Everyone else was fine, but Lu Guilan's family, smelling the aroma from the pot, were practically itching to put their mouths right up to it.
Although I ate the steamed buns He Jiuniang gave me on the way, I had been hungry for so long that one steamed bun wasn't enough.
Previously, after hearing He Jiuniang say that they had some strange encounters on the road and received help from a benefactor, Lu Guilan simply thought that her family members had just entered the city unharmed. But in such a short time, she already knew that her elder brother and his men had actually gone to suppress bandits and rescued many people.
All of that is fine, but the key thing is that they can actually eat their fill every day, and it's white rice with cured meat!
Good heavens, I should have known they would have gone with their mother's family!
That way, the parents-in-law wouldn't have died halfway through their journey.
"Mom, I'm hungry! I'm hungry! I want meat!"
After taking the medicine and waking up, Xiao Xiuya was originally obediently letting Sun Shi hold her, but now that she smelled the fragrance, she immediately became restless and struggled to find her mother.
"Little glutton!" Mrs. Sun smiled lovingly and patted her little bottom. "Go on, go on!"
The little girl toddled off to find Lu Guilan. Lu Guilan was a little embarrassed by her behavior and hugged her, coaxing, "Xiuya, be good, wait for your uncles to come back before you eat..."
Upon hearing this, Madam Sun immediately said, "How long has the child been hungry? What are you waiting for? The adults aren't even saying anything yet, so let the child eat first."
As she spoke, she gestured towards Shen Shi with her lip, "Bring your little Liangzi over here too, let them eat together!"
Ms. Shen was somewhat touched: "Thank you, Auntie-in-law!"
Xiao Liangzi is about the same age as Gou'er, but he is much more timid than Gou'er, and Zhang Yong has been holding him the whole time.
The child was quite frightened on the way, and was truly pitiful.
After Shen picked him up, he stayed in her arms and didn't dare to get down. The little dog scooped a spoonful of rice with meat into his bowl and fed it to her, saying in a childish voice, "Little brother, eat meat!"
He Jiuniang found it amusing; she didn't even know how old Xiaoliangzi was, yet Gou'er was already vying to be his older brother.
Fortunately, no one was paying attention to this detail. Xiao Liangzi looked at the rice and meat in the spoon, his mouth watering, but he didn't eat it directly. Instead, he looked at his mother and asked for her opinion.
"Your brother, Doggy, gave you this food. You should thank him."
Ms. Shen genuinely felt that her child was younger than the dog and was easy to teach.
But you can't blame her. Her whole family had lost weight on the way here. Little Liangzi was especially thin, practically skin and bones. Compared to the little dog that He Jiuniang had fattened up, he really looked a bit small.
"Thank you, brother."
Xiao Liangzi thanked him softly before opening his mouth and eating the rice from the spoon.
"Eat it!"
The rice was fresh out of the pot and still a little hot. The little guy was panting from the heat, but his eyes were full of smiles.
Everyone laughed and told him to eat more.
Just as they were serving the younger children their meal, they saw Boss Lu and his group return. They walked at first, but then ran straight over as soon as they entered.
He Jiuniang saw a girl who looked to be thirteen or fourteen years old following Qin Shi. She was timidly tugging at Qin Shi's sleeve. This must be Qin Shi's niece, Lianhua.
"Thank goodness Mother is so capable; she made us all go with her, otherwise that old woman wouldn't have let them go!"
As soon as Boss Lu sat down, he brought up the matter. The others went back to their own organizations to find food. No one dared to crowd around the Lu family's place, since the Lu family had already helped them a lot and they couldn't cause them any trouble.
"Alright, let's eat. We can talk while we eat."
Once the food is ready, we can't wait for it to get cold before eating it.
The family sat around the pot to eat, and Lu the eldest recounted the story as he ate.
It turned out that the madam of the brothel had always thought that the second son's family was not capable of redeeming Lianhua, so she only asked for thirty taels of silver. After all, for a farmer, thirty taels would be enough for a family to live on for many years. Even if they had that money, they wouldn't insist on redeeming a mere girl; that would be a completely unprofitable deal.
Who knew that the second son and his wife would bring the money with them when they came back? They were really going to spend thirty taels just for a little money-losing girl from the maternal family. The madam immediately felt that she had quoted too low a price and had lost a lot of money.
Just as she was about to change her mind, she saw that the couple had brought a large group of men with them. Fearing that things would escalate and she would suffer the consequences, she had no choice but to relent and release them.
Lotus held the bowl in her hands, which was filled with white rice and cured meat. Her aunt's family had spent so much money on her and fed her such delicious food. Tears streamed down her face as she poured the bowl into it.
By the time Mrs. Sun found out, the little girl was already crying her eyes out.
"You're wasting perfectly good white rice!"
Sun cursed under her breath, her face turning pale. Lianhua hurriedly shoveled rice into her mouth, afraid that Grandma Lu would sell her again.
Qin also reminded her to eat quickly so as not to upset her grandmother.
"Mother, why do you have to bear the blame for doing a good deed?"
He Jiuniang couldn't help but nudge her with her elbow; this old lady just never said anything pleasing.
Sun glared at her: "Can't I even say anything to her?"
"You're right, but she's a young girl who's just arrived here, so don't scare her."
He Jiuniang tried to ease the tension. In the meantime, Lianhua had finished all the food in her bowl and then quickly knelt before Madam Sun.
"Grandma Lu, thank you for saving me. I will definitely be a good daughter to you and serve you like a slave to repay your great kindness!"
Lianhua was a smart child. She knew that her aunt's family had not separated from her own family before, and that Grandma Lu was still in charge of the household. If it weren't for Grandma Lu giving her aunt money to save her today, she would have wasted her life in that brothel.
Sun originally intended to put on a stern face, but seeing the little girl curled up and kneeling on the ground looking so pitiful, she couldn't keep a straight face.
“Get up and speak. We are just peasants. How can we be like those rich people who make people kneel down at the drop of a hat?”
As he spoke, he reached out and tugged at her arm.
The little girl immediately smiled. It turned out that what her aunt said was true. Grandma Lu might look a bit fierce, but she was actually a very nice person.
Everyone stared at Madam Sun, waiting to see what she would say. Madam Sun felt uncomfortable under their gazes, so she put on a stern face and snapped, "Why are you all looking at me? Is there something on my face?"
Everyone else lowered their heads and ate their own food, but He Jiuniang watched with great interest, since she wasn't afraid of Madam Sun anyway.
Sun glared at her, but didn't say anything. She just said to Lianhua earnestly, "We all know that you have no family left and are a pitiful child. From now on, you will live with your aunt. There are many people in our Lu family, so we are not afraid of having another daughter like you. As long as you behave yourself and do not do anything outrageous that will annoy people, no one in this family will dare to say anything bad about you."
The clever little girl immediately nodded and changed her form of address: "I understand, thank you, Grandma!"
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