Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Before noon the next day, the eldest brother of the Li family brought good news. He had already agreed on the price and lease period with the lessee. Now he could go with Li to sign the lease and collect the rent.

Li immediately took her eldest brother out of the door in a hurry. In less than half an hour, the two returned with a deed paper with hand seals and three thousand two hundred coins.

Shen Yu took a look at it. Although it was in traditional Chinese characters, it was almost vernacular. He could understand the general idea, but he didn't know if there were any mistakes.

The eldest brother of the Li family thought that his niece was worried, so he explained the contents of the deed again and said, "This is the lease I specially asked the head of our village to write yesterday. He is a middleman who is used to doing these things, and he will not make mistakes."

Shen Yu felt relieved after hearing this and gave it to Li to keep.

Seeing that everything was settled, the eldest son of the Li family said that he had to go back to Lijiazhuang first. Lijiazhuang had horse-drawn carriages that specialized in transporting goods and people. If he went too late, he would not be able to get a seat in their carriage tomorrow. So he agreed to get up early tomorrow and come over with the hired carriage.

The family's land had been rented out and the luggage had been packed. Li sat on a small stool looking around, with a look of confusion on her face about the unknown future.

Shen Yu came into the room and saw Li's condition. He squatted beside Li, held her hand, looked up and said seriously, "Mom, don't be afraid. I'm here. We will definitely live a good life."

Li forced a smile and said stubbornly, "How can you see that I'm scared, little girl? I'm not afraid!"

Shen Yu didn't say anything, just smiled faintly, and took Li and the others to sort out the household appliances, putting the furniture and hoes and farm tools that were not to be taken away into the main house, so as to prevent them from being put in the kitchen and taken away by someone climbing over the wall. They worked until dark before they finished sorting out the appliances.

I made some multi-grain cakes, boiled water, took the iron pot off the stove, wiped the bottom of the pot, put it in a large basket, put the finished cakes and the water jar into the pot, tied it tightly with a rope so that it could be carried by hand.

After checking that nothing was left out and that everything they wanted to take was taken, Li stopped the task contentedly, and the family then went to sleep for a while.

Before daybreak, the eldest son of the Li family arrived driving a donkey cart, followed by a large covered cart, hitched to a large blue mule, which was fat and strong. The driver was a dark, thin and capable middle-aged man, not tall, but looked strong and powerful.

The eldest son of the Li family asked the coachman to wait in front of the door. He helped to load the luggage that had been packed early in the morning onto the cart. Mrs. Li asked the children to get on the car first, locked the door of the house with a big lock, and pulled it again before going out of the yard with the eldest son of the Li family, locking the gate, and getting into the car.

The car was very big, but Li couldn't resist wanting to take everything, so four people plus a bunch of bags and baskets filled the car to the brim.

The driver was not happy about this and complained that the load was too much and too heavy and demanded more money before he was willing to make this trip.

The eldest brother of the Li family said unhappily, "Liu Laosi, we agreed on a price, why are you asking for more money? You are so untrustworthy, who will dare to use your car next time?"

The driver was still hesitating there and just didn't want to leave.

Li immediately got angry and rolled up her sleeves to jump up and argue with the driver, but Shen Yu held her back and said to him with a smile, "Uncle, it's just dawn now. If we quarrel here, it will disturb the neighbors. Please let the car move first, and we can talk while we go. Don't worry, you won't lose money."

When the driver saw that the girl was not only pretty but also spoke in a gentle and sweet voice, and seemed like someone in charge, he felt too embarrassed to argue with her anymore. He jumped onto the handlebars and whipped the mule cart, and the mule cart started moving with a "clacking" sound.

The eldest son of the Li family was also busy driving the donkey cart behind to catch up.

At this time, some people in the village had already gotten up. When they heard the noise, they stood at the door and looked out.

Thinking of the viciousness and curses that the villagers had directed at her family, Li simply let down the curtain and did not greet anyone. Shen Yu huddled in the corner of the car and covered his face with a bamboo hat so that no one would see him.

The villagers saw the man on the donkey cart behind them and realized that it was Li's eldest brother who often came to Shen Xiucai's house to help with farm work. So they raised their voices and asked, "Brother Li, where are you going so early in the morning? Who is on the cart in front?"

Seeing someone asking, the eldest brother of the Li family replied according to what he had discussed with Shen Yu beforehand: "Well, it's my sister's family. The harvest this year was not good, so I took them home to live with them for a while, and I can take care of them. Let's get through this autumn and winter first."

The villagers said nothing and exchanged a few bland greetings with each other, praising Li for her good fortune and having a good brother, etc., and then the car drove away.

Li heard this in the car and whispered angrily, "Bah, he's acting like a good person again. When he was cursing the calamity star, his family cursed him with all their might."

Yu Cheng listened in and asked in confusion: "Mom, why are they still calling my elder sister a disaster star even though it's raining?"

After hearing this, Li just snorted angrily and said nothing more. Yu Cheng had no choice but to remain silent.

The car drove out of the village. Although it was a small road, it was much flatter and wider, and the speed increased. After a while, it turned onto the official road and both cars stopped.

Anping County is to the west and Lijiazhuang is to the east.

The eldest brother of the Li family was worried and wanted to send him off, but Shen Yu stopped him and gave him a blessing: "Uncle, just send him off here. Your car has no shelter. It will be cooler when you go back before the sun gets high. You have been busy these days for our move, and your niece is very grateful. If it weren't for you, how could we rent a field and move so smoothly!"

Li also advised: "Brother, just listen to Yuzhi and go back. You have been running back and forth for my affairs these days, which has delayed you for a long time. When you go back, I don't know how my sister-in-law will blame you. Just go back quickly."

The eldest son of the Li family had no choice but to give up. He repeatedly reminded them, "This driver is the uncle of Li Liulang from our village. He specializes in transporting people and goods. He is familiar with the road to the county town. He will take you to the county town safely. When you get to the county town, if someone familiar comes to Lijiazhuang, please send a message back so that I can know where you live. After the autumn harvest, when the work in the fields is done, I will go to the county town to visit you. If you can't make any money, come back to big brother. With big brother's food, you and your mother will never starve."

Li was the youngest in the family. Her two elder brothers had always given in to her and spoiled her since she was young. After Mr. Shen passed away, if it weren't for the elder and second elder brothers who came to help with the farm work from time to time, they would have been unable to make ends meet. If it weren't for the second elder brother who was too busy in the farm work to leave, he would have come to see Li's family off.

Li's eyes warmed up after hearing what her elder brother said, but she pretended to be impatient and said with a smile, "I know, my sister will never have that day. Brother, don't waste your time, let's go."

The eldest son of the Li family then got on his donkey cart, looking back every few steps, shouted, and slowly drove away.

Li stood there without moving. Seeing her elder brother going far away, she secretly wiped her tearful eyes, grinned, and called to the children to get in the car quickly.