Green Lotus Peasant Girl

82

The remaining two people in the room were not surprised by hearing her words.. Mrs. Xu nodded and continued, "They have already departed for the county. Did your father not promise to take you too?"

If he did, she wouldn't be here right now.

"They will not kick me out once I reach the county." Zhang Haiyao took a deep breath and said, "Auntie, I want to go with you as well."

After departing for the county with Mrs. Xu, far away from the Wang Village, no matter how dissatisfied the Zhang family was, they had to let her enter the house first. Once she entered the house, the situation would be as she had described. How can they possibly drive her out?

But if it wasn't for Mrs. Xu, she might not have even been allowed to enter the house.

"Actually, I am not sure about when I will go. I told your eldest uncle to wait until Qinghe had given birth to the child that would be around October, so there is more than a month left." Mrs. Xu explained patiently, "By then, a carriage will be sent from the countryside to pick us, mother and son."

Zhang Haiyao's eyes lit up and she grabbed her hand, "Auntie, you must help me this time."

"What about your child?" Li Qinghe couldn't help but ask. It had been more than a year since her daughter was born and the child had already started walking. The little girl was fair and chubby. It was clear that she didn't treat her daughter poorly.

Zhang Haiyao was silent for a while, "After I settle down in the county, I will come back to pick up the father and daughter."

While she was leaving, she repeatedly instructed, "Auntie, you really have to help me this time and I will make sure to repay you in the future."

They watched her go out and then closed the door. Mrs. Xu shook her head in denial, "The county is so far away, why does she want to go through this trouble? If it wasn’t for Bin'er, I really wouldn’t want to go either."

It would be profitable for Bin'er to study in the county town as the teachers and the environment over there were better. It was not as difficult as comparing the education of Hu Yanxi, who had spent a year in the county.

Li Qinghe's body was getting better day by day. After a few days, she was able to get out of bed and walk around. Mrs. Xu stayed with them all this while. Zhou Chengkang was the one who cooked for her every day while Mrs. Zhou cooked for the rest of them. After the child was ten days old, Mrs. Xu made a trip back to the town to pick up her son, along with the old maidservant.

After all, women were the ones who cook and clean at home.

Though Mrs. Xu was a guest, it was still impolite to ask Mrs. Zhou for help with cooking. In private, she whispered to Li Qinghe, "I am always a guest here, so I think you should cook for me, that's all. You now have a mother-in-law, and our relationship has grown more distant because of this. Food is not easy to prepare, we cook a lot of meat and fishes daily. It’s difficult and she might feel reluctant to do all this work. Maybe we can have a maidservant to do all the work instead.."

Though the situation seemed odd, it was indeed the truth. Agreeing, Li Qinghe fetched a silver and handed it to Mrs. Xu to pay the maidservant. However, Mrs. Xu didn’t accept it..

Mrs. Zhou originally planned to help Li Qinghe while she was resting after the labour, but now that there was a maidservant to look after her, she would go back to Zhou's house and come over once every two or three days.

Time passed gradually. In addition to Li Qinghe's improving health, the child was growing healthy and pretty as well. Lin Zhixian came again just before the full moon celebration. He gave them a congratulatory gift not only for her child's birth but also for her help and methods of growing sweet potatoes during the calamity. Their village was the least affected among the others. Therefore, as a token of gratitude, all the land under the name of Li Qinghe and Zhou Chengakng would be exempted from tax for the next 30 years. He also announced that if there were any special or new methods for farming that would boost the production of grains must be shared. Depending on the success of the shared method after a trial, the tax would be reduced or exempted for the same in return.