CHAPTER 675: CHAPTER 671 LYING TO OLD MRS. MU (FOURTH UPDATE)

"Let’s go!" Mu Shuangshuang said to Xue Zheng.

Xue Zheng suddenly reached out, tightly grabbing Mu Shuangshuang, afraid she would leave him and run away.

His eyes didn’t dare meet Mu Shuangshuang’s gaze directly, but from her height advantage, she could still see a glimmer in his eyes, as if he had something to discuss with her.

"Xiao Zheng, may I call you that, little brother?" Mu Shuangshuang led Xue Zheng a bit farther from the gossiping women, squatted down, and looked at him sincerely.

Xue Zheng nodded without hesitation.

Mu Shuangshuang noticed that since leaving Qingshan Town, Xue Zheng had responded to her more.

Though most of the time, it was only nodding or shaking his head, indirectly indicating that Xue Zheng’s problem originated in Qingshan Town.

"Xiao Zheng, once we arrive at Er Gui Village, everything will be handled by your sister. Your sister might not have any delicious meals, the only thing she can offer are simple meals from a farmer’s family.

You’ve seen it, going once to the town takes an hour or two and it’s ten plus miles.

As for fun, the only entertainment is following Brother Yuan Feng into the mountains for hunting or we can work together in the fields.

So, no matter if you are happy or unhappy during this time, you must discuss it with your sister, let her know, alright?" Mu Shuangshuang softly said to Xue Zheng.

Xue Zheng held Mu Shuangshuang’s hand even tighter.

After a while, he finally nodded lightly.

Returning to the courtyard of the third branch, Xiao Han, Little Zhi, and Yuanbao were each doing their tasks, playing joyfully.

Seeing Xue Zheng, except for Xiao Han who was studying, Little Zhi and Yuanbao both gathered around.

Yuanbao had the loudest voice.

"I heard from Sister Shuangshuang that you were the kid caught by the human trafficker with Little Zhi and me last time? Don’t be afraid, Little Zhi and I will protect you in the future."

Yuanbao patted his chest.

Yuanbao wanted to say these words on the ox cart, but Xue Zheng acted too unfriendly, making Yuanbao somewhat scared.

Now, seeing Mu Shuangshuang bring him in, Yuanbao decided to draw him into his camp and spoke bravely.

"Oh, you little chubby, your Brother Xiao Zheng is older than you. If there’s someone protecting, it’s Brother Xiao Zheng protecting you, how could it be you protecting him?"

Mu Shuangshuang reached out her hand, poked Yuanbao’s chubby face, and laughed.

"I don’t care, Yuanbao is going to protect everyone!"

Yuanbao’s face tensed, looking strong and determined.

Xue Zheng looked at Yuanbao, froze for a moment, then suddenly pulled a very faint smile at the corner of his mouth.

But he quickly put it away, and no one noticed.

"I’m going to cook, we’ll have dumplings for dinner, pork stuffing, quickly report how many you want to eat."

"I want eight, Little Zhi six, Xiao Han seven. Brother Xiao Zheng is older, but he’s skinnier than me, so eat seven."

Yuanbao voluntarily listed everyone’s dumpling count, perfectly matching the number Mu Shuangshuang had in mind.

Mu Shuangshuang nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright, you take care of Brother Xiao Zheng for me. He just arrived and doesn’t know anything, don’t bully him."

Mu Shuangshuang instructed Yuanbao and Little Zhi.

The two little children nodded repeatedly, watching Mu Shuangshuang head into the kitchen to work.

In the afternoon at the market, Yu Si Niang bought a pound of pure lean meat for thirteen cents, and a pound of five-flavor pork for sixteen cents.

The recent fluctuations in pork prices in town have become increasingly large; the price of five-flavor pork rose by one cent, lean meat dropped by one cent, and it seems like five-flavor pork will continue to rise.

Mu Shuangshuang felt she still had to raise pigs, so by next New Year, the family could slaughter them to eat.

The wild boar in the pigsty, with thick skin and rough meat, was fine being raised outside.

Entering the kitchen, Mu Shuangshuang cut half a pound of five-flavor pork, half a pound of lean meat, chopped them into mince, marinated them, started fermenting the dough, and rolled out the dumpling wrappers.

Fermenting the dough took some time, so Mu Shuangshuang tidied things up in the kitchen.

They had sent things to the town in the morning, and many things weren’t put back in place in the kitchen, looking extremely messy.

After tidying the kitchen, the dough was almost ready.

With the dough ready, the tasks ahead posed no difficult challenges for Mu Shuangshuang.

She worked busily, joyfully bustling around.

In the span of two cups of tea, she had prepared a table full of dumplings, kept half aside for dinner tonight, and the other half saved to eat for breakfast tomorrow.

...

...

On the other side of the third branch, Old Mu Family

Mr. Mu, Old Mrs. Mu, and Mu Xiangxiang returned to Er Gui Village well past nightfall; they had already eaten dinner, so there was no need to cook.

Old Mrs. Mu got off the ox cart and went straight to the second house to ask Mu Dazhong for the remaining money, but nobody from the second house had returned.

Then she went to the Fifth Mu Danian room, and even the door was locked, almost making Old Mrs. Mu die of anger.

Old Mrs. Mu was certain that one tael of silver must have been used up entirely.

Indeed, one tael of silver had been spent, with the second house using six hundred cents for new clothes for Mu Dazhong and Mrs. Lin.

The remaining four hundred cents were spent by Mu Dazhong on food, drinks, and entertainment with Gou Dan and Mu Qingqing, playing until the evening. After opening two guesthouses, less than twelve cents were left.

Renting a ox cart down was five cents, leaving seven cents for breakfast.

The second branch family considered their day complete and fulfilling.

Mu Danian had squandered his tael of silver in the brothel.

The following day, once the second branch and Mu Danian had sobered up, they felt a twinge of fear.

Returning like this, they were surely going to be scolded by Old Mrs. Mu.

The second branch family conspired amongst themselves, finally deciding to pretend to be miserable when they returned, claiming they had been robbed and beaten, spending an entire night walking to Er Gui Village.

Mu Danian, on the other hand, placed the blame on Chen Hong, alleging that Chen Hong swindled all his money.

Both households harbored their own thoughts.

Straight to Er Gui Village.

After the sun had risen by one-and-a-half hours, those who had wasted an entire afternoon plus night in town finally returned.

The second house family’s clothes had been torn by themselves, appearing tattered and worn. When they had left, their hair had been neat and clean, but now it was a mess.

As soon as they entered the courtyard, Mu Dazhong began wailing.

"Mother, your son is unfilial..." Mu Dazhong entered and kneeled on the ground, crying.

Old Mrs. Mu heard the crying, hastily rushed into the courtyard.

When she saw the second house’s posture, Old Mrs. Mu loudly scolded Mu Dazhong.

"You damned thing, wailing like someone died! The old lady is not dead yet, close your mouth!"

Mu Dazhong trembled, his heart tightened, but to avoid being scolded, he covered his face with tears and snot.

"Mother, I’m sorry to you, yesterday that one tael of silver was robbed..."

Before Mu Dazhong finished his sentence, Old Mrs. Mu rushed up and slapped him, making Mu Dazhong see stars.

"You lazy, wicked thing, daring to lie and deceive this old lady, you better clarify where that one tael of silver went today, or I’ll skin you alive."