Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 635: Chapter 635: Mid-Autumn Festival Turmoil (2)
 

He immediately changed the subject: “By the way, today is the Lunar July 13th, the Ghost Festival is here, and according to tradition, we must go back to our hometown to worship our ancestors. Are you two prepared for this?”

Di Yelei and Liu Sisi exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise in each other’s eyes.

“Is it already the 13th of July? We…we completely forgot about this.”

Indeed, they had forgotten. They were both too preoccupied with recent events that they didn’t even remember such a festival, which wasn’t very significant to the locals.

Here, people generally don’t celebrate the mid-July festival, unless there is a special occasion to open the Ancestral Hall for a ritual.

“I figured you two would forget. Fortunately, this old man remembered. It takes at least a day to travel by carriage from Macheng County to our old home. Everyone should prepare early, so that we can leave early tomorrow morning.”

“A day’s journey by carriage?” Liu Sisi heard about this for the first time.

The Di Family’s ancestral home was not in Macheng County, but rather in Dacheng County, which is adjacent to Gongzhou City. Dacheng County is under the direct jurisdiction of Gongzhou.

Years ago, the Di Family there underwent some changes, and this family branch was forced to leave Dacheng County. They wandered from place to place, finally settling and multiplying in Macheng County.

However, this branch of the family was not thriving, nor did any nobles emerge from them. Although they had always been in contact with the main family, as the older generation died off and the younger generation took over, the relationship gradually deteriorated, resulting in the Di Family’s main House not paying much attention to them.

Now that his son had become a sixth-rank military officer, Elderly Mr. Di could not wait to send a letter to his old home, thus leading to today’s events.

Elderly Di was quite enthusiastic about this: “I’ve been thinking! Tomorrow we’ll go back to our old home to worship our ancestors, and let our ancestors meet these three children, leaving some marks in the ancestral records.”

“Alright, Dad.”

Di Yelei naturally agreed without any objections. He would never have any issue with such matters.

Elderly Di was excited but also hesitant: “There’s one more thing, Sisi…”

“Father, if you have any instructions, just give them. As long as Sisi can do it, she will do her best.” Liu Sisi immediately made a promise.

Elderly Di nodded: “Well, it’s actually the matter you promised during the New Year, about sending the children of the Di Family to the village school…”

“Father, it’s not that Sisi forgot, but that I have other plans.”

So, it was that matter!

Liu Sisi said indifferently: “Father, you should know that at the narrow pass leading North to the North Mountain, I have built a new academy that can accommodate over a thousand students. The academy is self-contained, with students living inside. Apart from the holidays during the year, they must stay and study and work in the academy.”

“Isn’t the village school in the town the same? They can eat, live, and study there, and they only come back on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month. What’s so strange about that?”

Elderly Di was curious to know.

“It’s not the same, Father. This academy is expected to enroll its first batch of students in the autumn. By then, if Ah-Bao, Ah-Cheng, Ah-Jie, and Brother Gao are willing, they can enter the academy with free tuition. Even the girls of the Di Family can have the opportunity to attend school as long as they wish. The fees while attending the school will be borne by me alone. Father, what do you think?”

Although the Second Family Branch had already separated from the Di Family, from the spark in Elderly Di’s eyes when she spoke, he probably still hoped for his second child to return to his side.

“This…Enrollment starting this autumn? It was said that the academy is still under construction, will it be ready to enroll students this autumn?”

“I’m sure it will be, Father. You can rest assured. Sisi never fights an unsure battle!”

Liu Sisi was brimming with confidence, displaying a look of absolute certainty.

When they returned to their room, Di Yelei was still thinking about this matter: “Why did Dad suddenly mention letting the Di Family members study today? It’s so strange!”

“Maybe someone whispered in his ear.” Liu Sisi said indifferently.

Di Yelei didn’t respond, knowing in his heart: “Stop thinking about it, go to sleep first. I’ll go to the study for a while. I can’t go to work tomorrow, but I still have to get things done.”

“Alright, I need to finish reviewing my account books as well.”

Liu Sisi went to the study as well. They each occupied a corner of the room, busying themselves with their tasks.

For the past few days, the two had been quietly accompanying each other.

As long as they finished dinner, they would both nestle into the study, taking a corner for themselves and attending to their respective tasks. After they were done, they would go together to see their three children, and then hand in hand, they would return to their room.

Di Yelei never mentioned their affectionate relationship again, nor did Liu Sisi take the initiative to bring it up.

She understood that Ye Lei was waiting for her to take the initiative.

She also understood that the problem lay with her, so she always tried to adapt to the recent changes and adjust her state of mind.

In fact, she sensed that Ye Lei would not wait for her for much longer!

The next day, everyone got up early, accompanied by Elderly Di, and took the carriage back to their old hometown to pay homage to their ancestors.

The carriage bumped along, taking everyone on an unknown journey.

Because Di Yelei became an official, according to customs, a special monument should be erected in the Di Family’s Ancestral Hall, with a praise for later generations to remember.

The reason for doing this was purely customary, but the matter was eventually dissuaded by Di Yelei.

“Although I’m now a sixth-rank captain, I don’t have real power. At this moment, I’m most afraid of being slandered. Once someone submits a document about this, I’m afraid my Di family, with just dozens of people, wouldn’t be enough to feed the blade of the executioner’s knife.”

“Moreover, there have already been several officers in the Di family’s main family. My sudden emergence as a military officer is unusual for the Di family’s tradition of passing down literary learning, and I’m afraid it would give rise to quite a few criticisms.”

“As for the expansion of the Di Family’s Ancestral Hall in the future, waiting until Third Child’s official career has reached its peak would not be too late. By then, I believe the situation would not be as precarious as it is now.”

With Di Yelei’s words, Elderly Di’s idea of competing with the main family for the expansion of the Di Family’s Ancestral Hall was discarded.

Everyone rode along the official road at a rapid pace. Due to the long distance and the many children on the carriages, four carriages were taken, carrying the entire family along the official road from Macheng County to Dacheng County, racing towards the unknown future.

As they hurried towards their old home, another carriage galloped out of downtown Macheng County, chasing in the direction Liu Sisi and the others were headed.