Traveling through the mountains and farming

The three of them returned to the grocery store next door and hid the lard and pork in ceramic jars. In this way, they had purchased all the items they planned to buy today.

Then, they turned around and went back to the stall to pull the cart. At this time, Luo Dashan had just sold all his rabbits. When he heard Lin Wan say that she was going to the grocery store to pull up the purchased items, he expressed his willingness to go along to help.

Lin Wan did not reject his kindness. After all, they did buy a lot of things today. Although it was possible for them to transport them back by themselves, it would be difficult. It would be smoother if someone helped.

Then they pushed the cart back to the grocery store.

Together they placed the large earthenware jars, iron pots, and wooden barrels used for stalls, which were filled with things and weighed hundreds of pounds, on the cart. The brother and sister took the initiative to put the remaining few fragile ceramic jars in the backpack and carried them on their backs.

At this moment, Luo Dashan took the initiative to walk towards the front of the cart. He was planning to pull the cart, but Lin Wan got to the front of the cart first.

I saw her fasten the rope neatly and hold the shaft tightly with both hands. After a while, her face turned red from pulling the cart with all her strength, but the cart behind her remained motionless.

Seeing this, Luo Dashan, who was standing nearby, hurried forward and said, "Let me do it. This is too heavy. You definitely can't pull it."

When he was helping to load the cart, he already knew clearly that the weight of the cart was far beyond what Lin Wan could pull.

Lin Wan said a little embarrassedly: "This is really too much trouble for you, I am so sorry."

As expected, she had overestimated her own strength. Without help, she couldn't even lift the shaft of the cart, let alone pull it.

In the end, Luo Dashan was pulling the cart in front and Lin Wan was pushing it from the back.

As she walked, she was thinking that if she didn't have Uncle Dashan's help, according to her own estimation, someone would help her lift the cart, and she would pull the cart from the front while the two siblings would push it from the back. However, this would take more time and effort.

~

Half an hour later, they finally saw the big tree at the entrance of the village. Only children were playing under the tree.

During this period, adults either worked hard in the fields or weaved linen at home.

There are more than 20 households in Quanshui Village, of which more than 10 are local villagers, and the others are several families of the Li family, the Luo family and the Wang family. These families all fled famine and settled here 20 years ago.

The new settlers and local villagers initially repelled each other, but later on, after getting used to each other and intermarrying, they now generally live in harmony.

At this time, Lin Wan saw a little girl running towards her, glancing straight at the cart, and asking in an innocent but cunning voice:

"Li Ke, you guys went to the market, what did you buy?"

"I didn't buy anything. Clay jars, pots, wooden barrels and the like are all on the cart. Didn't you see it?" Li Chongle quickly moved sideways to stand in front of Li Ke and answered first.

"Didn't you buy some delicious food? My elder brother came back from his day off yesterday and bought some malt sugar for me from the county town. It was delicious." The little girl showed off proudly and with a hint of provocation.

The word "big brother" hurt Li Chongle and his sister deeply. Ever since the big brother left a year ago, Li Cui has called Li Chongbai "big brother" in front of them. She used to pretend to call him "second brother", but now she is too lazy to pretend and just calls Li Chongbai "big brother" in front of everyone.

Li Chongle frowned slightly, a trace of disgust flashed in his eyes, and he said coldly: "What do you mean your eldest brother? We only have one eldest brother, you are blocking the way, get out of the way." He didn't want to argue with him too much, because no matter who was right, they were always in the wrong in front of his father.

Lin Wan, who was standing by, realized that the little girl was Li Cui, the daughter brought over by Zhang. How could she smell like a green tea leaf at such a young age?

She approached Li Cui, lowered her head and smiled, and asked with a hint of surprise: "The big brother you are talking about, is it my husband Li Chongwen? Why didn't I know he was back?"

A hint of indifference flashed across Li Cui's eyes. "Isn't he dead? How could he come back? The elder brother I'm talking about is my brother Chongbai." Her elder brother Li Chongbai was studying well in a private school in the county. He returned home yesterday evening and is resting at home today.

Lin Wan smiled coldly, her eyes were cold, she leaned over and stared at Li Cui, and said:

“Since you knew that Li Chongwen was dead, you are still so cold and heartless, and don’t care about his death at all. He joined the army for his father and made sacrifices for the Li family. Even if he is gone, he will always be the eldest brother of the second branch of the Li family.” Lin Wan’s eyes became colder and colder, as if they could penetrate Li Cui’s heart.

She went on to say, "Haven't you and Li Chongbai been officially included in the Li family tree? Or has my father severed the father-son relationship with my husband? It's really shameful that you are so disregarding the order of seniority!" There was a strong sense of accusation and majesty in her voice.

