Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 626 - 583: Childhood Sweethearts (2)

During the time waiting to eat, Li Yuzhu took Baili Rui to the room where they would rest at night.

Guoguo and Li Jing both slept in the side room next to Prince Luling and his wife’s bedroom.

They were still young, and the two children slept in one room for convenience in caretaking.

Guoguo’s small bed was inside, Li Jing’s small bed was at the side.

Li Jing ran ahead to his bed and patted it, "Xiao Rui, come sleep with me tonight."

There were two small pillows on Li Jing’s bed.

Baili Rui said, "There are two pillows here."

"One is Brother Tianlang’s. He went home. This pillow is for you." Li Jing handed over a pillow embroidered with Mickey Mouse to Baili Rui.

This Mickey Mouse was made from fabric pieces sewn by Li Yuzhu.

Not only were there patch cartoons on the pillows, but Li Jing and Guoguo’s bed sheets and quilt covers also had many of these cartoon images. Baili Rui’s eyes lit up seeing the lively patches.

Guoguo glanced at him and immediately took out the booklet drawn by Chai Eying, "My mom drew this, Brother Rui."

The watercolor cartoon illustrations paired with delightful text quickly captivated Baili Rui.

He held the book and flipped through it page by page.

Baili Rui recognized more characters than Li Jing.

He recognized all the characters in the booklet.

Li Jing admired him with wide eyes, "Xiao Rui, you’re amazing, you know more characters than I do."

Baili Rui grinned widely at the praise.

The three children squished together on a long bench, giggling and flipping through the booklet, oblivious to the dimming light in the room.

Li Yuzhu couldn’t help but smile softly and lit a candle next to them.

In no time, it was time for dinner.

Li Xingmao took Baili Rui, Li Jing, and Guoguo together to the South Courtyard to eat.

Children eating together always seems to be appetizing.

With an additional child at home, Li Jing became more polite during meals.

Because Li Xingmao would remind Li Jing that Baili Rui ate more quietly than him.

Guoguo took care of Baili Rui, plating food for him and telling him which dishes were delicious.

Chai Eying watched the three children eat sweetly, smiling joyfully.

In the evening, Li Yuzhu and Nanny Jiang together took care of the three children bathing.

Li Xingmao took care of Chai Eying and her son bathing, fetching hot and cold water, bustling back and forth.

Li Yuzhu, being young and fit, didn’t feel much fetching water back and forth.

But Nanny Jiang couldn’t manage, she sat on a chair, pounding her lower back and gasping for breath.

Guoguo walked over to help her with her back, "Nanny, I’ll help you."

Nanny Jiang laughed, "Guoguo is really good."

Li Yuzhu came over too, helping Nanny Jiang rub her back, "Nanny is tired."

"I’m old, not as capable anymore. I remember back when I could hold Tianlang’s dad in one arm and Guoguo’s mom in the other, and still carry a bamboo basket, but now I can’t." Nanny Jiang laughed self-deprecatingly.

Li Yuzhu said, "Your health now can’t be compared to twenty years ago; you’re over sixty now. Besides, there are three children now, how can you handle it? I’ll take care of them tomorrow."

"How can that be? You’re a married daughter, it’s not right for you to handle these family matters every day. No, no." Nanny Jiang waved her hand.

Li Yuzhu laughed, "I haven’t moved far away, isn’t this just like before?"

She didn’t let Nanny Jiang hold Guoguo and the others anymore, letting Nanny Jiang rest on the chair in front of the bathroom. She held Guoguo, taking Li Jing and Baili Rui to the ear room in the North Courtyard to rest.

In the ear room, Princess Consort Luling had already tidied the children’s bedding.

Guoguo rushed to her small bed, kicked off her shoes, and climbed up.

Li Jing climbed onto his small bed.

Baili Rui still wore Li Jing’s clothes, seeing Li Jing sit on the bed and wave to him, he climbed onto the bed too, lying on the other end.

Li Yuzhu and Princess Consort Luling covered them with their blankets, adjusted the curtains, and told them not to be noisy, to sleep early and play tomorrow, then closed the door.

Li Jing and Baili Rui whispered a few words, unable to resist sleepiness, yawned, and fell asleep.

Baili Rui stared absentmindedly at the canopy for a while, then closed his eyes. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Guoguo lifted the curtain, gazed toward the bed in front for a while, then set down the curtain, closed her eyes, and slept.

In the outer room, Li Yuzhu and Prince Luling and his wife were chatting.

"Father, mother, I want to find two more maids for the family. Nanny Jiang is not young anymore, she handles cooking and looking after the children, it’s too much for her. Besides, she’s my sister-in-law’s dowry, if she’s doing these chores, there’s no one to look after my sister-in-law, especially now with the added child."

