Chapter 575: Chapter 575: Qingming Festival Ancestor Worship
 

Since the second family branch left the Di Family, they were no longer part of it.

They hoped to benefit from Ye Lei’s career, but when they found out that he was in big prison, they didn’t hesitate to leave the Di Family to save themselves.

Liu Sisi sneered in her heart. They did this to save their lives, and she shouldn’t stop them. However, with their actions, the brotherly feelings they once had naturally vanished.

It would be a lie to say that Di Yelei was not heartbroken, though he never spoke about it. More than once, Liu Sisi woke up in the middle of the night to see Di Yelei staring blankly at the head of the bed, with such an intense loneliness on his face, like dark clouds that could not be dispersed.

“But can you really avoid going?”

Guihua hesitated, “I’m afraid your father-in-law won’t be able to handle that shrew, will he?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Liu Sisi shook her head and casually tossed the cleaned small fish into a small basin next to her.

The more noise Ms. Wang made, the better. If word spread, she would be the one who would be pointed at by thousands of people! If she were smart, she would cause a scene and then leave on her own accord instead of constantly lingering.

However… the father-in-law seemed easygoing, but he had his own set of principles.

Di Gaoyuan was treacherous and unfaithful. Instead of helping his brother when he needed it, he pushed him further into trouble and abandoned him.

Could he agree to his request?

Liu Sisi was very curious, but her hands didn’t stop working. When everyone finished cleaning and handling a whole carrying pole’s worth of fish, they all laughed and went back to the room.

As expected, there was not a single person outside the courtyard door, and Ms. Wang had disappeared. On the other hand, the voices of Elderly Mr. Di and Ms. Zhao arguing occasionally came from the house.

The few of them exchanged glances and went straight to the kitchen. Since they had come back for a rare visit today, Liu Sisi decided to cook dinner herself.

Nowadays, with many more people in the family, there are many things that Liu Sisi doesn’t have to do herself, like cooking today. So when she said she wanted to cook dinner herself, everyone looked at her with great interest.

Thickening the sauce, blending, fierce stir-frying on high heat, boiling soup, braising, and simmering… soon, a tableful of dishes came out of the pot.

After that, she stir-fried a few vegetarian dishes and urged everyone to set the table.

Just as they were busy, a noisy commotion and a barking of dogs came from outside, indicating that Di Yelei and the others had returned!

“You’ve come home just in time for dinner, and the most amazing thing is that Sisi cooked all of these dishes herself today! Just smelling them makes you feel incredibly delicious, so don’t eat so much that you lose your tongue later.” Guihua joked.

Upon hearing that Di Yelei and his companions had returned, Liu Sisi’s heart was filled with joy! They had been gone for more than half a day, so it was rare for them to come back so early. It was quite surprising!

Outside, Zhang Yun was carrying a fat rabbit and boasting to YingEr with a smile on his face.

“YingEr, look at this fat rabbit, I caught it myself, here, it’s for you!” His face was full of smiles.

YingEr looked left and right before reaching out to take it. The wild rabbit struggled in her hands, almost escaping, but Zhang Yun quickly caught it again.

“Ah, it wants to escape? Tee hee!”

As a hunter’s daughter, YingEr was much bolder now. She watched the plump rabbit and poked its chubby belly with her little finger.

The fat rabbit couldn’t help but kick again, but it had no more chances to escape.

Di Yelei and Zhang Peng laughed heartily at the scene. They didn’t catch much game today, but luckily they caught a wild boar, which made everyone happy.

When called to have dinner, everyone took their seats quickly and started eating with their chopsticks.

The cooked dishes smelled delicious and tasted even better. Di Yelei had a big appetite and ate quickly, but he seemed at ease. Soon, a large bowl of rice was finished.

After eating several bowls, he finally put down his chopsticks with satisfaction.

The others also felt satisfied, even Liu Sisi ate half a bowl more than usual.

“Sisi, your cooking skills are better than the palace chefs! It’s a pity that the old Emperor doesn’t have such a treat.” Guihua felt too full.

“What an exaggeration… I just use the same seasonings as you all.” Liu Sisi shook her head with a smile.

In fact, Liu Sisi also found it strange that with the same ingredients and cooking methods, the dishes she made had a different taste than those others made. She couldn’t figure out why.

Elderly Mr. Di had eaten many fried small fish tonight. The crispy and fragrant golden-brown fish were irresistible.

He put down his bowl and chopsticks and said with satisfaction after a big burp, “Sisi, tomorrow is the Cold Food Festival. Why don’t you make some more fish or crispy meat tonight to eat tomorrow and to serve during the ancestral worship the day after? It’s a good idea.”

Liu Sisi laughed, her eyes curved like crescents: “Father is right, with the wild boar that Yelei and Brother Zhang caught, I’ll cook it later.”

After everyone agreed, they went about their tasks. When Liu Sisi had finished frying the vegetarian balls, she began making Qingming pastry.

Qingming pastry was made with Qingming herbs washed and soaked in water, then mixed with glutinous rice dough. It was then filled with various ingredients, and pan-fried or steamed in bamboo steamers. It could be used for offerings to ancestors or eaten by themselves.

When the Qingming pastries were ready, the wild boar meat was brought in from outside. Liu Sisi got busy again.

The next day was the Cold Food Festival. According to tradition, the whole family went out early to pick willow branches by the riverbank.

With willow branches on both adults and children’s heads, they went to the grain-drying yard. The yard was bustling with people playing music, fighting cocks, racing dogs, playing chess, and playing football. It was not surprising that after the Qingming Festival, every household would be busy with the spring plowing. This was considered the last feast before the busy season and everyone participated in the festivities.

Di Yelei and his group moved to the other side of the grain-drying yard. Here, various games, such as football, arrow shooting, and horse polo were being held.

Not only children were playing the games, Di Yelei was immediately called over when he appeared.

“Lord Di, would you care to join us in a game of football?” A familiar man waved a football in his hand, inviting Di Yelei.

“Why not?”

Di Yelei laughed, then directly joined the center of the scene.