The little Fubao in the deserted village made all the dignitaries in the court go crazy with envy

After the meeting at the village chief’s house, a 20-member patrol team would patrol in and outside the village every day.

Despite this, people will not feel at ease until there is good news from the government office.

The tension and panic that gathered over the villages never dissipated.

The end of the year is approaching in such an atmosphere.

The fire in the Lin family's main room was burning brightly. The door was half closed to block out the raging wind and snow, while the other half was left open to let the smoke out.

"In the beginning of human beings, their nature is good, their natures are similar, their habits are far apart..."

The clear voices of the little kids floated out from behind the door, in unison and full of vitality, brightening the snow outside the house.

"Uncle, what is the goodness of human nature?"

"So this is how the character for person is written: a pole with two legs underneath!"

"Giggle!"

Bai Xiang sat with her two brothers and put on the small jacket her mother had made for her. It was made of old royal blue fabric and had white orchid embroidered on the collar and cuffs.

The little girl with the sheep horns tied in her hair looked even whiter in her royal blue jacket, and the two boys looked like little black men.

The child followed his uncle in reading the literacy textbook together with his brothers. He would occasionally smile with his small teeth showing, and he would laugh so hard that he would fall down from side to side. His cute appearance was so adorable that it was easy to make people laugh.

Mrs. Lin was simmering medicine by the fire. When she heard the child's clear laughter, she would smile unconsciously and look over here. "It's good to be able to read and write. Whether it's a boy or a girl, the more you know and the more you understand, it's a good thing."

"Mom is right, that's the truth!" Zhang Cui'e responded without even raising her head while sewing the shoe soles.

Li Sulan teased her, "Mom will call you a flatterer later."

This caused laughter from everyone around.

No matter what the Lin family's mother-in-law said, the second wife was always the first to jump out and agree. She was like a treasured mother-in-law. This matter was known not only to the Lin family, but also to the entire village.

Zhang Cui'e was not angry at all when she was teased. Instead, she said confidently, "What a flatterer! What mother said is right! What I said is clearly the truth!"

"Yes, yes, it's the truth." Mrs. Lin shook her head helplessly and said with a smile, "You are not a flatterer, you are a spoiled child. You have acted like a spoiled child in front of me more times than your two children."

The people around him said, “…Hahaha!”

Zhang Cui'e snorted and raised her eyebrows proudly.

What about acting coquettishly?

Her mother-in-law loves her and likes to spoil her, so she likes to act like a spoiled child in front of her mother-in-law.

She was not loved in her natal family before, but only after marrying into the Lin family did she know what it felt like to have her mother’s love and support. In her heart, her mother-in-law is her own mother.

Thick mist rose from the spouts of medicine jars, and the air was filled with the scent of bitter herbs.

Mrs. Lin wrapped the handle of the medicine jar with a rag, poured the black medicine into the prepared ceramic bowl, and stood up and walked to the inner room.

When he turned around, the smile on his face disappeared and a suppressed sadness appeared in his eyes. When he pushed the door and entered the room, he suppressed the sadness and pretended to be nothing happened.

As they heard the door close, the smiles on the faces of the adults sitting by the fire also faded.

Li Sulan frowned, looking depressed and suppressed, "Mom is worried. I checked the remaining medicinal materials at home today, and the ginseng slices are almost used up."

My father's health depends mainly on ginseng slices to regulate his vitality. Without ginseng slices, the other medicinal herbs are of no use at all.

But ginseng slices are really expensive.

She estimated that there was not much money left in the house.

Mom didn't show it in front of them, but she was worried behind their backs, and they all knew it.

Zhang Cui'e lowered her eyes, the embroidery needle piercing through the thick soles of her shoes was heavy and urgent. She gritted her teeth and said softly, "I'm going back to my parents' home tomorrow! I'll have to dig out some money!"

