The old lady chuckled, replying with a face full of pride, "That's because you're so skilled, otherwise people wouldn't have come, right?"
Tao Hongying smiled wryly, "It's just that it's made the valley a bit chaotic. I plan to talk to my second brother and suggest that we only sell fruit wine in the valley from now on, and that customers can't bring their own alcohol. It would be troublesome if something happened."
"Alright, you can discuss it with your second brother." The old lady didn't seem to care, but Jiayin felt that something was off about the matter and thought about going to the valley to take a look in the next few days.
Nothing happened that night. The next day, seeing that the weather was nice, Hui Niang decided to move to the village chief's house.
The old lady asked her to stay a few more days, but she refused.
The old lady could only help her pack her luggage and run errands.
When Hui Niang fled here, she had nothing but blood on her body.
Now all that's left is the bedding the couple used to sleep in, plus two sets of clothes and shoes given to them by Tao Hongying, and some miscellaneous items.
The old lady took out ten taels of silver and a handful of copper coins, stuffed them into a large purse, and gave it directly to Hui Niang.
"Here's some change. If you need anything, just buy it."
Hui Niang was about to decline, but the old lady joked, "Don't be polite with me, this is a loan for you. When Yan... when Li Yong comes back, I will definitely ask him for the money back."
Hui Niang accepted the money with tears in her eyes. She wanted to do some embroidery and buy some things for the children, but she couldn't do it without money. She was worried about how to ask for money when the old lady came up with the idea.
The debt of gratitude for saving her life, plus the kindness shown to her and her child, was so profound that she would remember it all and hope to repay it slowly in the future…
The village chief's wife is in poor health and rarely appears in the village. She basically stays at home. The villagers respect the village chief and call her Aunt Wu, following her surname.
Aunt Wu aired the kang mat in the west room early in the morning, then swept the west room clean and heated the kang.
After Old Lady Li and the others carried their luggage and helped Hui Niang over, the west room had a completely new look.
Hui Niang thanked Aunt Wu gently, while Old Lady Li sat to the side with her granddaughter in her arms, chatting idly.
The village chief was always busy, and he would walk around the village three or four times a day, leaving Aunt Wu alone at home. The women in the neighborhood also had their own jobs to earn work points.
Therefore, Aunt Wu was very lonely.
Now that Hui Niang is with her, she is truly happy.
When she heard that Hui Niang could embroider, she couldn't stop smiling.
They share the same interests; they've found kindred spirits.
Soon, the two agreed to embroider a few handkerchiefs and take them to embroidery shops in the city to inquire about prices. They also planned to take on some larger embroidery projects to earn more money.
Old Mrs. Li chimed in, "I'm clumsy with embroidery, so I definitely can't help with that. But I have a few good pieces of fabric, given to me by Madam Cui and the Marquis. I'll bring them over when I have some free time."
"This is a great help!" Aunt Wu was weak and her face was slightly pale, but she smiled kindly and took Old Lady Li's hand, expressing her heartfelt gratitude.
"The person I should thank the most is you for sending Hui Niang such a wonderful companion. From now on, my old man can go wherever he wants, I won't interfere. Once Hui Niang gives birth, the house will be even more lively with a little baby."
Before the words had even finished, the village chief returned, chuckling, and asked, "Oh dear, I just went to the riverbank, why am I being kicked out of my house?"
Everyone laughed, and Aunt Wu scolded, "Are you like a dog with ears? You can hear everything I say."
Hui Niang stood up and bowed. The village chief waved his hand and instructed, "Hui Niang, we old folks have no children. We welcome you to stay here and will definitely take care of you like our own daughter. Please make this place your home and stay here comfortably."
"Thank you, Uncle Village Chief." Hui Niang bowed again, making the old man uncomfortable. He said a few words and then left.
From then on, Huiniang moved out of the Li family's house and lived with the village chief and his wife.
Hui Niang was diligent. Once she recovered, she helped with cooking and laundry. When she had free time, she would embroider. The village elders loved her dearly and treated her like their own daughter. They also looked forward to the child in her belly as if it were their own grandchild.
The Li family was responsible for Hui Niang's tonics. They would cook delicious food every day and send a portion over, doing their best to take care of her.
As the weather warmed up day by day, the snow in the mountains and fields quickly faded, revealing patches of color in the fields.
Everything seemed to be holding back its energy, just waiting for the spring breeze to blow and the spring thunder to resound in all directions, so that it could start to grow with all its might and let the breath of spring cover the whole world.
The villagers elected Uncle Wu to take over from Li Laosi and take care of the orchard on the mountain.
The village chief is still in charge of the riverbank area. Li Lao Er teaches the children to read in the morning and goes to the valley in the afternoon. He is so busy that he doesn't have time to rest.
Jiayin would take the opportunity to go into the small courtyard every night to cultivate various vegetable seedlings, and most importantly, to prepare watermelon seedlings and cantaloupe seedlings.
This year, in addition to planting melons, we also need to take care of the big locust tree and the villages of Dawangzhuang and Xiaowangzhuang. This is a huge project.
I've set aside 20 mu of my own riverbank land to plant peanuts and sweet potatoes, and I plan to plant melons on the remaining 50 mu this year. With the three villages, each with 10 mu, that's 80 mu of seedlings.
The village chief was already anxious, but fortunately Jiayin had already informed the village through Dongmei that the seedlings were being cultivated by Houye's farm.
Everyone was relieved, after all, the seedlings last year were sent by the Marquis.
At the foot of the orchard, two vegetable gardens, each about three or four acres in size, have been set up to grow vegetables to supply the guests in the valley.
The vegetables come out early, so we can sell them for more money.
Fortunately, Jiayin is now much more skilled at controlling the space.
At least she doesn't have to do physical labor anymore; otherwise, with her thin arms and legs, it would be too much for her.
On this day, the village head of Dahuaishu Village came to the village to inquire about the melon vines. He also took a special look at the boar in the Li family's pigsty and then cautiously asked if they could bring their sow over so she could get to know him better.
The village chief had already discussed it with the Li family, so he agreed, but it wasn't a free service.
When the sow gives birth to piglets, the Li family will have to pay them a fee for using one of the piglets as a boar.
The village head readily agreed and happily went back to inform the villagers that they were preparing to bring their sows in a line for the wedding.
The village chief couldn't help but sigh, "It's a pity there were only two boars, otherwise we would have really struck it rich."
Jiayin, who was clinging to her grandmother's leg and listening to the commotion, was not about to miss such a good opportunity. She quickly exclaimed with a grin, "Godfather said there are more pigs coming, lots and lots!"
The village chief exclaimed in delight, "Oh my, has the Marquis sent people to prepare good things for our family again? Did he see that we like this kind of white pig and find it elsewhere?"
The old lady suspected her granddaughter was up to something, but she wasn't sure, so she could only vaguely reply, "Yes, I guess the Marquis instructed Ye Shan and Dong Mei before he left. The Marquis's manor also has estates, which should all be useful, but they keep transferring them to us."
"It's all thanks to the Marquis's kindness. Please accept it. When we slaughter pigs for the New Year, please give the Marquis two extra pigs." The village chief beamed with joy and added, "The naughty boys don't have much to do after school in the afternoon. Let them cut pig feed from now on. They can feed as many pigs as they want."
Leaving aside the busy preparations for spring back home, in faraway Quanzhou, Li Zhensheng, along with Jiayi and Liu Yang, were kneeling and kowtowing.
This is the latest update. Please give it a 5-star rating, like it, and leave a comment. I'm working hard to write more!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com