Chapter 146 - Epilogue 3: The End

The Tian family didn't cause any more trouble. Before the Lantern Festival even arrived, Aunt Guizhi and the others heard the news that Tian Xiang had died.

Because of Tian Xiang's death, Lin Shuilian's former mother-in-law was heartbroken and soon followed him in death.

And so the matter came to an end.

Unable to gain any advantage, the Li family came up with another plan. They sent the two children to the village entrance and then instructed them to go to Aunt Guizhi's house. The children were still quite young and would repeat whatever the adults taught them.

When the two children found Aunt Guizhi, they pitifully called her "Grandma." Aunt Guizhi immediately knew that this was a ruse by the Li family.

When the villagers saw the two children standing in front of Aunt Guizhi, they laughed and said, "Oh, Guizhi, did the adults send the children to find you because they didn't dare to come into the village?"

Aunt Guizhi frowned slightly, "Afraid to enter the village?"

The man laughed and said, "Yes, I just saw that the child's parents were still at the village entrance over there, only calling for these two children."

Aunt Guizhi took a deep breath, and her gaze towards the two children turned cold.

"Did your parents see you off at the village entrance?"

The child nodded, and Aunt Guizhi asked again, "What did they tell you?"

The child found Aunt Guizhi somewhat frightening, so he told her everything, hoping she would act pitiful and let him stay. Li Jiaheng even said that grandparents always have a special bond with their grandchildren, and no matter how much Aunt Guizhi disliked him, the child was still her grandchild, so she certainly wouldn't be heartless enough to abandon him.

Hearing these words, Aunt Guizhi gave a cold laugh.

She looked at the children and said, “Children, I am not your grandmother. Your grandmother is at your home. Go back and tell your father that the reason why grandparents are affectionate towards their own children is because they love their grandchildren. Your father is not my child.”

After Aunt Guizhi finished speaking, the two children hung their heads helplessly and remained silent.

She took a deep breath and said, "Come on, I'll take you there."

Only after hearing what Aunt Guizhi said did the two children move their feet.

Li Jiaheng and the others squatted not far from the village entrance, still hoping that Aunt Guizhi would leave the two children behind. But after only a short while, they saw Aunt Guizhi and the two children appear at the village entrance.

Zhou Xifen frowned as she looked at the elderly woman and the two children. She said to Li Jiaheng, "They've been brought back! You're such a heartless mother, you don't even care about your child's feelings."

Li Jiaheng said, "If you weren't so heartless, would you have gone so many years without ever coming to see me?"

Zhou Xifen: "I told you not to do this. I suggested you go directly to Madam Lin to find work, but you wouldn't listen. Now look what's happened! Your mother has offended Madam Lin. She definitely won't hire you if you go to her yourself!"

Li Jiaheng gritted his teeth and said bitterly, "I don't believe that mute Lin Shuilian can take care of them in their old age. When she needs someone to take care of her, she'll come begging to me!"

Zhou Xifen frowned and glanced at her husband. Xu Guizhi was still healthy, and although Lin Shuilian was mute, she could earn money. She also had a son and a daughter. In another ten years, the two children would be teenagers. Moreover, judging from yesterday's events, Lin Shuilian treated Xu Guizhi very well. In the future, she might not necessarily have to ask him for help.

However, since her husband was obsessed, Zhou Xifen didn't say anything.

Aunt Guizhi saw Li Jiaheng and Zhou Xifen from afar. She didn't go any further, but said to the two children, "Go on, your parents are just ahead."

The two children looked up at her, then at their parents not far away, and took small steps forward.

After watching the child leave, Aunt Guizhi turned and went home.

After the children's method failed, Li Jiaheng stopped bothering them. Perhaps, as he said, he was waiting for Aunt Guizhi and Uncle Dashan to beg him when they got old.

*

The weather was great before the Lunar New Year, and it was very warm.

Two days after the Lantern Festival, the weather suddenly turned cold, with dark clouds and a cold wind blowing. Grandma said, "It looks like it's going to snow heavily."

The noodle shop opened on the eighth day of the lunar new year. Lin Chunxing, Xu Huan, and Xu Sheng returned to the county town together. Their aunts and uncles were busy preparing for spring planting and couldn't help out, so Lin Chuntao found two women in the county town to wash dishes.

