"Silly boy!" Old Mrs. Li glared at her son reproachfully, then sighed, "People in this world do everything for themselves, which isn't wrong, after all, if a person doesn't look out for themselves, they'll be punished by heaven and earth. But if you want to succeed, if you want others to do things for you, you'll inevitably have to think of ways to do it."
"For example, in the simplest case of giving way, if you shout, 'Make way, I need to pass!' people will be reluctant, because it's inconvenient for them to give way to you, and they don't get any benefit from it."
"You should shout, 'Hot water, spilled, spilled! Don't get burned!' Everyone will be afraid of being taken advantage of and will immediately make way."
Ultimately, it's about turning your problem into a problem for everyone, and then things will go smoothly.
Li Laosan wasn't stupid. He started to try to apply what he had learned to other situations. "Mom, what do you think about taking a portion of the canteen's profits and holding a calligraphy and painting competition every year, buying some brushes, ink, paper and inkstones as prizes? Is that okay?"
"That way, the students won't see us as businessmen, but as part of the academy, and they'll feel less resistant. Wouldn't that be better for Jiaren and the others?"
Before his mother could respond, he continued, "The teachers and students at the academy all know that we have beautiful flowers. How about we send over a few pots from time to time so that the teachers can tell the students about them? The students have probably only heard about them before, but never seen them. This way, they can broaden their horizons."
"And another thing! We can also prepare some tables and chairs and put them outside the cafeteria. There's an open space there, and we can even plant some ordinary flowers and plants. It would be nice to sit outside, eat, and enjoy the view! Scholars love this kind of refined pursuit. Then the cafeteria won't just be a place that sells food anymore!"
Grandma Li listened attentively to her son, and seeing him gesturing excitedly, she smiled too. "These things, I don't understand. You ask Fu Niu'er. That child has a lot of ideas in her head. You two should discuss it."
As they talked, the mother and son reached the edge of the field.
Wu Laojiu and the others were very concerned, since this vegetable garden would be entrusted to their family to take care of in the future.
“Let’s go back first. I’ll come back to visit the village chief tonight and try to get everything arranged today so you can settle down and start working tomorrow,” Li Laosan said.
The group boarded the carriage and drove back to the town.
Jiayin had already woken up, but seeing no one from her family, she guessed they were busy, so she pestered her sister-in-law to go buy sticky rice cakes.
Wenjuan took the change and went out with her sister-in-law.
Soon, he returned carrying a box of sticky rice cakes!
Jiayin pulled her sister-in-law along, and they sat down together under the eaves to eat.
Shui Ling also got two pieces and happily ate them.
So, when Grandma Li and the others returned from outside, they saw two adults and one child sitting under the eaves, stretching out sticky rice cakes and having a competition.
Jiayin and Shuiling were one thing, but Wenjuan, being a daughter-in-law, was incredibly rude to be seen so childish by her grandmother and father-in-law.
Her face flushed, and she quickly stuffed all the sticky rice cake into her mouth, choking badly.
Grandma Li's face crinkled with laughter as she patted her granddaughter-in-law on the back, comforting her, "What's the rush? We're all family, who would laugh at you?"
Wenjuan blushed even more, but felt a sweet warmth in her heart. Her grandmother was treating her like a child!
A short while later, Zhao Yuru, Tao Hongying, and the others also returned.
There are quite a few rooms in the courtyard, but it's still a bit crowded with so many people living there at once.
So, Sister-in-law Sun and Dazhu's wife started making arrangements to settle in the canteen that night. They had already quickly tidied up the place.
Zhao Yuru didn't stop them, but let them have a proper meal.
For a while, the women crowded into the kitchen to cook, while the men sat at the door chatting.
The elderly and children sat under the eaves eating sticky rice cakes, and the small courtyard was incredibly lively.
Meanwhile, in the new village, in the Li family's courtyard, Li Lao Er had no appetite at all, looking at the two dishes and a bowl of white rice on the table.
My mother took my sister-in-law and niece to Luo'an, fine, but why didn't my eldest brother come back from the restaurant?!
In this huge courtyard, he's the only one eating; he looks so pitiful!
Shuiyun, Zheng He, Zheng Feng, Ye Tong, and a few others also gathered in the kitchen, enjoying their meal.
He simply grabbed a tray, carried the food, and headed straight to the backyard to find Uncle Zhao and the other old men to eat with...
Uncle Zhao couldn't help but laugh when he saw Li Lao Er enter the door like this.
Uncle Wei offered Li Lao Er a chair and joked, "What's wrong, Lord? Has your family abandoned you and nobody cares about you anymore?"
“That’s right!” Li Lao Er said, both amused and exasperated. “I suspect that my elder brother made me this Earl just so I could stay and watch the house.”
Everyone laughed. Uncle Zhao specially opened the wine jar and gave each person half a bowl. He didn't forget to tell Li Lao Er, "Drink up. Go home and sleep after you finish. Otherwise, the house will be quietest at night, and you'll feel even worse."
This is based on experience; before they met the Li family, they had endured countless long nights like this.
Not wanting the old men to recall painful memories, Li Lao Er quickly changed the subject, mentioning that the family's fleet was returning and he would take the old men to the dock for a stroll.
Since arriving at Suijintan, the old men have rarely gone out for walks, let alone ventured into the city.
They are like loyal old yellow dogs, diligently guarding their home, day and night, never slacking off.
Hearing that they were going out for a stroll, the old men were naturally all happy, but they couldn't leave their homes behind, so they started discussing it amongst themselves, making the dinner table even more lively.
Nothing happened that night. Early the next morning, Li Laosan led Wu Laojiu's family to a village called Xiaohe outside the town.
Last night, he had already paid a visit to the village chief of Xiahe Village, presented him with generous gifts, and rented out all twenty acres of his farmland. He even found a courtyard in the village of an elderly person living alone and rented three mud-brick side rooms.
At this moment, Wu Laojiu's family, having brought bedding, pots and pans, and filled a small cart, were ready to go directly into the village to settle down.
Sister-in-law Wu Jiu didn't talk much, but she always had a smile on her face. Seeing the children surrounding the carriage as it entered the village, she took out the sesame candy she had bought the day before and distributed it, making the children so happy that they all ran home.
Before long, the whole village knew that a new person had arrived.
As the village chief brought his brother Tian Mancang and his family to visit, everyone could hear more clearly after exchanging pleasantries.
The Li family was kind-hearted; after paying the mandatory taxes and grain taxes, the remaining harvest from the leased land was split equally between the Li family and the tenants.
This is much better than the market price.
With at least one mu of land per year, tenants can earn an extra twenty or thirty jin of grain; ten mu of land would yield two or three hundred jin.
Don't underestimate these two hundred catties of grain; in years of famine, it's enough to keep a family alive.
Some villagers, envious and jealous, whispered sourly, "When did this happen? How come we didn't know the land outside the village was going to be leased out? The Tian family got all the good stuff!"
Just then, the Bai family, the second largest household in the village, walked over.
The Bai family's three sons have all gotten married, and no one in the village dares to bully them.
At this moment, some villagers rushed over and said a few words, and finally complained: "The Tian family has taken all the good things and is wary of us competing for them. They secretly made the deal last night and only told us this morning."
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