"It must be my dad coming back, along with my godfather and Uncle Dayong!" Jiayin was overjoyed and ran towards the village entrance as soon as she got out of the house, followed by the little fox that was hopping around.
"Fu Niu'er, come back! Be careful not to get trampled by the horse!"
Grandma Li called out to her granddaughter, but she couldn't get through to her at all.
Sure enough, the closer the horse caravan got, the clearer the view became.
A dozen or so riders, covered in dust from their journey, led by Li Laosi.
As he drew closer, he slowed his horse down, then laughed and bent down to scoop his daughter up and sit her in front of him.
The little fox was quick-witted and nimble, grabbing Jiayin's skirt and climbing onto the horse's back before squatting on its head.
It stared with its two black bean eyes, clearly terrified, its paws refusing to loosen their grip even slightly, yet its fox face was full of excitement.
His cowardly yet playful demeanor made everyone at the Li family's door laugh.
"Mother, I'm back!" Li Laosi called out to his mother, then jumped off his horse, put his daughter down, and knelt down to kowtow.
"Get up, get up!" Old Mrs. Li's heart, which had been hanging in suspense for many days, finally settled down. She tried her best to hold back her tears, touched her son's arms and legs all over, and then said with relief, "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back!"
Tao Hongying turned away to wipe her tears before turning back to scold her husband with red eyes, "You disappear as soon as you go out, you don't even send a message home!"
Li Laosi subconsciously scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly, "Jiangbei is full of barbarians, so it's not convenient to send messages."
The Li family was used to seeing him like this, but the soldiers following behind him were seeing him for the first time.
A killing machine on the battlefield, a natural strongman, and a fearsome figure even barbarians tremble before him, yet he turns out to be a henpecked husband at home – what a stark contrast!
Someone couldn't help but laugh out loud. Li Laosi turned around, looked at him, and said with a laugh, "Wei Daniu, you dare to laugh at me? You just wait! After you get married, let's see if you're afraid of Xiao Cui'er!"
The burly man he called out laughed heartily, "I'm not afraid at all, my little Cui is very gentle."
Old Mrs. Li knew these were brothers who had gone through thick and thin with her son, so she quickly asked, "Fourth brother, where is the Marquis? Where is Dayong?"
"Don't worry, Mother. The Marquis and Dayong are both doing well. The Marquis went to Xindu, and Dayong was worried, so he went with him. He'll be back tomorrow," Li Laosi quickly replied.
"well!"
Old Mrs. Li quickly told Shui Ling to go to the backyard to inform Hui Niang and stop her from worrying.
He then arranged for his son to take the soldiers to the neighboring marquis's courtyard to wash away the dust of the battle, but there weren't enough clean clothes for them to change into at home...
But this wasn't a big problem. The village chief and Liu the镖头 (bodyguard) arrived shortly after and solved the issue with just a few words. Every man in the village went home and brought over a set of clothes!
It must be said that the people of the new village have great respect and affection for Lord Hou and these heroes who fought in battles.
When the women heard why the men wanted clothes, they not only found clean clothes and trousers, but also brought them new undergarments and even new shoes and socks.
They also instructed the men to bring back the soldiers' dirty clothes, shoes, and socks so they could wash them quickly and dry them overnight.
Tao Hongying then called on Granny He, Shuiyun, and Shuiling to urgently prepare a meal.
Wenjuan wanted to help, but was chased away by Old Lady Li.
There was no time to stew meat, so Tao Hongying simply took out all the dried noodles in the house, opened a jar of meat sauce, and chopped cucumber strips, cilantro, and scallions to make fried sauce noodles.
Three large bowls were prepared for each person.
Tao Hongying was still worried that there wouldn't be enough to eat, so she scooped out another half bowl of fine flour, added eggs, chopped green onions, pepper, and salt, stirred it into a batter, and made a large stack of egg pancakes.
The soldiers, freshly washed and cleaned, began to slurp down their noodles.
The egg pancakes were as big as a plate; I grabbed one, rolled it up, and ate it in two bites…
Finally, not only was the bread completely eaten, but there wasn't a drop of meat sauce left, and even the noodle soup was all drunk up!
If it weren't for the fact that all the soldiers were hiccuping and wandering around the yard clutching their stomachs, Tao Hongying would have really suspected that they hadn't cooked enough food...
Jiayin sat on her father's shoulders, listening with a grin as he boasted to his brothers, "How about it? My wife's cooking is delicious, isn't it? Humph, I've told you so many times, but you never believed me. Now you do, right?"
The soldiers were filled with envy and jealousy. Wei Daniu led the jeering and laughed, "I believe it, of course I believe it! It's just a pity that your beautiful sister-in-law is stuck in cow dung!"
"Kid, you're asking for a beating!" Li Laosi chased after Wei Daniu, and the two ran all over the yard.
Afraid of falling, Jiayin grabbed her father's hair and laughed along.
The little fox didn't understand what was happening, but it was good at joining in the fun, jumping and leaping around until it was panting heavily.
The soldiers noticed that the little fox had three tails and guessed that the Marquis had personally hunted it up the mountain, so they teased it for a while.
Grandma Li sat under the eaves, listening to the uproaring laughter from the neighboring courtyard, and she couldn't stop smiling.
When the children were young, life was hard. She wished they could grow up in an instant, help her support the family, and uphold the Li family's honor.
Now that her sons are married and have their own careers, and even her grandchildren are all in school, she feels that the house is empty everywhere.
The huge courtyard was quiet, with only her, her daughter-in-law, and her granddaughter.
Now that my son is back, things are going to be lively for a while.
Soon, the kang (heated brick bed) in the Ye family's side room was warmed up. After settling his brothers to rest, Li Laosi carried his daughter back to his own courtyard.
The "one-pot meal" that Jiayin had prepared earlier was already cooked, and Tao Hongying added a few more dishes on the spot, inviting the village chief and Liu Biaotou to eat together.
To avoid any misunderstanding, Old Lady Li told them personally that the corn and potatoes came from Zhengjiazhuang.
Upon hearing this, the village chief hurriedly waved his hands and said, "Madam, the entire Broken Gold Beach is Fu Niu'er's fiefdom. She can eat whatever she wants, that's only right! No one in the village will say a word against it!"
“That won’t do. We agreed that everyone would invest, work together, and reap the rewards together. We can’t break our promise just because Fu Niu’er became a princess,” Old Madam Li insisted.
She continued, "Besides, the people in Zhengjiazhuang are all hardworking. Whatever our village has, they have too. They often send big and small trucks here to Fu Niu'er. Fu Niu'er's belly is so small, she can't even finish eating it all."
Jiayin also stood up, smiling as she handed the village chief half a corn cob, saying, "Grandpa Village Chief, try this, it's really delicious."
"Good, good!" The village chief carefully took the corn, somewhat excited. "I'm so lucky! Countless people in Tianwu have never tasted this before, and I'm about to eat it..."
Everyone laughed and started dividing up the remaining boiled corn.
At this time of year, the corn kernels haven't fully hardened yet, making them incredibly tender.
These dozen or so berries, grown in Jiayin Space, are of much better quality than ordinary ones. They taste sweet, soft, sticky, and fragrant, surprising and delighting everyone.
"Wow, this corn tastes so good when it's boiled!"
"Yes, I thought it would be like sorghum, where you rub off the grains and grind them into powder."
"You can grind it into powder, but it's really good to eat it tender at this time."
"It's a great product that both the elderly and children can chew on!"
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