Chapter 240: Changes at Home
With a jeep to get around in, the speed was unbeatable!
The 15-kilometer journey took less than half an hour.
They arrived back in the village right at noon.
The car pulled up at the entrance to the Li family’s old homestead. Li Yi opened the door and helped Tang Xue, who was feeling a bit car sick, out of the vehicle.
Inside the house, Zhang Guiying was cooking. She had just returned from the fields and was preparing to cook some congee and warm up the white flatbreads that Old Three had specially set aside for them that morning—a simple meal to get by on.
The autumn harvest was still in full swing, and there was no time to prepare anything else to eat.
Just then, the sound of a car engine outside the gate startled her.
Hearing the commotion outside, she immediately went out to investigate.
When she saw Li Yi and Tang Xue returning, she immediately came out to greet them with a smile.
While her son and daughter-in-law were away, she had been both missing them and worrying about them.
Although she didn’t know much about the Tang family, they were, after all, city folk, and reportedly most of the extended family were workers with formal jobs.
In contrast, although her son could earn some money, he didn’t have a formal job, and the Tang family might not approve of him.
What if her son was mistreated at his in-laws’ house?
What if the Tang family didn’t approve of Tang Xue being with her son?
So Zhang Guiying had been feeling uneasy all this time. If it weren’t for the great distance, she would have asked her husband to take her to find them.
Who knows which deity heard her prayers, but her son and daughter-in-law had finally returned!
As soon as they stepped outside the courtyard, Zhang Guiying grabbed Tang Xue’s hand and exclaimed, “Oh my, you’re finally back! I missed you so much!”
Seeing her mother-in-law’s concerned expression, and recalling the smug faces of the Tang family members, Tang Xue was suddenly overcome with sorrow, and a flood of grievances welled up inside her.
In that moment, she threw herself into Zhang Guiying’s arms and burst into loud sobs!
Zhang Guiying was taken aback by her daughter-in-law’s reaction. Patting her gently on the back, she asked, “Sweetheart, what’s wrong? Did that good-for-nothing bully you? Tell your mother, and I’ll see that justice is done!”
Li Yi, standing nearby, was at a loss for words. He could see that ever since he and Tang Xue got married, his mother’s heart had clearly shifted in her favor!
Perhaps, in his mother’s eyes, Tang Xue marrying into the Li family was nothing short of a blessing from the Li family’s ancestral graves!
Or perhaps she felt he had wronged Tang Xue, so whether it was his mother or his old father, they were both incredibly kind to Tang Xue, while his own standing in the family had plummeted.
Of course, it could also be that Tang Xue was now carrying the Li family’s child—in the eyes of the elders, nothing mattered more than that!
Seeing that her mother-in-law had misunderstood, Tang Xue hurriedly said, “Mother, he didn’t mistreat me. It was my family…”
Before Tang Xue could finish, Zhang Guiying already understood what had happened. She immediately said, “Don’t cry. If you were wronged over there, we’ll just ignore them from now on!”
With that, she took Tang Xue’s hand and led her into the house!
Li Yi shook his head, then, with Li Gang’s help, unloaded the items from the car and carried them into the house!
After bringing everything inside, Li Yi had intended to invite Li Gang to stay for a while, have a meal, and then head back.
But Li Gang declined; he only stayed inside for a short while before driving off!
After seeing Li Gang off, Li Yi immediately asked his mother about the rest of the family.
He learned that his father was digging potatoes in the fields at the west end of the village, as arranged by the production team.
His mother had actually just returned herself; she was planning to cook a quick meal before heading back to the fields to continue working, and she’d also have to bring lunch to his father.
His second older sister was at the new house, and his third older sister had gone to the county seat to set up a stall!
“Mom, didn’t I tell you all not to go out to the fields and suffer like that?”
Li Yi continued, “We’re not short on food at home anyway, and since neither you nor Dad are in the best of health, there’s no need to work yourselves to the bone for a little money and grain.”
As she stoked the fire to cook the porridge, Mother said, “I know you can earn money, and we’re not short of food, but it’s harvest season right now. The village is short-handed everywhere—how can we just sit at home doing nothing?”
“Besides, there are less than 200 mu of potatoes left. Once we’re done with those, we’ll be all set!”
“Hmm, all right then!”
By then, the porridge in the pot was almost ready!
Mother lifted the lid, scooped two portions into lunchboxes, grabbed a few warm white flatbreads, and placed them in a basket.
“I didn’t know you’d be coming back today, so I didn’t have time to make a proper meal. Just have this for now, and I’ll cook something proper for you when I get back tonight!”
Then Mother added, “Xiao Yi, when you have a moment later, go over to the new house. Your second sister’s been on her own these past few days and is a bit overwhelmed!”
“Sure!”
With that, Mother hurried off, carrying the basket!
Knowing that his father was still waiting in the fields for dinner, Li Yi didn’t try to stop her.
Actually, it was much the same every year during the autumn harvest—everyone was busy, so there was no point in saying anything.
After his mother left, Li Yi served Tang Xue a bowl of porridge, scooped two heaping spoonfuls of brown sugar from the family’s sugar jar, stirred it in thoroughly, and then brought it over to her.
By then, Tang Xue had calmed down a bit and said, “Let’s eat quickly, and then take some over to Second Sister!”
“Sure!”
Perhaps they were truly hungry; the simple millet porridge paired with plain flatbreads had both of them eating with great relish!
After the meal, Li Yi had originally planned to go over alone, but to his surprise, Tang Xue insisted on going with him.
So, carrying their lunch in a lunchbox, the two headed straight for the new house!
At the Li family’s new house, Li Lan was packing up the mushrooms that had been dried in the sun, while Shitou and Qiangzi helped out nearby!
As the weather had turned cooler recently, the mushroom yield had dropped significantly.
More importantly, as per Li Yi’s instructions, once school started in September, all the school-age children had to return to their studies.
So, on the children’s side, only seven or eight older kids who had dropped out of school were still picking, but even they couldn’t gather as much as 200 jin in a whole day!
The situation in the village is much the same. Although picking mushrooms and other wild produce is quite profitable, after the autumn harvest in September, the village issued a notice prohibiting mushroom picking so that everyone could focus on harvesting the grain.
Consequently, their mushroom business has been significantly impacted over the past month.
Even so, the dried mushrooms have nearly filled every room in the Li household.
Just as everyone was busy, Shitou suddenly exclaimed with delight, “Oh, Brother Yi is back!”
Hearing the commotion, Li Lan immediately came out of the drying shed and saw her younger brother, Li Yi, walking toward them with his wife.
She quickly brushed the dust and dirt off her clothes and went to greet them!
“When did you get back? Why didn’t you let us know beforehand!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Just walked in!”
Li Yi then glanced at Shitou, Qiangzi, and the others before adding, “I didn’t expect you guys to be here too—I didn’t bring enough food!”
Qiangzi replied with a smile, “No problem—we’ll just go back and eat with you later!”
“Okay, let the others know to come over to my place tonight. I need to talk to you guys about something!” Li Yi said.
“Got it!”
After that, the guys chatted with Li Yi for a few more minutes before heading back one by one to eat.
Otherwise, with them there, Sister Lan wouldn’t feel comfortable eating alone!
After watching the younger guys leave, Li Yi immediately asked Second Sister about business matters!