Under Laifu's direction, the servants placed the boxes one by one into the new house.
The old houses need to be vacated so they can live there.
Youchu was reluctant to part with her things and wanted to take everything with her.
Li Chang'an didn't let her do anything; instead, he asked the villagers to help clean up and promised to treat them to dinner that evening.
Actually, there wasn't much stuff, just a few broken jars and a few blankets.
The grain and cloth bought in the city have long been placed in the new house.
You Chu always felt unsafe leaving the firewood in the yard, fearing that someone might steal it, so she secretly took some and put it inside the house behind Li Chang'an's back.
Once he caught her, she looked like she had done something wrong, lowering her head and fidgeting with her fingers, not daring to say a word.
Seeing her like this, Li Chang'an couldn't bear to scold her, knowing that she hadn't reacted immediately and that the family already had enough firewood.
He felt helpless watching her hoard things like a little hamster.
She's so cute, I can only spoil her!
So he directed the remaining villagers to quickly set up two sheds while it was still noon.
One shed was for firewood and chicks, and another shed was for two cows.
When the chicken coop, covered by a black cloth, was taken out, the fluffy chicks inside caught Youchu's attention.
She cautiously looked at the chicks wandering around the shed, a hint of girlish excitement on her face.
Dongdong and Su Xiao preferred the two yellow cows, one big and one small, so they fed them hay outside the cowshed.
The village children mostly wandered between the two sheds.
He would pet the big yellow ox for a while, and then tease the chicks.
They were having a great time.
Little Ya was also in Li Chang'an's arms, craning her neck to watch the excitement, making "oh oh oh" noises.
She wanted her brother-in-law to come closer so she could see him too.
Li Chang'an walked over and saw that Lin Youchu had found two wooden bowls from somewhere. One bowl was filled with water, and the other was filled with some wheat bran, which she was using to feed the chickens.
He looked at the bowl containing wheat bran, which contained only a little bit of wheat bran. Then, a flash of golden light appeared in his hand, and several kilograms of rice slipped from his hand and fell next to the wooden bowl.
The chicks swarmed over and started eating the rice on the ground, their chirping making the little girl giggle.
Lin Youchu felt a pang of heartache when she saw Li Chang'an feeding the chickens with rice; she was reluctant to part with the food.
Li Chang'an caught a chick and handed it to Xiao Ya to play with.
Unexpectedly, the little girl grabbed the chick, grinned foolishly, and suddenly stuffed it into her mouth.
Startled, Youchu quickly stopped the chick and rescued it.
She held the little girl in her arms and gave her husband a resentful look. The little girl was naive, and her husband was quite bold.
Li Chang'an looked at the little girl's scrunched-up face and her mouth full of chicken feathers, and couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Kids are so cute.
Of course, the cutest one is the shy, blushing young girl.
Dinner was still cooked by Third Aunt and the others, but this time they used a large iron pot.
In addition, there are some stir-fried dishes.
Li Chang'an bought some cured meat from the grain store, and also received some food and pastries from the Prince's Mansion.
That means we have fish, meat, chicken, and duck.
The dishes were plentiful, enough to fill two large tables.
Women and children squatted on the ground and ate from bowls bigger than their heads.
The rice was piled high, with some meat and vegetables mixed in, and the rice was soaked in broth and oil. Occasionally, you could find a piece of meat in it.
That's absolutely amazing!
The table was full of men, and the sounds of them slurping their rice filled the air. They thought that this must be what Xiong Er ate at the official's house.
Guo Dajiao didn't sit at the table. This was a custom in the Ming Dynasty, which was a relatively feudal society where male chauvinism was prevalent.
No matter how domineering she is at home, she's never allowed to sit at the table in public.
The Guo father and son were sitting at the table. Guo Datou was choking a bit from eating meat and wanted to pick up some vegetables to soothe his throat.
His father slapped him on the forehead: "What are you eating, vegetables? Don't you know you should eat more meat? Haven't you had enough wild vegetables from home?"
After saying that, Guo Datou's father picked up a chicken leg for him and said, "Eat more meat. After this meal, who knows when you'll see oily and meaty food again."
Guo Datou opened his mouth but didn't say anything in rebuttal, silently gnawing on his chicken leg.
Dinner was eaten early, as usual.
The sun was hanging over the mountaintop, and we had dinner around five o'clock.
So when they finished eating, the sun hadn't set yet.
Everyone ate until they were stuffed, then slumped on the floor or in chairs, mouths slightly open, panting heavily, looking at the leftovers on the table with a sense of regret.
If I weren't already stuffed with food, I wouldn't want to waste any more.
Several villagers nearly vomited because of the sudden movements, and they covered their mouths, too afraid to move.
Li Chang'an didn't eat much, after all, this meal wasn't very grueling.
There isn't a single protected animal.
Moreover, the cooking skills of Third Sister and the others were not as good as those of the cooks in the Prince's Mansion.
So he only took a few bites and didn't touch his chopsticks anymore.
After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, he tapped the table to signal everyone to look over.
"Fellow villagers."
The villagers all looked at Li Chang'an, wondering what this son-in-law had to say.
Looking at the villagers, Li Chang'an shared his long-held idea: "Fellow villagers, as you all know, I haven't been here long, but I already consider myself a part of the village."
After all, Youchu is my wife now, and we've settled down here.
So I have an idea that I'd like to share with the villagers.
Li Chang'an looked at the shy You Chu, cleared his throat, and continued, "Although our village is made up of people who fled from other places, we have been together for so long now."
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