Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 264 - 263: It’s Good to Be Back

When they arrived at Liu Family Village, the sky had just turned dark.

Liu Dafu had been counting the days, thinking that the children should be back these days. Every evening after dinner, he would stroll to the village entrance with his hands behind his back.

There were refugees everywhere outside, and Liu Dafu was a bit worried about his son’s safety. However, seeing that Liu the carpenter had been receiving wood delivered from the prefecture and maintaining close contact with Qin Yao in recent days, he felt a little more at ease.

The sound of the carriage wheels rolling reached him, and standing at the entrance of the stationery factory, chatting with Liu the carpenter who hadn’t returned home yet, Liu Dafu immediately looked over excitedly.

Liu the carpenter had received the letter early, knowing that Qin Yao was coming home around these days, so he wasn’t very surprised, but a smile still appeared on his face.

In the faint night, one could see the warm lights from the long strings of lanterns hanging in front of the archway of the stationery factory.

Sanlang and Fourth Sister climbed out of the carriage compartment, standing on the shaft, shouting loudly: "Grandpa Fu!"

Second Lang suspiciously asked from the carriage window: "How do you know it’s Grandpa Fu and not another grandpa?"

Sanlang laughed and replied: "Grandpa Fu’s belly is big and round like a big leather ball."

In the village, only the Liu Dafu family could afford to have such a big belly, and none of the village children were unaware of this fact.

Liu Li heard the shouts of Sanlang and Fourth Sister, and excitedly crawled out of the carriage.

Liu Dafu hurriedly waved his hand, clearly wanting to go up to meet him, yet pretending to be indifferent, standing on the spot, waiting for Liu Li to run over.

His son came up to him, looked him over first, and seeing that no arm or leg was missing, put on a stern face and began to lecture: "You’ve become a scholar, how can you still act impulsively like a reckless young boy, jumping off the carriage before it has stopped, really..."

The results of the imperial exams had been sent over with Qin Yao’s letter and had reached the village early. The most surprising moment was already experienced by the Liu Dafu family in advance. Now that they saw their son again, they just wanted to know if he was safe on the journey and if he had lost weight.

Liu the carpenter watched Liu Dafu’s manner of wanting to express concern yet putting on airs and silently smiled, heading forward to greet him.

"You’ve finally come back, if you didn’t, I would have gone crazy with work."

Seeing Qin Yao for the first time, Liu the carpenter’s complaints immediately poured out, telling all about his recent hardships and grievances.

Being the only one in the stationery factory who knew the entire process, he had to recruit workers, train newcomers, and also...

Qin Yao quickly raised her hand to signal him to stop, smiling: "Don’t rush to talk about this, after I settle at home, I’ll come find you immediately, there’s more for us to do."

"Of course..." Qin Yao rubs her fingers, "The reward will definitely satisfy you."

Let her keep a secret for now, and they would discuss it in detail later.

What else could Liu the carpenter do but let her go?

He smiled wryly: "Go home quickly, settle down and come to the factory early, the village head and clan leader have things to discuss with you."

The expansion of the stationery factory had almost involved everyone in Liu Family Village.

According to Qin Yao’s proposal, whenever recruiting workers, members of the Liu Family Village would be prioritized, thus now, seventy percent of the factory employees were from the village.

There were both men and women, all quite capable from the village. Those deemed as misfits, although they had the privilege of preferential interviews, couldn’t blame anyone if they proved unfit for the work.

With more people working, there were fewer hands for farming. The village head and the clan leader wanted a definitive answer from Qin Yao – was the stationery factory intended to run long-term or intermittently like the previous water-powered mill?

If it operated intermittently, with so many people leaving farming, the government might hold them accountable.

But this matter could be urgent or not. Given the current chaotic scene outside Kaiyang County, surely the officials couldn’t attend to their minor affairs.

Qin Yao nodded seriously, indicating she understood.

Seeing that Liu the carpenter was the only one busy at the factory so late, Qin Yao urged: "You should go home too. There’s still plenty of time, don’t rush, relax a bit."

"Relax?" Liu the carpenter showed a helpless expression, half-crying, half-laughing, "I’m not you, am I? I was just a small carpenter, and when villagers needed me, I did some carpentry jobs. Since I started this factory with you, I’ve been managing accounts, doing the steward’s job, and teaching many people carpentry as a teacher..."

Qin Yao looked at him helplessly.

Liu the carpenter was about to gripe again but quickly cut himself off with a wave, "Enough, I should learn from you, and relax, relax!"

Qin Yao innocently spread her hands: "Why are you gnashing your teeth?"

Liu the carpenter didn’t want to speak anymore, turned around to tidy up, extinguished the lanterns, and comforted himself to keep an open mind and head home.

Liu Ji laughed and invited him to get on the carriage for a ride, earning a big eye-roll from Liu the carpenter, "You all go on."

Liu Ji shrugged, "Alright, then."

He turned his head, "Uncle Dafu, we’re heading back first!"

"Yes, yes, go ahead, once you’re settled, come home for a meal." Liu Dafu warmly reminded.

Liu Ji’s mouth immediately drooped, "Is a meal really necessary, just because you passed as a scholar? Look at how many people outside have nothing to eat, showing off like this, aren’t you worried about tempting others."

He muttered under his breath, and Liu Dafu and his son didn’t hear, but Qin Yao listened quite clearly and shot him a warning glance.

Liu Ji immediately changed his expression, squeezed out a smile, and hurriedly explained: "I was just mumbling to myself a little."

Noticing Qin Yao’s stern gaze didn’t relent, he quickly sealed his lips, not speaking anymore, no more!

Only then did Qin Yao let him off.

The commotion from the two families entering the village wasn’t small. By the time they reached the village well, Old Liu had already led the whole old family to wait there.

Liu Ji parked the carriage, and the couple led their four children to greet everyone.

"Grandpa, Grandma, Big Uncle, Big Aunt, Second Uncle, Second Aunt, Little Uncle, Jinhua, Jinbao, and where’s Da Mao?"

Mrs. Qiu replied with a smile, "Asleep, at home."

Old Liu responded repeatedly: "It’s good that you’re back, it’s good."

Mrs. Zhang instructed Qin Yao and Liu Ji: "Put your things down and come to the house for dinner, save the hassle."

"I’ll cook egg noodle soup for you, plenty to fill up!" Mrs. He chimed in.

The words ’plenty to fill up’ held significant weight, prompting Qin Yao to nod promptly: "Alright, big sister-in-law!" 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Fearing Mrs. He might regret it.

Jinbao pulled Da Lang and Second Lang along and said, "The school is on break for half a month, no need to attend, tomorrow let’s go hunting birds in the mountains!"

The siblings looked at each other in surprise, no school?

Sanlang eagerly raised his hand, "Brother Jinbao, I want to go too, I want to go hunting birds too."

"Sure, did you bring me something good to eat, if you did, I’ll let you join." Jinbao chuckled, only to get flicked on the forehead by Liu Bai, "Skinning your own brother for benefits? You’re out of line!"

Jinbao quickly covered his forehead and hid behind Third Aunt, Liu Bai gestured at the mischievous boy in the air and let it go after realizing Jinbao misspoke.