Chapter 352: Speculation

Translator: 549690339

“Cuihua, Shou Hou is working at the bookstore. Are you satisfied or not with how things are going?”

As soon as the matter was mentioned, Miao Cuihua’s spirit was immediately lifted!

“Sisi! Look at how you talk. With Shou Hou working at the bookstore, he can earn over one tael of silver every month, which is great. I’m naturally satisfied. But… It’s just that he’s been gone for so long, I can’t help but miss him,” Miao Cuihua’s voice lowered as she spoke, her face filled with shyness and coyness.

Liu Sisi was filled with confusion.

“Cuihua, since you know that Shou Hou is working at the bookstore to make money, and you also know that it’s the end of the year, where businesses in the bookstore are booming, and it’s the time to make money, do you plan to ask him to come back?”

“Of course not… but, but…”

Miao Cuihua was at a loss for words.

“There are still so many days left before the New Year! When it’s time for the New Year, the bookstore will naturally give Shou Hou a holiday to come back.”

As Liu Sisi spoke, she thought to herself that with Di Cheng guarding the bookstore, there was no need for Shou Hou to stay in the shop every day. It would only be a matter of some leg work to go in the morning and return home in the evening. The reason why Shou Hou had been using work at the bookstore as an excuse not to come home was probably due to some secret, right?

It seemed that she would have to ask Shou Hou a few questions the next time she visited the bookstore, so as not to cause disharmony between the couple because of work.

Miao Cuihua was visibly conflicted, wanting Shou Hou to come home and yet unable to part with the monthly income of over one tael of silver.

In the end, she left hesitantly with frequent backward glances.

With Miao Cuihua’s disturbance, Liu Sisi was naturally unable to sleep, so she quickly got up to tidy up her room, only to find that Liu Zhi’er had already organized it neatly.

“Second Sister, I’m glad you’re here. Otherwise, just tidying up the room would be enough to tire me out with this pregnancy.”

Liu Sisi said sincerely.

Liu Zhi’er laughed: “Look at what you’re saying. I eat and live in your home, and my sister-in-law doesn’t mind. If it were someone else, who knows what they’d say? I feel at ease doing what I can to help.”

You! Look at what you’re saying… are we still sisters?”

Liu Sisi was sweating, and her thoughts suddenly turned to another issue: “Second sister, would you be interested in trying to work at the bookstore? It’s just a matter of greeting customers daily, then tallying the sold items in the account book, verifying the amount of silver is correct. How about it? Are you interested in giving it a try?”

Liu Zhi’er stopped her embroidery momentarily, her eyes visibly brightened. However, a moment later, she hesitated and shook her head: “I can’t, I’m illiterate. How could I keep books? Besides, having me stand on the main street and greet customers… I can’t do that.”

Liu Sisi’s hopeful look dimmed: “That’s true, but we’ll take it slow.”

It didn’t matter if she was illiterate now. After she felt better, she could teach her how to read and write.

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhi’er’s face also showed a disappointed expression, and silently continued her work.

“Second sister, don’t worry! If you don’t like working at the bookstore, I’ll help you find a job you’re satisfied with after the New Year, when I feel better. A job that will not only make money to support yourself but also allow you to save a little. At that time, with money by your side, you won’t have to worry about anything.”

Liu Zhi’er didn’t respond, only giving an ambiguous smile.

Liu Sisi didn’t press her further, knowing that changing someone’s mindset couldn’t be done in one or two days.

It wasn’t until the afternoon that Di Yelei and the others returned from the mountain.

Upon returning, each of them carried one or two pieces of game on their shoulders.

“We originally wanted to hunt for a while longer, but since we have to go to the government office tomorrow, we had to rush back.”

Seeing Liu Sisi coming over, Di Yelei casually lifted the game in his hand and grinned. He had two wild rabbits and one badger.

Liu Sisi glanced at him and turned to laughingly greet Zhang Peng and Li Wu: “Brother Li Wu, Brother Zhang, you should both come in and rest for a while, and have some water before you leave.”

“Sister-in-law, you don’t need to be so polite. We get together every two or three days. Our families don’t know what to think, so we won’t rest for now. Goodbye.” The two declined the invitation, leading their hunting dogs and carrying their quarry away.

Liu Sisi closed the room door and saw that Di Yelei had gone to the well to deal with the game. Liu Zhi’er was peeking around, clearly wanting to know the conclusion of their investigation, so she quickly followed.

“Ye Lei, what exactly happened?”

Liu Sisi asked as she approached him.

“What do you mean? Are you asking about this beast meat? Of course, we’re going to eat it.”

“You… Stop pretending you don’t understand!”

Liu Sisi stamped her foot angrily, “I’m asking if you guys got into the cold cave? What did the investigation reveal? Did you find Old Man Li or not?”

Di Yelei paused in his cleaning, then shook his head.

“We did enter the cold cave and followed it all the way down until all the ropes we brought were used up, yet we haven’t reached the bottom nor found anything. Looking at the seemingly bottomless cavern, we couldn’t continue going down and had to retreat along the original route.”

“So you’re saying that you can’t be sure whether Old Man Li is dead or alive?” Liu Sisi frowned.

“I think… he’s most likely dead.”

Di Yelei rinsed his hands in the water, then took a cloth strip out from his arms: “Look, isn’t this the same fabric as the clothes Old Man Li wore when he escaped?”

Liu Sisi took it and examined it back and forth: “Where did you get this?”

“We found it about halfway down our descent in the cold cave, where a reddish-brown bloodstain and this cloth fragment were sticking to a protruding boulder. Luckily, it was sheltered from the wind there, so it wasn’t blown away by the whirlwind inside the cave.”

Liu Sisi looked at it closely: “It should be, but I’m not entirely sure. Or maybe we should show it to Second Sister to know for sure.”

“These are the clothes he wore. Even if they were reduced to ashes, I could recognize them, especially with the disgusting smell on it!”

Behind her, Liu Zhi’er wore a face full of grief and hatred, as if she wanted to swallow it all up.

With a sudden step forward, she snatched the cloth fragment from Liu Sisi’s hand, took a glance, then looked up and asked Di Yelei: “Brother-in-law, where exactly did you find this?”

“We found it about one li vertically down from the entrance of the cold cave. We’ve used up all the ropes we brought, and there’s no other discovery. It’s too deep to plunge into. Even if he didn’t fall to death, I’m afraid he’d have died at the bottom of the abyss,” Di Yelei explained.