Seeing that things were almost done, Meng Zhao went to find the village head.
"Village head, if there's nothing else, I'll head back to the county."
Seeing that she was about to leave, the village head hurriedly said, "You've been busy all afternoon without sitting down to rest. Why don't you come to my house for dinner tonight? I'll have Yumei cook some good dishes."
Meng Zhao shook her head. "No need. I haven't been at the shop all afternoon. I need to go back and check on things."
The village head nodded in agreement. "That's true. Be careful on your journey. Once we're done with this busy period, invite Gu Yun and Xu Ping over, and we'll have a meal together."
Meng Zhao smiled and agreed, then drove the donkey cart back to the county. As he passed the village entrance, he happened to see Granny Fang returning dejectedly. Meng Zhao thought to himself that it was about time to resolve Li Yunxiang's matter.
Granny Fang was still angry. She was overjoyed when she heard that the land rent could be reduced and that there would be free farm tools. She thought she would team up with others and claim a piece of land. However, after searching around, even the widow Li with a daughter at the east end of the village had someone to accompany her, but no one wanted to take her.
"Grandma Fang, with Yunxiang falling ill, who in your family can do the work?"
"Your eldest son only knows how to drink all day long. He probably can't even pull weeds out of the field. What use would your family be if we asked you to join the team?"
After being rejected by everyone, Granny Fang was furious. She kept muttering and cursing all the way home. When she saw Li Erya bringing out a bowl of steamed eggs from the kitchen, she was even angrier.
"That jinx, he can't do any work all day, but he always picks the best food. He's a real troublemaker."
Li Erya ignored Granny Fang's scolding and went into the house with her bowl as usual. Hearing the commotion outside, Li Yunxiang threw off the covers and sat up.
Upon seeing Li Yunxiang get up, Li Erya panicked, quickly put down the bowl, and pressed Li Yunxiang back down.
"Mother, the doctor said you're still weak and shouldn't get out of bed. Lie down and rest."
Li Yunxiang lay back down, but she really couldn't hold it in any longer. In the first few days after falling into the water, she did feel unwell all over, but after lying down for quite some time now, and with Li Erya taking such good care of her every day, feeding her all sorts of delicious food, she had actually recovered quite a bit.
Er Ya's knife only worked for a few days. As time went on, Granny Fang's attitude became increasingly arrogant, and she felt it was about time to act.
Watching Li Erya feed her steamed eggs, she tentatively began to speak.
"Er Ya, your mother wants to divorce your father. What... what do you think?"
Upon hearing this, Li Erya was struck dumb, her breath caught in her throat, and if Li Yunxiang hadn't reached out to steady her, the bowl in her hand would probably have fallen to the ground.
Li Erya fought back her tears and said in a choked voice, "Okay, I support you, Mother. I'll be happy if you can leave."
Li Yunxiang continued softly, "Then would you be willing to leave with your mother?"
A hint of despair flashed in Li Erya's eyes, and she gently shook her head. "Grandma won't let me leave. I can work. If I leave, there will be even less work to do at home."
Actually, there were some things she didn't say. Before, she overheard her second uncle and aunt talking, saying that when Daya and Erya grew up a little older, they would sell them to raise money to support Tianbao's schooling. She didn't dare tell Li Yunxiang these things, because she was afraid that her mother would give up the idea of leaving because she was worried about her.
But Li Yunxiang understood her daughter's thoughts perfectly well. She knew that Er Ya was thinking of her, so she said softly, "You don't need to think about anything else. I just want to ask you, if we leave with me, we might not have enough to eat or wear. If that's the case, would you still want to come with me?"
Li Erya could no longer hold back and suddenly threw herself into Li Yunxiang's arms, hugging her tightly. "I'm willing, Mother. I can earn money too. We won't go hungry."
Li Yunxiang couldn't help but shed tears. She hugged Li Erya tightly and said repeatedly, "Okay, okay, I'm glad you're willing."
She can't go out right now, so it would be best to have Er Ya pass the message on to Meng Zhao.
***
Meng Zhao drove the donkey cart all the way to the city gate before stopping and switching to walking. Her driving skills were still not very good, and the city was noisy and crowded. She didn't want the donkey to get startled and bump into someone.
When they arrived at Mengji Braised Pork Shop, they found a sturdy pillar to tie the donkey to before entering the shop.
"Mother, how's business today?"
"Business is booming, we've almost sold out." As she spoke, she poured some water for Meng Zhao to wash his hands.
Meng Zhao glanced over and, sure enough, there wasn't much braised meat left. He immediately said:
"Then Mother, you should go back too. Go and help Aunt and the others prepare tomorrow's dishes. I'll take the rest to my parents for dinner."
Meng Zhao picked out a few of her parents' favorite dishes from the remaining braised meat, wrapped them up, and seeing that there was still some left, said:
"Mother, divide the rest of this into two portions, and let Xiaoyun and Aunt Feng'e each take some back. They've worked hard these past few days."
Madam Gu nodded. "Alright, business is so good every day that we're almost starving."
Normally, they worry about not having enough to sell, so they wait until there are leftovers before eating. But Meng Zhao's shop is always in short supply, and everyone is thinking about making more money, so they are reluctant to eat.
Because Gu Shi still had to move things, Meng Zhao left the donkey cart with Gu Shi and took the braised meat to Meng's Meat Shop.
Most people usually buy meat in the morning or at noon, and fewer people buy it in the afternoon. When Meng Zhao arrived, Meng's Meat Shop had already put up a sign that it was closed.
She walked around and entered through the back door, where she saw Xu Yunrong busy with something in the yard. Meng Zhao tiptoed up behind Xu Yunrong and suddenly asked, "Mother, what are you doing?"
Xu Yunrong was genuinely startled, clutching her chest and scolding, "You silly child, you didn't even call out before you arrived, you scared me half to death."
Meng Zhao then realized what Xu Yunrong was doing.
"Mother, are you making a quilt?"
“Yes, it’s getting colder and colder. I heard that this year is colder than usual. I’m thinking I should add another layer of cotton to the quilt.” Xu Yunrong said, fiddling with the cotton in her hands.
Looking at the soft cotton, Meng Zhao couldn't resist reaching out and pressing it. "Wow! It feels so good."
Xu Yunrong stopped him after he had only pressed it a couple of times, saying, "Be careful, don't let the broth spill onto the cotton."
Meng Zhao chuckled, then remembered that he was still holding braised meat in his hand. He got up and went to the kitchen first, found two clean plates in the cupboard, separated the braised meat, washed his hands, and then went out.
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