Divorce with three kids? I'll build a house and eat meat, driving my in-laws crazy.

Chapter 96 What kind of magistrate can't even catch the murderer?!

"Ahem." Chu Xiu coughed twice, waving his fan, and said, "I asked them to dig it up."

Xiao Wu was taken aback. What on earth was the young master thinking now?
Knowing he couldn't compete with his young master, he summoned Li Ruru.

"Godmother, look at the mess he's made of the yard."

When Chu Xiu heard that he dared to complain to his godmother in front of him, he immediately grabbed Xiao Wu's ear.

"You little brat, you've really gone too far. I think you're the kind of person who'll climb onto the roof and tear off the tiles if you don't discipline him for three days."

Xiao Wu's ears turned red from being pulled, and Li Ruru helplessly protected him, saying, "Xiu'er, let's talk this out."

Chu Xiu reluctantly released Xiao Wu and explained, "Godmother, I just heard you telling Aunt Pan that it was going to rain heavily."

Li Ruru coughed, realizing that the matter could no longer be concealed, and could only nod.

She called over a few children and said seriously, "Whether it rains heavily in the future or not, we have to prepare in advance. So we have to work hard these next two days to buy more things and stock up."

The group nodded, but none of them paid any attention.

It's just raining. There's been a lot of rain this year, so it's normal for it to rain for a few days.

My mother (godmother) is overthinking things.

Chu Xiu continued, "That's why I had them dig a ditch in the yard."

"Why are you digging this ditch? You've ruined my godmother's vegetables and livestock pens!" Xiao Wu complained.

Li Ruru looked at Chu Xiu with a relieved expression, "Is it a drainage ditch?"

Chu Xiu nodded. His godmother was smart; she didn't need to explain anything further.

Unlike Xiao Wu, that idiot, who not only didn't help but also came to complain.

How abominable.

Facing the young master's disdainful gaze, Xiao Wu blushed and lowered his head, muttering something under his breath.

"You should have said so earlier, otherwise I wouldn't have said anything to you."

He wasn't out of his mind to complain about the young master; he was just upset that his godmother's courtyard had been damaged.

He himself didn't realize that his heart had already turned towards Li Ruru.

They didn't even care as much about Young Master Chu, their benefactor.

As intelligent as Chu Xiu was, he naturally saw this as well, but he didn't mind at all.

He couldn't be happier if more people treated his godmother well; his godmother's happiness made him happy.

As for servants like Xiao Wu, there are plenty at home. We can just find someone else to serve him when the time comes.

Thinking of this, he shook his head again. No, he couldn't hire servants to wait on him anymore.

My godmother doesn't like these things.

Besides, he's very happy living with his godmother, so doing some chores isn't a big deal.

He himself didn't realize that his spoiled brat attitude had gradually been worn away, and he had long since gotten used to the fact that everyone in Li Ruru's family had to do chores.

He's already quite adept at many of the tasks.

"Alright, everyone get back to work," Li Ruru said, acting as a peacemaker.

Everyone went about their business on their own initiative, and Chu Xiu stopped Xiao Yishan, who was about to leave.

He said in a voice that only the three of them could hear, "Brother Xiao, godmother, the murderer who killed Butcher Hu has not been found yet. It will probably take some time."

As he spoke, he inwardly grumbled about his father: "He can't even catch a murderer, what kind of magistrate is he?!"

The magistrate of Chu County, who was extremely busy, sneezed several times for no apparent reason.

The clerk standing nearby tensed up. What's wrong with the master? Why has he been sneezing so much lately?!

He looked at Magistrate Chu with concern, "Sir, please take care of yourself."

I hope I won't be unable to attend my son's wedding.

Magistrate Chu rubbed his nose and continued working.

To Xiao Yishan, Chu Xiu's news was perfectly normal, after all, Uncle Hu had been dead for several years, and solving the case wouldn't be that quick.

He said in a low voice, "It's nothing, thank you for your hard work, Brother Chu."

