Rebirth: Back To Claim Husband And Wealth

Chapter 26

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When Chang Ying got back home, Mo Yue pulled her to the backyard excitedly. Lu Chen had taken her and Grandpa Lu aside after breakfast and told them of his plan to expand to a small poultry farm.

Grandpa Lu was already there marking out the yard and knocking small stakes into the ground to clearly demarcate the edges for the new chicken coop fence. His old face was flushed with energy. His turbid eyes were deeply squinted to see better.

The old man did not stop running back and forth, marking out points on the ground, before mumbling a few words about measurements, sizes, materials and so on. Then he would erase the old marks and make new ones.

All in all, Mo Yue and Chang Ying simpered on the sidelines and let the old man enjoy himself planning out the expanded chicken coop.

Mo Yue gently tugged her hand. Still holding her palm, she said, "Chang Ying, Lu Chen gave me 50 yuan this morning. Chang Ying, I..." she paused, trying to find the right words to continue.

Her expression faltered helplessly as she didn't know how to properly express her gratefulness to this young girl that had married her son.

Chang Ying's eyes softened and she squeezed the older woman's hand. "Mother, you don't have to say anything. We are family now."

Mo Yue shook her head and quickly wiped the moisture that gathered in her eyes. "It's because we are family...because you took us as your family too that I should thank you. Chang Ying, listen to me, you are a rare gem in this world. It's been difficult since you married in, I saw how much you could not cope. But you still persevered and you've brought home to our small family. Chang Ying, thank you."

Chang Ying shyly nodded. Mo Yue was so straightforward and frank, Chang Ying did not know how to respond.

Mo Yue suspended farm work for that day. The two women followed Grandpa Lu out later that morning.

Grandpa Lu was older. He walked a little slower and slightly hunched over and his vision was failing but the old man could still move through the backwoods of the village like a fish in water.

He led the two women with his handy machete to cut some wild bamboo and wood to build the coop's fence. Chang Ying followed around, or rather, stumbled around. In her previous life, she had struggled through hardship but it was clear that in and out, she was a city girl. She belonged to civilisation.

After stumbling around and nearly tripping over shrubs and creeping plants every five steps, Chang Ying scrapped her arm on a tree trunk. She sighed, a bit embarrassed at her clumsiness and just relegated herself to a tag-along. She could only help these two older people by offering an extra pair of hands to carry wood.

The three carried back their haul home in the late afternoon. Chang Ying held the smallest bundle of wood in her hands. There was no way her meagre strength could compare to the old man who had worked his whole life or a woman who did farm work every other day. Chang Ying shamelessly trudged behind them with a bundle that was barely a one-third of what Mo Yue held.

Just as they passed by Su Jiaojiao's family courtyard, the woman popped her head out if the gate with a bright smile.

"Father, look who came to visit me." Su Jiaojiao strutted out with a wide smile.

A short, chubby girl followed Su Jiaojiao out. The girl greeted Grandpa Lu respectfully. Grandpa Lu recognised her and amicably asked her how her parents were doing.

While this little rhetorical exchange was going on between the old man and the unfamiliar girl, Su Jiaojiao stared at the piles of wood the three were carrying. She made no effort to move and help out her in-laws, instead she looked at Chang Ying and smiled. Her mouth opened and her voice with the trademark lisp came out, "You have been working hard today. Chang Ying, are you okay? Are you used to this kind of work?