Madam Jia was truly tempted at this moment, and thought that she would go back to her brother's house immediately to talk about this matter!
Soon, Li Lao Er returned with Jia Er Lao Ye. After chatting for a while, the Jia family members took their leave.
Baozhu was reluctant to part with Jiayin and hugged her, almost bringing tears to her eyes. It wasn't until Jiayin promised to bring her delicious food often and visit her frequently that she was finally cheered up.
The two children got along well, which made both families happy, and they said goodbye warmly.
After seeing the Jia family off, the Li family, young and old, sat together to look at the list of thank-you gifts, and they were all taken aback.
Madam Jia spared no expense, providing everything from silk fabrics and cloths to jewelry, jade ornaments, and medicinal herbs.
Roughly speaking, these things are worth at least five hundred taels of silver.
Grandma Li couldn't help but exclaim, "This gift is far too extravagant."
Tao Hongying thought for a moment and then said, "Mother, if someone saves Fu Niu'er's life, I will definitely repay them in the same way. After all, nothing is more important than a child's life!"
"The Jia family is sincerely grateful, so let's accept their thanks for now. This family has good character and conduct, and we can repay them later as we get to know each other better."
Madam Wen also said, "Yes, Hongying is right. That's just how Madam Jia is. Back in school, she was the most straightforward one."
"If you like someone, you like them unconditionally; if you don't like someone, you'll find them unpleasant no matter what you look at. In the future, Hongying should spend more time with her. With her guidance, she'll be able to get to know the different families in Xindu much faster."
"I could have done it before, but as my belly gets bigger and I have to go through postpartum confinement and raising the baby, I probably won't have as much free time to go out and socialize..."
"Okay, just focus on getting better. These are all minor matters." Old Mrs. Li patted Mrs. Wen's hand. "You've already helped our family a lot. Without you, we wouldn't even know where to start socializing."
Tao Hongying handed the gift list to her daughter, Jiayin. She glanced at it and saw that the gifts were nice, but she didn't need them either, so she decided to give them all to her mother and keep them for future gifts.
After exchanging a few more casual words, the group dispersed.
Busy days always fly by, and seven or eight days have passed in the blink of an eye.
The fruit on the mountain has finally been picked. What needs to be sold has been sold, and what needs to be stored in the cellar has been stored. Once everything is settled and organized, it will soon be October.
When I got up early, there was already a layer of white frost on the ground that was visible to the naked eye.
The elderly have already changed into padded jackets and trousers, but the energetic young men are still wearing coarse cloth clothes, carrying their schoolbags, and running in the cold wind every morning and evening.
In the second village, the children of the newly moved-in families have already started school and become new friends.
Besides studying, the boys would spend their days gathering firewood, cutting willow branches, searching for forgotten fruits on the mountain, and catching fish in the river—they were having a blast.
Even after the autumn harvest, the villagers are still busy.
Some went to chop firewood to store for the winter.
Some followed Lord Zhou and Li Lao Er, busy with the foundation of the Princess's Mansion, and occasionally went into the city to visit the Earl's Mansion.
Every day, the village chief would walk with his hands behind his back, carrying his pipe, to inspect the foundation of the princess's mansion, then the noodle workshop, and after that, he would go to the valley...
With all this worry and effort every day, he should be exhausted, but the old man is surprisingly healthy and full of energy.
The villagers and the Li family saw this and didn't stop him from making arrangements everywhere.
In the noodle workshop, Tao Hongying, wearing an apron and with her hair wrapped up, was with Hui Niang and Xiao Cui by her side, leading the veterans in making the first batch of noodles.
Actually, the process of making handmade noodles is not difficult at any step, but it is very complicated and requires patience and experience.
Mixing dough, kneading dough, proofing dough, soaking dough in oil, rolling dough into strips, hanging them up again and again—just hearing about it sounds like a lot of trouble.
Fortunately, the wounded soldiers were all partially disabled, so they had plenty of time and patience.
