In short, this first trip out was an experiment; we'll look for whatever we can, and we've agreed to be back by early November.

In addition, to ensure the survival of fruit seedlings and flower seedlings, Jiayin brought five bags of black soil for Lao Hei and the others, and carefully explained how to use it.

The black soil is a mixture of soil from our own plot and nursery, which is better than the soil we sent to the Hundred Flowers Garden before. We hope this will ensure that the seedlings and saplings from afar can be transported back smoothly.

Of course, with a nursery at its disposal, Jiayin can successfully grow a sapling and produce fruit even from a single fruit pit.

But that would be too shocking, and over time, it would easily arouse suspicion.

If we get saplings instead, it will be much easier to cover them up!

The next day, early in the morning, Lao Hei and his men set off in three horse-drawn carriages, riding more than twenty horses.

In previous northern expeditions, a lot of barbarian warhorses were captured. Some old horses in the army camp were discarded, and Li Laosi bought dozens of them for his daughter without spending much money.

Of course, it wouldn't be so easy for outsiders to buy it.

As the saying goes, "Those who are near the water get the moon first, and those who have connections in the court have an easy way to become officials!"

This all speaks to the convenience of connections, and objectively reflects... the Li family gradually began to prosper and flourish.

Seeing that the mooncakes were all baked, and after being left for a few days, they looked even better, with a glossy sheen.

So, Tao Hongying started leading people to make mooncakes.

Ordinary yellow straw paper was used to wrap five mooncakes, each weighing two ounces, which totaled one pound.

Wrap it up, tie it up, and stamp it with the character "Li". That's it.

Those from Xincun, Ercun, Zhengjiazhuang, and Houfu were sent off first.

The village chief, Uncle, drove his little donkey cart and happily delivered some to Dawangzhuang, Xiaowangzhuang, and Dahuaishu Village as well.

The rest of the gifts that needed to be given were packed in custom-made wooden boxes.

The wooden box has four compartments and is unpainted, just the natural color of the wood. The lid is carved with patterns such as Chang'e flying to the moon, making it look simple and clean.

Each compartment contains two mooncakes with the same filling. A box contains eight mooncakes, tied with red ribbons, and then distributed.

The Wen family, the Li family, the Peng family, Dean Zhou's family, Mr. Tang, and Li Lao Er's colleagues, etc. In short, the gifts were not valuable, but they represented the Li family's goodwill.

Moreover, it's absolutely original!

At first, when the mooncake gift boxes were delivered, no one took it too seriously, since it was the same every year for Mid-Autumn Festival.

As it turned out, after they tasted it, they realized that this mooncake was quite different.

So, Old Master Liu sent his son to ask for a few boxes and give them to his good old friend.

Mr. Wen also ordered two boxes to give to his boss.

When the big customers of the Hundred Flowers Garden heard about it, they jokingly came to ask for some...

In the end, the Li family didn't have much left; the young and old could only have a simple taste.

The Marquis also personally carried two boxes and delivered them to the Emperor in the palace.

The Emperor was probably in a good mood, so he brought back a white jade statue of Chang'e holding a rabbit for Jiayin.

Jiayin happily put it away, and her savings grew even more...

The village was bustling with preparations for the festival, but the Li family was not particularly happy.

For no other reason than that Li Zhensheng, along with the children, still did not return.

Grandma Li was worried about it, but she didn't dare to say anything, for fear that her family would also get anxious and upset.

Jiayin was also worried when she saw her grandmother running to the village entrance again and again, as if she wanted to sit in the autumn wind all day long.

No matter how capable she was, she couldn't overcome the spatial barrier to bring her uncle and the others back.

As a result, at dusk on August 14th, the Marquis and his personal guards returned with seven or eight people of various ages, looking travel-worn.

It was Li Zhensheng and Jiayi!

The entire Li family and the new village were in an uproar, and everyone rushed forward to greet them.

Grandma Li pulled her grandsons over, checked them one by one to make sure they were alright, then glared at her chuckling eldest son and scolded him, "If you hadn't come back soon, we wouldn't have been able to get through this holiday. You're like rabbits, once you're let out, you can't be caught again!"

Li Zhensheng was away from home, but he naturally missed his family. Being scolded and pinched by his mother made him feel very comfortable.

We're really home!

"Mother, we encountered a shipwreck on the way and helped out, which delayed us for two days. There were many ships gathered at the dock, and we couldn't dock for a while. It was only after the Marquis sent someone to guide our fleet to the military camp that we were able to get back." Li Zhensheng wiped his face, which was covered in dust, as he had just been riding his horse at full speed.

"Oh dear, someone's ship has sunk! We should lend a hand. It's not easy being away from home. We can't just stand by and watch." Old Mrs. Li couldn't really blame her son. As long as he was back, that was enough, especially since there was a reason for it.

"Let's go home first," Li Lao Er quickly stepped forward and called to his family.

When the village chief saw that the villagers still wanted to go and hear the excitement, he shouted and cursed.

"What are you all doing going there to join the fun? All the good stuff is on the boat. You won't get anything even if you go up there. Go home and kill a chicken and sweep the yard! Tomorrow is the festival, and there are plenty of days to come. There will be enough gossip to talk about!"

The villagers thought about it and agreed with smiles, then went home.

This year has been somewhat dry, and the hot weather has also lasted longer.

Therefore, the crops in the fields can be harvested after the Mid-Autumn Festival. Otherwise, in previous years, people would have been rushing to harvest by this time, and there would be no opportunity to enjoy the festival so leisurely!

Although the villagers had dispersed, the Li family's courtyard was still packed with people.

Li Yong and Hui Niang, along with their two children, Mr. Wen and his wife, the village chief, Uncle Zhao, and several others were also present.

Liu, the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort), and his wife held their younger son and then pulled their older son aside to ask him all sorts of questions.

Liu Yang was already strong, but now he's as strong as an iron tower.

Jiayi wasn't much weaker; he was equally robust and tall, having completely shed his boyish appearance.

Only Jiaxi and Jia'an... it's simply unwatchable!

These two boys didn't gain much weight after going out; instead, they got so tanned they looked like black monkeys and became even leaner.

The most noticeable change was that their eyes shone with an eerie light, as if monkeys had discovered a peach orchard.

Grandma Li was worried, feeling that she was about to lose control of the two children.

Sure enough, the two boys grabbed their grandmother's arms on either side and started talking nonstop about the exciting things outside and the lively atmosphere of Quanzhou.

Finally, they got to the main topic.

Jiaxi pleaded, "Grandma, can we stop going to school from now on?"

“Yes, Grandma, we don’t want to become the top scholar either. We want to go to foreign lands and see the world,” Jia’an echoed.

Grandma Li's mind was reeling. She glared at her eldest son, who was innocently touching his nose, and then smacked her grandsons. "We'll talk about this later. Go wash yourselves clean first. Look at you all now. Anyone who didn't know better would think you'd been soaking in ink every day!"

Everyone laughed and made fun of him.

"Yeah, is the sun in the south that strong? Everyone who goes there comes back tanned like a charcoal briquette."

"Does this mean that white cloth won't even need dyeing; it can just be dried into black cloth directly..."

Jiayin was unusually well-behaved, bringing her pet Shuiling Shuiyun to fetch water for her godfather and uncle to wash their hands and faces. Then, she was "kidnapped" away by her brothers...

Here's the latest update! I just got back from getting my injection in the rain, so I'm a little late. Sorry, thank you!