Chapter Thirty-One: The Rubber Emerges

  There are few words left, I can't open my eyes anymore, sleep for now and continue writing tomorrow.

  After returning from the grain store, Qiuju drank a large glass of boiled water as soon as she entered the house, and then let out a sigh, wiping the sweat on her forehead with her sleeve. "Miss..." She pushed open the door to the east room, which was quiet.

  "Where has everyone gone?" Chuyu looked around and then returned to the yard, putting away the corn flour she had just bought, and walked towards the backyard.

  Zhen Shining was sitting in front of the stove, sweating profusely as she stirred a large pot of semi-transparent gelatinous liquid. Jixiao sat at the edge of the stove, panting and operating the bellows, while keeping an eye on Jianwen and Jianwu who were laughing and peeling sunflower seeds by the door.

  In the winter, there was no snack, so Zhen Shiniang specially planted many sunflowers around the courtyard to satisfy her children's cravings. More than ten days ago, she cut them down and threw them onto the roof to dry in the sun. They were completely dry now. Jian Wu held a plate-sized sunflower head in his hands, rubbed it gently with his small hands, and the layer of dried yellow petals on top fell off to the ground. Then, starting from the edge, he began to pull out the seeds one by one. When he pulled out a small space, he started rubbing again with his small hands. Soon, a small mountain-like pile of sunflower seeds appeared in the winnowing basket at his feet. Occasionally, he would pick up two seeds that had been peeled and throw them into his mouth, savoring the taste as he chewed, smacking his lips, "Pumpkin seeds are really delicious!"

  "Hmm..." Zhen Shi Nang smiled and nodded, encouragingly, "It's more fragrant when it's stir-fried. Today, Wen Ge and Wu Ge peeled all the kohlrabi heads. Tonight, I'll get Qiu Ju to stir-fry them for you to eat."

  "Oh... oh... we have ripe melons to eat! We have ripe melons to eat!" Jian Wu and Jian Wen exclaimed excitedly, "Don't worry, mother, these will definitely be peeled before nightfall!" After shouting for a while, the two of them lowered their heads and scrubbed hard again.

  The magpie looked at Zhen Shiniang and muttered in a low voice, "...... the child is so young, Miss can bear it." Seeing Jian Wu and Jian Wen working hard every day like a little adult, her family's Long River felt heartbroken, secretly letting her persuade Zhen Shiniang not to be so stubborn, and then nodded slightly at Shen Zhongjie, asking him to take the child away. Back in General's Mansion, Jianwen and Jianwu would rather enjoy blessings than stay here.

  Moreover, without the burden of children, Zhen Shiniang can also relax a lot, hurry up and take care of her body.

  Zhen Shining smiled slightly, "...... Aren't they very happy?"

  A great man from past life once said: Labour is most glorious!

  She was destined to divorce Shen Zhongqiu, and being born into a single-parent family, she hoped that Jian Wujianwen would learn to be optimistic from a young age, learn to face everything strongly, and not become self-pitying and lose the happiness he should have had just because he didn't have a father.

  "Ah, Autumn Chrysanthemum!" Just then, Autumn Chrysanthemum pushed open the door and walked in, calling out in a gentle and sweet voice.

  "Ah..." Qiu Ju bent down and patted Jian Wen and Jian Wu's heads, "Peeling melon seeds?" She also reminded them, "If you're tired, take a break, I'll peel the rest after dinner."

  "Not tired at all!" Jian Wu and Jian Wen shook their heads simultaneously. "Mother said that after peeling these, you'll have to stir-fry them for dinner."

  "Alright, I'll cook for you after I finish eating." Hearing that it was Zhen Shi Niang's order, Qiu Ju smiled and responded. She raised her head to see Zhen Shi Niang sitting in front of the stove, sweating profusely as she cooked donkey hide gelatin, and was startled. "...Miss, didn't you just cook a pot yesterday? Why are you cooking again?" She pitied Zhen Shi Niang and took out the only clean handkerchief from her pocket to wipe away her sweat.

  Stewing donkey hide is the most exhausting, and neither she nor Xique could help with it. Every time they stewed it, Zhen Shiniang would be so tired that she couldn't get out of bed for several days. How could she stand such torture?

  "The young lady saw the general buying so much firewood back, afraid that it would be moved away and not burned!" Ji Kuai dissatisfiedly muttered.

  She also advised for half a day, but her mistress wouldn't listen. She insisted on stubbornly supporting her weak body to make donkey hide gelatin. In the past, she could still help stir the pot and filter the liquid, but now that she's six months pregnant, her belly is getting bigger by the day, and all she can do is sit here fanning the windbox, watching as Zhen Shiniang works anxiously with sweat dripping down her face.

  Although Qiu Ju has strength, she is too young and can't do this kind of work at all.

  Hearing the magpie's discontent, Zhen Shiniang let out a soft sigh.

  If possible, she didn't want it this way either.

  But if they don't save up some money before being driven out of their ancestral home, it's likely that the mother and daughter will soon have to beg on the streets.

  She used to rely on having a house and a lotus pond, even if she would go hungry in the winter, but as soon as spring arrived, there would be food, and even if things were tough, there was still a place to live that could shield her from wind and rain. She knew clearly that the day when she would be driven out of her ancestral home would come sooner or later, and she had long planned to save money to open a pharmacy, but since things hadn't reached a critical point yet, she just drifted along.

  It wasn't until Shen Zhongjie reappeared at the ancestral mansion that day that she realized things had come to a head, and she couldn't even scrape together one or two silver coins on her own.

  Not to mention opening a pharmacy, they can't even rent three thatched cottages.

  She recalled Shen Zhong's words, that even if he divorced her, she would not be allowed to remarry. Zhen Shiniang's heart sank to the bottom of the valley. In her heart, it was a thousand times difficult, but Zhen Shiniang did not want the children to experience the hardships of this world too early. She stirred the donkey hide glue without changing her expression and asked Qiuju, "Has the corn flour been bought back?"