After they heard about the incident, they chose to ignore it. In fact, they didn't think she could still have a good relationship with their family.
After they bought fabrics, they then went to buy meat to cook meat porridge for the baby.
On their way back, they picked up Mrs. Zhou and fifth sister Zhou from the town’s entrance. In the carriage, Li Qinghe told Mrs. Zhou about old lady Liu's injury. Mrs. Zhou frowned, then started thinking about something. When they got off at the Zhou family house, Mrs. Zhou said, "Fourth child, take your eldest brother and sister-in-law to visit the old lady Liu's place later."
The two looked at each other, Mrs. Zhou explained, "Old lady Liu's earned money using your elder sister-in-law's recipe. They had promised her before that they would help her for her financial needs after her retirement. Now that she is paralyzed on the bed and can't even get up, it's time that they keep their promise."
Li Qinghe knew that the silver, old lady Liu earned, as well as the house she was living in, was all bought by selling Mei Hua's recipe. Now that she was on the verge of death, it must all be given back to Mei Hua.
After listening to Mrs. Zhou's explanation, Zhou Chengkang instantly obeyed. Li Qinghe entered the Zhou family courtyard, intending to wait for him to return after taking both of them to town and then leave with him.
There was just a few days left before the fifth sister Zhou's wedding approached, so she can also help a little.. Mrs. Zhou was counting the dishes.
Zhang Haiyao was a little sour, "If it goes well, the elder brother and sister-in-law will be the richest people in our family."
"Don't think of vicious thoughts like tha!" Mrs. Zhou reprimanded and asked, "Should we serve fish or not?"
"No." Zhang Haiyao answered, "Fish is not cheap nowadays. No matter who in our family pays for it, it will not be a small amount."
If Li Qinghe was willing to bring the fish, then she would bring the meat.
Mrs. Zhou frowned, " Why can't we serve it? We are going to have a celebration in our house anyway. After I marry off my fifth child, I will live a leisurely life in the future."
After she ended the conversation, the two didn't talk about anything else.
After thinking about it for a while, Mrs. Zhou started again, "Let's not serve fish anymore. If you have money, help your fifth sister buy two feet of fabric."
After the eldest couple went to the town, they didn’t come back and decided to stay at old lady Liu's house.
Old lady Liu had no family and there was no one she was close to, in the village. She went out early in the morning to sell tofu and would return late at night, so she was not on familiar terms with her neighbors. The eldest brother Zhou and eldest sister-in-law Zhou moved into her house smoothly either way and no one said a word.
It was March 14th, and the atmosphere in the Zhou family was very lively. Since Li Qinghe had to take care of her child, she couldn’t help in the kitchen, so instead greeted the guests outside. Because of the sweet potatoes and the fish trade, there were quite a lot of people who knew her now.
Mrs. He also came to help out today and pulled her aside when she was free, "Qinghe, auntie has something to ask you."
Seeing that she had a serious expression on her face, Li Qinghe also restrained the smile on her face, “What is it?."
"Wasn't there a drought last year? Because of that our family's harvest was reduced to a big extent, and the food price's in the town were increasing day by day. I can't afford to buy food anymore. Can..." She lowered her voice, "you lend me some sweet potato slips?"
"It's not like I only have you to ask from, I can also borrow it from my brother-in-law or younger siblings, but they gossip a lot and I'm afraid that they will spread some weird rumor about me." She smiled bitterly, "We are also looking for partner matches for your cousin, and sister nowadays."
If others know that the He family was now in a condition where they had to borrow food to eat, no matter what the reason was, there would be some impact on the marriage of the children.
"Okay." Li Qinghe smiled faintly, "I still have a hundred catties that I can lend you."
Seeing that she readily agreed, Mrs. He's smile deepened. She patted her arm, and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll come and get it in a few days. "
The day fifth sister Zhou was getting married, eldest brother Zhou came back and sent his sister to the carriage, while Mei Hua stayed in town.
On March 15th, it was very lively even though it was early in the morning. Zhao Liyuan was surrounded by people who came in to congratulate the newlyweds. With the cheers from the crowd, the Zhou family sent the fifth sister Zhou to her marital house. Everything went smoothly, and the Zhao family was quite sincere in their commitment. Whether it was the sedan chairs for the wedding or the dishes prepared by them, they could be considered as the best in the village.
The event was quite successful.
Although Li Qinghe just had to greet and talk to the guests for two days, she was still very exhausted. She went back home to sleep at night. The next morning when she was about to get up and go back to the Zhou family's house for breakfast,someone knocked on the door.
When she opened it, it turned out to be third brother Zhou, "Old lady Liu is seriously ill in the town. The elder brother said that after the doctor examined her, he concluded that she only had a few days left to live. Would you like to go and see her?"
Li Qinghe agreed to visit. Li Qinghe and Zhou Chengkang took a piece of meat, put the child in Mrs. Zhou's care, and went to town.
Old lady Liu's house was not big, and there was only one servant to serve her. When they went inside, they saw old lady Liu lying on the bed, grunting in pain. When she saw the Zhou brothers, she said angrily, "I'm not dead yet, there is no need for you to pretend that you care. All of you are here for my silver, right? I won't give it to you."
"They are not here for your silver." Mei came in with the medicine, "Since you are an elder, they just came by to see you. If you still don’t want to see them, I will ask them to leave."
