After the three children finished washing, it was the turn of the little girls, such as Youya and Tingya, to wash. Qi's daughter, the two Liu sisters, and Tiedan's sister were also among them.
When it was finally He Jiuniang and the others' turn to wash, she let out a comfortable sigh.
Madam Yu said, "It's really strange. This pool is quite small, but so many children have been washed in it, yet the water is not muddy at all. It's really amazing!"
"Yes, the water is so clean, just like when we first arrived!"
He Jiuniang closed her eyes and soaked in the bath without speaking, but in her heart she thought: Of course, I've been secretly changing the water all along, okay?
He Jiuniang just wanted to take a bath in peace, but unexpectedly, a group of women's eyes were fixed on her. First was Yu Shi: "Third sister-in-law, your skin is so white, just like a newborn baby!"
This remark caused quite a stir. Since everyone involved was married, there were no reservations. Qi stared at her chest with envy: "Yes, we're both breastfeeding, but look at Jiu Niang's, she's still like a young lady. Unlike me, I'm just skin and bones! How did you manage that, Jiu Niang?"
After she finished speaking, she waited with burning eyes for her to share her skincare tips, and even Madam Sun stared at her.
He Jiuniang: ...
How would she know? She's just a virgin who's never been in a relationship and skipped all men to have a son!
"Hehehe, this... how could I possibly make this decision? Maybe it's a second puberty!"
No one understood what she meant by "secondary development," but Madam Sun spoke up to help her out: "What good is it if she can only look? When the puppy was small, she had no juice, which made my grandson go hungry every day!"
He Jiuniang: ...
Helping is fine, but there's no need to be so mean.
However, it was the truth. The puppy was not healthy when it was young, and the original owner had no bodily fluids, so it could only drink goat milk. Before it was even three months old, it could no longer drink goat milk and could only be fed rice porridge cooked by Sun. It was really not easy to raise it to this age.
Upon hearing this, everyone stopped being envious. Although their children weren't as pretty as He Jiu Niang's, at least their own children weren't going hungry, right?
It was a bit awkward while washing him, but it felt really good afterward. Looking at her son, who was all clean and smelling nice, He Jiuniang couldn't help but give him a kiss on the cheek.
These days, the puppy's face has gotten a little fuller, and it feels much better to the touch. Whenever He Jiu Niang has free time, she likes to wiggle his face.
"Mommy, more kisses!"
She gave him a kiss and was about to go to sleep, but the puppy really liked his mother doing that to him. He pointed to his face with his little finger and came close to He Jiu Niang, asking for a kiss.
He Jiuniang couldn't do anything with him, so she made "wooden horse, wooden horse, wooden horse" sounds on his face for a while, and even tickled him. The little dog couldn't stop laughing.
The mother and daughter fussed for a while before finally falling asleep. Sun and Old Man Lu slept on the other side, complaining, "Why is this third son's wife getting more and more talkative lately!"
Old Lu chuckled: "Isn't this a good thing? Didn't you say before that she was so weak you couldn't even fart twice? Besides, look at how much better Little Dog's health is lately, isn't it?"
He turned over and continued, "Children and grandchildren have their own blessings. Go to sleep, we have to travel tomorrow."
Sun remained silent, only turning her head to glance in He Jiu Niang's direction, a hint of a smile silently appearing in her eyes. It would be even better if the third son could return alive.
After traveling for another five days, they stopped taking the mountain path and switched to the official road.
Once they reached the official road, they saw many more people, all of them listless. When they saw their group, mostly women and children with few men, their eyes lit up.
Some wanted to cause trouble, but were scared away by Lu Laoda and his men brandishing their longswords. Others wanted to cause trouble but didn't have the guts, so the next two days passed peacefully.
They hadn't encountered any acquaintances along the way, and everyone's hearts sank lower and lower.
Everyone was in low spirits and didn't talk to each other.
Occasionally, the sounds of children laughing and talking could be heard from the Lu family's side. The three youngest children were too lazy to walk, so He Jiuniang dug out a small space in the middle of the carriage, padded it with quilts and such, and gave the three of them a place to sit. There were some household belongings around them, protecting them well and not worrying that they would fall off.
Fearing they would get bored, He Jiuniang tore off a strip of cloth for them to play with embroidery. This thing wasn't very interesting to adults, but the children could play with it all day long, and their laughter was the sound of their laughter.
Several older children also looked on with envy, but they still had to walk, so they could only hold back and wait until they rested at night to play.
"Third Aunt, you've made such a fun thing out of a rope! You're so clever!"
Youya walked closely beside He Jiuniang, her eyes filled with admiration.
She used to think that her third aunt was pretty but didn't talk much, but now her third aunt is not only pretty and talkative, but also so smart. She wants to be as smart as her third aunt!
The little girl's flattery put He Jiu Niang in a good mood, and she casually teased, "Isn't it because I'm bored? The journey has been dull, so I've naturally been thinking about some interesting things. Not just me, you can all think about it too. For example, when we get to Anzhou, what do you want to do? Is there anything you particularly want to do?"
"do what?"
Youya was instantly confused. She was only eight years old this year. Before, when she was at home, she would help her grandma and mother with housework and find some wild vegetables at the foot of the mountain. No one asked her what she wanted to do.
Besides, she's just a young girl. Isn't she just supposed to stay at home quietly until she comes of age and gets married? Does it matter what she wants to do?
The rest of the Lu family also looked over. As for what they wanted to do in the future, not to mention the children, even the adults had never thought about it.
Sun said, "You're always talking nonsense. In the end, we'll see where the government assigns us. We're farmers, so naturally, the most important thing is to cultivate our fields well and fill our stomachs. It's not up to you to decide whether you want to do it or not."
The Lu family members nodded repeatedly; they all thought the same thing.
He Jiuniang felt that such thinking was unacceptable, so she decided to have a good talk with them about it.
She lowered her voice and said, “Mother, you’re not wrong to think that way, but think about it, even if the whole family farms together, how much money can we save in a year? After paying the grain tax, we still have to live frugally. Before, we didn’t have any money, so we didn’t dare to have any ideas, but now that we have some money, we can naturally think of ways to make money from money.”
Before this, the Lu family had never heard of any such thing as money making money, so they listened to her very attentively.
"Farmers always earn the least. If they want to live a good life, they have to rely on other means."
Now that we have money, we send all the children in our family to school to study and learn to read and write. If they are more capable, they can try to take the imperial examinations. Even if they don't have the talent, it's good to know a few characters. At least they won't be cheated or swindled when they go out.
My brothers and sisters-in-law
You can also do some small business, which can be considered a source of income. Wealth is accumulated slowly; you can't rush it. But first, everyone needs to have a dream, think about what they want to do and what they like to do. If you can make money using what you're good at, wouldn't that be even better?
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