Chapter 185: Chapter 184: Visiting the Grave

“I dreamed of his mother.”

Liu Ji wrapped himself in a quilt, saying helplessly and pathetically to Qin Yao.

At first, Qin Yao thought he was cursing.

After a moment, she realized it was the curse from the Mo Family taking effect, and Liu Ji had successfully induced himself into dreaming of the deceased Mrs. Mo.

They say if you have a clear conscience, you won’t fear ghosts knocking at midnight. Liu Ji’s reaction clearly showed he had done many guilty things.

Cold wind blew in from outside, and Qin Yao gestured for Da Lang to close the door and tell the younger ones everything was fine.

Da Lang complied, closed the door, then put on a coat, and naturally jumped onto the bed, squeezing into the quilt with his father Liu Ji to stay warmer.

Perhaps out of fear, Liu Ji hugged Da Lang tightly in front of him instead.

Da Lang was slightly startled, then blushingly lowered his eyes.

Qin Yao, sitting across from the father and son, asked curiously, “What was in the dream?”

Liu Ji stammered for a long time but couldn’t clarify. In any case, it was a terrifying scene, with the choking him, cursing him to die poorly, demanding his life, and so forth.

Before, Liu Ji had never had such dreams. This was the first time he dreamt of the deceased Mrs. Mo, which truly shocked him.

After hearing his chaotic description, Qin Yao yawned in boredom, “I thought it would be more thrilling, that’s it?”

“Da Lang, go back to sleep.” Qin Yao stood up, waved to Da Lang, and walked out the door.

“Hey!” Liu Ji panicked, unable to stop Qin Yao, he hugged Da Lang tightly, “Good son, sleep with dad, so we can bond closely.”

Da Lang: “…”

But upon hearing his father mention his deceased mother, the young boy also felt unsettled inside, so he nodded in agreement, and the father and son asked Qin Yao to help close the door, then lay together under the quilt.

Qin Yao, speechless, shook her head and impatiently helped to close the door.

It was only a couple of hours until dawn, so Qin Yao went back to her room to catch some more sleep, then got up to exercise in the morning.

After she finished exercising, it was only then she heard some slight movement coming from Liu Ji’s room, who usually rose the earliest.

It seemed he slept very soundly that time.

There wasn’t much work left at the mill; all the workers had been let go and sent home. Qin Yao took a round at the factory and only saw Liu the carpenter and his son painting inside.

The orders for delivery after the New Year were mostly completed, just waiting for the 15th to deliver to the clients’ homes.

Seeing Qin Yao coming, Liu the carpenter sighed at her, “Aren’t we going to close down for good?”

“Look down on small orders?” Qin Yao teased back.

Liu the carpenter shook his head quickly, “How could I? We’ve always started with single orders in the past.”

“It’s just that it was so busy before, suddenly becoming idle is a bit hard to get used to.”

Qin Yao checked the millstone to be exchanged, smiling steadily as she looked, “It’s fine, a good chance to rest, and after the 15th, there should be plenty of people coming for repairs, lots to do by then.”

The wooden waterwheels easily had problems, so she needed to check her small millstone set seriously every half month.

The issues mainly arose from the limited water flow environment; without cement to establish a smooth water inlet channel, and without iron mesh to filter debris, the waterwheel easily got jammed.

However, Qin Yao had already asked Liu the carpenter to research bamboo woven filters. The bamboo shells for charcoal pans he made for her previously were quite skillful.

It was just that cheap raw material things couldn’t sell at a high price.

And smarter villagers would have made the woven bamboo filters themselves long ago.

“Don’t worry, let’s check back later, maybe good news will come.” Qin Yao told the anxious Liu the carpenter before leaving the watermill.

Bai Shan took fifty sets of millstones southward; if the feedback was good, wouldn’t that mean more business?

If the feedback wasn’t good, it would only show the market demand wasn’t high, and they could stop in time to prevent losses.

Liu the carpenter knew they couldn’t rush, so he figured he’d just focus on what was at hand. He needed to repair the house too, he’d be busy then.

When Qin Yao got home, Liu Ji had already prepared the food, cooking two extra pieces of fatty pork belly, placing them in a separate celadon bowl and putting it in a bamboo basket.

The bamboo basket also contained some incense and spirit money.

“Aunt Yao, we want to visit my mother in a while,” Da Lang spoke anxiously to Qin Yao.

Qin Yao glanced at Liu Ji in surprise, a conscience suddenly emerging?

But when did this person grow a conscience?

Qin Yao instructed Da Lang, “Take a sickle, clean up the weeds on the gravehead too.”

Thinking it over, she had never been there herself, and she was curious what Liu Ji, this ignorant person, wanted to do. She asked the four children, “Can I come with you?”

Da Lang was pleasantly surprised, “Really?”

He thought Qin Yao would mind, not expecting her not only to agree but also to want to join them.

Qin Yao nodded, asking again if they agreed to it.

Of course, they agreed! Da Lang and Second Lang nodded so much they nearly shook off, feeling particularly happy.

So after finishing the early brunch meal, a family of six took the offerings, sickle, and hoe, heading to the foot of the southern mountains.

This was the Liu family’s ancestral land, where the deceased clansmen of the Liu family were buried.

However, since Liu Ji sold his share of the ancestral land to Liu Dafu back then, Mrs. Mo’s tomb could only be built solitary on the small hill opposite the ancestral land.

As they got closer to the grave, Liu Ji’s expression became stranger.

He seemed as if he had never been to this place, staring in surprise at the sunken, barely raised mound with wild overgrown weeds on it, his feet frozen to the spot.

“How did it become like this?” He muttered quietly to himself.

Qin Yao was also taken aback by how shabby this grave was.

Then she shot Liu Ji a glare, “You really should have more nightmares.”

Arriving in front of the grave mound, due to not having money back then, Mrs. Mo had been buried hastily. Old Liu also felt guilty, so he asked Liu the carpenter to make a wooden plaque.

Now, after enduring the wind and rain, the writing on the plaque was blurred, the wood almost eroded. Qin Yao felt that if she gently pinched it, the wood would crumble to dust and scatter in the wind.

Da Lang would occasionally come to pay respects, evident from the traces of spirit money left among the weeds.

Sanlang and Si Niang looked at the weed-filled mound before them, then back at the adults at home, their eyes filled with confusion.

They didn’t understand why the adults came here; Big Brother and Second Lang said their mother was here, but they couldn’t see any people!

Second Lang looked at his younger brother and sister’s puzzled eyes, helplessly patted their heads, telling them to stand aside and not run around.

Da Lang handed the sickle to Liu Ji, who seemed to come to his senses, and the father and son silently cleared away the weeds.

Second Lang took out the ritual items from the bamboo basket, setting them out one by one, then went to erect Mrs. Mo’s wooden plaque, wiping the dirt off it.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep