They were busy in the kitchen until midnight before their enthusiasm waned and they finally went to rest.
The next morning, breakfast was rice porridge and steamed buns made with two kinds of dough, using the filling I had prepared the night before, so nothing was wasted.
Old Mrs. Li casually asked, "Was it delivered to the backyard?"
"It's been sent, but the rice porridge has been replaced with millet porridge. Uncle Zhao and the others are getting old, so it's good for their stomachs to digest it." Tao Hongying arranged the meal with great care and treated the old men with extra consideration.
"That's good. Hurry up and eat. Get all the work done today, and we'll head to Luo'an Town tomorrow," Grandma Li instructed. Everyone nodded as they ate.
As Li Laosi was munching on a steamed bun, he suddenly remembered something and asked, "Mother, shouldn't we go and deliver something to Young Master Ye?"
The whole family was taken aback, then exclaimed, "Oh dear, we completely forgot about that!"
"Yeah, everything was prepared, how could we just forget about it?"
"It's all because of my older brother's matter. I was so focused on getting him back that it caused such a long delay."
Jiayin blinked her big eyes twice, almost burying her face in her bun.
It's a waste that Young Master Ye treated her so well; she actually forgot all about it and was only concerned with opening the shop and making money.
Most importantly, she also wanted to take a stroll around the pier.
They had just crossed the river when everyone in the village was injured, and the garrison was not friendly. Everyone was in a hurry to leave and didn't have a chance to properly check what was happening at the dock.
"Go, go, Grandma, I need to go deliver noodles to Uncle!"
"You're nothing! You're only a tiny little thing, and you already want to go everywhere!" Tao Hongying tapped her daughter's forehead.
“Your father went there to deliver things, not to play. Besides, Young Master Ye is in the military camp, and it would be difficult for your father to even get in. If he were to carry you, it would definitely cause trouble and gossip for Young Master Ye.”
That's true. Even the old lady didn't budge. She could only coax her granddaughter, "Your father is on his way and he's tired. We won't go with him to eat dust. Let's go to the academy to see your older brother. Besides, you're a little manager now, so you should personally oversee the purchase of shops."
Sure enough, these words pleased Jiayin. She swayed her pigtails and wriggled her chubby body to climb into her grandmother's arms, saying, "Grandma is good, I'll follow Grandma."
Tao Hongying rolled her eyes in exasperation at her daughter, "All you do all day is coax your grandma!"
Jiayin grinned, showing off her small white teeth, looking smug and arrogant.
The dock is a good 70 or 80 miles from home, and it takes at least a day to get there. It's not something you can just go whenever you want.
While eating, the group discussed that they would go to the academy tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, they would have Li Laosi take Jiayi to the dock to deliver the goods.
Around noon, Wang Laoda came to the village again to see the doctor Zhang for acupuncture. Then he went to the Li family to see Old Lady Li, and Old Lady Li invited him to have a simple lunch.
Before leaving, he took out the pair of agate bracelets from his pocket, hesitated, and handed them to Jiayin, afraid of being rejected.
"I saw this when I passed by a jewelry shop. It's not a valuable item, but I just thought it would look good on Fu Niu."
Jiayin looked at her grandmother, and Grandma Li smiled, "Why are you looking at me? This was given to you by your uncle. Your uncle likes Fu Niu'er."
Jiayin immediately accepted them, clutching one bracelet in each hand tightly, her face beaming with joy. "Thank you, Uncle! You're so kind!"
"Oh, I'll buy you something even prettier when I see it later." Master Wang was overjoyed and personally put it on Jiayin.
Her fair and tender arms, like lotus root segments, made the agate even more vibrant and festive.
Jiayin immediately betrayed her, wriggling from her grandmother's arms to her uncle's, showering him with compliments like there was no tomorrow: "Uncle is the most handsome, Uncle is the best! Fu Niu will buy Uncle delicious food and take care of him in his old age!"
Grandma Li couldn't contain herself and burst into laughter.
Master Wang, who had been completely charmed by the little maid, was puzzled by the old lady's behavior and asked, "What's wrong? Is what Fu Niu'er said wrong?"
The old lady then gave her eldest son a proper lesson on the topic of elder care.
Master Wang was both amused and exasperated. He tapped Jiayin's little nose and said, "It's alright, your uncle is also good at business. We'll help you earn money together."
"Uncle is the best, Fu Niu likes Uncle the most."
Jiayin hugged Master Wang's neck and shook him, her sweet and soft body making Master Wang even more reluctant to put her down.
After making a fuss for a while, Master Wang reluctantly left because he still had business to attend to in the city.
Grandma Li held her granddaughter and stood at the door, watching her son walk away before she dared to show a hint of loneliness in her expression.
May God help my eldest son remember the past soon.
She longed for her son to recover and stop having headaches, but as a mother, how could she not want to reunite with her son who had been away from home for many years?
Jiayin couldn't bear to see her grandma sad, so she started fussing, "Grandma, I need to pee!"
"Hey, hold it in, or you'll wet your pants! Your mother will spank you when she gets back!" Sure enough, Old Mrs. Li immediately lost all interest in being sad and ran to the back garden with her granddaughter in her arms.
Jiayin nestled on her grandmother's shoulder, giggling incessantly. The red ribbon from her high ponytail fluttered in the summer breeze, making her look exceptionally joyful!
In the afternoon, Tao Hongying returned early, carrying a lot of seasonings and a large piece of meat.
Jiayin ran up to greet her, beaming, "Mom, let's eat dumplings!"
"You glutton, didn't you just eat last night?" Tao Hongying bent down, picked up her daughter, grabbed the bamboo basket, tied her daughter to her back, and started getting busy.
"Mother is going to make a jar of meat and have your father take it to Young Master Ye."
The old lady came out of the house and asked, "The weather is getting hotter and hotter, will the meat keep well?"
Tao Hongying smiled and said, "Don't worry, Mother. This stuff doesn't spoil easily. Young Master Ye can just use some kidney beans and tofu to stew it up and it will be a delicious dish."
"Oh, speaking of which, I just remembered. Let's get some more salted duck eggs for Young Master Ye to take with him. One with his porridge at breakfast is perfect."
The old lady was about to move the salted egg jar when she said this, but Tao Hongying looked outside and saw that no one was there, so she whispered, "Mom, take a few more salted goose eggs."
The old lady understood and nodded in agreement, "Indeed, this is more novel than duck eggs."
Jiayin lay on her mother's back with a grin, playing with her fingers and pretending to be silly, as if the jar full of goose eggs had nothing to do with her!
Grandma Li nodded at her from a distance and said no more.
The next day, the family hitched up a mule cart and tidied up a few things.
Li Laosan and Jia Huan drove the carriage, with Li Laotai carrying Jia Yin in the back, and they set off together with Zhao Yuru.
Tao Hongying was envious and wanted to go and see, but unfortunately, the valley couldn't do without her, the head chef.
It's already the end of June, the hottest time of the year. Even though the weather has been kind enough to rain every now and then, it's still incredibly hot.
Jiayin wore the little hat that Mrs. Cui had sewn, sat on her grandmother's lap, and looked at the scenery with great joy.
Zhao Yuru smiled and said, "This child is so lively, he just loves to come out and play."
"That's right, as soon as she goes out, it's like a little bird flying out of its cage." Grandma Li turned her big straw hat around to shield her granddaughter from the sun.
"In the future, when our family has more money, we'll get a carriage with a canopy, then we won't have to worry about the sun."
The group chatted and laughed, and arrived in Luoan Town a little over an hour ago. The students were still in class, and the commercial street was relatively quiet.
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