stingy landlady

Chapter 75 Li's Return Home

Lanling had already packed her bags. The man pulled her along as she quickly said goodbye to everyone and left!

My third sister's husband had just been transferred to the county town to work as a clerk collecting grain taxes. He'd been on leave for so long and was already quite impatient. He casually tossed a ten-tael silver ingot onto my father's kang (heated brick bed), flicked his sleeve, and took his leave!

The two wealthy and powerful men left, leaving the remaining few, who were still struggling to make a living in the soil, looking at each other in bewilderment!

The eldest brother-in-law spoke up:

"Da Chun! Your brother-in-law is getting old and doesn't have much ability to earn money. He relies entirely on his children for support, and they've had a tough time too!"

Father! I shouldn't bring this up, but we each contributed two taels of silver to Mother's funeral!

Xiao Jun's wedding! Sigh! I can only give him one or two taels of silver at most, as a wedding gift for Xiao Jun!

After saying that, he took out a string of copper coins from his pocket, placed them on the kang (a heated brick bed), and got up to leave.

My second brother-in-law also stood up, took out an ounce of silver and placed it on the kang (a heated brick bed), saying:

"Sigh! It's not easy for anyone! Father! I still have a few sons who aren't married yet! I'll take a tael of silver as a wedding gift too!"

Dazhu looked at Li Shi, knowing that he and his wife were usually ignored by Li Dachun and his wife. He quickly took out a string of copper coins and gently placed them on the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Dad! Eldest brother and sister-in-law! We all toil in the fields for a living, this is Lanxin's and my share of the money!"

The music has ended and the party's over!

The two drove the oxcart slowly back to their home.

Sitting on the oxcart, Li couldn't help but mutter:

"These are my family members! Every time they come back, they're like vampires! Last time they took an ounce or two, and this time they took three more! Sigh! I don't dare go back to my parents' house next time!"

How could this brother and sister-in-law act like this? How could they even open their mouths like that? They have no shame!

Dazhu comforted Li Shi, saying:

"This is just a matter of things happening at once! No matter how you look at it, they are still your family!"

Let's go back and work hard; we'll earn the money back eventually!

Ms. Li was still angry.

"Given our family's current circumstances, I shouldn't be short of a few taels of silver! But I'm just so angry! When have my elder brother and sister-in-law ever given us a second glance? They're always so arrogant, like we owe them something!"

Da Zhu was speechless. But inwardly he was thinking:

"You know your family isn't good! But whenever something happens to your family, you run faster than anyone else! Running around doing everything, no one dares to say a word!"

I did criticize your family before, and I was the one who got scolded! I won't provoke you now! I know you've always treated your family with double standards, allowing only the powerful to do as they please while forbidding the common people to do the same!

When I got home, Guizhi and Guihong had just returned from town.

Li Shi stayed up for several days and nights keeping vigil, and looked quite haggard!

Gui Xiang stepped forward and helped Li Shi into the house!

Li took out a long nail from her bundle and looked around for a hammer.

The sisters looked at it with interest, and Guizhi took the hammer and asked:

"Mother! Why did you put nails in your bundle?!"

As Li hammered nails into the wall, she said:

"What do you know? These are your grandfather's coffin nails!"

Gui Hong asked curiously:

"What does that mean? Is there any special significance to it?"

"Coffin nails, as the name suggests, are the seven long nails used to fasten the coffin before burial."

In our area, it's also called a "descendant nail," believed to bring prosperity to one's descendants!

Li explained.

Guizhi looked up at Li Shi and said:

"Mother took this coffin nail in the hope that our family will also prosper!"

After hammering in the nails, Li said:

"Of course! I'm your grandmother's daughter too! I hope she's watching over our family from heaven, wishing us all good things and peace!"

"Alright! You all go do what you need to do! I'm tired, I'll lie down for a while! Siya, come here, come and hug me for a bit."

After finishing her sentence, Li hugged Siya and lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed). Soon, she began to snore softly, and Siya gently crawled out from under Li's arm and started playing on the kang by herself.

Gui Xiang wanted to go out for a walk after seeing Li Shi lie down, but seeing that Li Shi had fallen asleep so quickly, she didn't dare to go out and simply stayed in the room to make clothes for Li Shi.

Originally, she planned to wear bright red clothes when moving into the new house, but because Li Shi needed to observe mourning, she changed to a plain color. The sisters discussed it and chose ginger-yellow silk for their skirts.

Gui Hong went out to find Hong Min to dig wild vegetables. The piglets at home are growing fast and eating a lot, and there are also chickens and ducks to feed! Zhou Qiong's digging isn't enough for everyone, so Gui Hong goes to dig wild vegetables when she comes back from town in the afternoon.

I've been running into Taozhi quite often these days! Before the family split up, in Guihong's eyes, Taozhi seemed like a noble young lady. Every day, apart from meeting her at mealtimes, she would spend the rest of her time hiding in her room doing embroidery! She never paid any attention to the sisters.

After the family split up, I heard that Taozhi had started digging for wild vegetables, but Taohong only started doing so in the last few days. I was quite surprised when I first encountered Taozhi, but I got used to it and it didn't seem strange anymore.

The two might not be used to playing together and never dig for wild vegetables together. If the later one sees that one of them is already digging for wild vegetables in a certain place, the other will leave and go to dig for wild vegetables elsewhere.

The two women barely interacted. However, their two best friends did keep in touch and knew some things about each other.

For example, the day before yesterday, Taozhi lost track of time while playing with her friends and only managed to gather a small basket of wild vegetables, which she hastily covered with weeds. When the old lady found out, she got a good scolding!

For example, Guihong's family was going to build a flower bed in their new yard. This was a novelty, and when her friends, who had secretly gone to see it, spread the word, Guihong became the envy of all her friends again!

Guizhi followed Dazhu to the east end and saw that the east and west wing rooms had been built! She went in and saw that the kang (heated brick bed) had been set up. Carpenter Xu had already measured the kang mat and the edge of the kang and brought it over to place on the kang.

As for the kangqin (a type of heated brick bed), only the one for the main courtyard has been ordered so far. For the side rooms, only two cabinets have been ordered for each room so they can conveniently store clothes and other items.

After heating the kang (heated brick bed), you can move in.

The flower bed in the middle of the yard and the south house are currently under construction, and it is estimated that they will be completed in a few days.

The two walked towards the vegetable garden, and Guizhi said to Dazhu:

"Dad! I saw some cucumbers that were twisted yesterday! And some green beans were this long!"

As Guizhi spoke, she gestured with her hands. It was only about an inch long.

Pan Sen and Pan Qiang were weeding and catching insects in the vegetable garden. They looked calm and unhurried, which was reassuring!

"Dad! The planting is all done! Grandpa Zhou wants Pan Sen and Pan Qiang to come and manage the vegetable garden."

The bustling activity is no longer visible on our own eastern land.

Dazhu still went to the field to take a look, grabbed a handful of soil and rubbed it between his fingers.

The two went to check on Old Zhou, who was turning over the dried vegetables he was hanging out to dry. Seeing people enter the yard, they quickly walked over and called out:

"Master is back! Miss San is here too!"

Dazhu said:

"Uncle Zhou! I'm so grateful for the care you've given me while I was away these past few days!"

Have you encountered any difficulties these past few days?