The next morning, Li Laosi drove the mule cart. The cart was lined with thick old quilts. Li Laotai and Jiayin sat on it and wrapped themselves in another quilt.
Jiayin was held in her grandmother's arms, only her chubby little face was visible. Her cute appearance made everyone want to pinch her chubby cheeks.
Li Zhensheng and Li Lao Er stood at the door, watching the mule cart drive away. Li Zhensheng said, "Lao Er, please take care of things at home these next few days. I need to go into town to take care of some business and buy a horse-drawn carriage on the way back."
"Okay, brother, then you should take Jiayi and Liu Yang with you. They can run errands for you if needed. Don't go out on your own. If you run into someone who doesn't know what's good for them, you might get taken advantage of."
Li Lao Er gave him a few more instructions, which prompted Li Zhensheng to pat him on the shoulder and laugh, "My Miwa has really grown up, he's so meticulous and thoughtful in everything he does."
Li Lao Er quickly looked around, blushing. "Brother, I'm over thirty years old, why are you still calling me by my childhood name! You're busy, I'm going to the valley."
After saying that, he fled in panic, leaving behind his older brother's loud laughter.
But Li Zhensheng, though smiling, was still obedient enough that he brought Jiayi and Liu Yang with him when he went into the city again.
Both boys are very lively and impulsive, always looking for trouble. They've been doing odd jobs all the time and are really getting restless.
Now that I'm going to the city with my uncle, I can see the excitement and eat good food, so of course I'm happy.
Jiayin, Old Lady Li, and Li Laosi were also at ease in Luo'an.
As they approached Luo'an, Jiayin insisted on sitting on the carriage shaft. Then she secretly took a hundred or so cabbages, a large pile of green and red radishes, brownish-yellow old cucumbers, a basket of fruit, a basket of pears, a basket of dates, a dozen dead rabbits, and a basket of chicken and duck eggs.
The mule suddenly started to struggle to pull the cart, causing both Old Lady Li and Old Man Li to turn around and, needless to say, be startled again.
But in the past two years, they've been getting this kind of shock every now and then, and the mother and daughter have been forced to get used to it.
At that moment, they turned their heads in perfect unison, without saying a word.
Jiayin, nestled in the old lady's arms, was already asleep, even snoring softly—it looked as fake as could be.
Grandma Li was so angry that she gently tapped her forehead, "You brat, you'll scare Grandma to death one day, then you'll behave yourself."
Jiayin shrank her neck even further, continuing to pretend to be asleep.
The old lady, fearing a cold draft, quickly pulled open her coat and hugged her granddaughter even tighter.
When they arrived at the shop, Li Laosan and Zhao Yuru were overjoyed to see their mother coming.
The streets were quiet with few people around, and the lively atmosphere at the food stalls inevitably attracted the attention of the neighbors who came to check and exchange pleasantries.
The old lady warmly took the fruit and pears and offered them to her neighbors to try.
The neighbors didn't stand on ceremony; they took a bite and all gave a thumbs up.
Seeing the lush green cabbages and fresh radishes on the carriage, I couldn't help but feel envious.
Before long, school let out. Jiaren led Lige'er by the hand, with Gousheng following behind. The three of them chatted and laughed as they walked home.
Upon seeing the old lady standing in front of the door, the three of them were overjoyed and quickly ran over.
"Grandma, Grandma!"
"Oh," the old lady said happily, patting this one and hugging that one, leading them to the backyard, "Grandma brought you some delicious food!"
People of all ages gathered together, munching on fruit and chatting, creating a lively atmosphere.
Li Laosi rolled up his sleeves and helped greet the students who came to eat. After finally getting through the peak period, he couldn't help but say to Li Laosan, "Third Brother, the work here is really not easy. It's more tiring than farming. Do you want to find a couple of people from the village to help?"
Hearing his younger brother's concern for him, Li Laosan smiled even more warmly.
"No need, we can manage. It's not easy for you at home either. Besides, the college will be on holiday in a month, and then we'll go home."
Three or four days passed in the blink of an eye, and the old lady started thinking about home again, making preparations to go back.
Li Laosan's family, along with Jiaren and Lige'er, were reluctant to part, but the thought of the upcoming holiday made them feel much better.
When we arrived, it was the three of us—the old and the young—and when we left, it was still the same three of us. Of course, we couldn't treat everyone the same with the surprise.
So, after leaving the capital, when they were still a dozen miles away from Suijintan, Jiayin quietly put two fat pigs out in front of the mule cart.
Li Laosi paused for a moment, then pulled out a machete hidden under the cart floor, immediately rushed out, kicked one person over, and chopped down another with the machete.
The two bewildered fat pigs were dealt with quickly just like that.
When the old lady came to her senses, her son had already run back with a grin on his face to pull the rope and tie up the big fat pig.
She quickly looked down at her granddaughter, who buried her face in the blanket, looking like a silly roe deer nestled in a snowdrift.
She was both annoyed and amused. She slapped her granddaughter on the bottom and then jumped down to help her son.
Soon, the mule cart continued on its way, but the mother and daughter kept looking back at the two fat pigs on the cart, both looking somewhat worried.
In those days, even wealthy families couldn't afford to feed their pigs much grain, so a pig that grew to over 100 jin (50 kg) was considered a large pig.
But these two pigs on the truck weighed at least 200 pounds each, so fat they seemed to drip oil with every movement. They were also plump and white, with large heads and ears, and smooth body lines—completely different from the local, pot-bellied black pigs!
How can this fool everyone?
With the Broken Gold Beach in sight, the mother and daughter quickly agreed on a story: they had encountered people moving along the way, and since it was inconvenient to carry these two breeding pigs, they had bought them.
Jiayin, nestled in her grandmother's arms, felt an urge to slap herself upon hearing these words.
Why did I only think about eating them? I never thought about letting a few out to breed and improve the breed of pigs in this time and space?
She glanced furtively at the dying sow, clearly indicating that it could no longer reproduce.
She hardened her heart and put a pair of boars and sows on the mule cart.
As luck would have it, Li Lao Er and his men spotted the mule cart in the distance and came out of the wooden house to pick it up.
Before they could even approach, the two pigs, upon suddenly seeing the vast world, excitedly jumped off the mule cart and ran around happily, squealing.
"Hey, where did this fat pig come from? Catch it!"
"Oh no, it got away! It got away! Catch it quickly!"
Grandma Li and Li Laosi initially thought the two animals tied up in the car had run away. But when they realized what had happened, Li Laosi had also rushed off to catch the pig, leaving Grandma Li holding her giggling granddaughter, unsure whether to scold her or not.
What was supposed to be a welcoming party turned into a pig-catching contest.
Everyone was quite surprised to see such a plump, white pig.
Half joking and half serious, laughing and joking for a long time, they finally caught the pig couple, tied them up with ropes, and led them away.
Then they saw two more pigs on the mule cart, and everyone was even happier, asking all at once where they had bought such good pigs.
Li Laosi quickly repeated the excuse they had agreed on, and the villagers still felt sorry for the half-dead sow.
"The fourth brother went too far. Such a good sow should have been kept to have piglets."
Old Mrs. Li laughed and said, "There are still three left, that's enough. This one was probably destined to die anyway. Let's hurry back to the village, drain the blood, and everyone come to my house for a pig-killing feast tonight."
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