CHAPTER 453: 453: SLEPT PRETTY WELL.

Xu Xiuxiu had slept quite well that night and when she woke up in the morning, the sun was already high in the sky. Although it hadn’t snowed, the cold was still biting, and the absence of Song Yuanhuan, her human furnace, made the bed feel noticeably chilly. After waking up, Xiuxiu was pleased to find that her slight cold from the day before had finally subsided. She was secretly delighted that she wouldn’t have to drag her cold from this year into the next—honestly, being sick across two years would have been incredibly unlucky.

With that thought, and having enjoyed her bit of mirth, Xiuxiu naturally didn’t stay in bed any longer. After all, she was in her marital home and, as a daughter-in-law, it was acceptable to sleep in once in a while. But even if it was acceptable, she couldn’t indulge in sleeping until noon.

However, by the time Xu Xiuxiu had dressed and stepped out of the room, her three children were already making a ruckus around her brother-in-law Song Yuanming in the courtyard. She didn’t know how Yuanming managed it, but he had somehow strung up several icicles for the children to play with. There were her three kids plus Zhao Ziqi from the Wei Dafang household, and the four children’s noisy energy contributed to the festive atmosphere in the house—it truly felt like the New Year was approaching.

The children played in the courtyard, while Mrs. Song and Wei Dafang were busy with preparations. With the New Year festivities close at hand, there wasn’t much housework left undone. Dafang wasn’t as busy but had clearly woken up earlier than Xiuxiu, and was already starting to prepare the meatballs for frying that were traditional for the New Year. She was efficiently preparing ingredients in the main room of the house.

Upon seeing this, Xu Xiuxiu felt somewhat embarrassed.

Truly, without comparison, there would be no harm done. Xiuxiu always thought she was a pretty good person and a decent daughter-in-law, but when compared to the capable and virtuous Wei Dafang, she suddenly felt that she wasn’t quite up to the mark as a daughter-in-law.

"Sister-in-law, you’re up? Did you sleep well last night? Feeling better?" Wei Dafang greeted Xiuxiu with a smile when she saw her up and about, "It’s cold in the house, make sure you wear extra layers!"

"I slept really well, I was tired from the ride and a bit under the weather, so I ended up sleeping in a little. I’m sure you find it funny," Xiuxiu replied with a smile, secretly resenting Song Yuanhuan for not waking her up—he was an adult and still slept in later than the children, how embarrassing!

"Why would I find that funny? If you’re not feeling well, getting more sleep can help you recover faster!" Wei Dafang said with a laugh.

With Dafang being so understanding, Xiuxiu naturally couldn’t say much else. Instead, she watched her making the meatballs and asked, "Big sister-in-law, are you preparing meatballs for frying for the New Year?" Xiuxiu knew about these dishes from past years and would occasionally help out, so she was somewhat familiar with the process.

"Yes!" Wei Dafang nodded with a smile, "Mom said your cooking is good, and you’re skilled at making these kinds of things. Once I’m done preparing, you can be in charge of frying them, and I’ll assist you." Wei Dafang said this while seeking Xiuxiu’s opinion.

"Sure! But just to be clear, my cooking skills are just average, Mom is just flattering me!" Xu Xiuxiu modestly responded. Since they were sisters-in-law, and Wei Dafang put it so nicely, it wouldn’t be right for her to refuse. Nor would it be polite to boast, so Xiuxiu agreed while maintaining a good dose of humility.

"Then you should go have some breakfast first! I’ve got some porridge warming up for you in the pot. The sides are some radishes and sweet potato stems I pickled a while back. Try them and see how they taste!" Wei Dafang stopped Xiuxiu as she offered to help, insisting that she eat first.

"Well, I’ll just boldly take on the role of the lazy one then!" Xiuxiu didn’t insist on helping; instead, she said with a laugh as if joking.

"What’s this about slacking off? You’re just joking around, sister-in-law." Wei Dafang also joined in with a laugh, it seemed that the relationship between the co-sisters-in-law was quite harmonious.

Mrs. Song had just selected some beans in the outer courtyard, planning to make tofu in the next few days for the New Year’s celebration and also to make some fermented bean curd on the side. When she entered the main house, she saw Xu Xiuxiu and Wei Dafang talking: "Xiuxiu, you’re up, have you had breakfast? If not, go eat something quickly, your sister-in-law has kept some porridge warm for you in the pot!" Mrs. Song urged Xu Xiuxiu with concern, fearing that if Xu Xiuxiu ate late, she might get hungry.

"Alright!" Xu Xiuxiu smiled and nodded, then went into the kitchen and hastily drank some plain porridge to fill her stomach.

Wei Dafang was very efficient in her work. As soon as Xu Xiuxiu finished her breakfast, Wei Dafang cleaned up the kitchen, preparing for frying meatballs later. She had already prepared the ingredients and types of meatballs outside, and upon seeing this, Xu Xiuxiu simply lit the fire, poured some oil into the pan, and waited for the oil to heat up for frying.

"Since you’ve already heated the pot, go ahead and fry them!" When Wei Dafang came in with meatballs of various types, she saw that Xu Xiuxiu had already neatly arranged everything and couldn’t help but look at Xu Xiuxiu with newfound respect, as she had always thought that this sister-in-law would be the type to not even touch household chores.

"Yeah! I’ll need to trouble you to help me watch the fire and also to find me the household strainer, sister-in-law." Xu Xiuxiu had just returned home and was unfamiliar with the placement of many things in the kitchen, so she could only trouble Wei Dafang.

"Sure, I’ll get you the strainer right now." Wei Dafang went to fetch the strainer with a smile.

While Xu Xiuxiu and Wei Dafang were busy frying meatballs in the kitchen, the rich aroma kept wafting out. The children in the house would also peek into the kitchen from time to time to check on the situation, and each would have their little mouths greased up before continuing to run around and play in the courtyard.

"It’s really better when the house is full of people! Since you all have returned, it feels so much livelier!" As Wei Dafang glanced out the kitchen window into the courtyard and saw the children playing outside, she couldn’t help but sigh.

"Having more people does make it livelier, but you have no idea how exhausting it is to look after those three kids." Xu Xiuxiu replied while checking the degree of doneness of the meatballs frying in the oil.

"A bit of tiredness is good for you." Wei Dafang responded with a contented expression, after all, in the countryside the belief that "more children bring more blessings" was still prevalent. Even with the implementation of family planning policies, there were not a few who still gave birth secretly, letting their children become unregistered to continue having more kids.

"If you like children so much, then hurry up and have a few more with your brother!" Xu Xiuxiu teased.

"We’ll see how it goes!" Wei Dafang was slightly shy, then responded with a smile and quickly changed the subject.

Inside the kitchen, Xu Xiuxiu and others were busy, and the children outside were also having a great time. It’s often said that it’s easiest for children to make friends with one another, and sure enough, although Zhao Ziqi wasn’t very talkative, she still played with Little Baby and Little Moon. Song Chengguang, being slightly older, watched over his younger siblings understandingly, while Song Tianxin, having nothing to do and being quite different in age and temperament from the kids, naturally didn’t play with them and simply sat at the doorway of the main house leisurely enjoying the sunshine.