Xu Mumu was also quite helpless. If it weren’t for the fact that their siblings knew each other inside and out, if it were soone else and Li Caixia praised one while belittling another like this, how could that person be happy?
"Grandma, let help you move these grains into the storage house." Xu Mumu walked over as Xu Minghui had already tied up the grain bags.
"No need, we have so many strong n in our household; we don’t need a delicate girl like you handling this." Madam Chen waved her hand, thinking the lazy sons and grandsons should be the ones doing it.
"It’s no problem; I’m strong." Xu Mumu said with a smile, easily lifting two bags, leaving only two bags behind.
If her hands could hold more, Xu Mumu felt she could lift them all; the weight here was nothing compared to the force of a wild boar she encountered earlier.
"Mumu?!!" Li Caixia widened her eyes. Although she had heard much about her daughter’s strength, she thought it was just boasting; she didn’t expect her daughter to be this strong.
"Mom, what’s so surprising? My sister can even break a big cobblestone with one stomp." Xu Minghui rolled his eyes; his mom was worrying for no reason.
"I thought you were boasting all along, Mumu, how did you beco so strong?" Li Caixia clutched her heart, looking at her daughter’s petite fra that seed mismatched with her strength.
Madam Chen was also startled but quickly accepted it.
"I don’t know either; I got this strength after I fell into the water." Xu Mumu said with a smile.
"It’s surely because the gods saw that Mumu is blessed, so they granted her this strength." Before Xu Mumu could say much, Li Caixia had already helped her justify everything.
"When the day is free, I’ll go burn so incense at Qingyuan Temple." Madam Chen agreed with Li Caixia’s explanation.
With Xu Mumu’s help, Xu Minghui carried one bag, and Li Caixia took another, moving all the grains into the storage house in one trip.
Seeing the storage house filled with half a room of grains made Xu Mumu feel much more settled; these grains would be enough until the year-end distribution.
The next morning, Xu Mumu tidied up and left with Li Caixia to her maternal grandpa’s house.
Accompanying them were Xu Minglei, while Xu Minghui and Xu Hai needed to go to the fields to work.
Old Li’s family wasn’t far, just in the neighboring team.
To show proper respect, Li Caixia even bought over a pound of at and a packet of sugar.
These gifts for returning ho were considered quite generous. Xu Mumu walked towards the neighboring team, morizing the path as she went.
After about half an hour of walking, they finally arrived. The team where Old Li’s family was called Songziwan Team. This team felt like it was in the mountains, and to get to the county, one would have to go towards Xu Mumu’s team.
Following Li Caixia into a sowhat rundown house, which was even more dilapidated than the Xu Family’s house.
"Second sister is back, and Mumu and Minglei are here too, co in." Aunt Jiang Qiuyue warmly welcod Li Caixia and her two children. Previously, Xu Mumu and Li Caixia had referred her to a couple of city businesses. Qin Jie found Jiang Qiuyue’s craftsmanship excellent and recomnded her to a few friends.
So now, Jiang Qiuyue was making a small inco, and her household was doing much better.
She was very grateful to her younger sister-in-law and her niece, crediting them for these improvents.
"Auntie." Xu Mumu and Xu Minglei greeted politely.
Entering the courtyard, all of Old Li’s family was there: uncle Li Laijin, two cousins, a cousin sister, and a cousin brother.
Second uncle Li Laiyin, Aunt Feng Zhaodi, a cousin sister, and two cousin brothers.
There were so many people; indeed, the poorer they were, the more children they had. Xu Mumu felt sorry for her grandpa with so many kids.
Li Caixia took out the gifts she brought and ntioned Xu Mumu’s first-place result in the mid-term exams, which amazed everyone in Old Li’s family.
The eldest aunt’s family hadn’t arrived yet, so Xu Mumu was called over to her two cousin sisters.
"Mumu, you’re amazing to get the first place." Li Xiaoi looked at Xu Mumu with envy. Li Xiaoi was from the eldest branch, and Li Xiaoyu was from the second branch.
The Li Family was living a harder life than the Xu Family; among those who went to school, only one from each of the first and second branches attended. Being girls, schooling was out of the question for them.
Even the Li Family grandsons only graduated from the village elentary school. Thinking of further studies was out of the question; besides, the ones who did study didn’t have much talent for it, and now they all worked in the fields.
"Just lucky," Xu Mumu smiled. She didn’t say much more. Saying anything further might have been seen as showing off, and with more thoughtful minds, who knows what they would think, although it was true her mom had a bit of a showing-off intention coming back ho.
"Mumu, what do they teach in high school?" Li Xiaoyu asked curiously, also casting a strange glance at Xu Mumu. Xu Mumu was taught by her aunt directly; judging by her character, wasn’t this the ti to boast? Didn’t see how triumphant her aunt looked?
Xu Mumu briefly explained the high school subjects; these two girls missed the chance to study due to family circumstances.
Xu Mumu also shared so amusing stories from school, which made the two young girls all the more curious and longing for school, though they would never have the chance to study.
As for Xu Minglei, his side was becoming more lively as he bragged about how amazing his sister was to his cousins.
The cousins twitched their lips in response—despite having not seen each other for a while, his boasting skills were improving as he almost elevated his sister to an unreachable status.
Looking at their eloquent aunt on that side and then at the similarly-gifted Xu Minglei, indeed related by blood; their aunt’s genes were strong.
As they engaged in lively conversation, Xu Mumu’s eldest aunt arrived. Li Caiyun was older than the eldest uncle, and due to many years of toil, she appeared much older than Li Caixia.
Accompanying her was cousin Su Xiu, who was especially dressed up today, wearing new clothes. Su Xiu was a year older than Xu Mumu; although still quite skinny, she was growing in the right places and, had she not been so thin, would be considered a curvaceous beauty.
"Cousin." Xu Mumu greeted calmly. Su Xiu was rather proud and considered quite pretty.
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