They hadn't brought warm clothes when they went to the county town. Lin Chuntao was worried that a sudden heavy snowfall would make the roads difficult to travel, so she quickly packed up clothes and blankets and put them on the mule cart, intending to send them to Lin Chunxing.

She made a detour to her uncle's house and got clothes for Xu Sheng and Xu Huan. Her aunt said she wanted to bring blankets, but Lin Chuntao said, "Aunt, it's enough to bring clothes. I brought blankets, enough for them."

Lin Chuntao delivered the clothes to the shop, and then went to the butcher shop to wait for Pei Ying.

He Lan happened to be in the shop. Lin Chuntao hadn't seen her for a while, and the two sat and chatted for a while.

Helan and Lin Chuntao chatted about the weather, saying that it looked like it was going to snow heavily. Lin Chuntao said, "I think so too. It would be good if there was another snowfall. After the heavy snow, we should be busy turning the soil and preparing for spring planting."

Hearing Lin Chuntao's words, Helan thought about how well Lin Chuntao's noodle shop was doing and how well the sauces were selling, so she asked, "Are you still farming this year?"

Lin Chuntao said, "We'll continue planting. We don't have much land, so we'll continue planting this year." After saying that, she asked about the butcher shop's business. He Lan said, "Many families slaughtered pigs and bought meat for the New Year, so the butcher shop's business will be a bit slow during the spring planting season."

Thinking that Lin Chuntao and the others still had to farm, Helan smiled and said, "If you're busy at home, you can ask Xiao Pei to help you with the work. Old Zhang and Old Zhao at the shop can manage too."

Pei Ying overheard He Lan's words and laughed, "Shopkeeper, I'll let you know in advance."

Lin Chuntao didn't sit for long before Pei Ying and the others finished their work, and it was getting darker. Zhang Dayong laughed and said, "It looks like it's going to snow heavily today. Little Pei, you probably won't be able to find your way to the county town tomorrow."

Pei Ying picked up the conversation and said to He Lan, "Manager, if the roads are blocked by snow tomorrow, I'll ask for leave."

Helan said, "Okay, okay, this snow looks quite heavy."

Snowflakes began to fall from the sky before Lin Chuntao and her group even reached the village entrance.

Large flakes of snow fell, making the villagers very happy. A good snow promises a bumper harvest, and this year will surely be another good year.

The snow was heavy, blocking the roads. It snowed from afternoon until evening, and the snow was already knee-deep, making it difficult to visit each other in the village.

The snow fell quickly and melted quickly. On the third day, the sun started to come out and melt the snow. However, it only melted for one day. The sun did not come out again on the second day. Then, some light rain fell, the temperature dropped, and ice formed.

The weather remained gloomy for almost half a month before finally clearing up completely.

Because of the snow, the ground was very damp, and the villagers waited for it to dry for several days before starting to work in the fields.

Lin Chuntao planted radishes in several plots of land. With the arrival of this heavy snow, many of the leaves were frozen by the snow. Fortunately, the radishes were still small and buried in the soil, so they were not damaged by the frost.

Everyone was busy turning over the soil and burning grass roots. Lin Chuntao also distributed the seeds that everyone had registered before the New Year. No one knows who spread the word, but as soon as the seeds were distributed, people from other villages came to borrow seeds.

Lin Chuntao knows everyone in the village, whether they return the seeds or not is another matter, but she knows nothing about the outsiders. She doesn't know if they borrowed the seeds, planted them, or ate them. She does this mainly to improve everyone's yield, such as soybeans, which is beneficial to both her and the growers.

But after the outsiders took the seeds, cooked and ate them, they didn't return them the following year, and she didn't have time to go door to door to collect the seeds.

After thinking for a while, she went to Lin Village Chief and together they went to the village head. If other villages also needed seeds, then the village would make a list and let them borrow them. The village head would also supervise which plot of land each seed was planted in.

This matter isn't too troublesome. Besides, if their output really increases because of this, other places will definitely follow suit, and then their area will become famous.

Lin Chuntao was unaware of the village head's ulterior motives. After handling this matter, Lin Chuntao went to attend to other matters.