"Don't! Have you forgotten what mother told you not to go back to ask for things? Last time you went back, you were beaten and had a bloody head. If mother hadn't got the news and came to your house with a knife to ask for you, who knows how you would have been bullied. Let's think of a way."

While the sister-in-law was talking, Lin Jiang lowered his head in silence, looking at the book on his knees with bitter eyes.

The second brother was on patrol duty today, and the eldest brother found a temporary job in town, so they both left home early in the morning.

Only he, also a man of the Lin family, could only stay at home and rot.

After his right hand became disabled, he became almost disabled as a whole. He could not do heavy work, no one wanted to hire him, and he could not earn a penny for his family.

Not only can he not be filial to his parents, he also doesn't have the ability to support himself.

He's a waste.

Although the kids were young, they could sense that something was wrong in the atmosphere and the sound of reading had disappeared.

"I still have more than a dozen embroidered handkerchiefs that I haven't sold yet. There's still half a month before the Chinese New Year. If I hurry up and embroider another batch, I should be able to make some money by selling them in time for the New Year." Li Sulan didn't pay attention to what was happening around her for a moment, and she and Zhang Cui'e were quietly calculating, "plus your eldest brother has some money from his short-term work, let's pool it together to solve this urgent problem first."

"Erhe can rest for half a month after his shift today," Zhang Cui'e gritted her teeth and said, "Let him find a job with my brother tomorrow! During this period, all the men in the village are going to the town in groups. It's safer with more people."

She was reluctant to let her man take risks. As long as the bandits over there were not eliminated, who could predict when they would encounter them?

But we can't live without it.

The situation at home is so difficult right now, we have to find a way to get through it.

"Mom, are ginseng slices very expensive?" The child's soft voice suddenly interrupted, and his head with pigtails turned in front of the two women, blinking his big eyes full of confusion.

"Why are you curious about everything?" Zhang Cui'e was impatient and answered without hesitation, while she stretched out her hand to block the child from the fire. "Of course ginseng slices are expensive. They are ginseng. A thin slice as big as a little finger costs more than a hundred copper coins! Hey, don't get too close to the fire. Be careful not to get burned by the flames. Song'er and Bai'er, take your sister to the side!"

"Be good, play with your brothers over there." Li Sulan touched the top of her daughter's head and gently pulled her away from the fire without continuing the topic of the film.

Living a life is the business of adults, and worrying is also the worry of adults.

Lin Jiang brought his little niece over and placed her on his lap, then opened the book and said, "Come, let your uncle teach you how to read."

Sitting on an adult's lap, his small body was firmly held by an arm, and his back was in a reliable and warm embrace. The unfamiliar experience made Bai Xiang dazed for a moment, and then his eyes slightly curved.

After coming here, many things are new to me.

She likes every new thing.

The little baby was happily shaking her feet and head in the adult's arms. Her pigtails were swaying and dancing with her movements. She was so adorable.

Lin Jiang's depression was mostly gone, and the corners of his lips curled up unconsciously. Even the faint herbal fragrance emanating from the baby seemed particularly pleasant to him, making him feel relaxed.

…Lin Jiang’s smile froze, and his gaze quickly fixed on the baby’s shaking lamb horns.

Herbal aroma?

He had smelled it once before. It turned out to be the fragrance coming from Xiao Baixiang?

But how could such a young baby have a medicinal fragrance on his body if he had not been taking Chinese medicine for a long time?

Lin Jiang's thoughts raced through his mind, his brows furrowed, and a cold look flashed in his eyes as he seemed to be thinking about something.

He only thought of one possibility.

Bai Xiang didn't have a good life before.

Maybe it was because he had an illness and needed to take long-term medication for treatment, so his family members disliked him and threw him away.

Thinking of this, Lin Jiang tightened his arms. The little soft ball in his arms made him feel even more pity for her.

Because he was immersed in his thoughts, Lin Jiang did not notice that he unconsciously used force with his right hand when holding the baby, but he did not feel the unbearable stinging pain as before.