Prince Luling said, "What Yuzhu mentioned, your mother and I have thought about already. We’ve asked Qin Li to look for someone, but haven’t found anyone yet."

Princess Consort Luling said, "Find two people, one for the kitchen, one for the children, let Nanny Jiang rest. She’s your sister-in-law’s dowry; us using her so long is indeed inappropriate."

Li Yuzhu said, "Since father and mother agree, I’ll check out two villages tomorrow to find someone."

After talking with their parents for a while, Li Yuzhu and Mu Yuanxiu went back up the mountain.

Princess Consort Luling walked into the side room, checked the children’s quilts, then closed the bedroom door and went to her own room to sleep.

Li Jing, after riding in the carriage for most of the day, fell asleep shortly after climbing into bed.

Baili Rui, however, couldn’t fall asleep. Although he was lying in a warm bed and wasn’t hungry, he was still sleepless.

He tossed and turned for quite a while before finally dozing off.

On the other bed, Guoguo was also awake. She lay there with her head tilted, eyes open, listening to the tossing sounds from the front bed. Only when it went quiet did she breathe a sigh of relief and close her eyes to sleep.

She didn’t know what time of night it was when she was startled awake by crying.

It was Baili Rui crying.

Guoguo climbed out of bed and ran over to the small bed in front, "Brother Rui."

She lifted the curtain and climbed onto the bed.

Baili Rui didn’t open his eyes, tightly clutching the quilt, whimpering softly.

"Did you have a nightmare? Brother Rui?" Guoguo hugged Baili Rui, shaking his head.

Baili Rui was shaken awake.

He opened his eyes wide and realized he was in an unfamiliar place.

"Ah—" he gasped softly.

"Brother Rui, you’re awake?" Guoguo pulled back the quilt and lay down next to Baili Rui.

Baili Rui turned to look at Guoguo, let out a breath, and said, "Oh, it’s Guoguo."

"You just had a nightmare." Guoguo hugged him, resting her head on his shoulder.

Baili Rui sighed, "I dreamt of my mother..."

"Brother Rui, Guoguo is here with you." Guoguo hugged Baili Rui.

Baili Rui rubbed his eyes, thinking of how his mother was not around, not knowing where she went.

What’s the use of crying?

He rubbed his eyes again, looking at Guoguo beside him.

Guoguo was saying, "Brother Rui, you just got separated from your mother. She will definitely come back to find you. But Guoguo’s mother said she didn’t want Guoguo anymore and wouldn’t be coming back."

Baili Rui turned around, patted Guoguo’s head, feeling the softness of her hair.

He didn’t know what to say.

Yes, he was just separated from his mother; she would come to find him.

But Guoguo’s mother didn’t want her, yet she didn’t cry.

"Yes, my mother will definitely come to find me." Baili Rui let out a breath, feeling a bit relieved.

Guoguo laughed, "Brother Rui, let’s go to sleep."

"Mm, let’s sleep." Baili Rui yawned, feeling sleepy.

Guoguo giggled, snuggling closer into Baili Rui, and fell asleep leaning against him.

After crying a bit, Baili Rui, being a child, was too sleepy and soon fell asleep.

In the adjacent room, Princess Consort Luling, half-asleep, vaguely heard the children’s cries from this side.

She threw on a piece of clothing and gently pushed the door open to enter.

The children were afraid of the dark, so a small cotton oil lamp was kept lit in the room.

Princess Consort Luling picked up the lamp and first checked Guoguo’s bed, finding it empty, then saw the small shoes of Guoguo in front of Li Jing’s bed.

She couldn’t help but smile, lifted the curtain to look, and saw Guoguo asleep beside Baili Rui.

She paused for a moment.

On second thought, the two children’s ages together were just five or six years old, so she didn’t disturb them. After tucking the quilts securely around the three children, she left the room.

The Li Family’s habit was to get up at dawn.

Prince Luling was going to school, Li Xingmao and Li Xingsheng were going to the fields to arrange short-term labor for farm work.

Princess Consort Luling went to the kitchen to plan what meals to eat today.

Even Li Yu En, who stayed at her parents’ house, got up early because Princess Consort Luling arranged a task for her—practicing embroidery.

Only the children could sleep until mid-morning.

The three children woke up roughly at the same time.

Baili Rui turned over and saw Guoguo sleeping beside him, he was a bit startled.

"Time to get up, Guoguo." Baili Rui touched Guoguo’s small face.

Guoguo had been awake for a while. She opened her eyes, gave Baili Rui a kiss on the cheek, and said, "Good morning, Brother Rui."

Baili Rui, "..."