She had to leave the radishes in the field to grow for a while before pulling them up. While everyone else was busy turning the soil, she didn't have much to do, so she simply exchanged some mushroom spawn from the system and started trying to grow shiitake and oyster mushrooms.

She inoculated the shiitake mushrooms into wood, and for the oyster mushrooms, she used straw and sawdust to make the substrate. She needed a lot of sawdust, so she went to Yu Meixi to buy it. When Yu Meixi heard that she needed sawdust, she didn't charge her. Lin Chuntao thought that if she could grow them herself, she would need them often in the future, so she should pay some money for convenience.

When Lin Chunhe and Lin Duo'er learned that Lin Chuntao had been tinkering with this thing all day long, which turned out to be a mushroom, the two sisters' eyes widened in surprise. Pei Ying, on the other hand, remained much calmer.

Since the couple had their conversation on New Year's Eve, he is no longer surprised by anything Lin Chuntao does, and simply helps her in silence.

After a snowfall, the ground was damp, and the radishes grew very quickly.

Lin Chuntao waited until the end of February before hiring someone to harvest the radishes. She kept the radish leaves to make pickles, and hid all the whole radishes in a cellar.

In early March, the villagers were busy with spring planting. Lin Chuntao was also preparing to plant, and she still needed to rent an ox. However, Zheng Lao Er's oxen were all rented out at this time. Lin Chuntao wanted to buy an ox, but she wasn't very good at judging whether an ox was obedient, could be used for plowing, or what its temperament was like. After thinking about it, she went to find Lin Cun Zheng. The old man was very excited when he heard that she wanted to buy an ox, and he was even happier when he heard that Lin Chuntao asked him to help her look for an ox. He readily agreed to Lin Chuntao's request.

Lin Changzong went to the county town to see the cattle, and he went along with them.

There are places in the county town that specialize in selling livestock. Perhaps because it's spring planting season, there aren't many livestock for sale on the streets. Along the long grassy area, there are only six or seven cows, seven or eight mules and donkeys, and a few piglets.

The people who came here to stroll around were all looking to buy livestock. As soon as Lin Chuntao and Lin Cunzheng arrived, people gathered around them.

"Grandpa/Brother, are you buying livestock?"

Lin Cunzheng said, "Let's take a look first."

The man who asked the question grinned sheepishly, "Sir, would you like to see a mule or a donkey?"

These two types of livestock are slightly cheaper, so farmers buy more of them, and some families can afford them if they save up their money.

Lin Cunzheng said, "Let's take a look at the cattle."

As soon as the old man finished speaking, the man's eyes lit up. He laughed and said, "What a coincidence! I have three cows over there. I bought them from Changhuang Village. They have good skeletons and appearances. Most importantly, they are docile and skilled at plowing. They can be brought into the field and used for plowing."

He spoke very well, and Lin Chuntao and the others went to take a look as well.

Lin Cunzheng looked at the cow carefully, from its horns and eyes to its hooves. After he finished looking at it, Lin Cunzheng went to the back. He was about to reach out and touch the cow's hindquarters when the cow started to kick up its hoof. The old man stepped back and withdrew his hand. He smoked his pipe and did not touch it again.

The man who introduced Niu Guaiqiao looked embarrassed and explained, "We're not familiar with each other yet, she's a little shy around strangers."

Lin Cunzheng nodded and said, "Let's look around some more."

They looked at a few more oxen, and Lin Cunzheng said, "That one had a good frame, but it was bad-tempered and needed to be trained for plowing. This black ox over here is very well-behaved, but its frame is a bit small."

It was clear that the old man liked the cow. After all, a cow with a good skeleton could be raised even better in the future. In those days, cows couldn't be slaughtered for meat; they could only be raised for plowing. Lin Chuntao didn't think there was much difference in the size of the skeleton. She thought for a moment and said to Lin Cunzheng, "Grandpa, let's buy one that can plow the land this year. Let's buy one that's obedient and skilled."

Lin Cunzheng nodded.

These two were the ones Lin Cunzheng had his eye on. Lin Chuntao also had her eye on a cute little calf with a white head, which was being sold along with the black calf.

