Chapter 439 All Gone

In the afternoon, they all went to the threshing ground and winnowed the wheat with He Chuan, packing it into bags and hauling it to the warehouse in the fort.

That evening, they gathered together again to drink and chat. Song Chunxue sat for a while, thinking that it was no fun if the children couldn't be her drinking buddies.

Sleepiness came over her, and she and the children went to bed early.

The next day, Sanwa happened to be on his day off.

They made arrangements to go to Li Family Village, a large group of people in one horse-drawn carriage, very crowded.

Song Chunxue originally didn't want to go, but it wouldn't be fun for her to stay alone.

Finally, they bought some food and squeezed into the same carriage to go home.

When climbing East Mountain, the adults got off the carriage and walked on their own. After reaching the top of East Mountain, the rest of the path was downhill.

They arrived at Lijiazhuangzi in a large group of ten.

Having just rounded the main road in front of Qianzui, and seeing the place where they grew up, the second brother couldn't help but sigh, "Our place is so crowded. The view was very open all the way here, but it feels cramped here."

From the village to the village, passing through a dozen or so miles of flat land, when you reach Lijiazhuangzi, the two mountain ranges reach their end, becoming steep and rugged, and even branching out. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and there are still mountains on the opposite side.

Song Chunxue used to complain about how the Jiang family's ancestors chose to settle here after so many choices, because the feng shui was obviously bad.

This is what she always told the children when they were young: that they should find a way to leave this place and go to a richer and more peaceful place in the future.

Li Dazui, who was shoveling corn stalks in his own cornfield, wiped the sweat from his brow and saw a horse-drawn carriage approaching from the front.

Horse-drawn carriages rarely come to this village, and most carriages aren't this big.

Several people were following behind the carriage, clearly not enough room for everyone. Li Dazui thought of attending Sanwa's wedding banquet and had seen the Jiang family's carriage before. Wasn't that the one?

He quickly wiped the dirt off the shovel, picked it up, and headed home.

Standing on the edge of the field, he shouted to the eldest son of the Jiang family, "Jiang Yeming, your family has sent people. Go home quickly."

Jiang Yeming wasn't entirely sure at first, but Li Dazui had a sharp eye. Since he said so, it must be their own carriage.

From a distance, I could see many people, including children, getting off the carriage.

Could it be that they've all come back?

Jiang Yeming felt a surge of joy. He gathered the buckwheat in his hands, patted the dirt off his clothes, and hurriedly came down the hillside.

Why are you running so fast? Wait for me.

Li Dazui slowly walked down the slope, and in the blink of an eye he saw Jiang Yeming had already run to the flat road at the bottom of the ditch. He couldn't help but swing his arms quickly and jog a few steps with his feet turned outwards.

Jiang Yeming stopped and waited for him. "Why are you coming with me instead of doing any work? Anyone who doesn't know better would think you want to see my mother."

Li Dazui chuckled and said, "I just want to see them. Look how close our yards are. Anyway, I don't have much work to do in the fields. I grow crops just to keep myself from being too idle. So many people will definitely bring good food and drinks when they come. You wouldn't be willing to spend that, would you?"

"You're willing to give it up, but you can't eat that much anyway."

Jiang Yeming was a little anxious, afraid that if they returned late, Chen Feng would neglect them.

“You’ve planted so much grain, and Chen Feng is pregnant now. You can’t manage it all by yourself. It’s good that they’re here. With so many people, they can finish harvesting the buckwheat and sorghum in your field in one morning.”

Considering that the fourth and third children haven't worked in the fields for a long time, it's hard to say whether they'd be willing to go back to work.

With so many people around, my brother-in-law might be here too. I guess my brother-in-law and sister will help him later.

“I heard that the fourth brother followed the caravan for two years and is thinking of starting his own business this year. He’s all talk and no action and doesn’t want to farm. In my opinion, you are the most reliable. So much land in the family is yours. It may be tough, but you will never go hungry. Besides, your mother gave you money and built you a nice new house,” Li Dazui rambled on. “Don’t follow the fourth brother’s example. For us farmers, our small plot of land is still the most secure.”

Jiang Yeming nodded. "Yes, I know."

"Aren't you uncomfortable, or do you feel that your mother is being unfair to you?"

Jiang Yeming smiled, "Haven't you been giving me a lecture all along? The discomfort only lasts for a short while. Now that I have something tangible in my hands, I'm very content."

As they were talking, they walked down the gentle slope and saw the carriage parked at the gate of the courtyard.

"The second one is here too?" Li Dazui pointed at the people in the carriage and laughed, "It's good to have more children. So many people have come to see you, and all of you siblings are gathered together. It's really nice."

"Ah, if my wife hadn't passed away so early, we would definitely have had ten or eight of them, just like Old Man Cheng. Every time he had a birthday, so many sons and daughters would come. It would have been so happy and lively."

Li Dazui put his hands behind his back and sighed sadly, "Unlike me, I only have one son, and my daughter-in-law complains that I'm not clean and doesn't want to see me. My daughter also has her own life to live."

Jiang Yeming comforted him, "But you have such a leisurely life now. So many people in our village envy you. You can sleep until you naturally wake up when the wheat is ripe in June. You only need to grow enough to eat and don't have to worry about grain taxes."

"Uncle!"

"Uncle!"

"That's my maternal uncle."

Jiang Hongying told the children to go find their eldest uncle, and the three of them ran towards Jiang Yeming with open arms.

Jiang Yeming bent down slightly and stopped them.

"Hey, slow down, don't fall..."

Before he could finish speaking, Xiaolong tripped and fell on the slope, splashing dirt up the ground and getting a mouthful of it.

"Waaaaah..."

Xiao Long stood up and turned back towards Jiang Hongying, "Mother... Waaah..."

Jiang Hongying ran over and picked him up. "It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt. The soil is soft, it doesn't hurt at all."

Xiaolong nestled in her arms and cried even harder. He was clearly in a lot of pain, his knees hurt terribly, so why didn't he feel any pain at all?

But he couldn't say it, so he could only cry even louder, wiping his tears and snot all over Jiang Hongying.

"Oh my, this is incredible! Song Chunxue, you've returned home in triumph! You've raised five children so successfully, it's truly impressive!" Li Dazui said with a chuckle. "Why aren't you coming in? What are you doing standing at the door?"

"We've been waiting for you. Come inside and have some tea." Song Chunxue noticed someone looking in their direction from the courtyard gate not far away. The person carrying snacks and meat stepped into the courtyard.

Seeing the grand and imposing north house in front of her, Song Chunxue smiled and said, "Boss has good taste. This money was well spent."

"That's right, these two water-splashing eaves were built by craftsmen from the county. The carpentry doors and windows are so beautiful. The pine doors even save on the need for incense. Most people would throw away the sawdust, but I collected it and put it in a bag to use as a pillow."

Li Dazui chuckled and said self-deprecatingly, "That pillow is my wife now. I hug it every night. Tell me, who else in this village has such a fragrant wife?"

This remark made everyone burst into laughter.

Chen Feng, heavily pregnant, arrived at the door and greeted everyone with a smile.

Everyone entered the courtyard chatting and laughing. Seeing the blue bricks paving the ground, the second brother couldn't help but say enviously, "I also want to come back and build a courtyard. This courtyard is so comfortable to live in."

"Come back quickly, I can't manage to cultivate all this land."

Li Dazui asked curiously, "What happened to your leg, Second Brother? Are you really planning to come back to farm? Are you engaged yet? Do you want me to find you a wife?"