an seems very close to you. Now that she lives so close, hasn't that concubine in her family caused any trouble again""Don't mention it," Zhao Yuru waved her hand and sighed, "That concubine didn't ca...Li Lao Tai raised her chin, motioning for her granddaughter to look at the half-dead wild flowers under the courtyard wall.
Those are all masterpieces by a master gardener. You water them when you remember and let them dry for half a month when you forget.
Thankfully, it was wildflowers, tenacious in life. Otherwise, we could have directly pulled them out and thrown them into the stove for firewood.
Jia Yin covered her face, "Oh my gosh, Grandma is so cruel! She hit me but not on the face!"
She's just being lazy sometimes, what's there to fuss about with a child!
It's a pity that the little green snake in the space didn't know, otherwise it would have been holding the wildflowers and crying out loud. It's pitiful that we are all spirits of the mountains and wilds, how did we end up in the hands of this little witch!
As the two generations were talking, Li Zhensheng and Tao Hongying finally returned from the city.
The courtyard was bustling with activity, a far cry from its former quietude.
Li Laotai was busy running around, beaming with joy. This surprised Li Zhensheng greatly. Looking around the house, seeing only Jia Yin left, he understood.
The mischievous boys have all gone to the academy to study. This old mother of mine isn't used to it yet, and she finds the house unbearably quiet...
The dinner table at the Li household on ordinary days could barely fit two people. Today, with the children away and Li Lao Si not present, only Jia Huan remained in the house, as he was guarding the wine shop.
So everyone sat at a table, with half the seats still vacant.
Lao Li's chopsticks seemed to be refusing to go down. "Tonight, several of the household staff will be staying in the study, I wonder if they'll get used to it..."
Everyone quickly advised, Li Zhensheng laughed, "They are all big guys now, mother doesn't need to worry about it."
Tao Hongying, who knew her mother-in-law best, feigned a sorrowful expression and said, "Yes, Mother, you mustn't devote all your attention to your grandson. Remember about the family too. I still have to work at the tavern for a few days and won't be able to take care of everything."
"As winter is approaching, the cotton clothes and pants for Uncle Zhao's family in the backyard, as well as ours, add up to over twenty sets of all sizes. Mom needs to get them all ready."
Li Lao'er understood, and he added fuel to the fire as well, "Also, just today we finalized a plan. Our village and three other villages will work together to build bridges and repair roads. First, it'll be our village, then Da Huai Shu, Da Wang Zhuang, and Xiao Wang Zhuang. Wherever they work, that place will provide them with lunch."
"To feed and clothe so many mouths, it's no easy feat. Starting tomorrow, our village will be busy for almost ten days repairing things! Mama has brought along the village womenfolk, they'll have to support us!"
These chores, the family would usually never ask the old woman to do out of concern, but now everyone tacitly pushes them all onto her.
Firstly, there simply aren't enough people.
Secondly, I also hope that the old woman can shift her attention and not be too preoccupied with her grandchildren leaving home to study. I don't want her to worry herself sick.
As expected, even Old Mrs. Li, as capable as she was, couldn't overcome the united efforts of her children.
After dinner, she hurried to the warehouse and rummaged through it, taking out all the fabric suitable for making trousers and cotton.
These were all sent by Mrs. Cui and Mrs. Liu on ordinary days. They weren't expensive, but they were very practical.
Unfortunately, it's still far from enough to arrange all the family members' clothes.
Then, Li LaoTai again had He Mamá list out the items and went into the city to buy them when she was free.
Not only that, but tomorrow at noon I have to cook for the road workers. It's not just people from our village, but also those from three other villages!
The dishes should be affordable and substantial, so that people won't laugh behind our backs. We might have to list a menu again.
Tomorrow morning, I need to go to the village warehouse to collect food. If anything is missing, I'll also have to buy it...
Jia Yin remembered Grandma's worries and wanted to lie down with her, keeping her company and comforting the old woman.
As a result, Old Mrs. Li fell asleep as soon as she touched the pillow...
In fact, if the family members didn't push so many chores onto Old Lady Li, she wouldn't have so much free time to worry about her grandchildren...
After all, late autumn is always the busiest time for farmers.
Even though the Li family is well-off now and doesn't lack food and drink, some habits are still ingrained in their bones, such as drying vegetables, cooking soybeans to make soy sauce chunks, storing cabbage and radishes, chopping wood, and stacking firewood...
Each one of these matters to whether a family can eat well, stay warm, and have a good winter!
And the bridge and road construction plan began in a flurry of activity at Suijin Beach.
