Chapter 28: Bumper Harvest – Carefree Grass

At first glance, one load of grain may not seem like much, but it clearly revealed the difference between the rice grown by Li Youyin’s family and that of the other villagers.

Villagers rushed to Li’s house to see the rice that yielded more than five loads per mu.

The village head stepped forward, scooped up a handful of rice, and examined it closely. He saw that the golden rice grains were plump and not a single one was shriveled.

This made the villagers who had come along envious. Every year, the rice harvested at their homes was either small or shriveled, and it was hard to find grains as plump as those from Li’s family.

The village head put down the rice and patted Li Father on the shoulder, saying, “You are truly the blessing of our village! From now on, our village will plant rice using your method of transplanting, and we won’t have to worry about villagers going hungry anymore.”

After greeting them, the village head left with a smile, eager to boast about Li’s rice yield to the other village heads from nearby villages.

Although the rice that yielded over five loads per mu wasn’t from his own family, it was the result of the farming method of someone from his village.

The village head felt a sense of pride, as having such a skilled farmer in his jurisdiction brought honor to him.

He recalled how, when Li’s family first began transplanting rice, the other village heads would mock them.

Now, they had truly turned the tables, and he was happy, eager to make those old guys regret mocking him in the past.

In just a few days, news spread throughout the nearby villages that the rice planted with a new method by Li’s family had a yield of more than five loads per mu.

This reached the ears of the county magistrate, who was worried about lacking new achievements to report.

After verifying the truth of the matter, the magistrate confirmed that it had indeed happened in the village under his jurisdiction.

He quickly changed into civilian clothes and, accompanied by the scholar and others, followed the village head to Li’s home.

Li Fu had only met the village head, so he felt a little nervous when meeting the county magistrate.

He hurriedly served tea and invited the magistrate to sit. After learning the purpose of the visit from the scholar, Li Father explained in detail the reasons behind the rice planting method.

When the magistrate learned that the idea had come from a young girl who had just reached the age of maturity, he couldn’t help but praise her!

Before leaving, the scholar left a small box, saying it was a reward for the family, and then they quickly departed.

Li Father and Li Mother were stunned when they saw the ten ingots of silver—this was a hundred taels of silver!

They could only earn a few taels a month from selling rabbits, so they were astonished that the magistrate casually gave them a hundred taels.

Li Guo’er, who was standing beside them, said to her parents, “We may think that a hundred taels is a lot, but it might be impossible to save this much money by farming alone in our lifetime.”

“But for the county magistrate, it’s different. He is evaluated every three years based on his achievements. Without them, he would have to stay in this small county town. We’ve brought him new achievements, and he’s so happy he doesn’t even have time to care about this hundred taels of silver.”

After hearing their daughter’s words, the couple found them very reasonable and stopped thinking about it.

They quickly found a good place to hide the silver, as if nothing had happened.

As autumn gave way to winter, it was soon time for Li Guo’er’s wedding.

She was woken early by Madam Shen. Li Guo’er had not slept well the previous night—perhaps it was what the elders called pre-marriage anxiety!

After all, she had lived in the same place for over ten years, and now she was about to move to a completely new environment.

It was only natural for her to feel somewhat uneasy. Although she knew that Jia Qingshan treated her very well, even spoiled her a little, she still felt inexplicably fearful and nervous.

After washing up and putting on her wedding clothes, she sat on the bed waiting for the old woman to come and help her with her makeup.

When her face was being made up, it really hurt, so much so that Li Guo’er’s eyes turned red from the pain.

After Li Guo’er had her bridal makeup done, everyone in the room couldn’t help but admire her! She was such a beautiful woman.

Her skin was as smooth as condensed cream, her brows shaped like the wings of a moth, and her lips as red as the rosy clouds at dawn.

“Our Guo’er is truly beautiful,” her mother, Madam Shen, thought to herself with a heart full of reluctance. However, she still lifted the red veil off her daughter’s face.

Li Guo’er’s maternal grandmother had come today as well. Seeing her daughter standing by the side wiping away tears, she walked over, patted Li Mother’s hand, and said, “There will come a day when every girl marries. When you got married, didn’t I feel the same as you do now?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. Besides, you both live in the same village. If you miss her, you can always visit. It’s not like she’s going far and won’t be able to come back for years. You’re only separated by a short distance—why fear she won’t come back?”

Hearing her mother’s comforting words, Li Mother, with red eyes, replied, “Mother, I understand all the reasoning, but I just can’t control my emotions…”

Li Guo’er overheard her mother and grandmother’s conversation and said, “Mother, I’ll come back to visit you often.”

Li Mother patted her daughter’s hand and said, “What kind of bride always keeps returning to her parents’ home? If you keep doing that, people in the village will gossip. You’re going to your husband’s house, and they have no business with us.”

She added, “Besides, your husband’s family only has him, so he must be very…”

“I’m willing to come back to visit my parents’ house with you.”

Hearing her daughter’s shameless words, Madam Shen’s mood grew much lighter.

The noise outside began to pick up, and she could hear her younger brother’s voice shouting the loudest.

Li Wen was speaking to the groom, who was dressed in a red ceremonial robe, saying, “Big Brother-in-law, promise me you’ll never bully my sister again. Don’t let her shed a single tear. If you do, I’ll come to your house, take my sister back, and raise her myself. Only then will I agree to let you marry her.”

Jia Qingshan looked at his younger brother-in-law and smiled, replying, “I promise I will never bully your sister, my wife. I promise she won’t shed a single tear. From now on, I’ll handle all the dirty and tough work around the house. I’ll make sure to raise her up healthy and plump, and I’ll never give you the chance to take her back to your home to raise her.”

Everyone in the yard who heard Jia Qingshan’s assurances couldn’t help but envy him, saying how fortunate Li Guo’er was to have found such a capable and considerate husband.

In an inconspicuous corner, someone was watching the handsome and tall groom with envious, red-rimmed eyes.

Standing in the corner was none other than Li Mei, who had been the one to spread the rumor about Meng Shi causing a miscarriage.

The family that had initially been considering a marriage with Li Mei had rejected the proposal after hearing about it, and her reputation in the nearby villages had soured.

No good family came to propose to her, and now, at sixteen years old, her chances of getting married were running out. If she didn’t marry soon, she’d become an old maid.

In the end, Zhao Shi, out of desperation, quickly found a family from her side of the family to marry Li Mei off.

At first, the marriage wasn’t too bad. The groom was quite tolerant of her during the honeymoon phase.

But over time, the groom started to notice that Li Mei had many flaws.

Not only was she lazy and gluttonous, but she was also arrogant and disrespectful toward her parents, often arguing with them.

Soon, they began to quarrel, and at one point, the husband even threatened to divorce her.

Li Mei didn’t know what to do, so she returned to her mother’s house to seek advice from Zhao Shi.

On her way, she heard that Li Guo’er and Jia Qingshan were getting married today. She wanted to see the handsome man for herself.