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By the time he returned at noon, it was almost twelve o’clock, showing that the Xie Family was indeed a large clan. A casual chat with one household, blessings from an auntie in another, and three hours had passed!
Seeing that it was getting late, Zhang Shanni hurriedly prepared a meal of mixed grain dough soup with two seasonal green vegetables as today’s lunch.
Today was the seventh day since Xie Jingchen returned home. Due to the busy days arranging the wedding banquet, this was the first time he could help his mother with chores.
Firstly, the Xie family house was located at the foot of the mountain, close to the wild ridges. From time to time, creatures like weasels and wild boars would mistakenly intrude into the courtyard, either stealing chickens or destroying crops and walls. Each time he returned home, he would fix the surrounding walls thoroughly, ensuring the personal safety of his family members.
After all, everyone has their expertise. He served as a military guard, and his survival skills in the wilderness were top-notch. He was quite aware of what species were on the mountain. Thus, that afternoon, he was maintaining the walls on the mountain or setting up small hidden stakes to secure the safety of his home and occasionally catch some game, adding an extra dish to the family’s meals.
Then he went to the other side of the mountain to fetch various sizes of green bamboo. He had promised to make a simple bamboo water pipe for his young wife by hand. With only two days left before his departure, he was preoccupied and started working non-stop whenever he had the chance.
Seeing her husband busy, Zhang Shanni kept herself occupied too. Her husband had taken only a ten-day leave, and excluding the travel time, he could stay at most two more nights at home, so her time was also limited.
When Xie Jingchen returned home, he brought nothing but his military uniform and a backpack. The contents of the backpack were specialty grains and tonic medicinal herbs given by his colleagues from the military.
Speaking of which, the financial situation of the Old Xie Family had only gradually improved over the past two years. In previous years, the money was spent on his siblings’ weddings, dowries, or their children’s births, and there were joyful events every year, keeping savings low. Naturally, the most expensive expenditure was securing a spot at the Industrial and Agricultural University for Fifth two years ago, which drained all the money Zhou Xiuhua had!
Originally, that money had been saved by Zhou Xiuhua over several years specifically for the Third Son’s wedding, but in the end, it was spent on Fifth.
Because of this, after Fifth started school, Zhou Xiuhua allowed the Third Son to send only twenty yuan home each month and save the rest for himself, otherwise, as a mother, with one aid here and another concern there, the money would still not end up being used for the Third Son!
Fortunately, Xie Jingchen was family-oriented and capable. Eager to improve the living conditions of his family, no amount of money spent was too much for him, giving Xie Tiesheng the confidence to arrange a good start for several children in the family.
Speaking of which, each of the Xie children was outstanding. The Boss might seem to only handle household chores, but with Xie Tiesheng’s support in the village and Xie Jingchen’s efforts to secure odd jobs downtown or in the county through old military buddies, although his income couldn’t match that of the Fourth Family, it was not insignificant.
Most importantly, the accountant position in the village, which was clearly meant to be inherited by the Boss, made the Xu Family even more eager to cling to Son-in-law Xie Jingwei.
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