li Yuzhu smiled, waving her hand, "I’m not hungry, and I don’t like these dry fruit cakes, you eat it."

The Second Princess widened her eyes, "You don’t like them?"

"Yeah, they’re a bit hard, I can’t bite them." Li Yuzhu said.

"That’s because your teeth aren’t good, mine are fine, I can even bite walnuts." Seeing Li Yuzhu didn’t want it, the Second Princess happily ate it herself, then opened the door to give the other to Jingjing outside.

Jingjing happily ran outside.

The Second Princess followed him out, "It’s dark outside, can you see clearly? I’ll escort you back."

The Great Princess finished her bath and walked into the bedroom.

She glanced outside and sneered, "Did that stingy Second Sister of yours refuse to give Jingjing something to eat again?"

Li Yuzhu nodded, "She gave one to Jingjing."

The Great Princess coldly laughed, "Only gave one? She has dozens of them in her cabinet!"

Li Yuzhu had already guessed it, she said, "Jingjing is too young; if he eats too much, he won’t eat his meals. Besides, it’s almost bedtime; overeating will cause indigestion."

"That stingy Second Sister, she doesn’t want to give more during the day either, huh!" The Great Princess rolled her eyes.

Li Yuzhu said, "Isn’t it because the one who makes the dry fruit cakes, Liu Da Niu, injured her arm and can’t make them? Second Sister is saving them."

"Eat, eat, eat, all she knows is eating; it might as well make her fat!" The Great Princess snorted coldly.

Li Yuzhu thought of a great idea again and said, "Big Sister, since Second Sister loves eating so much, I’ve thought of a way that will let you see Liu Da Niu every day."

The Great Princess’s eyes lit up, "Oh, tell me quickly."

Li Yuzhu laughed and said, "Since the Second Sister loves those dry fruit cakes so much and Liu Da Niu injured her arm, why not have Second Sister learn how to make them herself?"

The Great Princess clapped and laughed, "Hahaha! Third Sister, I found out today you’re not that dumb; you’re actually quite smart! This idea is great, just great!"

Li Yuzhu twitched her mouth, when was she ever dumb?

Oh right, that was before.

But the family had these exceptional brothers and sisters—good at playing, eating, and talking—making the original owner seem less impressive.

Li Yuzhu added, "Making dry fruit cakes isn’t easy; it’s not something learned in two or three days. You have to master fermentation and kneading techniques. But that’s something you have to grasp through experience, not just by talking."

The Great Princess raised her eyebrows, "Just with Second Sister’s silly brain, she won’t learn it in three months! That means I get to see Liu Da Niu for three months."

.

After sending Li Jing back, the Second Princess returned to the bedroom, and the Great Princess immediately pulled her over, "Second Sister, would you like to eat those dry fruit cakes every day?"

The Second Princess nodded, "Of course I want to." She sighed, "Liu Da Niu’s arm is injured and she can’t make it every day."

The Great Princess curled her lips and looked at her, "Her arm is injured, and she can’t make the pancakes, but can’t you learn to do it?"

The Second Princess widened her eyes, "Me, learn it myself?"

"What, you don’t want to learn?" The Great Princess sneered, pinching the Second Princess’s chin, "So much flesh, three chins already, and you still want to do nothing but eat? If you keep gaining weight, you’ll have no neck left."

The Second Princess felt her neck, "Clearly it’s just two layers..."

"Enough, I don’t care how many layers of fat you have. Anyway, you have to learn even if you don’t want to."

"Sister, why don’t you learn?" The Second Princess, always lazy, didn’t want to bother with making pancakes.

The Great Princess sneered, "You’re the one who wants to eat, not me."

Li Yuzhu came over and said, "Second Sister, this is a skill, you know? Learn it, and in the future, you can make dry pancakes to sell for money. It’s much easier than digging herbs. Besides, with the weather getting hotter, going out to dig herbs means you might encounter snakes."

Snakes are creatures that most girls are afraid of.

The timid Second Princess’s face turned pale immediately, "Th-th-then... I’d better learn."

"Right, just stay at home and learn to make pancakes. You get to eat, earn money, and avoid snakes. Quite a bargain." The Great Princess coaxed.

The Second Princess thought it over, and although making pancakes was a bit tiring, it didn’t seem like a bad deal after all.

.

After discussing it, the three sisters went together to the North Courtyard Main House of Prince Luling and his wife to share their idea.

The children were enthusiastic about learning, and since they weren’t learning anything bad, the couple had no objections.

"Let the second or third come with you." Finally, Prince Luling said.

"Yes, Father." The Great Princess was thrilled.

.

The next morning at breakfast, Prince Luling shared the sisters’ idea with their brothers.

The Second Young Master and Li Xing’an both insisted on going, and even rock-paper-scissors couldn’t resolve it.

They argued fiercely.

Finally, Li Yuzhu came up with a solution, "Second Brother, Third Brother, take turns. One person per day."

There was nothing more to argue about.

The brothers played rock-paper-scissors to decide who would accompany the three sisters first. Li Xing’an won.

Li Xing’an was quite smug, "Second Brother, you stay at home and help Big Brother organize things around the house. Taking our sisters to such an important task isn’t something a scholar like you can handle."

The Second Young Master glared at him, "Oh really? I’ll go tomorrow."

.

After breakfast, the family began dividing up the chores again.

The Xue Family did housework, while the Princess Consort played with Guoguo and made clothes for the sons.

When they were in the mountains, the place was small and the tasks were many, so she never had the time.

Prince Luling taught Li Jing to read.

When the Princely Heir and the Second Young Master went to the market to buy furniture, they also bought some paper, ink, brushes, and inkstones.

Of course, they picked the cheapest items. They dared not buy expensive ones.

Since coming to the countryside of Zhen An Prefecture for almost a month, Li Jing had managed to learn more than a dozen characters.

The Princely Heir and Second Young Master cleared the weeds outside the courtyard.

Li Xing’an pushed the cart, taking the three sisters to Taohua River Village.

As usual, Li Yuzhu sat, while the Second and Great Princesses walked.

The two sisters glared at Li Yuzhu, who enjoyed special treatment, their eyes burning with jealousy.

Li Yuzhu didn’t hog the privilege this time; she let the sisters take turns sitting after a while.

The sisters were touched deeply.

Li Xing’an wasn’t happy pushing them, "You’re both adults now, and still need someone to push you? Second Sister, you need to lose weight! Big Sister, you’re almost at the age to marry, and you still fight with little sister over the cart seat?"

The Great Princess protested, "It was Third Sister who let me sit, not me. Why blame me?"

The Second Princess nodded, "Yeah, Third Brother, Big Sister isn’t wrong."

While the three were bickering, a woman’s shrill voice came from behind them.

"Cheng’er, these are the ones who hit your mother. Today fate brought us together!"

Li Yuzhu turned to look, oh, wasn’t that Liu Da Niu’s mother-in-law, Aunt Hu?

She was leading a tall young man, quickly approaching from the direction of Qingshui River Village.

The young man bore a striking resemblance to Aunt Hu, possibly Liu Da Niu’s husband.

It seemed their path was aimed towards Liu Da Niu’s house?