If you let them learn from beginning to end, no one can guarantee that they will learn it well.
But if each person only learns one process, it becomes much simpler.
Those with strength knead the dough, those with care let it rise, and those with skill roll it into strips. Even those with only one hand can still hang the dough up!
A lot of dough was made last night. After a busy night and morning, by noon, rows of wooden poles were hung on the specially repaired, flat roof of the workshop.
The white noodles, like frozen raindrops, gradually transform into their perfect form as the autumn wind blows and the sun shines.
The wounded soldiers stood downstairs, gazing at the rows of noodles, their eyes filled with excitement.
This isn't just noodles; it's their hope for self-reliance and survival!
Tao Hongying took off her apron and said to Xiao Cui, "Keep an eye on things over here. Tonight, fry a pot of meat sauce and cook some dried noodles for everyone."
Some wounded soldiers, reluctant to part with the noodles, quickly waved their hands in refusal, saying, "Fourth Madam, we'll just have some porridge; keep the noodles for sale!"
"Yes, Fourth Madam, it's such a waste to give us such good food!" others chimed in.
Tao Hongying insisted, "You made this yourself. If you don't know what it tastes like, how can you hold your head high and tell others how delicious it is!"
"This is just the beginning, and everyone finds it interesting. But once we make more of it, noodles will be everywhere you look, and you'll get tired of them!"
Everyone then fell silent and eagerly awaited dinner.
After leaving the workshop, Tao Hongying and Huiniang wanted to visit the soldiers who had moved in, but unexpectedly, Li Laosi returned with Jia'an and Jiaxi.
Tao Hongying was overjoyed and quickly asked, "Where did you come from? Did these two boys get into trouble?"
"Mother, why don't you believe your son!" Jia'an protested with a grin, then said smugly, "Jiaxi and I learned our skills well, so we got two days off. Don't believe me? Listen to me say a few words in foreign languages!"
After saying that, he rattled off a string of words.
Jiaxi joined in showing off, and the two began to talk.
Tao Hongying's head ached from listening, so she quickly waved her hand, "Please spare my ears! I know you've learned well. Hurry home, I'll cook you something delicious!"
Jiaxi and Jia'an were both still eager to continue, and Jia'an said, "Let's go find my sister, she'll definitely be able to understand."
The two ran off together and quickly disappeared from sight, leaving Tao Hongying both amused and exasperated.
Soon after, everyone returned to the Li family home.
Grandma Li was asking her two grandsons all sorts of questions when she saw her son and daughter-in-law return. She asked, "Should we send someone to Luo'an to ask if Jiaren and Lige should also take a vacation to go on a study tour in the south with Zhensheng?"
"It would be even better if they could come back a few days earlier, while Jia'an and Jiaxi are both here, so the brothers can get together. And Jiayi, he's always away, it's so hard to even see him!"
When his mother spoke, Li Laosi couldn't possibly ignore it, so he quickly summoned his personal guards and gave them instructions.
Soon, the guards rode off to Luo'an.
When Jia'an and Jiaxi heard that their younger sister had gone to see Doctor Zhang, they went together to find the mischievous boy they knew in the village.
Needless to say, they'll be going up the mountain and down the river again, having a blast.
At Luo'an Academy, Jiaren was packing up his things in his dormitory. He was about to go to Quanzhou and would be gone for several months. He didn't want to leave his everyday things at the academy, so he planned to pack them up and send them to his own courtyard.
After packing up his things, Li Ge'er came over to help and said, "Big brother, we're leaving now, leaving Cat Brother to stay and study by himself."
Jiaren sensed the worry in his tone and said, "Don't worry, there are still Uncle and Aunt in the canteen. No one else would dare to bully him. It's just that he will be lonely."
“But look around, many of the students of the same age in their dormitories are alone, without family to take care of them or servants. This time, since we're not here, let him get some experience and gradually learn to take care of himself!”
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