An hour later, we finally arrived at the bus stop.

After getting off the bus, they still need to walk back to the village, which takes about twenty minutes.

At this time, most of these rural villages were already quite close to the city center.

However, Qingcheng is not a very economical place, and most areas are relatively underdeveloped.

"Is that Lan Yuchu and Qiyue?" An old man who had driven away the oxcart came forward to ask, his arms wrapped around his upper body and wearing a headscarf.

Lan Yuchu nodded!

"Children, it's Uncle Li! You called me this morning, so I came to pick you up." Li Ernian, pleased with the reply, happily reached out to help Lan Yuchu with her luggage, saying, "This is the oxcart I borrowed from the Party Secretary to pick you up. Get in!"

Uncle Li didn't have much time to reminisce; he was thinking about the land and work back home.

"Has Uncle Li had breakfast yet?" Lin Qiyue thought of Uncle Li, the one her mother-in-law had mentioned, who was still supporting his children's schooling even after his wife died.

"What's the point of having breakfast? Leave it for the old ladies and young children at home. We won't eat if we don't work!" Li Ernian's face showed embarrassment. They were all pale and thin, and these were nearly sixty years old, with elderly parents and young children to support.

Lin Qiyue felt a little embarrassed; she seemed to know little about the situation in the countryside.

Lan Yuchu glanced at Lin Qiyue, took out her own clothes, found a place in the car to sit on, and gestured for her to sit down.

Lin Qiyue didn't stand on ceremony and sat down directly. Lan Yuchu also sat down, and they walked together towards the village.

Lin Qiyue took out the steamed buns that Lan Yuchu had bought at the supply and marketing cooperative that morning, and handed one to Uncle Li: "Uncle Li, would you like to have one?"

"No, you should eat it!" He didn't dare to accept it either, after all, it wasn't easy for these two children to come back, and it wouldn't be good if they ate their food.

Right now, everyone is struggling, and there's very little food available.

"Uncle Li, this is breakfast we bought especially for you. There's plenty more. You came to pick us up so early this morning, would you like to have one?"

Lin Qiyue would feel bad if Uncle Li didn't eat it.

“Uncle Li, July is right. You should have one. This one is for your younger siblings.” Lan Yuchu thought so too.

"We won't stand on ceremony!" Li Ernian felt embarrassed, but after being persuaded by the two of them, he finally accepted the steamed bun.

Lin Qiyue was afraid he wouldn't be willing to eat it, so she quickly explained, "Uncle, Yu Chu and I bought a lot. Don't worry, your younger siblings will also have some."

"Okay, I'll listen to July." Li Ernian was a little embarrassed, feeling that his thoughts had been seen through.

He also has a ten-year-old daughter who is very thin and malnourished. He thought that such a good bun was worth taking home for his child to eat.

Lin Qiyue's words made him feel embarrassed to stay.

"Yu Chu, Qi Yue, I heard you two got married?" Li Er started gossiping. A few days ago, Qian Xiuying called to say that the two children were coming back and that Yu Chu and Qi Yue had gotten married.

Lin Qiyue glanced shyly at Lan Yuchu.

“Yes, Uncle Li, we’ve been married for three years. This time we’ve come back to pay our respects to my parents-in-law.” Lan Yu answered the question when he first saw Lin Qiyue’s shyness.

“It’s great that you’re married! Your uncle is so happy for you. Your brother Shuanzi is still not married. Your uncle’s family is poor and has accumulated a lot of debt over the years. No girl is willing to marry him!” Li Ernian sighed as he thought of his son.

Lin Qiyue heard from her mother-in-law that a few years ago, when Li Shuan was harvesting grain, he accidentally got pierced by a dead tree in the field. The rain caused him to have a fever and work until dawn. Later, he also contracted the plague! He was saved, but he was left with a limp and could not do heavy work. His family was poor, so they could not afford to marry him. The woman he originally liked also married someone else.

Li Shuan was actually quite talented in his youth, having graduated from high school. However, after a serious illness that left him lame, his beloved abandoned him, causing him to become despondent and eventually fade away.

Li Ernian was very proud of his son back then, but he never expected him to end up like this.

Lin Qiyue also felt sorry, but she still comforted him, "Uncle Li, Brother Li is a really outstanding person. He won't have trouble finding a wife. It's just that his time hasn't come yet. Don't worry."

She was just trying to comfort him; she hadn't even finished reading the whole book. She basically only read the parts about the female and male leads, and didn't care about the others at all!

Who would have thought she would become a supporting female character in this book!

"I hope so! But your uncle has come to terms with it! As long as my family is safe and sound, that's enough!" He couldn't force it. He knew very well that his son was upset. He had worked very hard to make a living all these years, but with so many children in the family, he had become a burden to his son.

The three of them chatted all the way, and Li Bo told them that the village's brigade leader in previous years was not a good person and had selfishly taken a lot of public grain.

After being reported, the higher authorities sent a Party Secretary and team leader to the village. This Party Secretary was a very good and honest person. He abolished the communal canteen and distributed grain and ration coupons according to work points each month, along with a small amount of wages.

Lin Qiyue and Lan Yuchu soon arrived at Shachen Village and stayed at Uncle Li's house.

Because they have a large family and several houses, the village secretary helped them build a few more houses after he came to the village.

They gave up their youngest son's room for them to stay in.

When Liang Guoliang's family learned that Lan Yuchu and Lin Qiyue had returned, they came to the Li family early to help with the cooking.

After the oxcart was parked at the door and several large bags of things were put down, Uncle Li went to return the oxcart.

"Yu Chu, July, you must have had a long and tiring journey?" Liang Guoliang, wearing glasses, was the village's treasurer. He looked like a scholar, but it wasn't hard to see that many of the villagers were malnourished and looked pale and thin.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!