The wounded soldier, puzzled, replied, "Sir, the silver the court gives us isn't even enough for our medicine and recovery, let alone to survive!"
"We've been taken care of by the Marquis and settled here. We can earn our own living with peace of mind."
"Besides, what's this talk of hardship or not? Who doesn't struggle to survive?"
Master Jia felt somewhat embarrassed upon hearing this.
He grew up in luxury, and because of his weak health, he stayed home to recuperate after passing the imperial examination to become a scholar.
He usually spends his days writing and painting, rarely going out. Even after getting married and having children, his wife takes care of everything at home and outside.
In this way, he developed an appearance of being detached from worldly affairs and unaware of human suffering.
His wife gave him countless instructions before he left home today, but he still did something stupid again...
Li Lao Er was shrewd enough to notice his embarrassment, so he told the wounded soldier to continue his work, and then accompanied him out of the workshop and slowly walked home.
"Brother Jia, you may not know this, but these wounded soldiers came down from the battlefield with very serious injuries. They were all worried about how to survive, and they couldn't accept suddenly losing their hands and feet and becoming disabled. So many of them committed suicide."
“Although our family comes from a farming background and has little wealth, the whole village is willing to tighten their belts to support these heroes who sacrificed for the country.”
He sighed deeply and then said, "But if people just eat and sleep all day, wouldn't they be no different from pigs?"
"So the family racked their brains to find a way to open a workshop for these wounded soldiers, so that they could make dried noodles to sell to people traveling on the road. It would be very convenient for them to cook and eat them directly on the road."
"These wounded soldiers knew they could survive on their own, so they stopped committing suicide. The village also settled them at this crossroads to protect the safety of the entire village. They felt needed even more, and their lives became more fulfilling!"
As Master Jia listened, he nodded, feeling increasingly ashamed.
For a fleeting moment, he did suspect that the Li family had embezzled the soldiers' compensation money...
He quickly straightened his sleeves, then bowed deeply to Li Lao Er, saying, "I'm sorry, Lord Li, I was judging you by my own petty standards. We are far inferior to the Li family in terms of righteousness, and I am truly ashamed."
Li Lao Er helped him up and said with a smile, "It's just a small matter. Brother, you are concerned about these national heroes, worried that they will be bullied and that they will not live well. This shows your kindness and righteousness!"
"In the future, once the workshop's dried noodles are ready, I'll have to trouble you, my brother, to help spread the word."
"Okay, okay, I'll definitely help." Master Jia was flattered and chuckled, wishing he could buy a hundred or so catties right away...
In the Li family's courtyard, Jiayin and Baozhu carried a basket of fruit in from outside. Their faces were flushed from exhaustion. They dropped the basket and ran off to show it off.
"Mother, look how many fruits I picked! Sister Jiayin said I can eat them all!" Baozhu hugged Madam Jia's neck, as excited as a bird released from its cage.
Jiayin didn't see her mother, so she ran to hug Madam Wen's arm and said, "Auntie, Auntie, the fruit is much sweeter than before. I'll wash it for you to eat in a bit."
"Good, our Fu Niu'er is the best." Madam Wen smiled broadly, took off the silver comb from her hair, and tidied up the chubby girl's messy braids.
Seeing her like this, Madam Jia the Second laughed and said, "If you two looked like this, anyone who didn't know better would think you were mother and daughter. You're just too close."
Madam Wen nodded and said, "I treat Fu Niu'er like my own daughter. When I was in trouble, I probably wouldn't have survived if it weren't for Fu Niu'er."
"From now on, no matter whether the baby in my belly is a boy or a girl, you have to call her Sister Fu Niu'er."
Madam Jia laughed, “The princess must be a good sister. Look at my Baozhu, she has only met the princess once, but she has been talking about her for three or four days. My ears are about to fall off.”
"I'm going to talk to the old lady later about replacing the threshold with a higher one, otherwise if this girl keeps coming over, your threshold will probably be worn down by two inches."
Everyone laughed upon hearing this.
At this moment, Old Mrs. Li and Old Mrs. Jia slowly walked in from outside. Old Mrs. Jia said with a smile, "These two little girls run so fast, we two old bones really can't keep up with them."
The crowd quickly helped them sit down and offered them tea and water.
The two old ladies also picked a basket of fruit. Madam Jia said with a big smile, "These fruits all over the mountain, let alone eating them, just looking at the branches with their bright red color makes me so happy."
"I've really seen something new today. My dear sister, you're living such a wonderful life! You're so much more carefree than us old sparrows trapped in our mansions!"
Grandma Li laughed and said, "Then you should bring Baozhu here often from now on. The two of us old folks can play together, and the two little ones can play together, so we won't interfere with each other."
Everyone laughed and joined in the fun, making the two old ladies even happier.
At this moment, Jia Huan returned from the city and was stunned to find so many people in the courtyard.
Grandma Li quickly beckoned him to come forward and greet him, then introduced the Jia family.
Jia Huan wasn't particularly handsome; he wasn't as refined and gentle as Jia Ren, nor as sunny and dashing as Jia Yi. But he had a peaceful look in his eyes, and his smile was honest and reliable, which was the kind of look that older people liked the most.
Old Madam Jia talked with Jia Huan for a long time, and Jia Huan responded to everything without any impatience, which made Old Madam Jia like her even more.
Baozhu sat to one side, her nose twitching for a while, then tugged at Jiayin's sleeve and asked, "Sister Jiayin, there's a fragrance, can you smell it?"
Jiayin blinked twice, guessed something, and laughed, "I smelled it too, it smells like fried quail."
Jia Huan blushed upon hearing this and quickly took out a paper package from her sleeve, whispering, "Wen Juan said she wanted to eat these a few days ago, so I bought a few when I saw them today..."
Wenjuan, sitting next to Madam Wen, also blushed deeply.
Her husband usually prepares food for her, and she's used to it, but today, with so many guests around, he's still doing this.
People will inevitably say she's a glutton, and that her husband is a good-for-nothing who only cares about his wife...
Grandma Li, not wanting her grandson and granddaughter-in-law to feel awkward, quickly changed the subject, saying, "Yes, Wenjuan is pregnant. Just prepare whatever she wants to eat."
“Wenjuan has been sitting for a while now. Help her to lie down in the back for a bit and eat slowly. Don’t worry about what’s in front. There’s not much work to do at home.”
Jia Huan nodded, but still opened the oil paper package and gave Jia Yin and Bao Zhu each a fried quail.
He was about to offer some to Madam Wen, but she waved her hand and said, "I want to eat it, so I'll have your uncle go buy it. You two should go eat in the back!"
Jia Huan then helped Wen Juan back to the backyard, causing everyone to laugh as they watched their retreating figures.
Madam Jia the Second read it from beginning to end, and saw it all clearly.
The entire Li family, young and old, wore smiles on their faces, all happy that the young couple had a good relationship; not one of them was jealous or angry.
This is extremely rare.
You know, in many families, the elders are afraid that their children and grandchildren will become too close to their daughters-in-law and not listen to the family, so they try every means to control their daughters-in-law.
Once the young couple is driven apart, they will say that the wife is unreasonable, which is really infuriating!
That's why being a daughter-in-law is so difficult.
But the Li family is clearly not like that. The old lady is kind and reasonable, the daughters-in-law are diligent and filial, and even the little granddaughter is cute and lovable.
If any girl from this family marries into our family, our lives will surely be wonderful...
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