Old Man Lin did not accept the money from Li Yu, but instead asked her, "Are you planning to move to town and never come back?"
In fact, he didn't disagree with them moving away, but the old man always wanted his children and grandchildren to be around him.
Knowing that her father-in-law might have misunderstood, Li Yu quickly explained: "Look at what you are thinking, Dad. Even if we buy a house in town, our hometown in the village will not ignore us.
I plan to clean up the house in the village next year when I have more money. Don't worry, even if Lin He wins the top spot in the imperial examination, our Yangshulin Village will always be his home."
Old Man Lin finally breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that his children would become successful and move far away, and it would be difficult for him to see them.
After that, Li Yu handed over the silver and said, "Dad, you and big brother will take care of the construction. Just push the wall of the gate and build a shop facing the street.
Open a small door at the back and side of the shop for easy access. Also, if anyone asks, please help me talk to them and tell them that we rent it and the landlord agrees to repair the shop, but we have to pay for it ourselves."
"I understand, don't worry. It wouldn't be good if everyone knew that you bought a house, and it wouldn't be good for you, an orphan and a widow, to know that you make a lot of money," said Old Man Lin.
"Oh, yes, that's what I mean. Thank you very much, Dad. It will be great if Ah He passes the exam. They won't dare to bully us when they find out. I'm sorry to trouble Dad and my eldest brother to worry about it. I will pay the wages as usual." Li Yu said.
The old lady was unhappy: "What are you talking about? We are all family. I should be paid for helping you with the work? Just give up on that idea."
Li Yu was at a loss for words: "Mom, look at what you said. You want people to work without paying them. Besides, they say that even brothers should settle accounts. If you keep doing this, I won't dare ask his uncle's family for help anymore."
"The second son's wife is right. Brothers should settle accounts clearly. We can't let our child's uncle help others for free. We don't want to give people something to talk about and let those gossipy women in the village gossip about us." said old man Lin.
Li Yu saw that he had finished talking about most of the things, so he stood up and said goodbye: "Then I will go back first, Dad and Mom. Please take care of it. You and Big Brother should look for helpers, I will not interfere. If you don't have enough money, please tell Ah Hai."
Old Man Lin agreed: "I'll see to it, but we can't start construction until after Ruoruo gets married, which won't be long. Let's buy all the materials first."
Li Yu smiled and said, "No problem, Dad, you guys can do whatever you want."
After Li Yu left, the old lady asked Old Man Lin: "Why do you still want wages? What's wrong with the family helping each other?"
Old Man Lin sighed and said, "What do you know? The second wife is trying to find a way to help the old family and the village. If we build a shop in town, there are so many workers here. As long as they are paid, who wouldn't do better than us? But she came back and asked me and the eldest brother to take charge."
Seeing his wife still looking confused, he added: "Leave it to us. We'll find someone in the village. Who wouldn't look up to us? The fields are slowly becoming less productive. Which man doesn't want to work? But finding work isn't easy. Not only can we hardly find a job, but some people also withhold wages.
Now that the second son's wife has handed this matter over to the eldest son, it is just a matter of our decision who to use and who not to use. Besides, given the eldest son's personality, he will not hire someone who is not efficient in his work.
This has invisibly given our Lin family more and more say in the village."
The old lady sighed: "Why didn't I think of this? She is such a smart child, and a good child, but her life was a little hard. But now she is fine, her sons are successful and filial, and she is also a capable person."
Finally, he wiped his eyes and said: "Poor my second son, why is he so unlucky."
The old man felt sad when talking about his deceased son. The old couple sat in the room and looked at each other in silence.
Soon the day of Lin Ruo's wedding arrived. Li Yu had predicted a few days ago that she would be very busy today, so she went to Lin Lao San's house several times and discussed with Wang Shi several times about what dishes to cook and what seasonings to buy.
Finally it was decided that Li Yu would prepare four main dishes, and the remaining six dishes would be prepared by the chef invited to prepare the banquet.
Li Yu cooked a dish of stewed pork ribs with potatoes, braised fish, shredded chicken, and a dish of braised pork with preserved vegetables. Since she didn't have preserved vegetables, she used dried vegetables that Wang had sun-dried for winter instead.
Even with Yang Liu's help, Li Yu was still incredibly busy. Village folks rarely had much to eat year-round, so when someone's family celebrated, most of the village would come, just to get a taste of the meat.
Li Yu has been busy since morning, and by the time she is done, the bride will be ready to leave.
Li Yu prepared a small gold hairpin for Lin Ruo, spending five taels of silver. Although it was not big, it was considered the largest addition to the dowry in the village.
Originally, Li Yu didn't want to be so high-profile, but then he thought, everyone knows that his family is in business, so it's okay to give his niece a little gold hairpin.
It also let Lin Ruofu's family know their family's attitude.
In the countryside, dowries or betrothals rarely contain gold. Li Yu didn't care what others thought. She thought Lin Ruo was a good girl, so she gave her more.
Of course, Li Yu had informed Zhong and Zhao in advance, and if they minded, she would give them a silver jewelry as well.
Mrs. Zhong and Mrs. Zhao stopped her and said, "We know you have good intentions. You don't need to ask for our opinions. Don't we know you well enough?
Let those who gossip can gossip all they want. You have money, spend it however you want and give it to whomever you want."
"Thank you, sister-in-law and fourth brother's wife. I know you are good to me. I will make delicious food for you next time." The three of them talked and laughed.
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