Old Master Tai quickly stopped her and said, "Don't worry, wait a day. How can we villagers come back right after the corvée laborers come back? It will easily make people think too much. Let's wait until tomorrow afternoon and let them go around a little bit, just to make it look like they are coming."
The woman was somewhat reluctant, but when she thought that it was only one day away, she decided not to worry about it.
"Okay, Uncle Six, I'll go home then."
"Go ahead. I'll call a few guys up the mountain to report the news. You tell everyone not to worry about it." Old Man Tai immediately called Tai Yonglu and others and drove them up the mountain.
The boys seemed to have endless energy and didn't feel tired at all. When they heard the news, they jumped three feet high and headed up the mountain.
Liu Dongniang chased after him, shouting, "Carry the basket and bring back any mushrooms you find. It's going to freeze over soon, and I'm afraid we won't have a chance anymore."
The boys grabbed the basket and ran away without a trace.
Master Tai sighed, wishing he could pray to Buddha with joy, "Finally, it's time to wait until this moment. This disaster is finally over."
Old Master Tai was worried and said, "I wonder how the people from the villages who went to work are doing. Have they all returned safely?"
Master Tai San comforted him, "Everyone's life is pretty good, and it hasn't been a severe cold season, so your hands and feet shouldn't be frozen."
Perhaps they knew they were worried about them, so after lunch, Village Chief Liu, Village Chief Zhang, and Village Chief Dong from Sanchahe all gathered together.
Not long after returning home, Mr. Tai San came back in a hurry. As soon as he entered the house, he asked, "How is it? Did everyone return safely from work?"
Village Chief Zhang immediately responded, "Don't worry, brother, everything is fine!"
"Yes, we've met a noble person this time!" Village Chief Liu also took over the conversation with a smile, "The villagers said that before, they lived in broken huts and drank plain porridge. Many people fell ill and their condition looked very serious.
"Then things suddenly got better. We ate well, slept well, and had a big pot of medicinal soup to drink every day. So everyone came back healthy. No one died on the construction site. No one had their ears, toes, or fingers frozen off!"
"That's good, that's good!" Master Tai nodded repeatedly and replied, "It's really God's blessing. In the past, whenever someone returned from labor service, every village would hang a spirit banner!"
Village Chief Dong of Sancha River was also terrified. "My son told me he had a fever for three days. If he hadn't drunk the huge pot of medicine, he would have died outside. I asked carefully, and they said that the Sixth Prince, who was guarding the imperial mausoleum, brought the imperial censor to deal with all those damn corrupt officials.
"My wife cried so hard that she gave this Sixth Prince a place in the immortality rank! My little boy will kowtow to her every day from now on!"
Everyone sighed and felt relieved after hearing this.
However, Mr. Tai looked a little strange, with some happiness mixed with pride, but more of it was peace of mind.
Originally, Yang Lihua's recognition of this prince nephew was not without risks. After all, the gap between the Tai family and these powerful people was too big.
It's okay if they are happy, but if they offend us one day, they might destroy the Tai family with just a wave of their hand.
Now it seems that this prince's nephew at least has good character and is kind to the people.
After chatting for a while, Village Chief Liu tentatively mentioned, "Uncle Tai, now that the villagers have returned, everyone is happy. I'm thinking of buying some meat and eating some good food to nourish my family. I wonder how much the corn seeds cost..."
The old man suddenly realized and quickly responded, "The people from our village who sent corn seeds to the border haven't returned yet, but that's not a big deal. I'll call the eldest brother's wife and ask her to advance your money first."
After all, when we are so happy, we can’t let everyone enjoy the wine and the meat!”
"Oh, thank you so much, uncle!" Village chief Liu quickly expressed his gratitude, smiling happily.
Village chief Zhang and village chief Dong also rubbed their hands happily.
The old man didn't want to take credit for it, so he replied, "I should be the one to thank you. You didn't give so many corn seeds to outsiders. As soon as I asked you to, you gave almost all of them to the border guards. You are really generous.
From now on, our fellow countrymen in the north will live and work in peace and contentment, and this is definitely due to your contribution!"
"Oh, uncle, you're too polite! We live here too. Supporting the border defense forces is supporting our own better lives!"
"Yeah, forget about others, we should always help our own people!"
"The imperial court is too bullying. We have no other skills, and we finally managed to help. Whenever we tell others about it, we feel proud!"
Village chief Liu and his two companions were excited and proud when they heard this, and they all expressed their loyalty.
At this time, Yang Lihua took the cash box, and Chunhong followed behind her with the account book.
In fact, keeping accounts and making payments was Yongyue’s job, but he had already run to the mountains.
Instead, Zhuzhu came in with snacks in her hands, following her mother in the back. She sat obediently next to her grandfather, blinking her big eyes as she watched her mother calculate the bill and pay, fearing that she had paid incorrectly and the family would suffer losses.
The old man looked at her curiously, and reached out to stroke his granddaughter's pigtails. The soft hair felt like a spring breeze blowing through his palm, soft and warm...
The fat girl looked up at Grandpa, her eyes smiling like crescent moons, and then she put half a piece of dessert to Grandpa's mouth...
After seeing off the three happy village chiefs, the boys who went up the mountain also came back, each with big and small bags!
"Mom, my dad said he will be back tomorrow and there are too many things to take with him, so he asked us to bring some back in advance." Tai Yonglu was thirsty and gulped down a bucket of cold water. Then he pointed to the basket on the ground, which was filled with various dried mushrooms, the most of which were wood ear mushrooms!
Liu Dongniang was very happy and quickly ordered the boys to take the things to the kitchen.
It was a rare occasion for Grandpa Tai to praise his sons, saying, "Their time in the mountains wasn't wasted!"
After that, he carried his granddaughter out for a stroll, followed by the White Horse and Black Horse couple, who were unwilling to be lonely, and the yawning Sesame Ball...
On the afternoon of the second day, the men and women of Taijia Village returned with great fanfare.
During this period of time in the mountains, although the food was good and the accommodation was OK, without a wife to take care of them, these men, young and old, looked a little miserable.
In the eyes of others, even though they did not perform labor service, they still suffered a lot.
As a result, everyone felt more balanced!
The dinner tables of every family in Taijia Village were particularly sumptuous that night. Although they knew that the young and old men were building wooden houses on the mountain and they would occasionally come back to stay at night, it was not as peaceful as staying at home every day.
Now that we are finally reunited, we must have a good meal to celebrate.
But after eating and drinking, the men would lie down on the kang with their legs crossed, and the women would start to look at us with disdain...
Uncle Tai Sanye had just finished his meal. Hehua was lazily picking up the dishes and calling her son to help. She thought that her sister-in-law took over the dishes because she disliked her clumsy work.
Unfortunately, the eldest sister-in-law pretended not to hear, without even raising her eyelids, and whispered to the old lady that she wanted to make a new jacket and trousers for Yongfeng, and that Tai Jisheng's jacket and trousers should also be refurbished and some new cotton should be stored.
As a result, at this moment, there was a knock on the gate!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com