Old lady Liu raised her hand and pushed the medicine bowl that fell to the ground. Seeing this, Mei Hua bent over and started clearing up the mess . She then went out and quickly brought in another bowl. Old lady Liu looked at the medicine bowl and asked, "are you not irritated with me?"
Mei Shi shook her head, "It's just that you are going through a bad time, I can’t bring myself to blame you."
No matter what she said or did, Mei Hua had the appearance of a hard-working woman. When Mei Hua went out to see them off, third brother Zhou couldn't help but say, "She has such a nasty temper, why are you still caring about her? Why are you serving her so diligently?"
Mei Hua smiled, "It doesn't matter anymore, she only has a few days to live. And......" she looked around, "I've already found her wealth and hid it somewhere else. I will serve her well, and soon our mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship will be over."
Since she put it this way, no one could say anything else.
Two days later, old lady Liu passed away. On the day of the burial, Zhou Chengkang drove the carriage to the town. Li Qinghe and Zhang Haiyao both left their children at home and went to the town to join old lady Liu's funeral ceremony.
Many people said that old lady Liu was very pitiful. Her husband died early and her son also died before her. But luckily, she met a good daughter-in-law, who took care of her even when she got remarried. Not only did she send her to the afterlife, but she also brought her sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law to join the funeral proceeding with her.
After old lady Liu died, the eldest couple moved to town to live in her house. Everyone knew that old lady Liu earned all the money by selling her daughter-in-law's recipe. So, although a few people said some sour words to them, no one objected to them living there.
As for the person who pushed old lady Liu to the ground, had already run away.
The people who bought the recipe and tried to sell it on their own, were not as good as eldest brother Zhou. That was for sure. When it comes to eating and tasting food, customers will subconsciously buy from people who have sold it for many years. It was unreasonable of them to go to old lady Liu and blackmail her into giving the new recipe. Also, how can she come back from the afterlife?
It was the end of March when old lady Liu's affairs were settled. Li Fu personally went to his daughter's home and invited her to come home for dinner on the first day of October. He was going to spend his life with Liu Nizi now.
He didn't want to make it a big deal though. He just wanted to have a meal with his family and neighbors.
Judging from Mrs. Quan's attitude that day, Li Qinghe guessed that this day would come sooner or later, so she agreed to it.
Li Fu didn't feel good about this in his heart, which was clearly evident from his expression. "Qinghe, if you don't want me to settle down again, just tell me directly. In fact, it's okay, I can live alone."
"It's okay," Li Qinghe urged him, "You go back and get ready, I'll be there when it's time." Shen then asked, "Do you need any help?"
"No, I don't think I need your help." Li Fu was a little embarrassed now, "Your Aunt Liu will take care of it. She is a very good cook. After picking a date, I will ask her to cook the meal and then invite you to the house to try her food."
Li Fu was going to marry again.
When the news came out, many people were surprised. It was not easy for them to find a wife and he was getting married for the third time.
After the initial surprise weared off, they felt that he was only forty years old and he could marry again. And recently many people saw that he often went to his eldest brother's house, and heard that his new wife was chosen by his parents. This also helped Li Fu to ease his relationship with his parents and elder brother and in the future, their relationship would not be as bad as before.
When the day came, Li Qinghe was preparing to go to Li Fu's home. She saw a person standing on the side of the road leading to the village. The person was
- Mrs. Qian.
The last time they met was when she came to ask Li Qinghe to return the land. It had been a long time since then.
Mrs. Qian seemed to be standing here on purposely waiting for her, "Qinghe, you're willing to let your father remarry? I heard that the woman also brought her own daughter along. After the marriage, if your father will love her more,won't it affect you
?"
Li Fu would love his new daughter, but not like how he loved Zhao Wanwan, whom he treated as if she were his own. He treated Zhao Wanwan well purely because of Mrs. Qian.
Hearing her words, Li Qinghe shook her head, "I don't live at home with him anyway, so it will not hurt me. Out of sight, out of mind."
Then she started walking towards the village. Mrs. Qian chased after her in two steps and said, "Although I quarreled with you sometimes, I still treated you well, right? I did not treat you badly! Like other stepmothers who don't feed or give water to the children. I treated you like family ......"
A stepmother who didn't feed or give water to her stepchildren? If Mrs. Qian really would have done that then Mrs. Xu would not have let her off easily. Furthermore, although Li Kui and his son's relationship was sour, it cOULD be seen from Li Qinghe's marriage that he does not completely ignore his granddaughter.
Li Qinghe ignored her nonsense, Zhou Chengkang glared at her angrily. Mrs. Qian broke into tears and shouted, "If he marries again, I will be treated as a fool after all these years!"
"It was your actions that allowed you to live like this!" Li Qinghe turned back and said, "At the beginning, my father actually treated you quite favorably. It was you who wore down his patience bit by bit, erased the good impression of you he once had in his heart, and let him think that you are no more than what you show."
After hearing this, it was as if Mrs. Qian was struck with lightning and froze in place.
When Li Qinghe and Zhou Chenagkang arrived at Li Fu's house with their son, there were already quite a lot of people in the courtyard.
Although it was not a big event, they still borrowed a few chairs and tables, enough to set up four tables.
Liu Zizi was dressed in new muslin clothes. She had a shy smile on her face, as she served the food to the crowd, even though she was the bride.