Li Ruru patted her two sons' heads and, without any hesitation, assigned them some more tasks. "Xiu'er, you and Yishan go to the backyard and see if we need to build two more irrigation ditches there."

Also, the mountainside needs repairs to prevent rainwater from flowing down there.

Xiao Yishan nodded, and Chu Xiu, along with Xiao Wu, led the three of them to the backyard.

Soon, the three returned. Xiao Yishan said, "Godmother, the backyard also needs a canal to be repaired and connected to the front yard. Let's go up the mountain to take a look now."

It was getting dark, and Li Ruru told them to bring Qiqi along as well.

The men in the courtyard were still working hard, and Li Ruru and her three daughters were also busy.

Li Ruru took out the pig skin that had been scraped clean yesterday, put it in a pot, and added various seasonings to simmer together.

While tending the fire, Chaochao asked, "Mother, what are you doing?"

Is Mom going to eat pig skin? There's so much meat at home, why does Mom have to pick on pig skin?

That stuff is harder than tree bark, so it's definitely not edible.

Li Ruru poked the pork skin in the pot with chopsticks. The pork skin was easily pierced by the chopsticks, which meant it was cooked and ready to be taken out of the pot.

As she scooped out the pig skin, she said, "Pig skin is a good thing too; it can be used to make pig skin jelly."

As she spoke, she rinsed the pig skin in cold water, cut it into small pieces with a cleaver, and carefully removed any remaining fat.

If this layer of fat isn't scraped off completely, the resulting pork skin jelly will be extremely greasy and cloudy, lacking any clarity.

Finally, she cut the pig skin into thin strips and washed it several times with salt water and flour.

Chaochao boiled another pot of water, and Li Ruru put the shredded pork skin, scallions, ginger, and garlic into the pot. After boiling, she skimmed off the foam.

After simmering over low heat for about half an hour, Li Ruru placed the pork skin and broth into a large, open porcelain basin.

Two large pots of pork skin were boiled, and after cooling, the volume filled four large porcelain basins.

It was already dark when they finished all the work in the yard, and the men were ready to go home.

Peipei and Chaochao carried out a large steamer of buns. "There's not much to eat at home, just these buns. Please make do with them. Thank you all for your hard work today."

Chu Xiu had already paid the men who worked for Li Ruru's family.

They looked at each other, and the words of refusal that were on the tip of their tongues changed to, "Thank you, young lady."

It wasn't that they didn't want to refuse, but the big steamed buns made of white flour were just too tempting.

The men hesitated for a moment, then each took two. One of them couldn't wait to bite into one and exclaimed, "Wow, it's pork filling! It has pork in it!"

Peipei corrected, "That's pork cracklings."

The men were very satisfied with the meal, whether it was lard or pork cracklings.

Some people wanted another one, but were too embarrassed to ask.

Chaochao and Peipei brought out another bowl, saying, "There's more here, please don't be shy."

They are all men who work hard for their families. They have worked hard all day, so naturally the women wouldn't hesitate to give them a few steamed buns.

Everyone reached for the steamed buns again, a scene that Chu Xiu, who had just come down from the mountain, witnessed.

He walked over with a dark expression. "Are you all starving ghosts?"

Xiao Wu was also furious, because their wages included money for food, so their godmother didn't need to provide meals at all.

These people are so oblivious.

He shouted, "Hurry up, hurry up!"

If they don't leave soon, they'll eat my family out of house and home.

The men walked out laughing and joking, but were stopped by Chu Xiu just as they reached the door.

He said in a low voice, "Come over first thing tomorrow morning and come with me somewhere."

As he spoke, he took out 20 taels of silver from his waist and handed it to the leader, saying, "Remember, come early, don't be late."

Everyone's eyes lit up. Another job! The young master is giving out money again! That's great!

Chu Xiu thought he had done it very discreetly, but Li Ruru still saw it.

She leaned against the kitchen door and asked, "Why are you giving those people money? Where are you taking them tomorrow?"

Is he planning to go to Chunfeng Tower again?
(End of this chapter)