Zhao Yuru reached out and pulled Li Ge'er into her arms, gently patting his back, and said with a smile, "Then you will live with your third uncle and aunt from now on. Your brother Jia Huan will cook delicious food for you every day, and your eldest brother will come to the shop to eat every day, just like we do here in the village."
Li Ge'er was a little shy and thanked her softly, "Thank you, Third Aunt."
Li Laosan also said, "If the academy isn't in a hurry, we can let Li Ge stay at home for a few more days. We'll go back and tidy up the house, and sew two more quilts for the child."
Li Zhensheng waved his hand, "No need for that. We rented a courtyard in Luo'an before, and everything is ready. Let Li Ge'er take you there to get your things, and also refund the rent for that courtyard."
Li Laosan nodded, "Okay, don't worry, elder brother, leave this to me."
Thus, it was decided that Li Ge'er would go back to Luo'an to study with Jia Ren that afternoon.
Everyone was busy preparing food and supplies, wishing they could load the entire courtyard onto the mule cart and take Li Laosan and his men away.
After lunch, the third brother's family, along with Jiaren and Lige'er, got on the bus, and Li Laosi drove it, and they set off.
Zhao Yuru wanted to grab her youngest son and give him a few more instructions, but Jiaxi and Jia'an were afraid that Maoge'er would cry, so they took him to play in the hot spring valley early on.
As the sun set, Cat Brother returned, but his brother was nowhere to be found, and he burst into tears.
It took everyone taking turns to coax him until the boy stopped crying.
That night, after Grandma Li put her grandson to bed, Jiayin ran off to cling to Madam Cui.
It wasn't that she didn't want to sleep with her mother, but her mother was too tired from preparing three meals a day for the whole family. If she slept with her mother, her mother would always be thinking about covering her with a blanket, giving her water, or even getting up at night, and she definitely wouldn't sleep soundly...
Madam Cui had been back for two days, but because there were many people in the Li family, she hadn't come over for a chat. Now that she had seen Jiayin, she was overjoyed.
On the way, Jiayin secretly took out two melons from her spatial storage and carried them in her skirt. These melons became the late-night snack for the aunt and niece.
Madam Cui didn't think much of it, assuming that the melon was a secret gift from the Li family to their precious Jiayin.
Sister-in-law Qiong took half, and the aunt and niece happily shared the rest.
Jiayin complained that her grandmother didn't love her anymore, only her brother. This broke Madam Cui's heart. She coaxed her again and again, and finally opened her jewelry box and gave her a twisted silver bracelet.
Jiayin immediately beamed with joy, and even slept with the bracelet in her arms, completely forgetting about whether her grandmother loved her or not.
Madam Cui and Sister-in-law Qiong were overjoyed, and the little courtyard became much livelier with the addition of a child...
Although the autumn harvest is over, every household in the new village is still very busy.
The dried melon vines, peanut vines, and sweet potato vines in the fields have been thoroughly dried by the sun and the autumn wind.
Choose a day when the autumn wind is less intense, light a fire, and when only ashes remain, turn the soil over again and scatter in the farmyard manure that has been piled up all summer.
Through this process of decomposition over winter and spring, the lost nutrients in the fields will be replenished, and the soil fertility may even be greatly improved.
However, because fruit trees are planted on the mountain, it is not convenient to burn the stubble. The villagers have to carry hoes or shovels and turn the mountain over little by little, and they also have to spread more fertilizer around the tree roots.
Winters in Xindu are much warmer than in the north. In winter, there's no need to burn a stove in the house. Only in the coldest month of December is a charcoal brazier sufficient.
However, for the sake of comfort for the elderly and children, it is best to keep the kang (heated brick bed) lit.
Once the kang (heated brick bed) is warm, the room becomes cozy, and the whole family can gather together, chatting and laughing, doing some light chores, making the winter even more comfortable.
Therefore, during their free time in the morning and evening, the men of every household would go to the mountains to chop firewood, bring it back on a cart, and neatly pile it outside the courtyard wall.
Some diligent families would go to the riverbank to cut reeds and willow branches, preparing them for the quiet winter months to weave into mats or baskets. These were convenient to use, and if they didn't want to use them anymore, they could sell them to exchange for oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.
