Seeing that the eunuchs were sitting in the main room, the villagers dared to whisper among themselves.
"Good heavens! Look, that eunuch is dressed even better than the county magistrate!"
"Yes, by the way, do you know what a village head is?"
"Never heard of it. What is a village head?"
At this point, everyone turned their attention to Master Yuan.
Master Yuan was someone even the young master of the Han family traveled a thousand miles to seek his teachings; someone of such profound knowledge would surely know this.
Master Yuan stroked his goatee and replied, "The title of 'Village Head' is only bestowed upon women who are distant relatives of the current Emperor, or whose fathers or brothers have rendered meritorious service in battle."
When the Li family heard Master Daoyuan say this, they were all moved to tears.
If Li Xihua could know this in the afterlife, she would probably be very pleased.
Although this village head was a seventh-rank official with a title, he did not wield any real power.
That is, they only receive a small annual salary, and they don't even have a fiefdom.
However, for a country girl like Gu Lili, this was a blessing from heaven.
The emperor probably just wanted to express his governing philosophy, hoping that in the future there would be more people like Gu Lili who are willing to contribute their efforts to the country and its people. It could be considered a strategy of throwing out a brick to attract jade.
Upon hearing this, everyone exclaimed in surprise. It seemed that they would have to bow to Gu Lili from now on.
After settling Zhang Gonggong and his entourage, Gu Lili hurriedly came out to prepare to cook new dishes for them.
Gu Lili quickly instructed, "Huanhuan, go and take this pot of tea into the main room. Aunt Zhang, Dahua, come and help me cook a few dishes for Grandpa Zhang and Grandma Zhang."
As soon as Gu Lili came out, everyone's eyes were on her.
Whether it was because Gu Lili now held the title of village head or something else, they felt that Gu Lili looked much better than usual today, and that she seemed to have an inexplicable air about her in every gesture.
"We, the common people, greet the village head!" Someone took the lead in kneeling down, and the villagers all knelt down to pay their respects.
Even Gu Huanhuan, Gu Erniu, Gu Sigou, and even members of the Li family knelt down.
Even Master Yuan knelt down. Although he was a master, he was not an official and had no rank.
Gu Lili looked at the villagers in front of her, feeling both amused and exasperated.
"Oh dear, everyone, get up quickly! You're making me feel so bad."
Gu Lili quickly stepped forward to help her maternal grandparents up, and then turned around to help Master Yuan and the village headman up as well.
"Although His Majesty has bestowed upon me the title of Lady of the Village, you do not need to bow to me. I am still Gu Lili from Gu Village. Everyone, please get up and eat!" Gu Lili said helplessly.
At Gu Lili's urging, the villagers all got up.
Everyone continued eating, and Zhang Dahua and Aunt Zhang helped Gu Lili cook.
Zhang Dahua and Aunt Zhang's cooking skills were indeed quite good, which is why Gu Lili didn't call her maternal grandmother and aunt.
“Mother, look at Lili. She was just granted the title of some kind of village head, but she didn’t even ask our own family members to help her. Instead, she asked outsiders to help. How can we save face like this?” Zuo Xiuhong muttered to Old Madam Li.
My mother-in-law is something else. Her daughter is dead, why does she still care about her grandson? Last time, she secretly gave the honey she harvested from Qingshan to Gu Lili and the others.
This time, she even brought a piece of red cloth with her. In a few days, she's even asking her husband to come and help them. What is she after?
People cook for officials, but they don't even want to invite them. If they receive a reward, it naturally has nothing to do with the Li family.
It's a shame they were just busy helping with cooking and washing vegetables.
Pah! He's an ingrate too!
Zuo Xiuhong only remembered that her family had sent things to Gu Lili and the others, and she completely forgot about the medicine, candy, meat and vegetables that Gu Lili had sent them.
Hearing Zuo Xiuhong's sarcastic words, Old Mrs. Li immediately straightened her face.
"Don't you have any idea what kind of food you cooked? If you actually made it and served it to the officials, they'd beat you a few times!" Old Mrs. Li cursed in a low voice.
Their daughter-in-law was quite capable, but what good was being capable if the food she cooked was so bad that even her own family found it hard to swallow? Yet she had the nerve to say she was going to cook for the officials.
Zuo Xiuhong muttered resentfully, "At least they could ask us to help wash the vegetables or something! They're such ungrateful wretches!"
Upon hearing this, Old Mrs. Li was instantly enraged.
"Eat if you want, or go home yourself. Look at what you're saying!"
Upon hearing this, Zuo Xiuhong immediately fell silent, not daring to speak any further, and angrily began to eat her meal with her chopsticks.
But she was still unwilling to accept it, wondering if her niece, who had received two hundred taels of gold, would share some with their family.
When Grandma Li and Zuo Xiuhong were talking, they deliberately lowered their voices, so no one noticed them.
Grandma Li knew what Gu Lili was thinking, so she didn't think much of it.
Gu Lili made a special trip to their original house, and when she came back, she was carrying a chicken and some mushrooms.
To be honest, Gu Lili didn't know what dishes to serve to Eunuch Zhang and his family.
If the food is too good, it will inevitably arouse suspicion; if it is too bad, it will be impolite.
So, Gu Lili added a chicken stew with mushrooms to their menu for today.
The makeshift stove was burning brightly, and the food was cooked in about half an hour.
Gu Lili, Zhang Dahua, and Aunt Zhang then brought the dishes inside.
"Erniu, go and take our family's peach blossom wine inside. Make it and serve it to our distinguished guests," Gu Lili said to Gu Erniu with a smile.
Since I am a woman, I naturally don't need to eat with them.
Let my second brother go; it'll be a good opportunity to toughen him up.
Gu Erniu bit his lip, took a deep breath, nodded to Gu Lili, and went inside to pour the wine.
The villagers in the courtyard have already finished eating.
The cleaning of the dishes outside began, and Zuo Xiuhong reluctantly followed her mother-in-law to clean them up.
She simply couldn't understand why Gu Lili didn't value them, yet they still had to help her with everything.
Because there were many people, the dishes and tables were cleared away quickly.
The villagers then took their belongings and went home; they really didn't want to stay any longer.
Deep down, I was still afraid of Magistrate Yang and Eunuch Zhang, worried that I might accidentally disturb their meal and cause them trouble.
Seeing that they had packed up enough, the Li family prepared to leave.
"Grandpa, Grandma, wait a moment."
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