By the time Li Xiaoxiao returned home leading the cow, it was already around noon.
The rich aroma of stir-fried pork drifted from the kitchen.
The moment everyone saw the cow, they excitedly crowded around it.
“Grandma! We have a cow now!”
The granddaughters circled the animal, unable to stop staring at it.
“Mother! This cow is pregnant!”
Qin Dashu’s face was full of excitement.
“If she didn’t look pregnant, do you think your mother would’ve bought her?”
Li Xiaoxiao tossed him the rope.
“Eldest, take her to the back yard.”
Then she turned to her other two sons, who were still circling the cow.
“The three of you need to find time over the next few days and build a cowshed.”
“Yes, Mother!”
Both immediately agreed.
“Daya, when you girls go cut pig fodder, take the cow out to graze as well. Understand?”
“Yes, Grandma!”
In the village, owning a cow was a big deal.
Only Qin Youliang’s family had one.
Every spring during plowing season, people practically fought over the chance to rent it.
In the past, Li Cuihua had even needed to rent oxen from neighboring villages.
By next year, this cow would become the household’s primary work animal.
Not to mention she would likely produce a calf as well.
Before long, the second daughter-in-law called everyone to lunch.
The family eagerly gathered around the table.
Today’s meal contained plenty of oil and meat.
For the first time, Li Xiaoxiao felt that the coarse rice actually went down easily.
After lunch, she announced that she was taking a nap and was not to be disturbed.
The moment she entered her room, she locked the door.
Once she was sure nobody would bother her, she grabbed a sewing basket and entered her space.
Li Xiaoxiao had grown up with her grandmother.
The old woman had been skilled at making clothes and shoes by hand.
Li Xiaoxiao had learned a little from her over the years.
Using the fabric she had purchased earlier, she measured and cut pieces according to the size of the bedding.
She planned to make duvet covers similar to modern ones.
Since zippers didn’t exist in this era, she would simply sew cloth ties onto the edges and fasten them that way.
The bed sheets were even easier.
Measure.
Cut.
Hem the edges.
Done.
Only when she finished did she realize she had forgotten something important.
Soap.
Ordinary farming families typically used soapberries to wash clothing.
Real soap was a luxury item reserved for wealthy households.
Scented bathing soap was even more extravagant.
As a naturally frugal person, Li Xiaoxiao absolutely refused to waste money on something she could make herself.
For now, soapberries would have to do.
After washing the fabric, she discovered another problem.
There was nowhere to dry it.
That hardly slowed her down.
Using scraps the cloth merchant had given her, she braided a clothesline and strung it across the covered walkway in the courtyard of her space.
Problem solved.
By the time she finished, dinner was approaching.
Li Xiaoxiao exited the space and stepped into the courtyard.
Her sons, daughters-in-law, and granddaughters had all returned.
Normally the girls played in the front yard, but today they were gathered around the pregnant cow in the back.
The backyard had already been cultivated.
Freshly turned earth stretched across the ground.
A rooster proudly led his flock of hens around searching for worms.
For a brief moment, everything felt peaceful.
Then Li Xiaoxiao turned around.
And immediately saw Qin Sanmu.
The man was lounging comfortably in a chair.
His hands were behind his head.
One leg was crossed over the other.
He was even humming a tune.
Meanwhile…
His wife Li Wang’er was carrying a baby on her back while cleaning the pigsty.
Li Xiaoxiao’s expression darkened.
“Third!”
“Yes, Mother?”
Qin Sanmu sprang to his feet and hurried over.
The movement was so smooth it was obvious he had practiced this many times before.
Li Xiaoxiao didn’t answer him.
Instead, she strode straight toward Li Wang’er.
She snatched the manure-covered broom from the woman’s hands.
Then she hurled it directly at Qin Sanmu.
“You useless thing!”
Her voice thundered across the yard.
“Third daughter-in-law, how dare you clean the pigsty while carrying my granddaughter on your back?”
“What if the smell makes my granddaughter sick?”
“I’ll settle accounts with you later!”
“Mother…”
Li Wang’er stared at her mother-in-law in complete confusion.
She couldn’t understand what she’d done wrong.
Feeling wronged and bewildered, she quietly stepped out of the pigsty.
Qin Sanmu didn’t dare ask questions.
He immediately picked up the broom and rushed into the pigsty himself.
As he worked frantically, he prayed:
Faster…
Need to move faster…
If I’m too slow, Mother might slap me again.
His fingers still hurt from the beating he received that morning.
Ignoring everyone’s reactions, Li Xiaoxiao left through the back gate.
Beyond the gate stood a bamboo grove that belonged to the family.
Every household in the village owned about half a mu of bamboo forest to meet daily needs.
Beyond the bamboo grove lay the vegetable fields.
At that moment, Qin Dashu and Wang Zhaodi were busy turning over the soil.
Li Xiaoxiao nodded approvingly.
The diligence of her eldest and second sons’ families pleased her greatly.
Beyond the vegetable plots stretched nearly twenty mu of fertile farmland belonging to the Qin family.
Or more accurately—
Belonging to her now.
The fields were planted with rapeseed.
The flowers were in full bloom.
Golden waves stretched as far as the eye could see.
At the far end of the fields rose the mountains.
Most of the trees there were evergreen pines and cypresses.
The golden rapeseed flowers and deep green mountains complemented each other beautifully.
Li Xiaoxiao couldn’t help thinking:
If this were my old world, this place would be perfect for a countryside resort or guesthouse.
Looking at the scenery before her, she sighed.
“This really is a paradise.”
At that moment she made up her mind.
She would make good use of these lands.
She would expand production.
Improve the family’s life.
The more she thought about it, the more excited she became about the future.
Another thirty mu of land had been planted with winter wheat.
She planned to inspect it the following day.
Past the vegetable fields lay a patch of wasteland overgrown with weeds.
This land had also been purchased by Li Cuihua.
Her original intention had been to divide it among her sons one day so they could build separate homes after the family split.
At the time, obtaining the land had required considerable effort.
Yet years had passed.
The eldest and second sons were married.
The youngest had children of his own.
Still, the family remained together.
There were two reasons.
First, none of the sons had produced a grandson.
Second, Li Cuihua feared that if the family split up, Qin Yougui’s branch would find opportunities to seize part of the property.
Thus the matter had been postponed repeatedly.
Li Cuihua understood that division would eventually become necessary.
But she also knew that a lifetime of hard work meant little if it couldn’t be passed down to descendants.
In this era, having no male heir meant more than the end of the family line.
It often meant the entire estate would be absorbed by collateral relatives.
A practice commonly known as “eating the extinct household.”
That was the real reason Qin Yougui’s family had been so obsessed with obtaining her property.
Li Xiaoxiao had no intention of dividing the family anytime soon.
Still, leaving three mu of land unused seemed wasteful.
At the same time, she lacked the energy to manage another labor-intensive crop.
After some thought, she reached a decision.
Pumpkins.
Winter melons.
Easy to grow.
Low maintenance.
The vines would spread across the ground and suppress weeds.
In summer they could eat pumpkin shoots and winter melon shoots.
In autumn they could harvest the fruits.
A perfect solution.
Having made up her mind, she returned home and retrieved pumpkin and winter melon seeds.
The amount she had purchased wasn’t quite enough.
Fortunately she found additional seeds in storage.
After weighing them in her hand, she concluded there should be enough.
She also dug out seeds for:
Carrying the seeds, Li Xiaoxiao returned to the fields.
Without ceremony, she tossed them to Qin Dashu.
Then she informed him of her plans.
As far as she was concerned, that was the end of her involvement.
The actual work could be left entirely to her sons.