Chapter 243 - 243. Homesick
“I miss home.”
Su Qing told the truth and walked down the hall with the letter. Sitting in the official’s seat was quite tiring. The table was too high, and she was not that tall. It was very tiring to write on the table.
“Home?”
Ji Shuisheng raised his eyebrows. This was the first time he had heard Su Qing mention her family. Su Qing hesitated momentarily and decided not to tell him about her reunion with the Su family. She changed the topic.
“Are you done?”
“I was just about to go out. It would be best if you rested early. I won’t be coming back tonight.”
Ji Shuisheng nodded. He was destined not to sleep tonight. He still had to go out and monitor the three suspicious soldiers.
“Be careful.”
Su Qing nodded and whispered. Ji Shuisheng looked at her intensely and turned to leave. The conversation between them felt like they had been an old couple for many years.
Su Qing had been standing at the entrance of the government office the entire time. She only returned to the backyard after Ji Shuisheng had left. She did not give the letter to Ji Shuisheng.
Su Qing returned to the backyard. Xiaoying and Godmother’s voices came from inside the house. Their figures were reflected on the paper window. It was obvious that Godmother was still busy with her work.
Su Qing walked into the house. Xiaoying heard the sound and ran out of the house.
“Sister, you must be hungry. We’ve prepared dinner.”
Madam Li prepared tonight’s dinner. There was a stove and a big pot in the government office, so there was no need to fight for the pot with the villagers of Peach Blossom Cove. Because everyone lived separately, the food was distributed according to the population of each family, and they no longer ate from the big pot.
The villagers of Peach Blossom Cove had four pots in total, but there were 20 to 30 families. They had to line up when cooking, or two families would discuss and cook together.
Madam Li had cooked refined rice porridge tonight. When it was cooked well enough, a layer of porridge oil floated on top of the porridge. The rice had already bloomed and tasted sweet. Drinking a bowl of hot porridge on a cold day would warm one’s entire body.
“Su Qing must be tired!”
Madame Li put down her work and looked at Su Qing gently.
“I’m not tired.”
Su Qing shook his head and took the hot towel from Xiaoying to wipe her face and hands. Xiaoying was now very good at taking care of people. She took the towel from Su Qing and scooped porridge for her. There was even an egg hidden in the porridge.
She had found this egg under the cabinet in the back kitchen of the government office. It was probably because the county magistrate’s family had not cleaned it up when they escaped. She had found three eggs in total. She gave one to her godmother, one to her grandfather, and the last one to Sister Su Qing.
“Sister Su Qing, eat it while it’s hot.”
Xiaoying hissed as she placed the rough porcelain bowl on the table. Her fingertips were red from the heat. She pinched her ears to cool her hands.
“Are you guys done eating?”
Su Qing saw that Xiaoying had only filled a bowl and asked her. Xiaoying nodded,
“Big brother was going out to do something, so we ate first.”
“Alright.”
Since they had already finished eating, Su Qing gave in. She put on her slippers and sat on the brick bed. It was warm and comfortable to sit on.
Madam Li began to work with flying needles and running lines again. Those Tartan soldiers were too tall, and their cotton coats had to be removed and shrunk again before they could be worn.
At the head of the Kang was a stack of well-pasted shoes pressed with a heavy object. A Tartan soldier’s cotton-padded jacket could be changed into a cotton-padded jacket and two pairs of cotton-padded shoes. This way, the shoes would be very flat after they dried.
Su Qing sipped the hot porridge and felt the warmth travel down her throat to her stomach. Her period was coming soon, and her lower abdomen was cold. Drinking this hot porridge made her feel much better.
The spoon scooped up a white and fat egg. Su Qing looked at the egg in the spoon. She hadn’t eaten an egg for a long time. She was drooling when she smelled the fragrance of the egg.
“Where did you get it?”
Su Qing asked Ji Xiaoying. They didn’t have such good things in their team. There was almost no place to buy food in the city. There was no sign of an old hen. Where did Xiaoying find the eggs?
“I found it in the kitchen cabinet. I guess they forgot to take it away.”
Xiaoying sat across from Su Qing, her hands supporting her chin as she looked at her with a smile. Since she didn’t have to wander the streets and wasn’t afraid of meeting bad people again, Xiaoying had also returned to her female attire. She wore the pink dress her grandfather had given her, making her look playful and cute.
“Has Godmother eaten?”
Su Qing asked Madam Li first. Madam Li smiled and nodded.
“Godmother has already eaten. Hurry up and eat.”
“What about you?”
Su Qing then looked at Xiaoying, who was swallowing her saliva. Xiaoying was afraid Sister Su Qing wouldn’t eat it, so she quickly nodded.
“I ate with my godmother. Sister Su Qing, hurry up and eat. I’ll boil water for you to soak your feet.”
After Xiaoying finished speaking, she jumped off the ground and ran out as if she feared that Su Qing would catch her.
Su Qing looked up at Xiaoying’s back. She didn’t know how to lie and didn’t dare to look at anyone when she was lying.
Su Qing didn’t eat the egg and finished all the porridge. On the way, Xiao Qi always made her dumplings, boiled eggs, and steamed rice, and in any case, she made all the food she stole from Jiren Hall for her.
There were also steamed buns. Whenever her stomach grumbled, the considerate Xiao Qi would secretly deliver the steamed buns to her hands so she did not lack too much nutrition. She had never had the chance to take out the steamed buns she bought in Luo City.
Just as Su Qing’s thoughts moved, Xiao Qi knew. Her two chubby hands supported her cheeks, and she shook her little feet. She smiled sweetly.
“Master, can 1 come out and accompany you? It’s so lonely in the system!”
Xiao Qi took advantage of its Master’s happiness to bring up the idea it had thought about for a long time. Its Master’s life was colorful, and it wanted to accompany its Master to war.
“Let’s find an opportunity!”
Su Qing didn’t refuse, but she also didn’t let Xiao Qi come out now. If she suddenly appeared, it would scare everyone.
“Thank you, Master. Xiao Qi is so happy!”
Master’s promise was worth a thousand pieces of gold. This was already considered as Master agreeing to it! Although Master didn’t agree to it immediately, Xiao Qi danced happily in the system.
Su Qing took the empty bowl out and saw Xiaoying carrying a bucket of water and pouring it into the big pot with great effort. The fire in the stove was dancing, causing Xiaoying’s face to turn red.
“Big sister.”
Seeing Su Qing come out, Xiaoying smiled and called out to her,
“It’ll be done soon. Go in and rest first!”
“You eat it.”
Su Qing brought the egg to her mouth.
“Sister, you’re so tired every day.”
How could Xiaoying bear to eat it? She put the egg into Su Qing’s mouth.
Su Qing pushed Xiaoying’s hand away with a dark face and ordered, “Eat.”
“We’ll split it in half. If you don’t eat it, I won’t eat it either.”
Xiaoying saw that her sister had lost her temper. She looked at her with a smile. Her bright eyes rolled around, and she thought of a good compromise. She broke the egg into two halves and handed half to her sister’s mouth.
Su Qing glanced at Xiaoying with an impatient expression. Xiaoying was so scared that she quickly retracted her hand. Sister Su Qing hated sticky people the most.
Su Qing saw that Xiaoying had obediently eaten the egg, so she turned around and entered the house expressionlessly. She made a cotton coat with her godmother. Time passed, and the night grew darker. Madam Li was so sleepy that she kept yawning.
“You guys go to sleep!”
Su Qing blew out the lamp and said to Godmother and Xiaoying.
Tonight was destined to be a night of unrest. She wanted to go out and take a walk..