"I hope you will grant my request."
Cao Shangjin picked up a gold hairpin to admire it, and he already smiled.
"You guys are honest. If you wanted to go somewhere else, I wouldn't be able to arrange it, but I can make the decision about Shuxia Village now. Alright, when you get to Shuxia Village, you'd better behave yourself and not cause me any trouble."
"Thank you, Lord Cao!" Li Xuming was already excited, then chuckled awkwardly.
"Hehe, sir, does that village under the tree have houses and goods? We're currently out of money, and so many people still need to eat and drink..."
Cao Shangjin remained silent.
"How could I forget this? Don't worry, I have my own arrangements. Go down now, I'll send you to Shuxia Village first thing tomorrow morning."
When Li Xuming returned to his cell and shared the news with everyone, they were all overjoyed; they were finally going to have a new home.
It's almost October, and the weather is gradually getting colder, but it's still quite humid in Lingnan.
The Li clan members traveled for another day before finally arriving at Shuxia Village from Shao County.
Withered vines, old trees, and crows at dusk; a small bridge and flowing water—a desolate scene.
Although Cao Shangjin was a greedy person, he was willing to go all the way if the person who gave him the gift did so willingly.
Upon entering the village, we saw several households peeking out from their homes.
Cao Shangjin summoned Zhao Qi, who was now quite influential in the village, to lead the way.
“Our village under the tree only has about ten households now. There are a few vacant old houses in the village. You can stay there temporarily. Everything you need is provided.”
As Zhao Qi spoke, he led the Li family toward the abandoned old house. As soon as they pushed open the courtyard gate, the wooden door collapsed. Zhao Qi chuckled awkwardly.
“These are all old houses left by villagers. No one has lived here for a long time. You can clean them up later. It won’t affect living conditions. You can also do some repairs later.”
Pan Jinhua had a premonition and her expression remained calm, but the remaining members of the Li family had varying expressions, with the latter showing even greater disappointment.
"Thank you, Lord Cao and Uncle Zhao."
Li Xuming quickly stepped forward to express his gratitude, while the other families went to choose their own houses.
The children are the most curious, but the adults don't care about anything else. They just want to choose a slightly better house, clean it up quickly, and get some sleep tonight.
Liu Yun only looked at the house and saw that everything was complete before stopping to look at any more. He immediately told his family to get to work.
Even Li Qingtong and Li Qingjun tore off pieces of cloth and wiped themselves here and there.
“Mother, your daughter-in-law just inspected the house. It’s quite large both in the front and back. I’m thinking of settling in here for now. Since we’re going to repair it anyway, we can just do a major overhaul later to avoid any future problems.”
"You've made good arrangements."
Pan Jinhua had no objections; Liu Yun's arrangement was quite good. Liu Yun should be in charge of family matters; she was in charge of the overall direction of the Li family and should quickly find a way to generate income for Li Shi.
"Mother, sister-in-law, Fourth Aunt is making a scene."
Mo Qiaoniang walked over and said softly.
Yuan Shi was not very happy since Li Shida and others, led by Pan Jinhua, but what Li Shida said was right. Her family was small and she had to rely on everyone. Otherwise, with the heavy farm work, she could not bear it with only one son.
Because of Pan Jinhua, the journey to exile wasn't as terrifying as she had imagined, and her children were all saved, which greatly reduced her discontent.
Who would have thought that as soon as they arrived in Shao County, Li Shida would spend all of his family's money on Pan Jin? Wasn't that just throwing money away?! Just for such a dilapidated village? Was such a run-down place worth all of them spending so much money on?
After the house was chosen, Yuan finally couldn't take it anymore.
"I gave you the money, but you wouldn't let me keep some. Now look what's happened! We went through so much trouble to find this lousy place, and now the money's gone. Are you expecting our whole family to starve?"
“My poor son, my children are still so young. We finally survived this exile, are we going to starve to death here?”
"Don't be so unreasonable, or you'll starve!" Li Shida was exasperated. Li Xushen had already hidden behind him. His mother was just like that, and he couldn't stop her. She always dragged him into her arguments. As a child, he was beaten by his father several times for this. But because he was the only son in the family, his father couldn't bring himself to hit him hard.
"We're practically starving! Look at the kind of house we live in!"
"Everyone lives here, and your sister-in-law hasn't said anything, so why are you saying this?"
Li Shida wasn't happy at all, since even his sister-in-law hadn't said anything. He had no reason to complain.
"Hurry up and pack up. Don't say any more. The government has provided rice and flour, which should be enough for the next few days. I'll go to my sister-in-law's place later and we can discuss the follow-up with each family."
Seeing that Li Shida had compromised and was helping his son clean up, Yuan felt a little better. She pursed her lips and continued working.
That night.
After a quick cleaning, the group gathered in Pan Jinhua's courtyard, took out rice and flour, cooked a meal together, and ate.
"We are all thanks to your family for getting us here safely today. We have no wine today, so I will use water as wine to toast you."
Today we've finally settled down. Four tables were set up, and the dishes were prepared by Zhao Qi. As soon as he sat down, the atmosphere became lively. Even if things aren't great, it's still better than being homeless, so everyone was smiling.
Li Shida's words further enhanced the atmosphere, and Li Shijie quickly raised his glass as well.
"Fourth Brother is right. We should toast Sister-in-law properly, using tea as wine."
Li Xuhai also stood up on behalf of the five families.
"Aunt, Fourth Uncle, Seventh Uncle, Brother Ming... Now things are finally settled down. I'm so happy, I don't know what to say, I'm all in the water!"
Pan Jinhua agreed to each of them, and then smiled as she looked at the people at the surrounding tables.
“I’m happy that you trust this old woman. I remember how much money you’ve taken.”
"Sister-in-law, why are you talking about this? Money can be earned back."
"Yes, that's right. I'm alive and my family is here. What more could I ask for?"
Pan Jinhua waved her hand.
"We're all family here, so I'll put your minds at ease today. All the money each family contributed will be returned to you in a few days."
"!"
Seeing everyone's surprised expressions, the three Li brothers couldn't help but proudly puff out their chests.
"Hehe, Fourth Uncle, Seventh Uncle, brothers, Mother made arrangements at the very beginning of the exile."
Li Xu stroked his beard, looking quite pleased with himself.
"Indeed, Mother released the indenture of our loyal servant, and the Fang family, including the steward, came here to settle before we were exiled to Lingnan..."
Li Xuming stopped keeping everyone in suspense and revealed the whole story.
"Sister-in-law! Does this mean our money is really coming back?"
Yuan was overjoyed. Even a clever woman can't cook without rice; how could they survive without money?
"The situation was urgent at the time, and only part of the money was transferred. There have probably been some losses along the way..."
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