Chapter 323: Mending the Fences

, for over ten years in Xindu, I made my living as a merchant. Even if I join a caravan heading south, no one will suspect anything; they'll just think I'm back to my old trade..."The Lord nodded, “Al..."My dear daughter, you are so thoughtful. Just wait a moment for Mother, and after Mother grows new vegetables, I'll cook something delicious for you!"

"Good, mother is the best!" Jiayin rubbed against her mother's side, happily snuggling into her embrace.

Just at that moment, the courtyard gate was pounded, and in the darkness, the sound was especially clear.

Every household of the Li family had their lights on again. Li Zhensheng, Li Lao Er and Jiayi went out first.

It turned out that the patrol team was accompanying Liu Zhiheng. As soon as Liu Zhiheng saw the Li family members haphazardly dressed, he quickly said, “Oh, I'm so sorry to have arrived abruptly like this. I hurried and rushed but only made it here at midnight.”

"Where are you from, Brother Liu Come in and have a seat. Have you eaten" Li Zhensheng quickly opened the gate and led Liu Zhiheng inside.

Li Lao'er still wanted to show respect to the old men on patrol, but they refused. They just greeted him and continued with their work.

Although the grass on the mountain has now sprouted, it still doesn't compare to the sweetness of watermelon vines. There's nothing quite like enjoying a juicy watermelon.

To prevent the little critters from coming to feast and ruining the melon patch, the patrol doubled its manpower, constantly patrolling the field back and forth.

If it weren't for Liu's car team coming over and making such a commotion, they wouldn't have had the time to come over.

Li Lao'er turned his body and saw Tao Hongying holding Jiayin standing at the doorway of the side room. He said, “Sister-in-law, you've worked hard to make some simple food. There are still many Liu family managers and coachmen outside, who probably haven't eaten either.”

"Okay, second brother, I'll cook right now."

Tao Hongying put down Jia Yin, and Jia Yin took Er Bo's hand and went to the main hall to listen to the commotion.

Tao Hongying tied on her apron, just as Dongmei heard the noise and came over to help. The two of them started a fire.

I planned to steam buns this morning, so I mixed two batches of dough.

Luckily, the noodles are already cooked. Just put them in a pot and steam them. Then cook a pot of rice porridge, stir-fry a small bowl of salted mustard greens and meat floss, and it will be almost done.

Liu Zhiheng saw that the Li family was being troubled by him, young and old, no one could sleep peacefully, he felt very guilty.

"I received the message and couldn't bear it any longer. I immediately took people from Yunhe Town and came here. The carriage broke an axle on the way, delaying me for an hour; otherwise, I would have arrived in the late afternoon."

Li Zhensheng waved his hand and said in a low voice, "These things are valuable, you'd better take them away quickly, so that we can also feel at ease."

Liu Zhiheng, upon hearing this, readily engaged in conversation. He casually inquired about recent happenings in Quanzhou. As he listened, his excitement grew. "Zhen Sheng, when you've firmly established yourself in Quanzhou, I too will make the journey to visit. It would be an eye-opening experience."

Li Zhensheng was very happy to have many partners, "That's great! Although we are thousands of miles apart, there are many differences in our cultures and environments. There are many opportunities here for business. If we manage well, we won't worry about business being sluggish."

Liu Zhiheng still remembered the important matters and said, "It won't be possible before the autumn harvest. I will definitely go there during early winter."

At this time, Tao Hongying brought up the meal. Hearing that even their steward and driver had eaten hot meals, Liu Ziheng hurriedly thanked her, once again feeling moved by Li's family's thoughtful care.

Who wouldn't like such a person and want to be friends with them!

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Liu Zhiheng took his men to load the corn and potato seeds from Ye's courtyard onto trucks.

After a busy half night, the village finally restored to peace, and the Li family could finally get some sleep.

Jia Yin was exhausted and struggled to keep her eyes open, glancing at her mother who was diligently copying notes on the table. In the end, she couldn't resist Zhou Gong's invitation and fell asleep.

In her sleep, she was still thinking about how to start learning as soon as possible.

She can't always rely on her past life memories and the small courtyard to get by, being lazy all the time.

