Daily Life of Raising Kids and Running a Stall - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Getting Along

By the time Su Yunche came rushing out of the house, Qiu Yuruo had already finished preparing breakfast.

Seeing his shoes barely on and his face full of panic, she smiled and said, “Don’t worry. Your brother’s doing fine.”

Not long after, Su Jingshu also came out yawning. When she saw Qiu Yuruo, she looked a little embarrassed. “Sorry, Sister-in-law. I got up late.”

Before Qiu Yuruo had married into the family, the three siblings had been living under constant anxiety. They feared their sister-in-law would resent their bedridden brother and treat them like burdens. But after yesterday, they saw that she had no complaints and even treated them kindly. With that burden lifted, they finally slept well.

And once they fell asleep peacefully, they naturally slept past their usual wake-up time.

Qiu Yuruo wasn’t the kind of person who enforced strict discipline. She didn’t mind them waking late at all. “You’ve had a rough few days. It’s good to rest when you can. If your little sister isn’t awake yet, let her sleep. We’ll eat first. She can eat when she gets up.”

The weather was fine that day. After breakfast, Qiu Yuruo asked the three siblings to help carry Su Yunting out to the bamboo daybed to let him enjoy some sunshine.

Su Yunting regained consciousness in the middle of the movement, just in time to hear Qiu Yuruo’s voice.

“This spot’s good. Be careful not to bump into anything.”

The daybed settled down slowly. All three of them were panting a little from the effort.

Once they caught their breath, Qiu Yuruo began assigning tasks. “Second Sister, go wake your little sister for breakfast. Yunche, help your brother shoo away the mosquitoes.”

It was early autumn, prime time for swarms of mosquitoes and flies. A single bite could swell into a huge bump.

Qiu Yuruo went back into the house and brought out a light blanket to cover Su Yunting. Then she fetched a small stool and sat down on the opposite side of the daybed.

Su Yunche sat silently nearby, swatting away the occasional insect. Though Qiu Yuruo couldn’t yet tell if he was a person with a good heart, she could clearly see how much he cared for his brother and sisters.

Su Yunting lay on the bamboo bed, warmed by the soft morning sunlight. His body felt relaxed, and the most important people in his life sat close by. But they were still strangers, not yet close enough to share real conversations.

The courtyard was quiet, save for the birdsong and chirping insects. From inside the house came the muffled sound of the second sister waking their little sister.

Qiu Yuruo had only been married into the family for one day, yet the family was already changing. The little sister sleeping in was the best proof.

Since their mother’s passing, the youngest sibling hadn’t once lingered in bed. Yet the very first day after Qiu Yuruo arrived, she felt safe enough to do so.

As Su Yunting pondered whether his siblings’ lives could change for the better now that his wife had arrived, Qiu Yuruo began speaking again.

“Third Brother,” she asked, “how many years of private schooling did you have?”

Su Yunche looked up. “Two years.”

Qiu Yuruo wasn’t familiar with the curriculum. “Did you finish all the basic literacy characters?”

A subtle smile appeared on the usually calm boy’s face. “I knew all the introductory characters before I even started school.”

“That’s amazing,” she said with real admiration.

She meant it. In this life, before her own mother passed away, she had tried teaching Qiu Yuruo to read and write. Her maternal grandfather had been a stone carver, and her grandmother, though she passed early, was said to be literate and skilled in calligraphy. Her mother could read and write a bit, but it was far from elegant.

Qiu Yuruo herself had only learned a few characters before losing both her parents. If not for the knowledge she retained from her previous life, she probably would’ve forgotten even those.

Su Yunche, on the other hand, had learned all the basic characters before even entering school. That truly was impressive.

The boy’s face had just brightened with pride when he remembered he could no longer study. The smile that had just bloomed quickly withered.

Seeing his expression dim, Qiu Yuruo said gently, “Even if you can’t go back to school for now, you’re already literate. Your brother left behind notebooks and study materials. You can continue studying on your own at home. Gaining knowledge is always valuable.”

Su Yunche stared at her, stunned. So much had happened recently, he hadn’t even considered picking up a book again. He had resigned himself to a life without learning.

But now someone told him it was still possible. That he could keep studying.

Watching the normally calm boy’s face shift through so many expressions in such a short time, Qiu Yuruo chuckled softly.

“Look at your face,” she teased. “You act like studying at home is some unimaginable dream.”

He lowered his head. “It’s not that I didn’t think of it. It’s that… I didn’t dare to.”

His voice was quiet, but his words struck Su Yunting harder than any outcry ever could.

