As Li spoke, she deftly filled everyone's bowls to the brim, and also gave Xie Baotian, Xie Baoshu, and Xie Tianlin a lot of braised meat.
Although they were all there to help with the work, Xie Baotian and his two companions were related by marriage, so Li Shi took extra care of them.
Xiao Yi urged Xie Baotian and the others to eat first. Xie Baotian knew that if they didn't start eating, no one else could either, so he immediately picked up his bowl and took a big bite.
"Mmm! Delicious! So juicy and smooth, and the braising sauce is so fragrant. I haven't had anything this good in two years. Everyone, come and eat!"
After hearing this, everyone else started eating heartily too!
At this time, men and women were not allowed to sit at the same table. Qu Xiaodie, Li Shi, and Hu Mei refused to sit at the table to eat. It was too much to ask. Not only were Li Shi and the others uncomfortable, but Xiao Yi and the others were also uncomfortable. Xie Yushu did not force them. She simply used large stone slabs to put together a new table and sat at a table with Qu Xiaodie and the others.
After eating rice bran and grass roots for more than two years, this simple meal of he luo noodles brought tears to the eyes of the Li family members, who choked with emotion as they ate.
"I thought I wouldn't make it through the last few days, but who would have thought I'd be able to eat he luo noodles again!"
Xie Yushu advised
"As the saying goes, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. The hard times are over, and things will definitely get better and better from now on!"
Xiao Haitang and Tiger Girl also said
"That's right, Auntie, look, so many people starved to death, but we survived. It's clear we're blessed. We should be happy and cheerful, and not let our good fortune get lost in tears!"
Upon hearing this, Li wiped her tears with her sleeve and smiled.
"That makes sense, sigh! I'm just thinking about the past two years, they've been so hard! I don't even know how we got through them!"
"We've made it through the tough times, so let's think about the future! What are your plans? I see there aren't many rooms in the old courtyard, aren't you planning to build a side room?"
"Why wouldn't you want to build one? Brother Bai is already fourteen, it's about time he got married!"
But his parents wouldn't budge, saying that the fourth son had just finished building a house and getting married, and all the money was gone. Then came two years of drought, resulting in no harvest and a lot of money being spent selling grain. They figured his father really had no money left!
We only have one or three taels of silver on hand, and we need to save some to buy food for the winter. We only have about five hundred copper coins at our disposal, and Father gave some to the fourth son to spend on his studies.”
"Didn't he just swindle ten taels of silver from Yu Shu yesterday? Why is he still trying to squeeze those few copper coins out of you?"
Qu Xiaodie said angrily upon hearing this.
"The fourth brother said that we need to make friends and broaden our horizons."
Li said helplessly.
"As long as our parents are alive, we will keep filling this bottomless pit!"
I used to envy you guys; at least you'd separated and wouldn't have to deal with this bottomless pit anymore. But look at you now, even after separating, there's no peace and quiet. Just you wait, the old folks won't be back to bother you for long!
Xie Yushu, however, said without any concern...
"I lent him the money this time to shut the clansmen up, so they won't have a chance next time!"
As for you, I think you have two choices right now. One is to ignore whether the old folks will allow it or not, and build the side room first. Even if they disagree, they can just scold you a few times and tear the house down!
No matter what, Song Ge is her eldest grandson. If it were Xiao Yi and me, she might really come and tear the house down. But Song Ge, she can't.
The second option is for you to simply buy a new place on the spot and have Song move out, so that his wife and children won't have to endure being scolded in the future!
The old courtyard had three main rooms, two side rooms, and an east wing, all tiled houses, much more impressive than Xiao Yi's thatched house!
The kitchen and living room are in the middle of the main room. The old man and woman live in the east room, and Xiao Yan lives in the west room. One of the side rooms is used to store farm tools and other items, and the other is a granary. Nowadays, people eat their own grain. In normal years, they keep enough to eat for the whole year and store it year after year. Families with surplus will store more to cope with famine.
Originally, the east wing belonged to the fourth son, Xiao Yuanhang. Xiao Yan lived in the east wing with the elderly couple, while Xiao Dayong's family squeezed into the west wing. Later, a new house was built for Xiao Yuanhang next door, a detached house with blue bricks and tiles. Xiao Yuanhang moved out, and then Xiao Dayong's family lived in the east wing.
But now that the child is grown up and has gotten married, he can't keep squeezing in with them!
These words struck a chord with Li. Li thought about her life at home. No matter how well you did your work and how hard you worked from dawn till dusk, the old lady would still find fault with you and start cursing at any time. Apart from the fourth son and Xiao Yan, no one else in the family could see the old lady smiling.
Even though Song Ge and Bai Ge are his grandsons, in normal years they can only get enough to eat and never get to taste anything good. The first place is always the fourth son, followed by Old Man Xiao, Old Lady Xiao, and Xiao Yan!
For so many years, her family has not dared to breathe loudly at home. Although they have sons and daughters and have some confidence, they still live a stifling life under the old lady's rule. Do they want their son to live half his life like this as well?
When will this end?
Although Li was tempted by Xie Yushu's suggestion, she couldn't make the decision herself and only said that she would go back and discuss it with Xiao Dayong.
Xie Yushu didn't say anything more. She could only offer some advice; ultimately, they had to live their own lives. Xie Yushu went over to refill Xie Baotian's table's bowl again, but Xiao Yi stopped her, saying...
"You go and eat, I'll take care of these things!"
Xie Baotian was very satisfied; at least this son-in-law was considerate.
Because a lot of food was cooked, everyone ate until they were full and had two or three bowls left. They thought about how Huya and his sister came to help with the work, and their grandmother was still at home without eating. During this period, in order to save food, almost every family ate two meals of porridge. Some families with little land ate two meals of porridge almost every day when they were not busy. They only ate a dry meal at noon when they were busy with farming.
Since they were too tired to eat anything else that night, Xie Yushu filled a bowl with some braised sauce and had Xiao Haitang deliver it to Grandma Tiger Tooth.
There were some left, which I planned to clean up and put in the kitchen so that Xiao Yi could clean it up in the evening. But a little while later, Xiao Song, Xiao Bai, and Li's daughter, Tao Hua, came over, and the three of them shared the food.
The three people were scolded by Old Madam Xiao because they had planned to get forty taels of silver from Xie Yushu, but only got ten taels and wrote a ridiculous IOU and guarantee.
Knowing that Xiao Dayong had sold two wolf pelts and, although he had bought grain and cloth, should still have one or two taels of silver left, they asked them to give Xiao Yuanhang one tael. The two men, however, remained tight-lipped, refusing to budge, and carefully hid the silver.
This was tantamount to touching Old Mrs. Xiao's sore spot.
From the moment Xiao Dayong and his wife didn't arrive in the morning, I've been cursing them all morning, calling them ungrateful wretches and unfilial sons.
When Xiao Dayong and his wife came out, they started cursing their three children again, calling them freeloaders and wolf cubs. When they got angry, they even slapped Taohua twice.
Xiao Taohua's face was still swollen when she arrived.
Xie Yushu really couldn't understand how there could be such a strange person as Old Mrs. Xiao!
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