Farm Girl's Manor

As the day of their return to Mo Family Village from the capital drew near, the weather became increasingly cold. A few days ago, frost had yellowed the small bok choy in the yard, and Mo Yan, worried about the cold on the road, went to the shop and bought a good amount of cotton back home, planning to make a new set of cotton clothes and pants for everyone in the family, including Lizhong and Liyan.

On this day, when the weather was nice, Mo Yan worked on the cotton clothes in the yard, and Xin Er watched intently, occasionally helping to pad the cotton.

Liyan also brought over a chair and sat down with the sisters. Under Mo Yan’s guidance, she started to make cotton clothes for their grandfather and herself.

After finishing her calligraphy, Zhenzhen came over to join in the fun. The cotton, warmed and softened by the sun, was maneuvered by her hands into various shapes, and surprisingly, the little cats and dogs she formed looked quite realistic.

"Big sister, this cotton is so white, so soft. Clothes made from it will definitely be warm. Our previous cotton clothes were not only stiff but also had a musty smell!"

Zhenzhen recalled the old, un-warm cotton clothes she used to wear, her eyes filled with anticipation for the new cotton clothes.

While sewing the cotton clothes, Mo Yan felt a twinge of sadness upon hearing this. "Cotton clothes get like that after being worn for a long time. In the future, our family will make new ones every year!"

During those years in Mo Family Village, they ate poorly and dressed even worse. Cotton was so expensive, not to mention making new clothes every year; the original owner was thirteen and had never worn new cotton clothes. Even if they were old, adults altered them for the children to wear, or directly took the cotton out of unwearable clothes to make new ones. After being altered year after year, how could the cotton still be soft and warm?

"Sister, with such good new cotton clothes, we won’t have cold hands and feet anymore, will we?"

Liyan’s words brought back painful memories for Xin Er. Each winter, without good cotton clothes, the three siblings could only shiver and huddle together in bed. Yet even then, during the coldest days, they would still get frostbite; redness and bleeding were the lesser issues. The worst were the rotting backs of their hands, itchy and painful day and night, and the family was too poor to afford ointment, only hoping for spring to come sooner.

Now things were much better. They had food and drink, and could even afford such expensive cotton. This was the first time she had new cotton clothes!

"Our cotton clothes are thick; wearing them, we will definitely not be cold! Once the cotton clothes are ready, I’ll make you gloves and cotton socks so you won’t get frostbite anymore."

Mo Yan had these memories in her mind, and she could hardly believe how the siblings had survived those years!

"Sister Yan, I know what cotton socks are, but what are gloves? Are they like sleeves?"

Liyan, catching a new term, couldn’t help asking curiously.

Mo Yan paused, running through the original owner’s memories in her mind, only to realize there were no gloves here, just sleeves that were open at both ends where hands could be inserted.

"They’re similar to sleeves, also worn on the hands to protect from the wind and keep warm."

Liyan, upon hearing this, wasn’t too interested and lowered her head to continue sewing the cotton clothes.

Zhenzhen, playing with the cotton, suddenly sighed like an adult, "Our life is so good now, it would be even better if we didn’t have to go back to Mo Family Village!"

Mo Yan paused her work and, rubbing his little head, mimicked his tone, "As long as we are together as a family, isn’t it the same wherever we are?"

Unfortunately, her voice lacked the softness of a child’s and sounded awkward, which made Xin Er and the others burst into laughter, and in the end, Mo Yan couldn’t help but join in the laughter.

In the room, Xiao Ruiyuan, who was reading a book while leaning against the bed, suddenly found the content somewhat tedious upon hearing the laughter outside. He decisively got up, put on his shoes, and walked out.

Zhenzhen was facing the door and was the first to see Xiao Ruiyuan come out, so she took the initiative to greet him, "Big brother, you’ve come out? Come and sit here!"

Saying this, she stood up and moved a chair to an open space, then ran over to help Xiao Ruiyuan.

Xiao Ruiyuan nodded slightly, looking into Zhenzhen’s eyes with a hint of gentleness. Although his wound was no longer a big problem and careful movement did not affect his usual activities, he did not refuse Zhenzhen’s kindness.

Zhenzhen did not mind his aloofness; on the contrary, he quite liked this seemingly cold big brother. This big brother was well-learned; whenever he came across something he didn’t understand in a book, as long as he asked big brother, he knew all and would patiently explain.

Mo Yan did find it strange; he had been at her house for about four or five days and usually, apart from eating and using the bathroom, he hardly ever left his room. Surprisingly, today he was willing to come out.

When Xiao Ruiyuan met her gaze, he inadvertently thought of that night’s incident, his face involuntarily blushing slightly as he could not help but ask, "Are you moving away?"

Mo Yan looked at him strangely again. What was with him today, acting so out of character?

Zhenzhen didn’t find anything strange and spoke before her sister could, "Big brother, we fled from the south and now that the battle is over, we’ve been ordered to return to our original place, the government’s decree has been issued!"

Xiao Ruiyuan frowned slightly, remaining silent, his icy expression revealing nothing of his thoughts.

Zhenzhen didn’t care whether he was willing to listen, and went on saying, "Our home is fine, when the time comes, we’ll prepare more food to take along, and now we have thick cotton clothes, we won’t starve or freeze on the road. But those refugees in the north of the city are pitiful—it’s hunger and frost all the way for them, and who knows if they can arrive home safely!"

Toward the end, he sighed with compassion for the world.

Hearing this, Xiao Ruiyuan’s brows furrowed even tighter.

Mo Yan was astounded; wasn’t this what she had just said? How did this child hear it?

Ever since the government decree was issued, she had been worried about this matter. There were so many elderly and frail in the refugee camp, and many of them didn’t even have clothes to protect against the cold; it was indeed uncertain whether they could return home safely. But now, she was powerless to solve this problem, hence during the cotton purchase, she had muttered about it helplessly and unexpectedly, Zhenzhen had taken it to heart.

Xiao Ruiyuan’s brow tightened and then relaxed, tightened and relaxed again; in the end, he said nothing but made a decision in his heart.

That night, when everyone in the house had settled down, suddenly outside the yard came two catcalls followed by four or five shadows deftly flipping over the yard wall, elegantly landing inside the yard.

Xiao Ruiyuan walked out of the house silently, not disturbing anyone.

Seeing him, the shadows uniformly knelt down on one knee, making no sound at all.

Xiao Ruiyuan, with an expressionless face, looked at them as if disdaining their late arrival, "Take out all the silver coins you have on you!"

The kneeling men appeared somewhat dumbfounded, but then hurriedly complied, digging out all the silver coins they had and respectfully handed them to their master.

Xiao Ruiyuan took the silver notes and silver, seeing it was so little, the disdain in his eyes grew more pronounced, yet he said nothing more. He personally placed them on the dining table in the main hall. Just as he was about to turn and leave, he paused, then placed his treasured sword, which had accompanied him for many years, on top of the stack of silver notes...