Seeing that some villagers had heard the commotion and were peeking over, the old woman was still making a scene.
Jiaren was too lazy to waste any more words and ran away.
"Hey, you little rascal! Don't run away, leave me the money right now, your uncle is waiting for it to save his life!"
Wu Cuihua chased after him, but Jiaren ran too fast and disappeared in no time.
Wu Cuihua was so angry that she fell backward, slapping her thigh and crying and cursing.
"You heartless ingrate! You don't even care about your own mother. What will you expect from her when she gets old?!"
However, no matter how much she cursed, Jiaren couldn't hear her, and she could only go home dejectedly...
In the Li family courtyard, no one knew that Wu Cuihua had caused trouble again. They were entertaining guests when someone invited Tao Hongying to be the head chef.
This person was from the next village. He had eaten at the Kong family's banquet that day and liked it very much.
It just so happens that my family is also getting married the day after tomorrow, so I thought I should make it more respectable and not let the village women fool me. I wanted to hire a proper craftsman, so I found the Li family.
The Li family was naturally overjoyed. Tao Hongying hugged and kissed her daughter repeatedly, leaving Jiayin, who had just woken up, completely bewildered.
I don't understand what happy event has happened in my family while I was having a dream.
Actually, the family members don't value money.
Just as Li Laosi and Jiayi were being taken south by Liu Biaotou to work as镖师 (bodyguards/escorts) for a high wage, someone else came knocking on their door to ask Tao Hongying to be the head chef.
Seeing their family's life getting better and better, everyone felt incredibly happy.
However, Grandma Li did not agree immediately, saying that she had something to do at home and needed to think about it, and would give her an answer tonight.
The man wasn't annoyed and politely took his leave.
Old Mrs. Li immediately took Jiayin out for a stroll. Zhang Ersao and Wu Sanshenzi, who were the most well-informed, quickly found out the details of the wedding party in just a few words.
Only after hearing that they were an honest family with no unruly children or grandchildren did the old lady send Li Laosan to deliver the message and arrange the work.
Upon learning the whole story, Tao Hongying's eyes welled up with tears of gratitude.
Compared to money, her mother-in-law values her safety more; she doesn't want her to suffer any injustice.
Grandma Li tapped her pipe, teasing Jiayin while scolding her daughter-in-law.
"Don't make that strange face. I'm your mother-in-law, so of course I have to be extra careful and protect you. I don't want my granddaughter's mother to suffer any injustice. Get ready, you're going to work tomorrow."
Tao Hongying happily agreed, originally thinking that Jiayin would insist on going again, but Jiayin was very well-behaved this time and did not want to go at all, which was unexpected.
Actually, Jiayin also wanted to go and see the excitement; staying at home all day was too boring.
But as the weather got colder, she didn't want to risk catching a cold and causing trouble for her family, or suffer herself.
Tao Hongying packed her things quickly and then went to work with Li Laosan and his wife and Jia Huan.
When he returned in the evening, he brought back meat and vegetables and two ounces of wages.
Hongying gave the old lady her wages as usual, and the meat dishes were cooked twice. The whole family ate with gusto, their mouths greasy and they were all very happy.
Even Wu Cuihua's unsightly eating habits, which looked like she hadn't eaten for several meals, were only met with a glare from the old lady, who didn't pursue the matter further.
Since they all lived in the same village, the villagers naturally noticed the Li family coming and going, and became increasingly envious.
The reason why the Li family was able to gain a foothold in the village so quickly was not only because of their kindness and understanding of when to advance and retreat, but also because the whole family was united, hardworking and down-to-earth.
However, Old Lady Li disagreed with this.
In her heart, the family's prosperity was all thanks to her granddaughter.
Everyone would laugh and agree each time, but they didn't really believe it. However, they were still very happy to tease Jiayin, who had grown into a little dumpling.
Jiayin has passed 100 days and has learned to roll over. Now she is working hard to evolve into a crawling animal.
She seems to have grown up quite a bit all of a sudden, and has become even more adorable.
With her chubby little face, big, watery eyes, long eyelashes, and delicate, white hands, she looked just like a lucky doll in a painting from that year; everyone who saw her would love her.
Taking advantage of the sunny weather, the old lady planned to air out the bedding. Since Jiayin was taking a nap, she wrapped her in the blankets.
Jia'an and Jiaxi wanted to play with their younger sister, but were afraid of waking her up and being scolded by their grandmother, so they ran out and went to the river with the other children in the village.
The village of Qingshui got its name from the large river outside the village.
The river is wide, and there are many reeds growing along the banks. Occasionally, wild ducks are startled and fly away. If you're lucky, you can find wild duck eggs.
The village boys, having nothing better to do, all liked to come and try their luck.
At this time of year, the reeds are withered and yellow; some still stand upright, while others seem to have succumbed to the winter winds, lying prostrate on the riverbank.
The mischievous boys divided up the area by the river and then dispersed.
Jiaxi and Jia'an plunged into the reeds in front of them, and sure enough, a wild duck started quacking.
The two boys were overjoyed and ran inside even more eagerly.
But someone had come here to fish before and dug a large hole in the ice.
They didn't catch any wild ducks, but the two boys fell into the river one after the other.
The river water was icy cold, and the soaked clothes made them even heavier, so the two men cried out loudly.
The other boys panicked when they heard this; some tried to pull their friends away, while others ran frantically towards the Li family's house.
The Li family lived the furthest away in the village, so the people at the village entrance were the first to hear the cries for help.
When the Li family members ran frantically to the water's edge, Jia'an and Jiaxi had already been pulled out.
Fortunately, the river level was low, so they didn't drown, but their lips turned purple from the cold.
Grandma Li raised her hand and gave each of her grandsons a pipe, exasperated, "You naughty, reckless brats!"
"Milk...cold..." Jia'an tried to speak, but his teeth kept chattering.
Li Lao Er and Li Lao San quickly took off their cotton-padded coats, each carrying one on their backs, and ran home as fast as they could.
A large basin was filled with hot water, and the two boys were stripped naked and stuffed into it. Large bowls of ginger soup were poured into their stomachs as if it were free.
The whole family was terrified; they wanted to scold him but couldn't bring themselves to, yet they were angry if they didn't.
When Jiayin woke up yawning, she was startled to find the atmosphere at home was strange, thinking that something had happened to her father and second brother who were away.
After finally managing to glean the reason from everyone's conversation, she couldn't help but roll her eyes.
These two youngest brothers are so naughty.
Falling into a river on a cold winter's day is truly a miserable experience.
Sure enough, the hot bath and ginger soup were of little use. In less than half an hour, Jia'an and Jiaxi started to have a fever, their faces burning red.
Despite her anxiety, Old Lady Li immediately gave the instructions.
"Go to the village chief's house to borrow a car and go to the city to see a doctor. We can't delay. Be careful that the fever doesn't get too high, or we'll end up with two more idiots in the family."
Jiaxi and Jia'an were truly frightened and cried so hard that they were eventually wrapped up like dumplings and thrown onto the donkey cart.
Fortunately, the county town was nearby, and I returned an hour later.
Four doses of medicine, taken over two days, cost one tael of silver, which was ridiculously expensive, but it was really effective. After drinking the medicine, the two boys' fevers subsided.
He ate a big bowl of noodles with gravy when it got dark, slept soundly through the night, and was full of energy the next day.
The Li family, including Jiayin, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
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