When Lin Chuntao and her friends went to ask about the price, the person said that the calf was not sold alone, but had to be bought together with its mother.

Its mother was an old ox, and Lin Cunzheng thought it was too old.

The owner said to Lin Chuntao, "Although it is a bit old, it is really well-behaved. If you want it to breed and have calves, you can have it. If not, it is also very useful for plowing."

He spoke very sincerely, but Lin Changzong and the others felt that even if they applied for slaughter later when the animals were too old, they wouldn't be able to get the money back, so it wasn't worth it.

That's why it's sold bundled with a calf, but the calf still needs to be raised slowly, so it's still not cost-effective.

Lin Chuntao felt that the old ox had a gentle look in its eyes, which suited her taste. After thinking for a moment, she asked, "How much do you want for this old ox and the calf?"

When Lin Chuntao asked about the price, the man's eyes lit up. "If you want to buy them, madam, give me eighteen taels."

Lin Cunzheng and Lin Changzong frowned upon hearing this. Lin Changzong said, "Your price is too high."

Lin Chuntao then asked, "What about this black ox?"

"The black ox weighs fourteen ounces and is very skilled at plowing."

Upon hearing the price quoted, Lin Chuntao pursed her lips. She called Lin Cunzheng and Lin Changzong over to talk to them, suggesting that the three of them buy the heads together and negotiate the price.

Lin Cunzheng said, "It's not worth it for you to buy that old ox."

Lin Chuntao said, "The grass season is coming soon. Let's buy some and raise them. I think the calf looks good. It's perfect for spring plowing. I'll find a way to deal with it later. Grandpa, can you help me estimate the price and see how much we can bargain down?"

When the old man heard that she had made up her mind and said that he had a way, he went to negotiate the price with the person selling the cow.

After several rounds of negotiation, the total price for the three cows was twenty-four taels.

The owner of the cattle sighed, but still decided to sell them to them, since it was rare to find someone buying all three at once.

The three of them each led one calf. Although the calf was small, it was lively, so they tied it up and handed it over to Lin Changzong.

Lin Chuntao was leading the old yellow ox.

The old ox, Lao Huangniu, moves quickly when Lin Chuntao walks fast and slowly when Lin Chuntao walks slow; it is very intelligent and understanding.

Lin Changzong and Lin Cunzheng also thought it was good.

On the way back, when the topic of spring planting came up, Lin Chuntao asked the old man to help her plow the fields with an ox. Lin Cunzheng agreed without hesitation, and Lin Changzong asked her with a smile if she would rent the ox in the future.

Lin Chuntao said, "We're all from the same hometown, and I didn't buy this cow to make money by renting it out. I haven't figured out how to do it yet."

She should actually accept some money as a token of appreciation, but if she accepts too little, the village head might think she's deliberately going against them and creating unnecessary conflict.

She said to Lin Cunzheng and the others, "I'll go back and discuss it with Pei Ying."

Lin Chuntao's purchase of three cows caused a sensation in the village, with everyone thinking that she could now earn money by collecting rent from the cows.

However, after discussing it, Lin Chuntao and Pei Ying decided that if villagers borrowed oxen for plowing, they would help cut grass for the oxen for a month in the future, and they would not charge them. Compensation for any damage to the oxen would be discussed separately.

It would take her seven or eight days to cultivate the land herself. After the two families, Grandma's and Aunt Guizhi's, finished cultivating, it would probably take more than half a month. By then, there probably wouldn't be many families who would need oxen. If there were, we'd see.

After hearing the news, even those villagers who were previously envious of Lin Chuntao and her group fell silent.

After the spring planting season ended, in mid-April, Lin Chuntao harvested a batch of oyster mushrooms. She gave some to her relatives and friends. The first batch of mushrooms grew very well, and Lin Chuntao began to pick them and send them to the county town to sell.

People who bought mushrooms last year were still very familiar with her, and they were all amazed to see the fresh and plump mushrooms in the bamboo basket.

"Mushroom lady, mushrooms haven't sprouted in the mountains yet. Where did you pick these?"

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I figured out how to grow these mushrooms myself. They're delicious whether stir-fried or used in soup."

They all looked so fresh that no introduction was needed; everyone was simply amazed that she grew the mushrooms herself!

