Oh no! Seven kids at the start, all yellow and skinny.

Chapter 130 Li Lan

Yunyi frowned. Such things were all too common. In many ancient societies, women's lives were very difficult, especially for women who were divorced by their husbands. They basically had only two options: either become nuns or die.

“Although my aunt’s family pleaded for her and saved her, they told her to leave the village and go anywhere. If she stayed, it would affect the marriage prospects of her children. But where could a lone woman go? I guess she would only have one way out.” Li Xiuhong sniffed, suppressing the tears in her eyes. “I was thinking, if you need someone, could you use her? At least it could give her a way to survive.”

Just as Yunyi was about to speak, Gao Shunfang returned in a flurry: "Yunyi, I asked her, and she's willing." As she spoke, she waved to the outside, "Zhaodi, come over here and tell Yunyi yourself."

Guo Zhaodi walked in somewhat nervously: "Yunyi, I...you really want to use me? After all, I am...I am a widow, and many people look down on me because I bring bad luck."

“I’m a widow too,” Yunyi smiled.

"Okay, I'll do it."

"It's just cooking. Because there are many people, it might be a bit tiring."

"I'm not afraid of hard work," Guo Zhaodi hurriedly shook her head. "I don't want wages, just food." Her daughter was already studying at someone else's home, how could she possibly ask for wages?

"We will get paid, and we will also sign a contract. Don't worry, it's not a contract of servitude, it's an employment contract, so that we can both be bound together."

"Okay, I'll do as you say, Miss." Guo Zhaodi immediately changed her address. She heard Lao Quan and Lao Zhou call her "Miss," so it wouldn't be wrong for her to call her "Miss" too.

“Sister-in-law Xiuhong, I’m not familiar with that cousin you mentioned, but I do need some help. So, if she’s coming, she’ll need to sign a contract of servitude. If she’s willing, she can come over.”

Gao Shunfang couldn't help but look at her eldest daughter-in-law.

"Mother, it's Aunt Lan, the one I told you about before. I was thinking, could we give her a way out?"

“Okay, as long as she can work diligently.” Gao Shunfang obviously knew about Li Lan’s situation and nodded. “You need to make this clear to her.”

"Don't worry, Mom, I'll have Brother Qiang come with me right away. I'll leave Tiedan with you for now."

"Go ahead, go ahead," Gao Shunfang waved her hand.

After leaving the village chief's house, Yunyi went directly to her master's house. With the help of various medicinal herbs, He Guang recovered quite quickly. Now his wounds have healed and he can get out of bed. Although he still can't do heavy work, he has made quite good progress in less than a month.

"Sister Yun, I think we can go back now." He Guang said anxiously, "There are so many things to do over there, they definitely need manpower."

“We can afford to have more people with us.” Yunyi stood up after taking his pulse. “You should wait until you’re fully recovered before we talk. Otherwise, if something else happens, it’ll just cause me a lot of trouble.”

He Guang fell silent.

"Alright, it will take at least another month to recover, and it should be back to normal by then."

Helpless, He Guang could only continue to recover from his injury.

Li Xiuhong was quick; she returned with her people the next day at noon.

Dongji Village is quite far from here, being the southernmost village in Liyu Town. It requires going around Baihu Mountain, and by oxcart it would take about five or six hours, or almost a whole day. So now that they've arrived, they obviously delayed a bit after reaching the village and immediately started their return journey that very night.

Li Lan was only thirty years old, but she looked much older, with her hair even turning gray. However, she was in good spirits. Upon seeing Yun Yi, she knelt down and handed over a blank contract with her fingerprint on it: "Miss, Xiu Hong told me that I am willing to sell myself, but I am illiterate, so I can only sign a blank contract."

"Get up, kneeling isn't allowed here." Yun Yi took the blank contract. "However, I have my own rules here, you understand?"

“Xiuhong said so, I understand. I can cook and do needlework. As long as you don’t mind my bad luck and can give me food and a place to stay, I’m not afraid of hardship, and I won’t do anything to betray you.” Li Lan’s voice was calm, but her eyes were red and her hands were clenched into fists. “I can’t die, I want to live.”

Yunyi frowned slightly.

“To be honest, it’s not that I can’t have children. I got pregnant the second year after I married into the Zhang family. My first child was a daughter. They said that if we had a child first, we could have a child later, and we could make a living. Later, I got pregnant again, and it was another daughter. So they drowned her. Then he got involved with a widow, and she got pregnant, saying it was a son. Then they sold my daughter. They even looked down on me because I couldn’t lay eggs, and gave me a divorce letter…” Li Lan finally couldn’t hold back anymore, and tears streamed down her face. “My Ling’er was only five years old at the time. For the past five years, I’ve been saving money. They say my daughter was sold to the capital to work as a maid in a wealthy family. I don’t know if it’s true. I want to save money to find my daughter…”

Those listening nearby had tears in their eyes, and Xia Songshi even handed them handkerchiefs.

"So, no matter what I've encountered over the years, I have to live. Only by living can I have a chance to find my daughter. Even if I die, I want to see my daughter one last time. Otherwise, I can't close my eyes in peace, sob sob..."

Yunyi's nose also felt a little sore, and she immediately wrote the blank contract and handed it to Xia Qiang: "Brother Qiang, please take this back and ask Uncle Village Chief to help you register it at the yamen."

"Alright." Xia Qiang took the contract, glanced at Li Lan, and said, "Aunt, you can stay here without worry. We'll head back now. Come visit us at home sometime; it's not far."

"Okay." Li Lan wiped away her tears and smiled as she watched Xia Qiang and Li Xiuhong leave.

Yunyi handed the people over to Liu Mei for arrangements, and then called over the people that Lao Quan had brought back. After asking a few simple questions, she also explained her rules, and then had Lao Quan take them to Baihu Mountain so that they could familiarize themselves with the situation and understand their job responsibilities.

Old Quan's stone house used to be quite large and sturdy, where people patrolling the mountain at night could rest and cook simple meals.

Lin Zhao, who was blind in his left eye, was originally a scout and later worked as a jailer. He was also the oldest among them, and everyone called him Brother Lin. He seemed to be the one with the most prestige.

He led the group and spent three days exploring the more than 10,000 acres of mountain land, including both hilltops. Then he came to find Yunyunyi and said, "Miss, you didn't buy such a big mountain just to collect firewood, did you?"

Yunyi's eyes flashed: "Uncle Lin, what did you discover, and do you have any good suggestions?"