The next day, before Li Rouniang could even visit the Qian family, the Qian family came to invite her over.
When Li Rouniang arrived, she found the servants busy packing. After paying her respects to Madam Qian in the main room, she asked directly, "It seems that Master and Madam are going on a long trip."
"Rou Niang, the reason I called you here is precisely for this. My husband thinks it would be better to do business in the south, since we've heard the war is getting more and more intense here. So we're planning to move the whole family south. I just wanted to let you know in advance, so that you can make preparations in case my husband's prediction comes true."
Madam Qian was grateful to Li Rouniang, after all, Erni was her son's lucky star. Madam Qian knew that Qian Duobao had gone to see Erni yesterday, and she hoped that Li Rouniang had made some plans.
Actually, she hoped Li Rou Niang would leave with them, but for no apparent reason, she knew the other wouldn't. After all, it was just her husband's intuition, and although he had been in business for many years and his intuition was usually very accurate...
But you can't force others to do that!
Li Rouniang's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this. It matched her dream perfectly; it seemed war was truly about to break out.
I just don't know when.
She sincerely thanked Madam Qian, left the mansion and went straight to Ruyi Teahouse. She told Hua Ruyi about the matter, and Ruyi was also nervous and sighed:
"Even so, it's not easy to make a name for yourself in other places. It's better to do business here now and wait until we hear some news before making any decisions."
Li Rouniang nodded in agreement. Unlike the Qian family, who were wealthy and powerful and could leave at will, they had all their foundations here. It wasn't so easy for them to just leave.
When Li Rouniang returned to the village, she told Zhao Youtian about the matter, hoping that the village could make some preparations.
Zhao Youtian was also very troubled. The villagers all depended on the land for their livelihood. They were blessed by God. How could they possibly abandon their land and leave their homes to go south?
Moreover, it's not practical to walk through the entire village.
It requires a lot of procedures such as customs clearance documents, so we can only leave it at that moment.
Li Rouniang also planned to stay in Zhao Family Village. They could work together to find a solution; three heads are better than one. It would be better for her to go with them than to do it alone.
Of course, she didn't hide it from Old Man Mo and the others. Old Man Mo also thought they couldn't leave for the time being. After all, they had bigger things to do. They only wanted to stay and watch over Xiaoshan until he was two or three years old before leaving. So, Old Man Mo and his son remained still.
Life continued in an orderly fashion. Every morning, Li Rouniang would play with Xiaoshan Sanni, make some snacks and deliver them to the town before returning home. Her income was stable, and she was happy and content.
It was a rare and pleasant time for her; she had never realized that life could be so blissful.
That day, Li Rouniang returned from town and saw a woman crying and carrying an infant walking into the river. She was shocked and quickly went over to pull the woman ashore.
Upon closer inspection, it was indeed Xiu'er, the wife of Zhao Ergou from the village.
"Ergou's son, why would you think such a foolish thing?" Li Rouniang scolded angrily.
A mother's love is strong; how could she be so heartless as to commit suicide while holding her own child?
"Let me die, let me take her with me, so she won't suffer in this world."
Xiuer wept bitterly.
Li Rouniang coaxed and persuaded her until she finally got to her own home.
The baby was about the same age as Sanni'er, its little eyes wide open, looking timidly at Sanni'er on the kang (heated brick bed).
Li Rouniang took some teething food and toys for the baby, and sat there babbling with Sanni, seemingly talking about something. She looked very cute.
After Li Rouniang handed Xiuer a handkerchief to wipe her face clean, she gave her some clean clothes to change into.
"Tell me, what exactly happened?" Li Rouniang asked softly.
Xiuer just kept crying and didn't say a word.
"Did Zhao Ergou bully you?" Li Rouniang asked.
She didn't have a good impression of Zhao Ergou. Zhao Ergou was good friends with her scoundrel uncle, Zhao Eryou. As the saying goes, "one is influenced by one's company," they were the same kind of people, both reckless and unruly.
But when Zhao Youtian tried to take Er Gou to the mine last time, Zhao Er Gou was still thinking about the child in his wife's belly, so he must still be a good husband.
Something's not right. Li Rouniang calculated that she was about to give birth, but Xiu'er doesn't look pregnant at all. The little one looks about the same size as Sanni'er, but doesn't look like she was just born. What's going on?
“If you just keep crying and won’t say anything, I can’t help you. But look at your child. Didn’t you bring her into this world so you shouldn’t try your best to give her a chance to live a good life?” Li Rou Niang advised.
Xiuer wiped away her tears and said, "Li Niangzi, thank you. I don't know how to say it, that Er Gou is not human. Waaah, waaah, waaah."
As she talked, she started to feel distressed again.
From Xiuer's intermittent sobs, Li Rouniang roughly understood that Zhao Ergou, out of control, had drunk too much and accidentally pushed Xiuer down, causing her to lose her child.
The child was already fully formed, and then he just died like that; it's truly heartbreaking.
“I don’t know how to advise you, but life goes on, sigh…” Li Rou Niang felt sorry for Xiu’er, but that couldn’t be a reason for her to throw herself into the river with her child.
Xiuer remained silent; she simply couldn't bring herself to say what she was about to say.
Just then, someone stopped at the door and started cursing: "You little whore, get out here right now! It's so late, why aren't you home cooking for me? Why are you running around here trying to have some peace and quiet?"
Zhao Ergou was standing at the door, carrying a wine bottle and loitering around.
He was somewhat wary of Li Rouniang when she came out, after all, he had been beaten by her last time.
But she still stubbornly said, "What, Madam Li? You've already divorced yourself, are you going to try to persuade my wife to divorce me too? Let me tell you, that's impossible! Even if she's dead, she's still my wife, Zhao Ergou's wife."
"What are you saying, Zhao Ergou? I didn't say anything. I want to ask you, why didn't you cherish your wife properly? Why did you force her to jump into the river and commit suicide? I have to have a good talk with our clan chief about this."
"Suicide? This damned woman actually dared to commit suicide? Xiuer! Get your ass out here right now!" Zhao Ergou, instead of showing any concern for Xiuer's health, became even angrier upon hearing this.
Xiuer was so frightened inside that she trembled and dared not go out!
He was about to go in and grab Xiu'er when Li Rouniang stopped him outside.
The second dog was not convinced and raised the bottle to smash it at Li Rou Niang: "You stinking woman, mind your own business."
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