It took a whole day's journey from Pingzhou to the mansion in Lijia Village. The journey back was a bit rushed. We arrived at Lijia Village around four o'clock in the afternoon according to modern time. When the carriage entered the village, everyone in Lijia Village knew about it.
Li's father, Li Yong, came running. When he arrived at the gate, Zhou Shuren was getting off the carriage. Li Yong did not even have time to catch his breath and congratulated him, "Congratulations to your father-in-law for passing the imperial examination."
Zhou Shuren quickly reached out and helped Li Yong up, "You are so polite, come and sit for a while."
He really likes the character of the Li family, they are honest and simple, look how tired and sweaty they are, the in-laws are really sincere, they just keep running after them without saying a word, even a man with such a dark heart is so moved.
Li Yong was indeed a little unsteady on his feet, so he sat down and pounded his legs, "I am too old to run a few steps."
Zhulan just got off the car, "... ... ..."
How many steps is it from Li's house to the mansion? It's one thousand meters, okay? Anyone would be out of breath if they ran all the way down!
Zhou Shuren was also speechless. His body was not strong enough to run a thousand meters in one breath.
Boss Zhou helped Li get out of the car. Li held a water bag in his hand and said, "Dad, take a deep breath and drink some water. You are sweating from running."
Li Yong responded with a silly smile. Oh, he saw his fat daughter again. "I see you have gained a lot of weight since the last time you came back. Good, good, it's good to be fatter."
Li Yong believes that being fat means eating well. Although the Li family members are all big, none of them looks plump. His daughter is lucky. She is the plumpest daughter in the entire Li family and is very plump and white.
Li, “… … ..”
It hurts so much to see my biological father. I look at him with resentment. It’s because I inherited the physique of the Li family!
Zhou Laoer and several other families got off the carriage one after another, and Zhou Laoda opened the door. They didn't bring much luggage this time, just clothes for the next few days. There wasn't much luggage, only less than two boxes per room, so they moved their things in quickly.
The hired carriage took the money and left. Li Xu also arrived with her son and daughter-in-law. Zhulan looked in the distance and saw more people coming.
Li Xu came over and said, "Mother-in-law, I thought you guys should be back by now. We just cleaned the mansion the other day."
Zhulan held Li Xu's hand and said, "Thank you, mother-in-law."
Li Xu quickly withdrew her hand, "My hands are all cracked, don't hurt my mother-in-law's hand."
Zhulan's hands had been well maintained for two years and were very delicate. Li Xu's hands did have quite a few cuts. Zhulan held Li Xu's hands again and said, "I don't want to hear what my mother-in-law said. Let's go inside and talk."
Li Xu was indeed afraid that her mother-in-law would dislike her. She didn't want to be disliked, but she didn't expect her mother-in-law to dislike her at all. She responded loudly, "Hey!"
Li looked at her mother's grinning face and curled her lips in her heart. She had already said that her mother-in-law liked her the most and was most partial to her, but her mother still didn't believe it and thought that she only reported good news and not bad news. Is she the kind of person who only reported good news and not bad news
Li quickly followed and came close to her mother, "Mom, you believe it now!"
Li Xu, "... ..."
This stupid guy, isn't this telling his mother-in-law that she has been asking about her daughter's situation many times
Li was not afraid of her mother. She smiled and said to her mother-in-law, "Mom, my father has collected firewood for our family. I will go to light a fire and cook."
Li said to her mother again, "Mom, please stay for a while and eat too!"
Li Xu was embarrassed. She really hadn't eaten dinner. The Li family always had dinner after dark. If they ate later, they wouldn't be too hungry at night. She stared at Li, saying that she was everywhere. "Mother-in-law, this girl is outspoken. Don't take it to heart. I'm going back first."
Zhulan really didn't take it to heart. Mrs. Li was also worried about her parents. She hadn't heard Mrs. Li talk about the Li family's situation, but she could guess a little. Mrs. Li Xu's hand further proved her guess. The Li family had too many sons, all of them grown-up men. After paying taxes and selling some of the grain for a year, it was really not enough to eat. "Mrs. Li is exactly what I wanted to say. Let's eat at home today. I've been away for so long, and we haven't talked for a long time. I was in a hurry last time and didn't come to your house. I'm embarrassed!"
