Seeing that Lu Xiaomei looked a little nervous, Xiaoyue said, "I'll give you eight hundred coins a month, the same as Li Qianqian's. But Li Qianqian has to cut the fabric into clothes and check whether the submitted clothes are up to standard, so I'll give her an extra two hundred coins."

Then Xiaoyue turned to Lu Xiaomei and said meaningfully, "You won't get paid until the fourth month. The medicine cost is three taels of silver, but you'll only get twenty coins in the fourth month."

After speaking, Xiaoyue stared at Lu Xiaomei to observe her expression. She then noticed that even Lu Xiaomei's appearance had changed in the few days since she was brought here. Lu Xiaomei had her head slightly lowered, a faint smile on her face. Although her eye sockets were still sunken, there were slivers of light moving in her eyes.

Her large double eyelids looked much better, and she said lightly with a slight upturn of her lips, "That's to be expected, I have no objection at all."

...

On December 15th, Li returned. She arrived at Xiaoyue's house before dawn and found Xiaoyue in the kitchen. Xiaoyue led Li to the east room and woke up Li Qianqian.

Xiaoyue handed the clothes that Li had given her to Li Qianqian. Li Qianqian, like the faint white light from the window, carefully examined the clothes, nodded, and Xiaoyue gave Li another hundred coins.

Li took the money and said to Xiaoyue, "I'm so sorry. I initially thought I was just going to stay at my parents' house for two days, so I took the fabric that was supposed to be with me. But when I got there, Ge Dalin told my father about the Ge family's affairs. After he told me, my mother wouldn't let me come back."

My mother only has one daughter, and she wants us to move in with her. Your older brother also had a fight with the old lady, so he moved in with my mother and doesn't want to come back.

Xiaoyue smiled and comforted Li Shi, saying, "I heard about what happened with the Ge family. After you left, your mother-in-law came to my house again, wanting Lu Xiaomei to go back and take care of the old lady. When she saw Lu Xiaomei still lying on the kang (a heated brick bed),..."

That very evening after returning home, I handed Lu Xiaomei a letter of divorce. After that, I knew nothing more about what happened to their family.

Li said with a slight hint of annoyance, "We didn't know Father's illness was so serious. It was only after hearing Ge Daming's explanation that night that your eldest brother learned he wasn't Mother's biological son. So, from childhood until he grew up..."

He did the most farm work, both inside and outside the house, but Grandma Ge always disliked him. In a fit of anger, your older brother came back to my parents' home with me.

"Sigh, if Mom had come to our grave when Dad was sick, we could have gone to check on him. Now we're definitely being labeled as unfilial."

Xiaoyue sensed that something was wrong with Li Shi's condition and quickly asked, "What's wrong with you? Whether or not you are filial to your father is a family matter. Why are you bringing it up to convict someone?"

With a bitter expression, Madam Li said, "Father is dead. I heard you say that Lu Xiaomei has a letter of divorce." Madam Li sighed and said, "She is finally free, but our family... sigh!"

Hesitant to speak, Xiaoyue knew that Li was afraid that her two daughters would be affected by the accusation of being unfilial. Ge Liuzhi was already twelve years old and would be of engagement age in two years.

Xiaoyue patted Li's hand and said, "The villagers won't blame you after they find out what happened. Besides, Old Man Ge is gone. Are you and Brother Dalin staying in Niukou Village or Lijia Village?"

Li said, "Your eldest brother has been heartbroken by the Ge family. This time he came back to see the old lady off. He took everything he could from the house and plans to live in Li Family Village. He will leave the land to Old Madam Ge."

After seeing Li off, Xiaoyue was filled with mixed emotions. She had only been in Niukou Village for less than half a year, how could he have died? Old Man Ge was a man who only smoked occasionally. In her previous life, she lived for fifteen years, and Old Man Ge hadn't died.

Does retribution always exist? Xiaoyue thought of the whipping of Old Man Ge, how every part of her body ached. Sigh! How could he have died? He hadn't even had a chance to experience my revenge.

Back in the east room, Xiaoyue found Lu Xiaomei again: "Grandpa Ge is gone, we should take Xiaodouding back to see him."

Just as he finished changing his clothes, two people entered the courtyard, led by Xu Fanyuan. Ge Sanlin, wearing a mourning cloth on his head, went into the kitchen and immediately knelt down and kowtowed to the people inside.

After they finished kowtowing, Xu Fanyuan helped Ge Sanlin stand up. Ge Sanlin said to Xiaoyue in a deep voice, "My father is gone. Send a message to your family."

When Ge Sanlin got up, he saw Lu Xiaomei leading Xiaodouding out of the east room. When Xiaodouding saw Ge Sanlin, he was dressed entirely in white mourning clothes, with stubble on his face, bloodshot eyes, and a faint smell of alcohol on him.

The little boy let go of Lu Xiaomei's hand and ran to his father's side. He held Ge Sanlin's hand and cried with heartache.

Ge Sanlin reached out and picked up the little boy. He glanced at Lu Xiaomei, who was facing him. Although she was still thin, she was very agile and didn't even look at Ge Sanlin.

Ge Sanlin awkwardly said to Lu Xiaomei, "Let's go."

When someone dies in the village, the male member of the deceased's family, led by a respected elder in the village, goes from house to house kowtowing. This is called announcing the death.

After the news of the death was announced, the whole village knew. The young men would first go to the deceased's house to see if there was any work to be done.

They helped with the chores; the young wife arrived later and mainly helped in the kitchen.

Xiaoyue pulled Lu Xiaomei to the back, while Xu Fanyuan and Ge Sanlin walked in front.

Li Lei had already gone there, and these young men had to help with the arrangements.

Xiaoyue encountered Liang Qi on the way, who was borrowing stools and tables from house to house.

When Liang Qi saw Xiao Yue coming over, each carrying a stack of stools, he smiled at her and followed her toward Old Man Ge's house.

When they arrived at Old Man Ge's house, there was a white coffin in the yard, with a brazier at the head of the coffin. Old Mrs. Ge was crying louder and louder, clearly a dry wail. Ge Erpingzi was kneeling in front of the coffin, adding paper money to the paper offerings.

There wasn't even a shed over the coffin. Old Man Xu, standing at the door of the main house, shouted loudly, "Da Lin, Er Lin, San Lin, find a few young men, take the geomancer, and go to your father's grave to dig a hole first!"

The funeral procession will be held tomorrow morning at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM). First, the necessary pits need to be dug. Then, a few more shovelfuls will be done in the field tomorrow morning.

Second sister-in-law, Xiao Sun, was preparing food in the kitchen with her son.

Li was hosting some elderly people in the village.

Xiaoyue burned two pieces of paper in front of the coffin, and then gave a gift of one hundred coins in the west wing.

Then they found Lu Xiaomei and asked her softly, "Would you like to entertain the guests here?"

Lu Xiaomei shook her head and walked out of Old Man Ge's courtyard. At this moment, she heard whispers: "That third son's wife, she left without even burning paper money?"

Xiaoyue glared at the group and said loudly, "Ge Sanlin has already given us a letter of divorce."

Upon hearing the word "divorce letter," each of the men reacted with a distinct expression. "Divorce letter?"

"A letter of divorce?"

"A letter of divorce!"

"Letter of Divorce".

Everyone's expression was different, and their thoughts were different, but they all dared to bear the weight of the two words "letter of divorce".

Some people admire Lu Xiaomei's courage.

Some people are terrified, thinking, "I've been divorced, how am I going to live from now on?"

Someone has ulterior motives.