After finishing her meal, Sister Liu went to the boat to bring the things in: two buckets of seafood, a large bundle of kelp, and a large bag of dried shrimp. "I hope you will accept these things, sir."

Qin Xiaozhou accepted them without hesitation and gave him five taels of silver.

Liu Hehua didn't refuse; she still had children to raise and couldn't do without money. Her face flushed, though, "Shopkeeper, I really..."

Qin Xiaozhou held her hand and said, "You deserve all this money. You will have to raise children in the future. I will treat you the same as them and pay you the same wages. But with more children, your burden will be heavier, so you need to think about yourself."

Then he announced, "Tomorrow we'll have seaweed and pork rib soup. Seaweed is a great food, very nutritious, and eating more seaweed can help prevent goiter."

Tian Xiaohua came over to deliver some honeydew melons from the north. "Shopkeeper, this is something brought by a merchant who came to the embroidery shop to buy goods today. He said it's a specialty from the north, and Granny Qian asked me to deliver it."

She carried the items into the kitchen, her eyes shining as she touched the seaweed and examined the seafood. She was even more surprised when she heard that these hard, stiff things could actually treat goiter.

She had never seen the sea before. "Is this thing really from the sea? Shopkeeper, if we eat this tomorrow, can I have two bowls too? Goiter can be fatal in our north."

Several people in our village had this disease a few years ago. I wanted my brother and I to each drink a bowl.

Qin Xiaozhou explained, "Goiter is caused by not eating enough salt. Kelp grows in the sea, which means it's soaked in salt water, so it's said to cure the disease. You can take half of it to the Embroidery Building. Tomorrow, everyone will eat kelp and pork ribs."

Tian Xiaohua smiled and agreed.

Sister Liu instructed her on how to prepare the seaweed: "Young lady, have the kitchen soak it in water tonight. Once it's softened, wash it carefully tomorrow morning, otherwise there will be sand in it."

Lu Yunfeng divided the remaining seaweed into three portions, each containing seven or eight pieces. "When my cousin comes tomorrow, I'll have him make a trip to give one portion to my family, one to my cousin, and one to my aunt's family."

Qin Xiaozhou had no objection. "Let's divide up this seafood and take more home. Children need to eat more of these things to stay healthy. Also, these dried shrimp are good for children's and the elderly's bones."

The following afternoon, Zhao Yong drove an oxcart towards Wangjia Village, carrying half a cartload of goods.

He raised his whip and hummed a song, and soon arrived at the Lu family's house. "Aunt, Grandma Lu, these are things my cousin asked me to bring back. He said they've all been divided up, and he wants to bring a share to Lijiaba as well."

Looking at all these things, Zhao Fang said, "Wait a minute, I'll give you some to take home."

Zhao Yong chuckled, "My cousin has already divided them up; mine got one too."

When Zhao Ling returned from the orchard and heard this, he poked his son's head and said, "Your uncle and I are living and eating at the Lu family's house. There are only a few people in the house, so take less."

Zhao Yong covered his head, feeling wronged. "My cousin's wife said these are seafood products that can prevent goiter and are good for children and the elderly, so I took them."

Wang Lan hugged the stone and laughed, "Oh dear, it's rare to have something from the sea. We should bring it back for the children to try. Don't say anything to him. Even if Da Yun didn't expect it, I would still give it to him."

Lu Xiaosi was squatting in the yard catching lobsters when he suddenly burst into tears. It turned out that his finger had been pinched by a lobster claw, which was much thicker than his finger. Blood quickly appeared on his little finger.

Zhao Fang hurriedly pried open the shrimp claws, then carried her son into the house to apply medicine.

When Zhao Ling heard that it was good for the child, she didn't want to stop him anymore. She just told her son, "Bring some food to your aunt's house whenever you have it. Don't take other people's food every day."

Zhao Yong nodded repeatedly, jumped onto the oxcart, and headed towards Zhao Family Terrace.

Wang Lan was worried about her youngest daughter, but she couldn't walk that far by herself, so she could only ask Zhao Yong to take her there in an oxcart early the next morning.

This was her first time visiting her daughter's family. Zhao Yong had come here when he was escorting her to her wedding, and she wandered around Lijia Dam following her memory.

Li Yang's mother, Li Guizhi, returned from the fields and recognized Wang Lan sitting on the oxcart from afar. She curled her lip and snorted coldly. People next to her asked curiously, "Sister-in-law Guizhi, who is this? Do you know her?"

Li Guizhi rolled her eyes. "Who knows her?"

The person who spoke to her didn't care; he just stared curiously at the person on the oxcart and the basket on her back, which was full of something. He wondered what good things were inside.

"They're probably visiting relatives, coming from the north, probably from Wangjia Village."

“This old lady must be living a good life. Look at her clothes, they’re all made of fine cotton, and the shoes are made of good cloth too.”

"She's even wearing silver bracelets and silver earrings; they look like they weigh at least one or two ounces."

"I wonder who it is, and if they have any grandchildren. It would be a good opportunity to arrange a marriage."

Wang Lan, sitting on the oxcart, glared at Li Guizhi upon hearing this.

The oxcart stopped at Doctor Li's house, and the neighbors all came out to see what was going on. It was rare for strangers to come to the village, so the sudden appearance of someone was quite novel.

Someone recognized her, saying, "It's the old woman who married into Dr. Li's family last year. She's probably here to visit her daughter."

"Oh my goodness, it's the Lu family from Wangjia Village? I heard they're incredibly wealthy."

"I wonder how many good things are in that basket. There are still people in the Lu family who don't have wives, and my little girl is of marriageable age."

Upon hearing this, the others' eyes darted around. The Lu family was so wealthy; if they could establish a connection with them and even a small amount of money slipped through their fingers, it would be enough for them to live on for months.

Lu Yu was making insoles under the jujube tree in the yard. The Li family master and apprentice had gone into the mountains to gather herbs early in the morning, and had told her not to open the door easily. Hearing the knock, she hesitated and asked, "Who is it?"

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