"I'll tell the village committee,"
Tian Jing waved dismissively, "Don't worry about this matter. Tell Xiao Bo and Ran Ran too, don't force yourselves into a corner."
"Yes, thank you, Mother."
The mother and son chatted for a while longer before leaving the nursery.
...
Back at work after the new year, there wasn't much to do in the town. When Mayor Li got off work on time, he was presented with a big bowl of wild chicken soup.
He looked at Mother Li with a flattered expression, "Mother, there's no poison in here, is there?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Mother Li chided him gently, her tone tinged with guilt.
"You have to manage a whole town, you have too much to do, you're too tired, and you haven't rested well. Mother feels sorry for you, drink it."
Li Zhengguo looked at his elder brother and sister-in-law, then at his younger sister and brother-in-law. He saw only disdain in their eyes, no guilt.
He knew his wife still hadn't cleared his name.
Forget it. His wife was already preparing to be a mother-in-law. If the people who misunderstood them last night knew that their argument was just playful banter before resting, he wouldn't be embarrassed, but his wife would be mortified.
After finishing the chicken soup and a large bowl of rice, Mayor Li called his eldest son to the study – the west ear room.
The purpose, of course, was to discuss his eldest son's attitude towards marriage.
Li Weihao showed no impatience. After listening to his father's lengthy lecture, he finally stated that he had changed his mind.
Upon hearing this, Li Zhengguo immediately stood up in a hurry, wanting to remind his mother.
Mother Li glared at her younger son, "Do you think I'm Minmin? Would I just blurt out something like that? And she's a minor!"
"Who's a minor?"
Speak of the devil. The subject of their conversation, the person in question, walked into the kitchen.
"What's it to you?" Mother Li squinted at her daughter and continued to cut the meat.
Seeing her mother ignoring her, Li Min asked Li Zhengguo, "Little brother, why did little sister-in-law ask Lin Duo'er to come into the nursery? Does she plan to have her work there?"
"Although that girl is discreet, her identity isn't suitable for working there, is it? Even though the nursery is short-handed."
Li Zhengguo shook his head, "Ask your little sister-in-law about this. She didn't tell me."
Li Min scrutinized Li Zhengguo carefully, "Little brother, you're getting old, really, very old. My little sister-in-law looks like she's in her thirties."
"Even if you're old, even if my little sister-in-law doesn't want to face your old face anymore, you can't resort to domestic violence, right?"
"Get out!"
Li Zhengguo pushed his sister away and turned to leave the kitchen.
He had just managed to put last night's incident behind him, and his younger sister had to come and remind him of his aging. How could he bear it?
Li Min stumbled from the push and fell onto the corn stalks at the mouth of the stove.
Finally regaining her balance, Li Min cried out plaintively, "Mother~"
"Serves you right!" Mother Li said without turning around, "You can help me stoke the fire."
"What for?"
"To stew meat."
"You just finished washing the dishes, and now you're stewing meat? What time is dinner?"
"Dream on." Mother Li finally finished cutting the meat and deigned to turn and look at her daughter.
"It's for Hao Hao to take with him. He's rejoining his team tomorrow morning."
Li Min patted her chest, grabbed corn stalks, and stuffed them into the stove opening. She picked up the lighter and lit the fire. "Fortunately, it's not for me. I'm so sick of eating meat during the New Year."
Mother Li shot her a sideways glance. "Back then, your little sister-in-law said you'd get tired of eating meat and rice and noodles eventually. You didn't believe her."
Li Min was speechless. Little sister-in-law was a fairy or a celestial being descended to earth, so of course what she said was accurate.
Even now, she still couldn't figure out what her little sister-in-law's true form was.
They say tree spirits can't leave the earth.
They say river spirits can't leave water.
They say animal demons eat people.
Perhaps, little sister-in-law's true form wasn't a demon at all, but a heavenly immortal who descended to save her family and the people in Kushan Mountain.
...
After sending his father to work, Li Weihao went to the kitchen to stay with his grandmother. His main purpose for coming back was to see his grandmother.
Knowing that his grandmother had specifically stewed meat for him, he thanked her happily.
Sensing a change in her grandson's tone, Mother Li waved her bothersome daughter away.
She and her grandson squatted by the stove, murmuring to each other.
Li Min eavesdropped by the kitchen door for a while but couldn't hear anything clearly.
Mother Li learned of her younger daughter-in-law's plan from her grandson and patted his shoulder.
"Your mother has been strong her entire life. She won't want to become a burden to others."
"It's good for Lili to stay at home. I couldn't bear to see her marry out. Her personality is more suited to taking responsibility than yours."
"You doing well outside is the best comfort you can give your father and mother."
Li Weihao nodded in agreement. He had been mistaken before, burdening himself unnecessarily.
When the meat was done, it was scooped into a clay pot. Mother Li then boiled a pot of salted wild eggs and packed some dried wild rabbit and wild chicken for her grandson to take to the mess hall for his teammates.
Li Weihao accepted everything his grandmother prepared, seeing it as her love.
The next day, Li Weihao left very early. He didn't intend to go around the village; it would take too long.
With so many things to carry, and the heavy snow in the back mountains, Tian Jing personally drove her eldest son back to his special team and then saw her younger son, who had no vacation.
The mother and son passed by Hot Spring Valley and visited Zeng Jingliang.
Zeng Jingliang didn't ask about the baby. Tian Jing felt that perhaps Zeng Jingchu wanted to conceal the baby's existence from too many people.
She wouldn't mention it either, as it would make it difficult to renege on promises later if she did.
Passing by the small valley, Li Weihao burned some paper for his maternal grandfather.
Ah Guang was in good spirits, exuding a calm and peaceful aura. Li Weihao simply told him about the developments outside the mountains.
Although the two detours had taken some time, Tian Jing's speed ensured they arrived at the camp before noon.
Since she was here, Tian Jing decided to visit Wang Huan and Ji Shiyi first.
Wang Huan gave Tian Jing some good news.
There were many ordinary people working here, both men and women of course.
Last year, a plumber in his twenties was hired. This plumber was quite talkative.
When he had free time, he would chat in the mess hall.
Since the mess hall operated from morning to night, there were always people there.
New arrivals at the camp found the silence here somewhat unbearable.
As they chatted, the plumber struck up a conversation with Wang Xin, who was twenty years old.
Tian Jing congratulated Wang Xin, who was looking down, and encouraged Wang Huan to do the same.
"You're twenty-three now, don't sell your youth to two younger sisters."
"Besides, here, safety is well guaranteed, and no one is stopping you from being good to your two sisters."
Wang Huan shook her head. "If Wang Xin can start her own little family, that's enough. I have to take care of my younger sister."
"Starting a family with someone else means taking care of them and their children. Why shouldn't I take care of my own sister?"
"My younger sister's physical deficiencies make her lack a sense of security. I'm unwilling to abandon her to take care of someone else."
"Even if I met a man I loved to death, I wouldn't abandon my little sister."
"I brought them out, so I have to be responsible for them."
Tian Jing couldn't disagree with Wang Huan's stance.
Many rational women were like this, firm in their convictions. They believed that since they hadn't been raised by someone else's family, why should they marry into another family and serve them?
While the logic of such women was sound, if all women thought this way, and men didn't change their deeply ingrained ways of thinking, how would humanity continue for many generations?