Li Xu was very happy, and she admired her deceased mother-in-law again. Her mother-in-law had a good vision. Not only did she find a good mother-in-law for her daughter, but she also found a good relative for the Li family. Her mother-in-law had become a juren's wife, but her attitude towards her had not changed. She had been holding her hand tightly, so kind. "Look, what my mother-in-law said is so outrageous. What is the relationship between our two families?"
Zhulan smiled and said, "Since my mother-in-law said so, I should stay for dinner."
Zhulan said to Li: "Dinner is now up to you. Take out the roast chicken, braised pig's trotters and braised pork that you brought back from Pingzhou. Don't be stingy."
This is what Li planned. She has always had the final say on the family's meals. This is the right given to her by her mother-in-law. "Hey."
Zhao and Dong were both very upset. Zhao said quickly, "Mother, I'll go help my sister-in-law."
Dong also said, "Mother, I'm going there too."
Zhulan waved her hand, "Xuehan, go and help too!"
Xue Han responded, "Hey!"
Mrs. Li Xu looked at her daughters-in-law. It looked like they were going to have a big meal at her daughter's in-law's house today. Her mother-in-law even asked her little daughter to help, so her daughters-in-law didn't stand around either. "You guys should go and see if you can help in any way."
Li Xu's daughters-in-law were happy as they hadn't eaten meat for a long time. They responded and went out.
Mrs. Li Xu felt sad. "I made a fool of myself, my mother-in-law. I now understand how hard it was for my mother-in-law. People say it's good to be a mother-in-law, but I prefer to be a daughter-in-law. I didn't feel tired at all because my mother-in-law worried about me before. Now I have to be thrifty. Life is obviously better now, but it's still hard!"
Zhulan comforted her, "Everything will be fine. It will be fine after a few more years of hardship."
Zhulan did the math for the Li family. If they helped cultivate the Zhou family's land for a few years, at least all the unmarried people could get married, and they would have no problem having enough to eat in a few years. Of course, that was assuming there were no natural disasters or man-made disasters.
Li Xu smiled and said, "Then I'll borrow your mother-in-law's good words."
When Li Xu saw her three younger brothers and sisters coming in, she thought that they were all cultivating the land of their in-laws, so it would be inappropriate for them not to come and take a look. Moreover, since their in-laws had become juren, it was natural for them to come and congratulate them.
Mrs. Li Xu looked at the baskets in the hands of her three younger brothers and sisters. She had just come here in a hurry and had never thought of picking some vegetables.
Li Xu slapped her thigh and said, "Look at my brain. There weren't many vegetables in the yard after my in-laws came back, and I actually forgot about it."
Zhulan stopped Li Xu who was going home to pick vegetables and said, "There are three baskets of vegetables brought by my aunt-in-law. It's enough for us to eat. Please sit down, mother-in-law."
Li Xu was stunned. "My dear in-laws, do you mean to stay for a while longer this time?"
Zhulan nodded, "This time we came back mainly to worship our ancestors and to attend to some family matters. Once everything is done, we will return to Pingzhou City."
Li Xu wanted to chat more with her in-laws, "Why don't you stay a few more days?"
Zhu Lan was stunned for a moment, "Didn't my mother-in-law hear what Li said?"
Mrs. Li Xu was a little dumbfounded. "No, she just told me how great Pingzhou is when she came back, and she didn't say anything else."
Zhulan thought that Li probably forgot to show off because she thought so. She was right. It was only after Li returned to Pingzhou that she remembered the most important thing and didn't show off. She regretted it very much.
Seeing that everyone was waiting for her reply, Zhulan said, "The head of the family will participate in the Spring Examination next year, so we have to go to the capital in advance and leave in a few days."
Li Xu's heart was hesitant, and her voice rose a few notches, "Are we going to the capital?"