Now, looking back, Lin Shu greatly admires the old man’s foresight.

The old man’s ancestors were escorts.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the old man followed his father to join the Rebellion.

After the movement failed, his father was beheaded, and the old man fled back to his ancestral hometown.

He returned home, married, and had children. Using his skills, he gathered a group of people and tried to start a business.

In front of Lu Family Village was an official road.

To the east, it led to Qiu Family Town, a necessary route to Qing County City; to the west, it led to Xue Family Town, a necessary route to Rong City.

To the east, there was another official road: south to Da Lin Family Town and north to Hu Family Wine Town.

These counties and towns each had their specialties, and there were many intermarriages.

The area was bustling with activity, not as conspicuous as Spring City.

The old man decided to open an inn and a large carriage store here.

At that time, Lu Family Village was not called Lu Family Village; it was renamed only after the large carriage store was established.

The old man was capable, wealthy, and well-connected.

After opening the inn, business boomed.

He was also known for his generosity and charitable deeds, earning considerable respect in the surrounding areas.

He spent his days out and about, secretly supporting revolutionary forces.

When the Anti-Japanese War broke out, he pretended to send his eldest son, who practiced martial arts, out to do business but actually had him secretly join the Red Army.

To deceive the Japaness troops, he pretended to be the village head of a goodwill team but used his connections to secretly support the armed workers’ teams.

At that time, the family seemed to have a large business, but in reality, all the money was used to support the revolutionary forces.

His second wife voluntarily gave him all her gold and silver jewelry, saying that she couldn’t see well and couldn’t appreciate the jewelry.

His first wife had one son and one daughter.

Three years after her death, he married the half-blind daughter of a rich landlord in the county city, and had a younger son and daughter.

This younger son was clever and studious from a young age, had attended private school, but was not interested in outside affairs.

He stayed at home to farm, manage the store, and take care of his parents.

He learned some simple medical skills from an old Chinese doctor, including methods like scraping, cupping, acupuncture, and massage.

He knew some commonly used remedies and could treat common injuries.

He also made special medicinal wines.

He was quite skilled in farming and raising livestock, lived and ate with the farm workers and store clerks, and was highly respected by those below him.

In 1947, to support his eldest son’s revolutionary activities, the old man voluntarily donated his family’s land and large carriage store to the organization, distributing it to poor peasants fleeing famine from neighboring villages.

The houses originally occupied by old workers and tenants were given to them.

Soon after, a sweeping land reform movement took place locally.

Many landlords who exploited farmers and colluded with the Japanese forces were executed.

However, the Lu family received praise from the organization, which allowed the old man to keep two courtyards and some grain fields.

Originally, everyone thought the old man would take all the rewards but he decided to donate the large, traditional brick house to the village committee and chose two other courtyards for his big vehicle repair shop.

Lin Shu thought the old man was quite clever.

The mud-brick house was small and inconspicuous, which meant it wouldn’t attract envy.

In reality, this was the best house besides the large one.

It wasn’t just made of rammed earth; it had a stone foundation, thick mud-brick walls that kept it warm in winter and cool in summer.

The beams were made of sturdy pine wood, and the roof was covered with black tiles, making it resistant to wind and rain.

The key point was that the courtyard was large enough.

In the future, when there are more children and grandchildren, they could build additional rooms.

There was also space to plant a vegetable garden or trees to supplement their income.

At that time, land was collectively owned, and each person could only keep a small plot for themselves.

People were reluctant to grow vegetables as they needed all their land for food.

Therefore, courtyards, front and back yards, and corners of the village were used for growing vegetables.

The Lu family’s courtyard also had vegetables, mainly ones that supplemented their food supply, like melons and radishes, along with some onions, garlic, and chives.

However, leafy vegetables like lettuce, green vegetables, and spinach were almost absent.

Recently, the previous owner had neglected the garden.

Others were busy working in the fields, and the in-laws were too heartbroken over their son’s death to care for the garden, so the vegetables had become wilted.

Lin Shu, as a time traveler, felt admiration and sympathy for Lu Shaotang but not love.

She lamented for a while and then focused on her own life.

She wanted to eat meat, and if not meat, at least vegetables!

Back then, there weren’t many pesticides or ripening fertilizers, so vegetables were all natural, each with its own flavor.

Fresh and delicious!

Without oil for stir-frying, she decided to blanch the vegetables in hot water and make a simple cold dish with some bean paste.

In the scorching summer, there must be cold dishes! Blanched greens, spinach, and cabbage; lettuce with dipping sauce!

Mix cucumbers, chili peppers, bean sprouts, and cilantro to make a spicy and sour salad with vinegar and soy sauce.

It was both appetizing and refreshing, making her feel energetic.

She decided to fill the courtyard with vegetables!

With such a large courtyard, she could plant peanuts and sunflowers around the edges for snacks.

She planned to prepare several vegetable beds, planting cucumbers, tomatoes, melons as fruits, and leafy greens, spinach, lettuce, chili peppers, and loofahs.

Eggplants, string beans, and bottle gourds could last until late autumn.

Root vegetables like radishes and cabbages were crucial for winter storage and didn’t need much effort.

They were planted in autumn and harvested in early winter, with every household needing to store a load.

She originally intended to exercise, so she continued digging the vegetable beds with a hoe, combining exercise with work.

Her two children woke up from their nap and ate some fried cicadas.