All the men in the village, one and all, took part.
Women are busy cooking and preparing meals, while the elderly are sending water to the construction site and helping to take care of the tools.
The mischievous boys still went to school, but in the afternoons they would run off to construction sites and do whatever odd jobs they could manage.
The villagers didn't stop him either. Whose son wasn't like this, following his father and learning as he grew up!
After two or three days of busy work, Hui-niang finally came out of confinement. She soaked herself in the hot spring for a full hour before she felt like she was alive again.
When she walked into the room with her hair down, the two children were being put on the kang. Jia Yin and He Grandma surrounded them, laughing and teasing.
Grandma He turned her head and quickly grabbed a towel to wrap up her half-wet hair, "Although you've finished your confinement period, you still need to be careful. Having wet hair for too long can cause headaches!"
Jiayin didn't understand these things, she just listened for the excitement. For now, she was only interested in the two chubby children in front of her.
The life at home is much better these days compared to how poor we used to be. This time, when Huini was postpartum, both Li Lao Tai and Tao Hongying spared no effort in making nourishing soups like chicken soup and fish soup for her.
Hui Niang drinks every day, she herself hasn't gained much weight, but she has fed the two children into chubby little dumplings.
At this moment, the chubby boy was earnestly blowing bubbles with his saliva, but every time he just succeeded, Jia Yin reached out and popped them.
The chubby little boy stomped his feet and kicked, his little face flushed red, babbling incoherently. Jia Yin laughed wickedly with a "ha ha"!
Seeing her son being bullied, Hui-niang didn't get angry, but instead laughed along with them.
Grandma He braided her hair into two neat plaits, which kept her cool and tidy.
Who knew, suddenly outside the yard became a commotion. The three looked out the window and were startled to jump up.
Several guards carried a stretcher, followed by a crowd of people who squeezed into the yard. On the stretcher lay… Li Yong!
Hui-niang ran out as if mad, pounced onto the stretcher, and though she had words to say, they all got stuck in her throat, leaving only tears streaming down her face.
Li Yong's front and back were covered in blood, his pain making it hard to breathe. He still tried to comfort his wife, saying, "Don't worry, I'm fine, just skin wounds."
Zhang Shenyi, also looking disheveled, followed behind. He cursed, “This kid really killed me with worry! We agreed to go to the mountains to gather herbs together, but he ran off to fight a tiger alone! Luckily his saber was sharp enough, or he wouldn't have made it back alive!”
Mrs. Li, panting heavily, chased after them and grabbed Hui's daughter, urging, "First, let's settle Da Yong down. We can talk later."
Everyone hurriedly placed Li Yong in a guest room.
The kang in the guest room is quite large. It’s usually used by Huiniang, the two children, and sometimes Shuiyun or He Maama who helps keep watch at night. There’s plenty of room even now that Li Yong has been placed there as well.
When Zhang, the Divine Doctor, was on the mountain, he only stopped Li Yong's bleeding. Now he needed to remove his clothes and apply medicine to the wounds. Some injuries even required stitching.
After all that work, the old man was exhausted.
But Li Yong was truly only skin-deep wounded, his bones were fine. This relieved everyone who heard the news.
After dispersing the crowd, Li Lao'er went into the house with Li Laotai and the village head to visit.
Hui Niang no longer cared about shame, she grasped her husband's hand, not daring to let go for a moment.
Old Lady Li was furious and scolded Li Yong, "You, you are the father of two children, how can you still be so reckless If something happens to you, how will Hui Niang and the children live You said you were going with Zhang Divine Physician to gather medicine, how did you end up fighting a tiger!"
Li Yong was a little weak, but his eyes were frighteningly bright. “Auntie, I heard that there were tigers on Yunwu Mountain, so I took the opportunity to go looking for them while pretending to be gathering herbs. Otherwise, you wouldn't have agreed.”
Just now, I passed through the city. The dead tiger has already been sent to the Marquis's mansion. The steward will help me sell it. I heard that it's at least five hundred taels!
"I intend to build a house here with my own hands for Huiniang and the two children. Afterwards, I will follow the Marquis into battle and won't have to worry about the three of them."
"After saying that, his eyes lit up even brighter. "I've already drawn the plans. It'll be two-story with plenty of space for the kids to live in when they get married. Hui Niang loves embroidery, so I'll also set aside a room for her!"eir lunch. Let me go back and cook some porridge and heat up some steamed buns. This dish is enough for the whole family to eat.Soon, everyone sat down bustlingly.The Lord chatted with Old Madam Li f...