70s Delicate Girl: A Guide to Being a Rich Woman-Chapter 73: Leaking Roof
In the afternoon, the rain intensified, creating a misty layer of white gauze on the rooftop, like a shimmering veil.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, causing the white veil to drift away, and the raindrops struck the puddles on the ground, splashing up flurries of water.
Xu Mumu quickly closed the window to prevent the rain from drifting into her room.
"Mumu, is your room leaking? Do you want your dad to fix it?" Li Caixia came over. All the other rooms in the house were leaking to some extent.
Compared to the main house, the second house was even worse, with more spots prone to leaks.
Fortunately, this rain wasn’t the torrential downpour typical of summer, or else the leaks would have been more severe.
"It’s starting to seep by the cabinet. I’ll just get a basin to catch it." Xu Mumu scanned the room, noticing the small seepage by the cabinet.
"Xu Hai, go fix the leak in our daughter’s room." Li Caixia called out loudly to her husband.
"Coming." Xu Hai arrived, carrying a ladder, while Xu Minghui held it steady as Xu Hai climbed up.
Xu Mumu’s room was probably the best in the house, so the seepage wasn’t too bad. Somehow, they had found a small piece of oilcloth to cover the leaking spot.
"There, it shouldn’t leak anymore." Xu Hai looked contentedly at his handiwork.
"Dad, where did you get the oilcloth?" Xu Mumu asked curiously.
"Your uncle brought it back from the county town. I shamelessly asked for half of it, and it finally came in handy. Now, even if it rains harder, we don’t have to worry about leaks." Xu Hai said proudly, feeling foresighted and family-oriented.
"Darling, you’re so capable." Li Caixia praised Xu Hai generously.
"Of course, when I saw Qian bring it back, I knew it was something good." Xu Hai replied with pride.
Xu Mumu’s uncle, Xu Qian, who was Sir Xu’s son, worked as the village treasurer. Xu Qian’s son was a teacher at a primary school in the county.
Uncle’s family was definitely more successful than ours.
Our side of the family might not have succeeded much, but it was thriving with people, whereas Uncle’s family had only one child.
"It’s just Dad who has thick skin. If it were someone else, Uncle probably wouldn’t have handed it over." Xu Minghui chuckled.
"You cheeky boy, what are you saying? Your dad did this for our family." Li Caixia smacked her son’s head lightly.
"Alright, alright, for the family." Xu Minghui rolled his eyes. His parents were still like this after all these years, never tired of it; it was unbearable.
With the roof no longer leaking, Xu Mumu took out her books to study. She hadn’t finished reviewing the study materials bought from the scrap station yet.
It had been a long time, and although she still remembered her high school knowledge, she wasn’t completely confident about the college entrance exam.
She needed to focus on areas prone to mistakes.
Xu Jiaojiao originally planned to find Xu Mumu to play with but saw her studying and decided not to disturb her.
"Second Brother, can I look at your textbooks?" Xu Jiaojiao asked sweetly as she looked at Xu Minglei, who was busy playing with his slingshot.
"Books? They’re over there, just don’t damage them." Xu Minglei pointed to a cabinet missing a leg, propped up with some stones where his books were scattered.
"Thanks, Second Brother. I’ll help you dig for grass roots next time." Xu Jiaojiao said with a sweet smile as she took the books.
"Sure." Xu Minglei agreed, thinking grass roots were tasty too.
Xu Jiaojiao returned home with the books, where Sun Huiping was mending clothes for the siblings; both had clothes with worn-out spots.
Sun Huiping glanced at the books Xu Jiaojiao held, slightly pursing her lips. It seemed her children’s studies were going well. In the fall, she planned to send them to school.
She hadn’t touched the money after the family separated, so sending two children to school was manageable.
A girl with more education could marry well, so Sun Huiping was happy to send her daughter to study.
In the evening, Madam Chen cooked; the fish Xu Minglei caught yesterday was prepared by her and made into a large plate of braised fish, full of flavor.
Xu Mumu was quite satisfied, enjoying her meal like never before. She hadn’t known her grandmother could cook so well.
The fish wasn’t large, and it was quickly finished; Xu Mumu felt she hadn’t had enough.
"If you like it, I can check the river for more tomorrow." Xu Minghui joked.
"No, it’s fine. We still have plenty of meat at home." Xu Mumu shook her head, declining since there was still some wild boar meat hanging from the rafters and a bit of lamb, not everything was sold yesterday.
"It’d be nice to eat like this every day." Xu Minglei licked his lips, patting his stomach; he hadn’t been this full in a long time.
"Dreaming? Who has the wealth to eat like this daily?" Madam Chen shot her grandson a look, saying that such meals were a rare treat unless the family really had some extra funds, and digging the paddy fields was exhausting.
"Little brother, want to take a walk? We ate so much tonight, let’s walk off the meal." Xu Mumu suggested to the full Xu Minglei, feeling a bit stuffed herself.
"I do, yes." Xu Minglei nodded eagerly, feeling uncomfortable from overeating, deciding a walk would help.
It wasn’t dark yet, and the siblings walked the village path, with Xu Mumu heading towards the riverbank, thinking it’d be nice to stroll there.
The rain had stopped, and the stone-paved road wasn’t muddy, making it a great spot for a walk.
The willow trees by the river had sprouted green leaves, and their long branches looked very lovely.
"Mr. Xu, what are you doing here?" Yin Yang asked, surprised to see the siblings.
"Had dinner, taking a stroll. How about you, Yin Zhiqing?" Xu Mumu wasn’t surprised to meet Yin Yang, as the educated youths’ residence was near the river.
"Same as you. Want to join?" Yin Yang’s eyes flickered as he looked at Xu Mumu.
"Sure." Xu Mumu raised an eyebrow slightly. What’s Yin Zhiqing up to, she wondered, sensing he had something in mind.