They didn’t go out to play but took small shovels to dig wild vegetables.

…to help mother dig the earth.

Panpan was digging while humming and soon began to play with bugs.

Tiantian was digging and busy educating her younger brother, “You can’t be so fickle-minded!”

The ground in the yard was compacted hard, and Lin Shu was so tired she could only dig a few steps.

Lin Shu thought of bringing half a bucket of water to moisten the ground, hoping it would be easier to dig.

After planting corn, it hadn’t rained for days. May was hot and dry, so the water seeped into the ground quickly.

Panpan became interested again, helping to water the ground with a ladle.

The kids were having a great time, starting to play in the muddy puddles, which made Tiantian frown in disgust.

As the three of them played and dug, a few little girls shouted from outside the gate, “Panpan, Panpan, let’s go dig for cicada larvae and catch grasshoppers!”

Among the shouts for Panpan, there were one or two for Tiantian.

Tiantian wrinkled her nose at Panpan and said, “Honghong, Juanjuan, Huahua, and now there’s Yuanyuan.”

Lin Shu: “…”

This kid is acting a bit strange.

She cleaned Panpan up, put on the little straw hats that Grandpa made for them, and gave them a worn green military canteen before sending them out to play with the other kids.

After the children left, Lin Shu worked hard digging the earth and preparing the vegetable beds, determined to work hard for her own needs.

Just as she was sweating and panting from the labor, she suddenly heard children’s cries coming from the road to the west, mixed with the sounds of children’s screams.

The cries sounded like Panpan and Tiantian.

Lin Shu’s scalp tingled with alarm.

Normally, she was patient due to her health issues in her previous life, but now she couldn’t tolerate hearing her children being beaten.

The screams instantly transported her to a scene where Panpan was being tortured by human traffickers in a cellar!

She couldn’t bear it!

The big shovel was too heavy.

She dropped it, grabbed a thick stick, and ran outside, her mind filled with the image of Panpan and Tiantian being beaten.

She couldn’t stand her children suffering.

Lin Shu rushed out and headed west, where she saw a crowd of children, all around three to five years old, not even a seven or eight-year-old among them.

At a glance, Lin Shu saw Panpan holding Tiantian’s hand.

The siblings stood outside the group of children, while a strong, dark-skinned little girl blocked their way.

About five or six little girls were beating two boys, scolding them as they did:

“Got a smart mouth, huh? Let’s see if you dare to bully Panpan again!”

“Yeah, running your mouth just asks for a beating!”

“Stuff some bugs in his mouth and make him stop talking nonsense!”

“Woo woo, my mom said his dad…”

“Keep going! Keep hitting!” The strong, little girl acted like a commander, pointing at the two boys on the ground and directing the other girls to keep hitting them.

She turned to Panpan to comfort her, saying, “Panpan, don’t be angry. I’ll deal with them for you. Let’s see if they dare to say anything again.”

Panpan nodded repeatedly, “Huahua, thank you! You’re as awesome as a female soldier!”

Huahua, feeling proud and just, was determined to teach those troublemakers a lesson.

Tiantian glanced at her brother with a cold look.

Panpan smiled sweetly at her, her expression bright.

Lin Shu wondered, “Is this kid a manipulative charmer?”

Eventually, the two boys on the ground begged for mercy and promised not to bully Panpan and her little army again.

The girls then decided to show mercy and let them go.

Lin Shu thought that as long as the children were playing well, she shouldn’t interfere, so she went back to continue digging the garden.

Outside, Panpan thanked each of the little kid, praised them, and said goodbye before heading home with Tiantian.

“Panpan, stay and play a little longer!” The little girls didn’t want her to leave.

Panpan replied, “I need to go home and comfort my mom. She heard what happened and is very upset.”

“Oh, then go quickly.” A little girl ran over and gave Panpan a piece of candy, saying, “For Auntie.”

Panpan didn’t take the candy and walked home hand in hand with Tiantian.

Tiantian whispered, “Mom must have heard what happened and is upset.”

Panpan whispered back, “Didn’t Grandpa tell Mom that Dad went to deal with the bad guys? Let’s tell her.”

Tiantian sighed, “Do you think Grandpa from the commune would lie?”

Panpan said, “He’s just a commune official. There are higher authorities like the county, district, province, military, and central government. He doesn’t know everything. Only the big leaders know.”

Tiantian’s long, curly eyelashes drooped, “But I miss Dad so much. I’ve never even met him.”

Panpan replied, “I miss him too. Let’s go home and comfort Mom.”

Seeing them return, Lin Shu thought about how to communicate with her children to avoid conflicts.

She realized that watching parenting videos didn’t provide real parenting knowledge, as videos could be staged or not applicable to her own children.

Panpan and Tiantian looked at her, “Mom, don’t be sad. Dad is fine.”

Lin Shu didn’t want her children to be emotionally hurt, “Of course, he’s doing well.”

To children, kind lies are sometimes necessary.

Soon, voices of quarrelling children and old people could be heard outside, arguing about whose child hit whose, or whose child had a sharp tongue.

Meanwhile, Lu Panpan was focused on helping her mom dig the vegetable beds, using her little white feet to dig in the muddy water.

Lu Tiantian looked at the mud spots on her pants from her brother and showed a face of disdain.

Lin Shu felt her heart soften, thinking how endearing her little ones were.

“Mom, I have a secret to tell you,” Panpan suddenly looked up at Lin Shu.