Madam Cui nodded, and seeing that everyone in the village was there, she said, "Uncle Village Chief, I caused trouble for the village before because of me. Hu Laosan and his wife were sold to the southern harbor to do hard labor, and the Jiao family's estate next door was also given to me as compensation."
"I plan to sell that estate, but there's a lot of grain and farm tools stored there that I don't need, so I'm bringing them all to the village as an apology to everyone!"
"Madam Jiao, you're too kind. We didn't lose anything; it was just because that ingrate Hu Laosan said a few more words."
The village chief quickly declined, since Hu Laosan's scheme had been exposed before he even began, and they really hadn't been of much help.
But Madam Cui had made up her mind. "Uncle, these grains and things are for everyone, so please accept them. I'll be staying in the village from now on, so please don't apologize. I'll be too ashamed to come back."
Seeing that she was sincere, the village chief thought for a moment and said, "Alright, everyone can accept it. We've brought in a lot of craftsmen recently, and we only provide one meal a day at noon, so the food supply is really not enough."
Everyone saw that the long line of carriages carried tens of thousands of catties of grain, meaning there would be no need to worry about food shortages throughout the spring and summer.
So, everyone, young and old, was overjoyed and thanked them profusely.
"Thank you, Madam Cui. This grain has been a great help."
"Yes, Mrs. Cui, we are family. Please don't say anything that might cause trouble in the future."
"So, Hu Laosan's coming to cause trouble actually did us a great thing. If he hadn't come to cause trouble, we wouldn't have gotten so much grain."
"Haha, that makes sense. If more people come and don't like us, our village will get rich!"
Everyone chattered and joked, creating a lively atmosphere.
Madam Cui patted Jiayin in her arms and spoke to Old Madam Li and her family.
“Auntie, I’m so sorry that Fu Niu, Qiu Sheng, and Hong Ying have all suffered because of this. I know you can’t accept any money or grain. Luckily, there’s a whole set of fine wooden furniture in Jiao Family Village, and I’ve had it all stored away. I’ll have it delivered to our new house as an apology and a congratulatory gift, okay?”
She thought things through carefully, and without spending any money, she still managed to take advantage of the Jiao family.
Sure enough, Grandma Li readily agreed, "Great! This is exactly what I need, Auntie will take it."
Reassured, Madam Cui instructed everyone to unload the cart.
It must be said that the Jiao family lived a good life; the grain stored in their estate was more than that of the estates managed by the Marquis's mansion.
There were over 8,000 jin of coarse grains such as sorghum and millet. There were 1,000 jin of japonica rice, 3,000 jin of rice with husks, and about 600 jin of fine flour. There were also more than a dozen bags of various beans, and countless cabbages and radishes.
The villagers worked like ants, carrying the loads for a full hour before they were finally finished.
Fearing rain, the village chief rallied the villagers to quickly build another large shed, which was temporarily used as a warehouse.
Each family contributed tarpaulins, which were used to cover the shacks tightly, for fear that rain would leak in and ruin the grain.
Before I knew it, it was already mid-afternoon.
But everyone who looked at the shack felt a deep sense of peace.
Food is life, especially for people like them who have no roots. This temporary granary is like the first root they planted, finally giving everyone some confidence.
The village chief waved his pipe, gave the women a few instructions, and then prepared an exceptionally lavish dinner.
The rice and millet were cooked together to make a mixed rice dish, which was then served with braised pork belly, cabbage, and tofu. Everyone happily ate from their earthenware bowls while grinning like idiots.
Jiayin ate the steamed egg custard with rice, but couldn't resist her cravings, so she opened the box of pastries that Madam Cui had brought and took out a walnut shortbread.
Afraid of her grandmother's nagging, she nestled close to Madam Cui, nibbling away like a little mouse, even knowing to catch the crumbs with her tiny hands.
When Grandma Li saw this, she affectionately tapped her granddaughter's forehead from a distance.
Madam Cui smiled and hugged Jiayin in her arms, placing a handkerchief on her lap and telling her to eat whatever she wanted.
After the village chief, Uncle Zhao, and Chief镖头 Liu finished their meal, they came over to the Li family's house and chatted around the fire.
They also knew about the Guo family's tragic situation, so Madam Cui mentioned that the Guo family might buy the neighboring estate.
Finally, she sighed and said, "At that time, I'm afraid I'll have to talk to Headmaster Guo about what happened back then. After all, neither Senior Brother Wen nor I saw it with our own eyes, so I might have to trouble Brother Qiusheng and Head镖刘 to make a trip and act as witnesses."
Li Laosi and Liu Biaotou quickly replied, "It's only right. We helped bury the Guo family. We should tell them where they are buried, and we should also take back those books when we have the chance."
The village chief and Uncle Zhao, being of advanced age, felt deep sympathy for the equally elderly Guo Shanzhang, who had lost his children and grandchildren in an instant.
"We must persuade the Guo family to take it easy. That's just how the world is. We should always think more about the living."
"Yes," Old Lady Li nodded, instructing the fourth son and Chief Escort Liu, "Be tactful when the time comes, don't say too many details, it will make the old lady even more heartbroken. If all you know is that she was murdered and her remains were properly buried, it will be better."
The village chief and Uncle Zhao were also thinking about this, so they said, "Sister is right. We'll see how things go with Fourth Brother and Chief Escort Liu."
Li Laosi and Liu Biaotou quickly agreed and told Madam Cui that they would come over in advance to deliver a message.
With that settled, everyone put the matter out of their minds for the time being.
Construction inside and outside the valley is currently at its busiest.
In the village, the foundations for each family's house have been laid halfway, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, they will be ready to move in in another month.
Originally, I wanted to build an independent courtyard for each family. At most, if there were few people in the family, I would build three main rooms, and if there were many people, I would add a side room.
However, the more than one thousand taels that had been raised earlier were now becoming a bit insufficient.
After discussing it, the villagers decided to build four rows of interconnected houses, with each family sharing the east and west wing roofs. Families also planning to build side rooms would have their east and west wing rooms back-to-back, saving on the cost of a separate wall.
The advantage of this is that costs are greatly reduced, but the disadvantage is that the companies are too closely integrated.
But in these extraordinary times, it's already good enough to be able to settle down and put down roots; it's not good to strive for perfection in everything.
However, there are exceptions. The houses of Young Master Ye and Madam Cui, together with the Li family's house, form a self-contained unit and are located at the entrance of the village.
The main building is the Li family courtyard, which has three main rooms, plus east and west wing rooms, making it very spacious and elegant.
The courtyards of the Cui and Ye families were slightly smaller, but they also had a main house and east and west wing rooms.
From a distance, the three courtyards look like swallow wings, vaguely guarding the village entrance and protecting the other families in the village.
As for Madam Cui and Young Master Ye's courtyards, one family took the money themselves, while the other became the protector of the entire village.
But the Li family felt they had taken advantage of the village, and the old lady always wanted to compensate them.
However, most of the money the family had saved up had been used for building the valley, leaving very little. They also needed to keep some in case of emergency, and they planned to send Jiaren to continue his studies. In short, they really didn't have much money left.
So, after a long time, Fu Niu, this precious granddaughter, performed the bed magic trick with her grandmother again, producing ten five-tael silver ingots.
This was something she had previously obtained from Young Master Ye, in exchange for a pill and a silver ingot. She had kept it hidden for a long time, and now it was finally coming in handy.
Grandma Li held her granddaughter, unaware of where the money came from. She was increasingly worried that her granddaughter was too young to know her own strength and might bring misfortune upon herself.
But when she asked her granddaughter to take it back, the granddaughter refused; she really hadn't slept much all night.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com