The next morning, the Zhao family of four dressed neatly and prepared to return to their village.
Zhao Yi watched as Jiang Bai boarded the carriage with a pained expression, followed by Zhao Ping'an and Zhao Xile slowly climbing into the carriage.
Zhao Ping'an is at the most mischievous age. He usually runs but never walks, like a little whirlwind. Now, the little whirlwind has lost its power, and his movements are as slow as a seventy-year-old woman.
“Otherwise…” Zhao Yi said, drawing out his words.
The two children perked up their ears, quickly raised their heads, and stared intently at Zhao Yi.
They were filled with anticipation, hoping that Zhao Yi would say: "Otherwise, Ping An and Xiao Le shouldn't go!"
As fate would have it, they listened as Zhao Yi slowly finished his sentence: "Why don't you ride horses? Wouldn't that be more fun?"
Zhao Xile quickly shook his head.
Compared to the tall, unruly horses, the sweet and soft snacks on the carriage and the mother's embrace were much more appealing.
Zhao Ping'an's eyes lit up.
His eleventh birthday is just around the corner. Perhaps he didn't eat well when he was young, because a year ago he was still very thin and small, looking only seven or eight years old. His clothes would sway in the wind.
He grew three or four inches taller that year, almost as tall as Jiang Bai. His facial features also matured, with thick eyebrows and big eyes. He didn't look much like Zhao Yi, but probably resembled his birth mother.
He was growing so fast that he had been experiencing leg pains every night for a while, which would wake him up. When Jiang Bai found out, he made him a big pot of bone broth every day and had his wet nurse, Xu, deliver it to the school. Zhao Ping'an drank it like water.
By this time, he had grown into a big boy, standing happily beside Zhao Yi, waiting for Zhao Yi to help him onto the horse.
Zhao Yi lifted the person up, stretched out his leg, and rode with him on the same horse. Tan Ji drove the carriage, and the group leisurely returned to the village.
Tan Ji made an excuse to run away when he reached the village entrance. Zhao Yi dismounted, holding the reins in one hand and driving the carriage towards the Zhao family's new house with the other.
Zhao Yi paid for the new house, but his wife and children never had a single day of peace living there.
Jiang Bai was deeply moved by this thought.
They entered the hall and found the whole family sitting there, including all five children from the second and third wives.
Zhao Yi nodded to everyone and pulled Jiang Bai to sit in the seat next to his father.
The third sister-in-law couldn't help but say sarcastically, "Sister-in-law, it's better for us women to sit in the back."
The second sister-in-law was also uncomfortable. Jiang Bai sat directly in the seat above Zhao Lao Er. What did she mean by that? Did she think her status was higher than her own husband?
Before Jiang Bai could react, Zhao Yi grabbed her hand, preventing her from leaving: "My wife is shy, she has to sit with me."
The second brother's wife pouted: "Big brother, you're spoiling your wife too much. The more you spoil her, the more unlucky she'll be. You'd better be careful. Besides, I've never seen Jiang Bai shy around strangers."
Zhao Yi, too lazy to pay attention to these clowns, turned to look at Grandpa Zhao and Grandma Zhao and said directly, "Father, Mother, is there something you need from my second brother's wife to call us over?"
Old Master Zhao cleared his throat, took a puff of his pipe, coughed twice, and waited until he caught his breath before speaking: "This time, the main thing is to resolve the land you were allocated."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Bai immediately devised a plan.
Neither she nor the original owner of the body before the transmigration were good at farming, so when she drew the best plot of land, she immediately contacted the village chief to rent it out.
The rent is low and paid annually. Although you don't make much money, it's convenient and saves you time and effort.
Old Master Zhao said, "The land belongs to the Zhao family. Jiang Bai took it upon himself to rent it out without asking our opinion. This is outrageous."
Zhao Yi nodded: "So?"
Old Mrs. Zhao said, "That's why we can't rent it out; we should return the rent to them."
The whole family stared intently at Zhao Yi, waiting for him to ask, "If we don't rent it out, who will farm it?"
Zhao Yi remained silent.
Grandpa Zhao tapped his cane to draw everyone's attention to himself before saying, "You don't need those two plots of land; give them to your two younger brothers to cultivate."
Jiang Bai scoffed.
When Old Mrs. Zhao saw Jiang Bai, she was furious: "Since when has the Zhao family ever given you a say?"
Jiang Bai blinked innocently: "But Mother, you don't have the surname Zhao either!" Strictly speaking, we are both outsiders. I have no say, but do you?
Zhao Yi gripped Jiang Bai's hand tightly, signaling her to stop talking.
He then said, "Father, I don't mind giving these two plots of land to my second and third brothers, but how should they be divided?"
Seeing that he had agreed, the second and third sister-in-laws couldn't help but smile, but as soon as the words "how to divide it" came out, their smiles froze.
Yes, there are two plots of land, one good and one bad. How should they be divided?
Who deserves the good piece, and who deserves the bad one?
At this moment, the second and third sister-in-laws realized that they were in competition with each other, and the second sister-in-law quietly let go of the arm that was holding the third sister-in-law.
Zhao Lao Er raised his hand and said, "Dad, Mom, I think this good piece should be given to me."
"Why should I?" Zhao Laosan protested.
Zhao Lao Er said confidently, "Because I'm the eldest of the two of us, I'll take care of our parents in their old age."
When the topic of retirement came up, everyone in the room except Zhao Yi and Jiang Bai perked up.
The two elderly people in the Zhao family are in good health. Old Master Zhao works in the fields just as well as most young men, while Old Master Zhao is efficient and capable at housework. She takes care of her five grandchildren all by herself, and all the children have grown up healthy and strong.
So both Zhao Lao Er and Zhao Lao San actually wanted to retire, because even though they were supposed to be retiring, these two could clearly still work for another twenty years, and wouldn't need to be taken care of at home, and could still contribute their labor.
Not to mention their secret stash of money; Zhao Yi has given them quite a bit of money over the years, and wherever they go, the money ends up in their hands.
Therefore, people in this dynasty always scrambled to live with their parents, because they could only enjoy happiness when their parents were around!
Zhao Laosan was unwilling to accept this: "You're the second oldest, but you're not the oldest either. You're stuck in the middle, neither here nor there. Why should you be the one to support me in my old age?"
His wife chimed in, "If our parents don't want to live with our eldest brother, they can live with us. We're the youngest, so we should take care of them in their old age."
Seeing the children vying for them, both Grandpa Zhao and Grandma Zhao wore satisfied smiles.
Old Master Zhao cleared his throat and said, "Let's not talk about retirement for now. Let's divide up these two plots of land for your elder brother first."
Zhao Lao Er secretly thought his parents were confused. Before Zhao Yi got married, all the land under his name was farmed by his family. But the old man insisted on tormenting the two children, and Zhao Yi even saw through it. Now look what happened, he got married before the village started clearing land, and Jiang Bai was kicked out.
How much food can two children eat? Why can't we treat them well?
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