Chapter 573: Chapter 573: Qingming Festival Ancestor Worship (2)
 

Previously, Ms. Zhao was quite aggressive, mainly because Elderly Mr. Di’s invisible support fueled her confidence. After that, she became even more unscrupulous.

Nowadays, Elderly Mr. Di wouldn’t side with Ms. Zhao at all, so if she wanted to cause trouble, she had to weigh her chances carefully.

It was rare for Liu Sisi to return to her hometown, so naturally, she took Guihua’s hand and didn’t let go. The two seemed to be back to their initial days, chatting and laughing in the hall.

On their way, they met Di Yelei and Zhang Peng walking out of the kitchen together, laughing and carrying bows and arrows on their shoulders.

“Eh? Where are you guys going?” Liu Sisi curiously asked, pretending not to know.

“Isn’t it rare to come back here? Ye Lei’s hands have been itching, so we’re planning to go to the mountain and bring back some game to add to our meal.” Zhang Peng said with a smile.

Instead, Di Yelei on the side tugged at the corner of his clothes and coughed lightly, his gaze wandering incessantly.

Liu Sisi stared at him with amusement: “If you want to go hunting, just go! You just can’t sit idle for a moment! Oh, remember to bring Ah-Huang and Ah-Hua with you. They have been tied at home and have become impatient, it’s an excellent opportunity for them to get some exercise.”

“Okay! Sisi, you’re so nice! We’ll be back soon. It won’t take long to catch a couple of pieces of game.” Di Yelei laughed with a simple and honest face.

“You said it yourself!”

Liu Sisi didn’t take it seriously; going out to hunt wasn’t something that could be done casually. If they really went into the mountains, who knew where they would end up chasing the game?

Di Yelei was extraordinarily excited! He turned around, called out to Di Cheng and loudly summoned Ah-Huang and Ah-Hua. The two little guys ran over quickly, howling around Di Yelei without stopping.

Calling them little guys – where were they little now?

Nowadays, Ah-Huang and Ah-Hua weighed several dozen jin each, shedding their past cuteness and becoming two mighty and robust hounds.

When they opened their big mouths, the sharp tusks inside could easily frighten a large group of timid people!

Following Zhang Peng were not only the hounds but also Zhang Yun with a bow and arrow.

Most days, Zhang Yun stayed at Di Residence in the small town while attending the village school, only occasionally going home. With his leisure time, Zhang Peng had already taken him up the mountain several times, and his hunting skills were visibly improving.

His gaze lingered affectionately on YingEr, clearly wanting to stay, but he had no choice but to follow behind his dad, looking back every few steps.

At the moment, YingEr was playing happily with a few children, completely oblivious to Zhang Yun’s sad expression.

Feeling helpless, Zhang Yun finally followed the three, chasing after them.

Behind him were also Da Niu and Er Niu, as well as a new guard recently seen by Di Yelei’s side.

This guard had only suddenly appeared a few days ago, and being quiet and unobtrusive, people overlooked his presence wherever he went.

Granny Hu and Ms. Gao had given the hall a thorough cleaning, and it looked completely new. Liu Sisi and the others seemed to have endless things to talk about, chatting about everything from north to south. The boss married this year; the family next door had a daughter getting married. The family in the south corner of the village had a sow that bore many piglets this year, and the family at the north side rented even more land… As Guihua kept talking, the time quickly reached noon.

Ms. Zhao still hadn’t returned, and Liu Sisi sent people to urge her several times, but Zhao’s figure was still nowhere to be seen. Helplessly, everyone had to eat first.

Today’s lunch couldn’t be considered abundant, but it was very delicious.

As soon as the delicious green vegetables were served, the meat dishes in the middle of the table seemed to become mere accompaniments. Even YingEr and Da Mao spent half their time picking up the vegetables with their chopsticks.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Guihua proposed they go fish at the river.

As soon as the proposal was made, it was unanimously approved by everyone present.

Liu Sisi thought for a while, there were already tools at home for catching the fish, so going outside and walking around would be good! She then nodded her head in agreement.

The children cheered and went to prepare!

Among the children, Di Xuan was the oldest, so naturally, he took the lead. He quickly gathered thick hemp rope and bamboo poles, collected large basins and kitchen scraps from the slaughterhouse, and led the group majestically towards the great river.

Liu Sisi and Ms. Gao were both pregnant. Since most of the group were young children, Liu Sisi chose a location near the stone slabs where people usually washed their laundry. It was a relatively wide area, with deeper water and lush water grass—a perfect spot to set up for fish-catching.

When there are more children, there is more noise. In no time, several children started fighting and crying out loud…

Liu Sisi was busy tying the bamboo poles together when she saw the commotion. Naturally, she had to scold the children before they could continue fishing.

As the actual fishing began, several children gathered around in excitement.

Liu Sisi and Guihua had to scold them again to get them to step back, as they collected the small fish caught using the bamboo poles into the water bucket.

This time of the year was not the best for fishing because even though the weather was warm, the water temperature in the river was not very high, so most fish had gathered in deeper waters.

After scooping several times, they were unable to catch many fish. Di Xuan, unwilling to give up, used the bamboo pole to stir the water weeds nearby. He hit and agitated the water as Guihua fished around and unexpectedly caught a big blackfish. The fish struggled non-stop in the large basin.

“Quickly! Quickly! Move it over here! Don’t let it fall back into the water, or even superpowers won’t be enough to catch it again!”

Everyone rushed to retrieve the basin and lifted the blackfish out of it.

“What a big blackfish! It’s rare to see one this size! Di Xuan, well done!”

Everyone gathered around the water bucket, excitedly discussing and praising Di Xuan, who was over the moon!

This wild blackfish was different. It weighed at least three or four catties, and even in the water bucket, it struggled tirelessly, trying to jump back into the water.

“Why don’t we try hitting the water weeds around here and see if we can get more catches?”

Seeing they had caught such a big blackfish, everyone’s spirits lifted and they began to imitate the successful method.

But they couldn’t replicate their earlier luck. Besides catching a few small crucian carp and common carp, they only managed to get some field snails and river clams.

The river was full of field snails and clams, and soon the entire water bucket was full. Only then did everyone put their bamboo poles and large basins away and start walking home.

Before they even reached home, they saw Ms. Zhao and Ms. Wang standing in front of the Di Residence’s gate, arguing with Elderly Mr. Di who had stayed at home.

Liu Sisi looked at Guihua instinctively, only to find that Guihua was also looking back at her. In each other’s eyes, they saw surprise!