Transmigrating with a Five Million Dollar Retirement Life

Chapter 30 The Inescapable Pressure to Marry

When Song Jiaojiao and her companion returned home, they didn't say anything more and went to wash up and rest.

The next day, when Song Jiaojiao woke up, she didn't see Wang Hefan anymore; he'd probably gone to the village chief's house early. Mu Qing and Mu Xue were feeding the chickens and rabbits, respectively. Under the sisters' care, the rabbits were growing very quickly, and it wouldn't be long before they could eat rabbit meat.

Breakfast was lean meat porridge made by Mu Qing, along with some steamed taro. After breakfast, Song Jiaojiao took the cloth and pastries and went out.

When we arrived at Aunt Lin's house, she had just taken out the washed clothes to hang them out to dry.

"Oh, Jiaojiao is here! Come in and sit down, I'll get you some water." Aunt Lin warmly pulled Song Jiaojiao into the yard and went to get some water.

Song Jiaojiao put down her basket and called out to Aunt Lin, "Auntie, don't bother with this, I need to talk to you."

Aunt Lin brought out a bowl of water and looked at Song Jiaojiao, saying, "No matter how big the problem is, you still need to drink water."

Song Jiaojiao took the water, took a sip, and found it sweet, with sugar added. "Auntie, I'm troubling you again. I bought some fabric in town yesterday and would like to ask you to make a few quilts for me. I'll pay the same price as last time. There's no rush this time. You can make them whenever you have time, Auntie."

When Aunt Lin saw the fabric Song Jiaojiao brought, she asked, "Are you going to make all of this into duvet covers?"

Song Jiaojiao waved to Aunt Lin and said softly, "No, I also need to trouble you to make me some...some menstrual pads. I'm not very good at making them. I'm thinking that Muqing is not young anymore and will be getting her period soon, so it's better to prepare early so that I won't be caught off guard later."

Hearing Song Jiaojiao's words, Aunt Lin smiled and said, "Oh, it's no big deal. I promise I'll make it for you. I'll finish making the menstrual belt first, and then I'll make the quilt cover."

"Okay, whatever you say, Auntie. Here are some pastries I bought. I brought some for you to try." Song Jiaojiao took out the pastries and handed them to Aunt Lin.

Aunt Lin immediately waved her hand, "No, no, this won't do. You can take it back for Da Ya and Er Ya to eat. Pastries are so expensive. If I accept it, your third uncle will scold me."

"Auntie, listen to me, this isn't for you. It's for my third uncle to thank him for what happened last time. You probably won't refuse, and I don't have much else to give, so I just bought some pastries," Song Jiaojiao said softly.

"Well, alright then, I'll accept it on behalf of your third uncle. It was wrong of the old Wang family to begin with, and as the clan head, your third uncle should have done it. Now that's good, no one will be able to do such despicable things under the guise of family anymore."

Aunt Lin looked at the pastries in her hand and comforted her. She thought about how difficult things had been for Song Jiaojiao's family; Wang Chi was gone, and there was no man to support them.

Aunt Lin suddenly remembered something and asked Song Jiaojiao with a smile, "Jiaojiao, you see, there's no man in your house, so it's inconvenient to do anything. Have you ever thought about finding someone else?"

Upon hearing Aunt Lin's words, Song Jiaojiao exclaimed, "I already have three kids, how come I still can't escape the fate of being pressured to get married?"

"Auntie, to be honest, Wang Chi just passed away. Although I've severed ties with the Wang family, I will still keep vigil for Wang Chi for three years. We'll talk about the rest later."

Song Jiaojiao lowered her head and spoke softly, rubbing her eyes from time to time. Aunt Lin looked at Song Jiaojiao like this and didn't say much. She remembered that it was before Wang Chi went to join the army. He treated Song Jiaojiao incredibly well. Everyone in the surrounding villages envied Song Jiaojiao. Even she would sometimes compare her to her husband.

"Jiaojiao, you're a good girl. Let's not talk about these things. Have lunch here with your aunt. You sit down, and I'll go kill a chicken," Aunt Lin quickly changed the subject.

"Auntie, don't bother anymore. I'm worried about leaving the child home alone. It's getting late, I should head back now," Song Jiaojiao quickly said, pulling at Aunt Lin's arm.

"Alright, alright, I won't keep you any longer. The Wang family has all returned these past two days. Go back and keep an eye on things so you don't get bullied. If anything happens, just say so. Don't be afraid to bother them." Aunt Lin patted Song Jiaojiao on the shoulder and said.

These past few days, Old Wang's house has been quite high-profile. Ever since Wang Dashan returned to the village by horse-drawn carriage, the house has been filled with the aroma of meat all day long. People who used to be away at this time of year are not going out this year.

"Okay, Auntie, I know. I'll definitely come to you again if anything happens." After saying that, Song Jiaojiao carried her basket home. She had originally planned to go to the mountains, but thinking about what Aunt Lin had said, she was still worried. She had bought a lot of things at home yesterday, and it wouldn't be good if only the two sisters were at home.

As soon as they arrived outside the courtyard, they saw Wang Dashan's youngest son loitering around the gate. When he saw Song Jiaojiao return, he quickly ran away.

Song Jiaojiao glanced at him but didn't call out to him. She opened the courtyard gate and went inside. She saw that Mu Qing and Mu Xue were not at home; they were probably out cutting grass for the rabbits.

Song Jiaojiao put down her basket and went to cook. While no one was home, she brought back a lot of green vegetables, and the loofah in her space was also ready to eat.

First, I steamed the rice, adding chestnuts this time. Thinking about the fatty pork I bought yesterday, I took it out and rendered the fat. The rendered pork cracklings, sprinkled with salt, are also a delicious dish.

The lard had just been rendered when Mu Qing and Mu Xue returned.

Mu Xue rushed to the kitchen. "It smells so good, it's pork cracklings."

Seeing Mu Xue staring at the pork cracklings, Song Jiaojiao shook her head helplessly, "Little glutton is back. What a coincidence! I just finished rendering them and you're already home."

"That means it shows that Mother and I are on the same wavelength," Mu Xue said, clinging to Song Jiaojiao's arm affectionately.

"Alright, alright, if you shake it any more the pork cracklings will spill out."

Mu Xue stuck out her tongue, then took the fried pork cracklings from Song Jiaojiao's hand and ran out, saying, "Mom, I'll take it out and eat it with my sister."

"Slow down, don't break the bowl!" Song Jiaojiao called out to the flustered Mu Xue.

"I know, Mother, don't worry." Mu Xue's voice came from outside the courtyard.

After Song Jiaojiao put the oil away, she stir-fried some loofah and made a loofah and pork slice soup.

After lunch, the group took out the quilts they had sewn last time and aired them out. They also packed up the dried wood ear mushrooms and peeled all the remaining chestnuts, planning to cook them all in a couple of days.

Actually, Song Jiaojiao really wanted to eat roasted chestnuts, but she couldn't find any pebbles for roasting them. If she roasted them like this, it would be difficult to control the temperature, so she decided to wait until next year.

Before they knew it, most of the time had passed. The village chief and Wang Hefan had returned with their business. Everything that needed to be ordered had been ordered and was just waiting to be delivered tomorrow. Before that, the village chief needed to find someone to dig out the foundation.

Song Jiaojiao thought she had to order the beds and wardrobes first, otherwise it would be too late, since she needed six beds and wardrobes. Tomorrow she would ask the village chief if there was a carpenter in the village, and see if he knew how to make wardrobes. She also needed to make some clothes racks, because folding clothes was not an option; they had to be hung up for convenience.