"Yes, yes, my son even wrote my name yesterday and was teaching me to recognize it. When I couldn't write it well, he actually put his hands behind his back and said I was stupid!"
"If this continues, I'll have help when I go to sell eggs during the Chinese New Year, and I won't have to worry about being cheated."
Li Lao Er blushed at the praise, coughed twice, gave a few perfunctory replies, and quickly hid inside, which made everyone laugh again.
Wu Cuihua, on the other hand, was banging the earthenware pot in the kitchen. In her eyes, sending her child to school without giving money or pork as a fee was taking advantage of the Li family.
The women outside didn't care when they heard this. The village was small and there were few people, so everyone knew exactly what each family was like.
The Li family is good in every way, except for their second daughter-in-law, who's a troublemaker and a real jerk...
The days passed by at a leisurely pace, and soon someone came to invite Tao Hongying to cook.
The employer this time was a moderately wealthy family in the county town. They wanted to celebrate the 66th birthday of the mother and invite relatives and friends to a banquet.
In an era where the average lifespan exceeds fifty years, it would be a great joy if any elderly person in the family could live to that age!
As usual, Old Lady Li inquired about it before agreeing.
So, after settling Jiayin in and packing her things, Tao Hongying called on Li Laosan's family to hurry to the county town.
Another night and most of the day were spent on the birthday banquet, which was successfully completed. The host was very satisfied and paid the workers, as well as a bag of pastries, a roast chicken, and a bag of fried cakes.
These are all things that can be kept, but Tao Hongying is thinking about Jiaren from the academy.
The old lady has been talking about it a lot lately, wondering how Jiaren is doing at the academy and whether he's eating well.
If these things are sent over, Jiaren can simply heat them up and eat them, at least improving his meals.
Sure enough, as soon as she brought it up, Zhao Yuru and the others nodded happily.
“Yes! That’s what we thought too. It’s convenient to go to the academy since we’re working in the county town this time. Jiaren studies hard and is used to being frugal, so I’m sure he doesn’t eat well.”
"Great! Let's go see our eldest brother!" Jia Huan clapped his hands excitedly.
Although Jiaren returned home a few days ago, the two brothers didn't have much time to get close before the older brother went back to the academy, which he still regrets.
They hit it off immediately, and the four of them excitedly turned around and headed towards the academy.
But just as they rounded the street corner, they heard a quarrel coming from the alley.
"Uncle, I really don't have any money! The academy charges for food and supplies every month, and I only have a few coins for pocket money, which is not enough for five taels!"
"Hmph, if you're unfilial, just say so. Why are you lying? Everyone knows your family has money, and your grandmother is so good to you. How could she not give you money!"
Tao Hongying recognized the voice and quickened her pace.
Sure enough, not far away at the back gate of the academy, Wu Ergou was grabbing Jiaren by the collar and making a scene, with Liu Laifu standing next to him, looking gloating.
Before Tao Hongying could speak, Li Laosan and Jia Huan ran over, grabbed Wu Ergou'er, and started cursing.
"Wu Ergou, are you crazy? Why are you pulling on our child?"
Wu Ergou wasn't afraid of bullying his nephew, but he felt a little guilty when the Li family suddenly appeared.
He took two steps back and started yelling and putting on airs.
"Who bullied him? I'm his uncle, can't I come to the academy to see him?"
When Jiaren'er saw her family arrive, her eyes welled up with tears.
Thinking of how many classmates were watching the spectacle from behind the door, she felt even more aggrieved.
He didn't care about saving face for his uncle and said...
"Third Uncle, my uncle is asking me for five taels of silver. I don't have it, so he's going to beat me up!"
Li Laosan raised his fist and punched Wu Ergou.
"Who do you think you are, coming here to ask our child for money! Is it what's owed to you, or what? Don't tell me we don't have any; even if we did, we'd feed it to the dogs!"
Wu Ergou was as thin as a monkey, no match for Li Laosan. He was beaten up after only a couple of moves.
Tao Hongying and Zhao Yuru pretended to mediate the fight, but their men also pinched Wu Ergou quite a bit.
Wu Ergou was in so much pain that he jumped around wildly. When he found an opportunity, he took off running.
Liu Laifu had long since disappeared...
Li Laosan spat fiercely and cursed Wu Ergou'er.
"If you dare cause trouble at the academy again, I'll break your legs!"
It's unclear whether Wu Ergou heard it or not, but the Li family members felt extremely satisfied.
Tao Hongying patted Jiaren on the back, coaxing him like her own son.
“Jiaren, your uncle is just like that, he’s not very serious. Don’t worry about him, his family will take care of it. Just focus on your studies and don’t take it to heart.”
Li Laosan is usually a man of few words, always wearing a kind and honest smile, but this time he was unusually talkative.
“Yes, Jiaren, with your third uncle here, I guarantee he'll beat him up every time he comes. Even if your third uncle can't beat him, when your fourth uncle comes back, he'll take care of him with one hand.”
Everyone laughed, and Jia Huan quickly stuffed the food he had brought to Jia Ren.
"Brother, here are some snacks, fried cakes, and roast chicken. Heat them up and share them with your classmates. They were all given to us by our employer. Aunt Si is a good cook, and we've earned another two taels of silver. It's not difficult for the family to support your studies, so don't worry."
Jiaren tried his best to hold back his tears, and he wanted to refuse, but after thinking about it, he accepted it.
"It was a mess today, so we really needed these, but don't send them to me next time. Take them home for your grandma and brothers."
"Good child, don't worry about these things, go back to your studies. Let's hurry out of the city and go home, we can just buy a bag of sesame candy for Jia'an and Jiaxi on the way."
Li Laosan pushed Jiaren into the door, and only after seeing him leave did the group hurriedly leave the city.
By the time we returned to Qingshui Village, it was already getting dark.
Sure enough, Old Lady Li had wrapped Jiayin in a thick coat and was looking around at the gate of the courtyard.
Seeing everyone return, both the old man and the child smiled.
Tao Hongying wanted to take her daughter in, but was afraid of getting cold, so she could only hug her mother-in-law and walk inside.
Hearing the commotion, Jia'an and Jiaxi threw down their slingshots and ran out of the house, only to be disappointed to see that everyone was empty-handed.
"The hosts this time were really stingy; they didn't bring any good food."
Tao Hongying stuffed the sesame candy into her mouth, and seeing Wu Cuihua peeking out from behind, she was annoyed and deliberately said something.
"I originally took roast chicken, snacks, and fried cakes, but something happened on the way, so I gave them all away."
Sure enough, before the family could even settle down and celebrate, Wu Cuihua started pouting and saying something.
“Hongying, it’s not that I’m criticizing you as your sister-in-law, but our family isn’t well-off. Even though you’re making money, you can’t be so extravagant. You give away so many nice things just like that?”
"If you don't care about others, can't you at least care about our mother? She's been taking care of Fu Niu'er for you day and night!"
Old Mrs. Li frowned, displeased that Wu Cuihua was using her as an excuse. Just as she was about to speak, Tao Hongying secretly tugged at her sleeve.
"Second sister-in-law, I didn't want to say this originally, but since you're so unhappy, I'll tell you why I sent the things out." Tao Hongying snorted coldly.
"It's all because of your good brother, Wu Ergou! I don't know which idiot told him that our family is rich, that our mother gave Jiaren a lot of silver. So he went to the academy to ask Jiaren for more silver, and he asked for five taels right off the bat."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com