Chapter 6 Landscape Map

As usual, during the day, they went up the mountain to dig vegetables and chop firewood. When they returned home, Xi Chun took over the cooking.

She pushed her into the inner room and said, "Second sister, you go and draw. I'll cook tonight. It's getting dark soon, and Runsheng might come to pick up the inkstone."

Xi Qiu nodded and didn't refuse. Indeed, she should finish the remaining work while there was still light.

Yan Qing had already placed the half-finished drawing paper on the small table. "Second sister, come and draw. This drawing is so beautiful. Can you teach me? I want to learn too. Can you teach me?"

Xi Qiu was speechless and quickly nodded to stop him from speaking. "Yes, I can teach you?"

Even she couldn't help but use "I" instead of "me." It was really annoying.

Yan Qing happily clapped his hands. "Great, second sister, hurry and draw. When you finish, you can teach me, and then I can help you. You won't have to work so hard, and I can earn money to support the family."

"Yan Qing, can you be quiet and not talk while I'm drawing?"

Finally getting a chance to speak, Xi Qiu quickly made her request.

He obediently nodded and said, "Okay!"

Xi Qiu secretly sighed. It was really hard to have a talkative child in the family.

After thinking about it, she looked at the unfinished drawing in her hand, a landscape drawing similar to a Suzhou garden. She concentrated and started drawing again.

Yesterday, she had stayed up almost all night by the fire. In the end, it was Yan Qing's noise and Xi Chun's coughing that woke her up.

It turned out that she had been watching by the fire all the time, constantly adding firewood. The heat from the kang made them flip like pancakes. In the end, Yan Qing couldn't help but make a fuss and cry, which made her quickly find a wooden dustpan to put out the remaining fire in the stove.

When she got on the kang, she almost cried out in pain. In this way, the three siblings sat in the corner of the wall all night, and in the end, she held Yan Qing in her arms and let him sleep.

Yan Qing propped up his chin and watched her dip the ink and draw with a serious expression. When she finished the last stroke, she realized that it was already dark outside.

Before she could catch her breath, Yan Qing, who had been propping up his chin, sighed first. "Ah, finally finished. I almost suffocated. Second sister, you've been drawing for so long, and third sister has already made dinner!"

After speaking, he rubbed his small chin and Xi Chun coughed and laughed, "It's not that long, just right!"

Xi Qiu looked at the dark sky, put on a thick coat, rolled up the drawing paper, and then went down to the pit. "I'll go out for a while. You guys eat first."

"Big sister, where are you going?"

Yan Qing anxiously sat up, and Xi Chun on the ground also looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"I'm just going outside to wait and see. Runsheng might come to pick up the inkstone now." After that, she touched Yan Qing's head. "You guys eat first. I'll be back soon."

Xi Qiu lifted the door curtain and went out into the yard, standing at the village entrance, pacing back and forth. She didn't know whether she should go to deliver it now. It was already late, and Runsheng should have come to pick it up. If she went out too late, her family would be suspicious.

After much hesitation, she took a deep breath and walked towards the village.

It was already dark early, and the villagers liked to save energy. They usually had dinner before it got dark, and at this time, they should be resting on the kang. In the middle of winter, no one would go out at this time, wasting lamp oil and facing the strong wind at night.

Following her memory, she arrived at Runsheng's house in the village without any obstacles. She peeked through the crack in the wooden fence and saw that it was dark inside. She guessed that they were all asleep. Just as she was wondering if Runsheng had forgotten, she was startled by a scream.

"I knew it, it's you, the fox spirit, seducing my son!"