"You grew them yourself? Nobody in our area has ever grown mushrooms themselves! How much is it per pound? I'd like to buy some to try."

"Twelve coins a pound," Lin Chuntao said.

"Give me a pound."

"Wife, give me two jin too!"

Oyster mushrooms sold very well, and shiitake mushrooms could also be picked in early May. Lin Chuntao alternated between selling shiitake mushrooms and oyster mushrooms. In this way, Lin Chuntao started going to the county town every day to sell mushrooms.

When she had some free time, she asked Pei Jing to go with her to find the old scholar and invite him to the village to teach her younger sisters.

The old scholar said he only had two or three students and refused to go to the countryside. When Lin Chuntao returned, she discussed it with Lin Cunzheng and the others, and they built several schools in the village so that all the children in the village could enroll and learn to read and write.

Three years passed uneventfully like this.

Lin Chunxing and her friends opened several branches of their noodle soup shop. Xu Huan and Xu Sheng each ran one branch, and Lin Chunxing was able to support the entire shop on her own, so Lin Chuntao hardly had to worry about anything.

Chai Xingyu had already taken Zhang Qingqing and Lin Qingqing to open shops in other counties, and the sauce business was booming. For a while, the Chai family and Chai Xingyu were at their wits' end. In the end, they had no choice but to back down, and Chai Xingyu's shops started selling Chai family sauces. Although Chai Xingyu did not take over the sauce business according to Guo Jixiang's wishes, he is now supporting the Chai family. Guo Jixiang is in a good mood.

She had told Lin Chuntao several times that she wanted Lin Chunxing to be her daughter-in-law, but Lin Chuntao smiled and said that she wouldn't make the decision; it was all up to Lin Chunxing.

Later, when Lin Chuntao mentioned it to Lin Chunxing, Lin Chunxing smiled and said to Lin Chuntao, "I'm not in a hurry. Let's wait until I find a suitable person to marry into our family."

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I won't force you to do this. I said that before because I was afraid others would have designs on it."

Lin Chunxing looked up at her and said with a firm gaze, "But I don't want to leave my sister and marry into another family. I want to live with my sister for the rest of my life."

Hearing this, Lin Chuntao was actually quite gratified. She nodded and said, "Then let's wait for the right person."

That same year, Lin Duo'er and Meng Yue wanted to open a shop together, and Lin Chuntao agreed. Later, when they had the opportunity, they bought a small house in Sifang Street, which was close to the noodle shop.

Helan moved to Yongchang because of her child's schooling. The pork shop in the county town was transferred to Pei Ying. Pei Ying continued to slaughter pigs and sell pork, but he found another butcher. He was occasionally busy, but most of the time he was with Lin Chuntao.

That autumn, Pei Ying's biological parents came looking for him. Just like in the book, his biological mother was seriously ill and wanted to see him.

The woman was dressed in fine clothes, but she was sickly, feverish, short of breath, and hoarse. She held Pei Ying and cried her heart out, thinking of what was said in the book, this person was also a pitiful person.

Lin Chuntao redeemed the medicine from the system for the first time and had Pei Ying put it into the woman's food, and she gradually improved.

Everyone assumed that her illness had improved because she had seen her biological son.

Pei Ying didn't explain, taking it as a fact.

Because Pei Ying didn't want to go back, the woman stayed here until after the New Year. Seeing how happy he was now, she didn't force him. Instead, she bought Pei Ying a large house here and gave the land deed to Lin Chuntao.

After the Spring Festival, Qin Suyun wanted to form a caravan to transport and sell goods to Southeast Asia, and she invited Lin Chuntao to join her.

Lin Chuntao had visited several surrounding counties over the years, but had never left Yizhou Prefecture. She treated it as a trip and agreed without hesitation.

When Pei Ying heard that Lin Chuntao was going, he was worried and wanted to go with her. Lin Chuntao then handed over all the household affairs to Lin Chunhe.

In late March, Lin Chuntao, Qin Suyun, and Pei Ying set off with their men and horses, carrying their belongings.

Seagulls flew past, skimming over the white clouds.

From then on, though mountains are high and rivers are long, they went towards the wind.

The End