Chapter 49

The answer came quickly.

As Sang Luo sat in the courtyard on a low stool, using straw to make nests for the ducks, she noticed two little kids peeking in through the gate, leaning and half-looking in. Spotting their elder sister-in-law, the two little ones broke into ingratiating smiles.

"Elder sister-in-law, do you still need pretty stones?" one of them asked.

It was Shen Tie, his voice still charmingly childish.

Shen Yin stepped away for a moment and soon returned, dragging a small winnowing basket to the gate. Sang Luo put down the nest she was weaving and walked over. Inside the basket, spread thinly, were about dozens of pebbles.

"Did you two pick these?"

Both children nodded in unison: "Do you still want them?"

Sang Luo smiled: "Yes, please bring them inside."

She then helped lift the basket. Although it wasn’t heavily loaded, it was still somewhat heavy for the children.

Shen Yin and Shen Tie, hearing Sang Luo invite them in, turned to look outside the gate together.

Sang Luo raised an eyebrow, curious about the commotion outside, when she heard Hu Zi's voice: “Shen Jin, are you also delivering stones? Why stand outside?”

Shen Jin: ……

Sang Luo felt like laughing.

Stepping outside the gate, she saw five children carrying baskets and lifting straw baskets, all there to deliver pebbles. Shen Jin was standing at the corner outside her gate but now emerged, somewhat sheepishly.

“Huh, isn’t it rare for this little rascal to be shy about entering my yard?” she thought. He’s usually so brazen around Shen An and Shen Ning.

Among the other five children, Sang Luo recognized Er Niu and Hu Zi, but the three younger ones were unfamiliar to her.

Er Niu and Hu Zi were now quite familiar with Sang Luo and showed no reserve. Arriving at the gate with their load, they greeted her with bright smiles: “Big sister-in-law Shen, we brought the stones.”

Sang Luo smiled back: “Thank you, come on in. How did you all know I needed stones for my yard?”

Hu Zi, grinning broadly, scratched his head: “We saw Shen An and Shen Ning searching this morning. Heard you needed stones for paving the yard, so we thought we'd help. We found some in the morning, and these are from the afternoon.”

The young boy confidently ushered his companions into the yard, then pointed at the three other boys, introducing them: “Big sister-in-law Shen, this is San Niu, Er Niu’s brother, and the little ones here are Shi Tou and Ah Xu, my brothers.”