Chapter 192 - 192 Tough Mother
192 Tough Mother
Li Yu looked at her and smiled. “Yes, I’m the wife of the new county magistrate. I bought that piece of wasteland outside the city. Today, I went up the mountain to look for water. I saw your village halfway up the mountain and wanted to ask if anyone would like to earn some money doing farm work. The salary is 15 copper coins a day. It doesn’t include food and drinks. Is there anyone willing?”
Everyone was stunned. The woman asked happily, “Madam, is what you said true?”
Li Yu smiled and said, “It’s absolutely true. If you don’t believe me, you can follow me to the county office and let the county magistrate prove it to you.”
“I believe you.” The woman smiled excitedly. “My family is willing to help develop the wasteland. My family has finished farming the grains.”
Everyone shouted at the same time, “Madam, when do we start working? We’re willing to go.”
“We can start work tomorrow morning. Let me tell everyone that I only need 20 people in my wasteland. I’ll bring you to see the location later.”
The villagers said happily, “Thank you, Madam! There’s no need to look at the land. There’s only that piece of wasteland at the foot of the east mountain outside the city. Everyone knows!”
At this moment, the woman led the three girls to Li Yu and knelt down. Li Yu hurriedly helped the woman up and comforted her gently, “Auntie, don’t worry. The days will get better and better.”
The woman bowed and said, “Madam, thank you! Without you, my daughter would have been sold to that dirty place.”
Li Yu looked at the mother and daughter and praised, “You don’t have to thank me. Someone said that women are weak, but as a mother, they are firm. I was only willing to help you because I saw you risking your life to protect your daughter. If you had endured it, I wouldn’t have interfered!”
Li Yu glanced at the man standing not far away and said, “It’s not wrong for you to be filial to your mother, but it’s wrong for you to sell your child. If your mother knew that the money for her treatment was obtained by you selling your child and her granddaughter, would she be at ease?”
The little girl standing beside the woman suddenly said, “Madam, my grandmother isn’t sick. She said that we’re all good-for-nothings and that it’s a waste of food for us to stay at home. It’s better to exchange it for money for my cousin to take a wife.”
Li Yu was shocked. “Really?”
The little girl said crisply, “It’s true. My second sister heard it and told me. Grandmother asked Eldest Aunt to call my father back. She said that her heart disease had acted up and asked Father to sell me and Eldest Sister to treat her. Since Mother is working in the fields, I asked my sister to call Mother back.”
The girl called Er Mei nodded and said timidly, “Eldest Aunt and Grandmother discussed in the room that they wanted to sell us so that Eldest Cousin can get married.”
Li Yu looked at the man and said sternly, “As the saying goes, the heavens are merciful and filial. In order to let your brother’s child marry, your mother pretended to be sick and so you would sell your child. As an elder, you still want to be filial. Do you know that you’re helping the wicked? You’re a muddle-headed worm. You can’t even protect your child. I think you’re worse than an animal!”
“That’s right! Dashan, you’re too confused. You sold your child without figuring it out.
“This person is too honest. He’s always being bullied. Sometimes, it’s fatal when his own family bullies him!”
The man looked as if he had been struck by lightning. His face turned black and blue. “I didn’t know. My mother said that she was sick and called me back from the field. Why did they lie to me? I’ll go back and find them.” The man turned around and ran.
“Madam, thank you!” The woman bowed to Li Yu and held the child’s hand before hurriedly following her back.
Li Yu agreed with the villagers to start work before walking into the city. When she reached the wasteland, she saw Zhou Jia waiting for her in a carriage. Li Yu smiled and welcomed him. “Why are you here? Aren’t you busy?”
Seeing that there was no one around, Zhou Jia held Li Yu’s hand and walked toward the carriage. “The meal is ready, but you’re not home yet. I was worried, so I came to take a look.” The couple held hands and got into the carriage, walking towards the city.
On the way into the city, Zhou Jia said in a good mood, “I spent a total of 200 taels of silver today. I mainly bought glutinous rice and cooked stone ash. The rest were clay dug from the river and mountain. The villagers in the county city are quite efficient. I think it will take at most half a month to repair the collapsed city wall.”
“That’s good. After the city wall is repaired, we can start building the county office. It’s not convenient to stay in someone else’s house!”
“Alright, Yu. When Shen Wu brings people to eliminate the bandits, we’ll manage Qingchuan well.”
The next day, Li Yu brought Yang Wei to the wasteland and decided on the location of the reservoir. She got someone to cut some bamboo and use a long wooden stick to break through the bamboo joints. She carried the bamboo tube to the cave and cut it diagonally before connecting it to the water outlet on the cliff. She guided the water down the mountain from the cave and even hired a few craftsmen to build a farm in the village.
After they guided water down the mountain, the day for the bandits to collect their food was approaching. When Zhou Jia and the village chief explained the situation, everyone expressed their willingness to cooperate. After Ruyi and Manager Ouyang returned from the Tiger Head Stronghold, they brought the newly recruited magistrate officers to practice some simple moves to deal with the bandits.
Li Yu left the construction of the farmstead, wasteland reclamation, straw fertilizer, and leaf fertilizer to Yang Wei to manage. She went home to prepare to deal with the bandits.
Xu Chun and Xu Gui rushed to Qingzhou. In less than half the usual time required, they arrived at the Qingzhou Prefecture.
After the two of them entered the city, they hurriedly returned to the Four Seas Bank and found Chu Jiang. They handed Zhou Jia’s letter to Chu Jiang.
Xu Chun said to Chu Jiang, “Shopkeeper Chu, you don’t know, but Green River City is dilapidated everywhere. The bandits burned down the city walls and the county office. Lord Zhou’s family is renting a place at the scribe’s home.”
After Chu Jiang read the letter, he said to Xu Chun, “The two of you go eat something and rest. I’ll go find General Shen Wu.”
Chu Jiang hurriedly went to Shen Wu’s house and handed the letter to him. He said to Shen Wu, “Little General Shen, Lord Zhou invites you to lead troops to help him.”
After reading the letter, Shen Wu said, “I received an order from the Grand General yesterday to lead troops to Qingchuan to suppress the bandits. The Grand General suspects that the soldiers who went to suppress the bandits in the past colluded with the bandits to harm the people. I originally wanted to leave tomorrow. Since Brother Zhou brought the letter and said that it was urgent, I’ll lead the troops to Qingchuan now.”
“Alright, bring some money over. Mr. Zhou said that he wants to borrow money to repair the city wall and rebuild the county office.”
Shen Wu patted Chu Jiang and smiled. “After exterminating the bandits, are you still afraid that he won’t have money? There’s plenty of money in the bandits’ nest.”
“That’s true. Xu Chun said that there are very few shops in Qingchuan City. It’s getting cold, so I’ll pack some fur, cloth, and cotton for Lord Zhou!”
Shen Wu laughed and said, “You’re so thoughtful. I’m just a boor.”
Shen Wu took Shen Yu’s letter and went to the camp to mobilize the troops. Chu Jiang got someone to buy good fur, cloth, and cotton and asked Xu Chun to bring them. When Shen Wu arrived at the city gate with his troops, they met at the city gate and rushed to Qingchuan.
In the Green Dragon Stronghold, Zuo Qing instructed his trusted subordinate, Uncle Cai, who was going down the mountain to collect food, “Uncle Cai, send half of the food you received over. Get someone to bring the rest back to the lair. I think General Huang is no longer in the Qingzhou camp. I’m afraid we’ll have to live a hard life next.”