If one day, she really fell flat on her face and dragged the whole family down with her, then it would be too late to regret it...

When he woke up the next day, everyone in his family had already gone about their business.

When Jia Yin found her grandmother, the old woman was watering seedlings in the backyard. Seeing that her granddaughter had woken up, the grandmother hurried to help her wash up and served her egg custard.

After Jia Yin finished her meal, she took her grandmother's hand and said, "Grandma, Fu Niu wants to learn to write and embroider."

The old woman was surprised. She knew her granddaughter was a lazybones, so how come she suddenly wanted to be diligent

But regardless of the reason, it's a good thing that the granddaughter is making progress.

She immediately opened the storeroom and took out a box of embroidery thread and needles, several pieces of fabric, as well as a set of writing brushes, inkstone, paper, and ink, and a box of snacks. Then she led her daughter to the village head's courtyard.

Hui-niang had taken on a large embroidery commission from the Embroidery Studio earlier, and now she was sitting by the window, carefully embroidering.

It's said that Jiayin is going to start learning skills from her, and she is also happy about it.

Perhaps worried that Jia Yin was too young and lacked discipline, she only taught her to make purses at first, occasionally teaching her calligraphy when she had free time.

She originally thought that Jiayin would give up after a few days, but she didn't expect that the little chubby girl actually sat steadily, didn't cry even when her embroidery needle pricked her finger, and learned to write very quickly.

She was overjoyed. After carefully considering it, she taught Jiayin calligraphy and reading for half an hour in the morning, embroidery for half an hour, occasionally sketching flower patterns, and playing with a flower string, just to add some variety...

The sun rises and the moon sets, and the weather gets hotter each day.

Qingming rain, Dragon Boat Festival outings, time is like a rabbit chased by a fox, running very fast.

It seems like just a blink of an eye and it's already July. The grasses and trees in the mountains and countryside have transformed from new green to deep green, and the crops in the fields are now knee-high.

Outside the Shattered Gold Beach, in the melon field, jade melons have grown to the size of pottery bowls and are about to be harvested.

Li Laotai carried a basket, picking several tomatoes and a handful of emerald green lettuce from the new vegetable garden on her way home. Passing by the melon shed, she chatted with the village head for a few words.

"The weather is too hot today, I'm sweating just walking a few steps."

The village head chuckled, shaking his fan, and replied, “It’s July soon, how could it not be hot In another half month, we’ll be harvesting melons!”

Li Lao stared around and asked, "It's still quiet today. Nobody came to ask when the garden will open"

The village head beamed with pride, "These city folks are all eyeing our melon patch! They've got plenty of their own melons – big banyan trees and both Wang Zhuang and Xiao Wang Zhuang grow them, not to mention other places. But they all want ours. I'm getting fed up, so I had the second son set up a pre-order system, just like at Hot Springs Valley. Whoever wants one has to queue up, and we'll set the price later!"

The old woman couldn't help but laugh, "That's good too, otherwise the village would be bustling with people all day long, making a mess."

Speaking of this, the village head again asked: "I heard that the steward of Hou Mansion came, but is there something wrong with Lord Hou"

"It's nothing major," the old woman waved her hand, "Funiu's birthday is coming up soon. The steward came to ask if we were going to celebrate at home I figured that by then the eldest should be able to return. Lord and the fourth son would also be almost back to the camp. Let's set up a few tables for a banquet and celebrate Funiu's birthday."

"When this child was born, the whole family was fleeing famine. He didn't have a proper first or second birthday celebration. Now that our lives are better and we've planted many new crops, let's have Hongying show off her culinary skills and cook some delicious dishes for a big reunion!"

The village head nodded, “It’s time to celebrate properly. You know, we all in the village have benefited from Fu Niuer!”

"Let's say that much for now, and we'll see."

The old woman didn't finish her sentence, after all, with everyone in the family either studying, going on campaigns, or heading south, it was too difficult to get them all together.one quiet, or preferably skilled with a knife, to help him with the busy work of chopping vegetables.As for Jia Ren needing to add another slightly older assistant who can go out occasionally or handl...