When Li Cui heard Lin Wan's series of questions, a trace of panic flashed across her face, but she quickly returned to her indifferent look and said stubbornly, "I don't know, don't ask me." She avoided Lin Wan's eyes and did not dare to look her in the eye.

Lin Wan stood up straight, a mocking smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and she said coldly: "Get out of the way, we are in a hurry. Next time, if you still don't know the order of seniority, don't call people casually, and don't make others laugh at the Li family." After that, she no longer paid attention to Li Cui, stretched out her arms, put her arms around the shoulders of the two siblings, and turned to leave.

Luo Dashan, who had been watching the whole process from the side, followed along with a somewhat embarrassed look on his face.

After they left, Li Cui realized belatedly that Li Ke's new sister-in-law was scolding her, saying that she did not understand the order of seniority and brought shame to the Li family.

She was so angry that she quickly walked to the big tree, pulled her younger brother Li Chongsong and ran home in a hurry.

After returning home, she complained to her mother, crying and shouting how she was bullied. Then she ran to her brother Li Chongbai and complained to him with exaggeration, crying and asking them to promise to scold her back.

After listening to this, Zhang felt that Lin was truly a powerful character.

But when the matchmaker was arranging the match, she clearly said that Lin Wan was introverted and gentle in temper. But now it seems that is not the case at all. Just by listening to what Li Cui said this time, it is obvious that she is a person with sharp words and a sharp tongue.

At night, Zhang whispered in Li Changren's ear, her face full of grievance, and she cried with tears in her voice:

"Cui'er is not wrong. Bai'er should have been the eldest brother's. He and Li Chongwen were born on the same day, and he is also your biological son. Others may not know, but you know it clearly in your heart. It was you who did not keep your promise and come to my house to propose marriage in time, which gave my parents the opportunity to marry me off to someone else."

Then he continued, "Six years ago, I returned to my parents' home with Bai'er and Cui'er after becoming a widow. At that time, you promised me that you would treat Cui'er as your own daughter, so I married you with two children. I also made concessions and promised the Li family to let Bai'er rank second in the family tree."

Then she cried again: "But now, they actually dare to bully us mother and daughter like this!"

When Li Changren heard Zhang's tearful complaint, he quickly comforted her and said that now that the family had been separated, no matter what the name was, this family would definitely belong to Li Chongbai in the future, and this was an indisputable fact.

~

Lin Wan didn't know the inside story. With the help of Luo Dashan, they returned home safely.

Luo Dashan helped unload the large earthenware jar from the cart and moved it into the kitchen before leaving. He declined Lin Wan's invitation to stay for dinner, saying that he had to go back quickly because there were farm chores waiting for him at home.

When everything was sorted out, Lin Wan noticed that Li Chongle had been in a low mood since he came back from the village, and now he was sitting at the door in a daze.

Lin Wan walked over, squatted down, gently touched Li Chongle's head, and whispered softly: "Xiao Le, do you miss your brother?"

After hearing Lin Wan's voice, Li Chongle raised his head and said, "Sister-in-law, my brother will be fine. He just disappeared, not died in the battle, right?" His eyes were red as he expected Lin Wan to give him a positive answer.

Lin Wan nodded and responded: "Well, he is just missing, and your eldest brother cares about you so much, even if he encounters danger, he will definitely find a way to come back."

Although she felt that the hope of Li Chongwen coming back was extremely slim, she couldn't bear to extinguish Li Chongle's hope and gave a positive answer.

And continue to encourage him and let him have hope, "You have to believe in your big brother's ability."

Li Chongle looked puzzled and muttered to himself, "My elder brother's ability." Slowly, a thoughtful expression appeared on his face, and then he said, "I believe it. My elder brother is both civil and military. He is the best at studying, and his martial arts are also very powerful."

He seemed to have suddenly grasped hope. He raised his head, his eyes became bright, and a brilliant smile bloomed on his face, confirming with Lin Wan the fact that his elder brother was very capable.

"With both strength and brains, your brother will definitely come back alive." Seeing that Li Chongle's mood had improved, Lin Wan felt that waiting with hope was always better than worrying with sadness, so she continued to give him affirmation.

Li Chongle, whose emotions had calmed down, felt embarrassed again. To hide his embarrassment, he scratched his head and said unnaturally:

"Sister-in-law, is it time for us to cook lunch? I'll go wash the rice." She stood up and prepared to run away to cook.

Lin Wan quickly grabbed him and said with a smile:

"To celebrate the booming business of our ice jelly, we're having rice today. But we're still short of a wooden steamer, so I'll leave this task to you. Wait for me to give you the money and you can go to Uncle Wang's to buy it now." After saying that, she smiled and went into the house to get the money.