Mrs. Xu was suddenly stunned. "It was all stolen by thieves last night!"
"I don't care, I want to see those dowries in five days."
With the end of the world fast approaching, Li Ruo was too lazy to engage in any pretense with them. She waved her hand, leaving behind a graceful silhouette, and said, "I'm leaving."
The others behind were dumbfounded.
Both Xu and Song felt a lump in their throats, unable to let it out.
Grandma Li gave her granddaughter a thumbs up, "That's how it should be."
It's true what they say, fortune and misfortune are intertwined. After her granddaughter fell into a coma, she became quite shrewd. Yes, she's very much to her mother's delight.
At this moment, in the General's Mansion.
"Lianlizhi, what do you think of my words?" A man asked, fanning himself with a folding fan as he looked at the woman before him.
“You refused to abort the child before, but now I’m willing to compromise. You can give birth to the child, but the child can only stay in the Li family.”
The woman touched her high, protruding belly; she was close to giving birth. She looked delicate, but there was a hint of stubbornness in her eyes.
"I don't want to." Her voice was soft, yet firm.
"Unwilling?" the man scoffed. "The Li family is in such decline now, and Li Ruo is unconscious as if she were dead. The prefect has already remarried. What hope do you have left? Besides, you have an elderly person and a child to support. Are you willing to spend the rest of your life in misery and destitution?"
The woman clutched her handkerchief. "How could I be without support? My child is my only support, Young Master Liu."
She looked at him very seriously, "I said I would never abandon my child, nor would I remarry. I will watch him grow up, even if I am all alone."
Young Master Liu was so angry that he couldn't speak for a while. "You don't know what's good for you, you're so stubborn and ignorant. If it weren't for your husband and our past acquaintance, and my pity for you, would I have come looking for you? There are plenty of women better than you on the street."
"Then go find them," the woman said through gritted teeth. "Please don't come back again."
Young Master Liu was about to say something when he suddenly heard a "clap clap clap" of applause. He turned around to look.
It was like seeing a ghost.
"You—how did you get better!"
The woman he described, who looked as if she were dead, was walking towards him.
The pregnant woman also stood up and stared blankly at Li Ruo.
Li Ruo lowered her hand and smiled, "Sister-in-law, well said."
This is Lian Lizhi, the widow of her eldest brother. She is extremely pretty and delicate. At first glance, she looks fragile, but her heart is as firm as a rock.
Tears streamed down Lianlizhi's face. "Aruo! You're awake! That's wonderful!" Her husband would be comforted if he knew this in the afterlife.
Li Ruo couldn't bear to see a woman cry, so he looked at Young Master Liu, his brother's "good brother".
For some reason, following her gaze, Young Master Liu felt a chill in his crotch and instinctively covered himself. "You, what do you want to do?"
Li Ruo rubbed her wrists. "I didn't do anything. I just slept for too long and wanted to stretch my muscles and bones. I also wanted to thank Young Master Liu for taking care of my sister-in-law during this time."
But she didn't look grateful at all, so Young Master Liu took off running.
Before I could run two steps, "Ah!"
Young Master Liu drew a graceful parabola in the air, finally landing perfectly face-first in the air.
Everyone: ...
"Sister?"
Just as Li Ruo had pulled back her aching foot, she suddenly saw a bluish shadow rushing towards her and throwing herself at her. "Sister, it really is you! You're all better now!"
This must be the original owner's eight-year-old brother. He's already as tall as her chest, but he clings to her like a clingy puppy, saying, "Big sister, I missed you so much! Did you miss me?"
"Well……"
Everyone felt that Li Ruo seemed to have changed after waking up.
But they've become more likable than before, so people don't want to delve into it further. The main issue is that they're almost out of food at home.
To be honest, even though the general's mansion had fallen on hard times, it shouldn't have become this poor. The problem was that the Li family father and son were honest and generous. In addition to their salaries and household expenses, they often subsidized the families of soldiers who died in battle. Although the family had some ancestral land, the grandmother sold it all in order to buy ginseng (very expensive if it was old) to keep Li Ruo alive while he was in a coma.
The second wife already had objections, and now she couldn't stand it anymore, so she started to demand a division of the family property. As a result, Old Lady Li simply dismissed the servants, and Lian Lizhi did all the housework, and surprisingly, Lian Lizhi didn't complain.
Before Li Qing went to war, she promised him that she would take good care of his younger sister, grandmother, and younger brother—yes, that's the correct order.
"Your father was loyal, brave, and upright throughout his life, and he cared for his soldiers. But in the end, some people said that he died in battle because he was ambitious and made a mistake in judgment. Those colleagues and the families of the soldiers he helped, let alone help our family, he didn't even build a cenotaph for them." Old Mrs. Li sighed.
"The tea grows cold when the person leaves."
Li Ruo felt a tightness in her chest after hearing this.
At lunchtime, she generously pulled out two silver ingots and a five-hundred-tael silver note and gave them to Lian Lizhi, saying, "Take these first."
"So many! Where did you get them all?" everyone asked in unison.
"What do you think?" One lie requires countless more to cover it up, and Li Ruo was too lazy to lie.
Lian Lizhi was deeply moved, her eyes brimming with tears, "It's your dowry money."
Seeing that Li Ruo did not deny it, she felt that she had guessed correctly. "It is because my sister-in-law is incompetent that you used your dowry to subsidize your family. I hope your brother will not blame me if he knows this in the afterlife."
Li Ruo: ...
"Well, these banknotes can't be spent openly. Spend them if you can, otherwise keep them for a few days."
But it will have to be spent sooner or later.
She thought for a moment and then said, “There is something very important that I have to tell you. Before I woke up, my father appeared to me in a dream and said that there would be a great flood here in twenty days. The water would rise to the middle of the mountain and many people would drown. My father said that we must believe it. So, in order to prepare for the future, I want to transport some supplies to General Mountain and build a house there.”
Everyone's eyes were filled with surprise.
"Big sister, is it true? A huge flood? That's so scary!" The little brother shrugged; he couldn't swim.
Lian Lizhi asked timidly, "You only dreamed about your father, but not your eldest brother?"
Old Mrs. Li, her back hunched, looked deep in thought. "The things that happen in dreams are mostly true."
“It’s better to be prepared. It would be best if the great flood didn’t come. If it didn’t, the house we built can serve as a cenotaph for our father and brothers,” Li Ruo said.
Everyone: This works?
They seemed to be able to imagine the shape of that house.
Lian Lizhi only heard the last three words, "cenotaph," and said, "I have a cousin who specializes in building those houses. They're very sturdy, and he can even help with feng shui." Her watery eyes sparkled.
Li Ruo: The service was quite attentive.
"Is it reliable? We can't tell anyone about our house construction."
"Reliable." Building a house for the dead involves the fortune of their ancestors for generations, so of course you can't just say that carelessly.
Li Ruo stood up. "Alright, have him come over tomorrow."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