And this is also the happiest time for the village boys.
They followed the adults, chasing pheasants and rabbits up the mountain and catching fish in the river, having a great time.
Cat Brother has been looking a bit listless lately because his older brother went to school.
Old Li couldn't bear to part with his son, so he always took his little nephew with him, whether going up the mountain or down the river.
Jia'an and Jiaxi, of course, wouldn't be left behind, and they even had to take their younger sister with them.
Even though Grandma was worried, they tied their younger sister to their backs in a basket and insisted on carrying her away.
Jiayin had been holding back for a long time, and finally found her moment to shine.
The rabbits in the space started committing suicide in droves again, sending their eggs to the tree roots and their duck eggs to the reed nests, all pretending to be wild.
Small crucian carp, no bigger than the palm of a hand, and large grass carp weighing five or six pounds, rushed into the net in droves.
Jia An and Jia Xi were laughing so hard they couldn't stop, and even Cat Brother clapped his hands until they were red and laughed so hard his teeth fell out.
The other mischievous boys swallowed their saliva with envy, occasionally getting a bit of the credit by following their brothers.
In the evening, the mischievous boy brought fish, shrimp, eggs, and duck eggs home, and his family inevitably asked where they came from.
Then the mischievous boy would excitedly shout, "It's Fu Niu! We followed Fu Niu everywhere and found so many good things. Fu Niu is such a lucky star!"
Their family members showed no surprise; instead, they laughed and scolded them.
"You think Fu Niu's name is just for show? This girl was born with good fortune!"
"Yes, not to mention how lucky the Li family has been these past two years, just consider the Marquis, such a noble man, how could he have taken a fancy to Fu Niu? This girl is truly blessed!"
The family exchanged a few words before the old man stopped them.
"These things are best kept to ourselves. In the end, whether it's Fu Niu'er, the Li family, or the Marquis, they're all from our village. We all benefit from any good things that happen. But if outsiders find out and spread the word, they might get jealous and cause trouble."
“Dad is right. Outsiders are already envious and jealous of our village. We should just live our lives honestly and not be too ostentatious.”
The family members readily agreed, frying the eggs they had brought back and stewing the fish, and then they had a lively meal.
For seven or eight days in a row, all the children in the village were immersed in the joy of going up the mountain and down the river.
Li Laosi occasionally carried his daughter into the mountains, and every day he would bring back several bags of walnuts, chestnuts, dates, and even bright red fruits and golden pears.
Uncle Zhao and the others helped tan the rabbit skin and sent it back to the Li family so they could make padded jackets for the children in the winter.
Tao Hongying also took some time to smoke the rabbit meat and hung it on the beams of the warehouse.
Pears and other fruits were stored in the cellar, supposedly to be kept as gifts for the New Year.
In reality, these are all just pretexts and excuses.
After all, Jiayin would occasionally produce a fruit, and she was very generous, so the old men and the rest of the family would often get some.
Without doing something to cover it up, it would be really hard to explain where her fruit came from.
Half a month passed in a flurry of activity.
The foundation of the school was almost completed, and the walls had already been built. Li Zhensheng had finally recovered a lot and was able to walk slowly out of the courtyard.
By this time, Cat Brother had also become tanned dark, looking like a mudfish, no different from the other children in the village.
He can eat, drink, and sleep well every day, and his little fists are getting stronger and stronger. He is no longer the weak child he used to be.
The whole family was overjoyed. Li Laosi even took some time to drive a mule cart and take Maoge'er and Jiayin to Luo'an to deliver some mountain products to his third brother's family and to let Lige see his healthy younger brother so he could focus on his studies.
On this day, the old lady was shelling peanuts in the yard. The tarpaulin covered half the yard, and peanuts were everywhere.
This was recovered from the riverbank.
The village chief decided that each family would receive two bags of peanuts to dry, shell, and then send them together to the oil press.
Having nothing else to do, Madam Cui came over to help keep the old lady company and chat.
Jiayin ran around barefoot on the tarpaulin, causing trouble.
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