In this life, after regaining his awareness, he had mostly heard his mother lamenting their hardships. His siblings had been quieter, maybe because their mother was still alive then and they still had someone to rely on.

After her death, they grew even more silent.

But this one sentence—“I didn’t dare to”—was more heartbreaking than anything else.

Then Qiu Yuruo spoke again, her tone warm.

“You don’t have to be afraid to hope anymore. From now on, this house is my responsibility. For the next two years, you just focus on eating well, studying hard, and taking care of your brother when I’m not around. I’ll handle everything else.”

Su Yunche’s eyes turned red.

After their mother died, he had carried burdens far beyond his years. Now someone was telling him he didn’t need to worry anymore.

He lowered his head quickly, not wanting Qiu Yuruo to see the cracks in his composure.

Just then, the little sister finally came out. She hadn’t even washed her face yet. She walked straight over to Qiu Yuruo and called out sweetly, “Sister-in-law.”

Among the siblings, Su Jingxuan had been the first to approach Qiu Yuruo, the first to accept her, and the first to fully depend on her.

Maybe it was because she was still young and hadn’t learned to judge people based on logic. But her instincts were sharp, and she trusted those instincts completely.

And her instincts weren’t wrong. Among the three siblings, Qiu Yuruo felt the most tenderness toward this youngest one.

Seeing her, Qiu Yuruo couldn’t help thinking of herself in those early days after waking up in the Qiu family. If not for the memories of her past life, she might never have survived.

This little girl, at the same age and with the same loss of parents, tugged at her heart in a way she couldn’t explain.

She reached out and ruffled the child’s soft hair. “Your second sister warmed up your breakfast. After you eat, we’re going to take a walk along the main road.”

At the mention of an outing, all traces of sleep vanished from Su Jingxuan’s face. She let out a cheer and skipped off to wash up.

That little cheer dispersed the gloom that had just been weighing on Su Yunche and brought a touch of warmth back to Su Yunting’s awareness.

He hadn’t heard his little sister laugh like that in a long time. Not since before he fell into a coma in his previous life.

Once the little sister left to eat, Qiu Yuruo turned back to Su Yunche.

“Today, you’ll stay home and look after the house. I’ll take your second sister and little sister to scout the main road. Tomorrow, when the Qiu family comes to take me home for the return visit, I’ll bring you and the little one with me. Your second sister will stay here and look after the house.”

“You’re taking me home with you?” Su Yunche asked, surprised.

“Of course,” she said without hesitation. “Your brother can’t go, so you’ll come with me. It’ll show everyone in Qianqiao Village that our family still has a strong male presence.”

Her words gave him a sense of being valued, of being important.

He nodded earnestly. “Alright. I’ll go back with you tomorrow.”

After breakfast, Qiu Yuruo returned to her room and took out half a tael of loose silver.

Before bathing the night before, she had carefully inspected the inner room and discovered a hidden compartment in the wardrobe. She had stashed the five taels of scattered silver from Eldest Uncle there for easy access.

The other five taels he gave, along with the ten-tael silver ingot from Old Man Qiu and her mother’s silver bracelet, were all hidden even more securely.

She was taking money out now to buy gifts for the return visit tomorrow.

When Qiu Yuruo decided to marry into the Su family, she hadn’t planned to maintain much contact with her grandfather, who never truly cared for her. Her aim had been to repay what was owed and leave it at that.

But after meeting Old Man Su and Second Uncle Su, she changed her mind.

Their personalities were shameless and selfish, and her status as a younger generation left her at a disadvantage in any confrontation.

They were the type who would only help if it brought them benefit, and the moment it didn’t, they’d cut ties without hesitation.

Qiu Yuruo’s marriage to Su Yunting had been the result of a stalemate between the two elders. It had been Old Man Qiu’s loss. Old Man Su had caught him in a bind and used it to force the marriage.

But in the future, when disputes inevitably arose, Qiu Yuruo wanted to make sure Old Man Qiu stood firmly on her side, morally upright and ready to crush Old Man Su in public.

She tucked the silver into the secret pocket sewn inside her sleeve and sighed.

So it was true, then. People follow profit. With enough benefit, even the biggest grudges could be smoothed over.

A few days ago, she had resented them enough to wish them ill.

Now, she had to shift her plans again.

Stepping out with the silver hidden safely, she tOld Man Su Yunche, “We’re heading down the main road toward the town. We’ll be back before noon.”

“Alright,” he replied.

The Old Man Su family home sat on the east side of the village. Once you left the alley, the main road was just ahead. Qiu Yuruo grabbed a basket from the kitchen, then led the two girls out the door.