The eldest sister-in-law became rich by farming in the mountains

"I also heard it from your uncle Wu. When my mother-in-law was young, she was a famous beauty in the surrounding villages. Many young men were vying to marry her. In the end, my father-in-law and Yan Lizheng won. In order to please my mother-in-law, Yan Lizheng climbed over two hills every day to bring flowers to my mother-in-law!"

Xu Yingtao smiled: "It's quite romantic."

"What is romance?"

"Nothing, Auntie, please continue. Why did grandma marry grandpa in the end?"

Zhao was no longer sleepy when talking about this. She moved closer and said angrily, "It's all because Yan Lizheng is so stupid! He only does useless things. No matter how beautiful the flowers are, how can they be eaten? My father-in-law is smart. He also climbs over several hills to Zhoujia Village every day, but every time he goes back, he helps with the work and never complains about the hardship. Not only my mother-in-law, but even her parents' parents were moved by my father-in-law. This marriage is a natural outcome."

Xu Yingtao laughed, it turned out that Grandma Zhou was a practical person.

The two of them followed at the end of the team, chatting and laughing all the way, and before they knew it, they had arrived at Beixi Village.

In terms of wealth alone, Beixi Village and Nanxi Village are really the same, both are extremely poor.

At least the Feng family still exists in Nanxi Village, but every household in Beixi Village lives in a thatched house.

The only difference is that most of the people in Beixi Village have the surname Yan and belong to the same clan, while people in Nanxi Village have all kinds of surnames, making it a completely scattered village.

Walking all the way to the courtyard of Yan Lizheng's house, we met many people greeting Village Chief Zheng. It was obvious that the people from the two villages were quite familiar with each other.

There were also families whose daughters married to Nanxi Village. As soon as they saw Village Chief Zheng, they hurriedly asked, "Village Chief Zheng, how is my daughter doing recently?"

"Everything is fine. Miwa has gained weight recently."

When the family heard that their grandson had gained weight, they said happily, "Great, come to my house for lunch."

Village Chief Zheng waved his hand and said, "I'm here to take care of business today. We'll talk about it another day."

Soon, Xu Yingtao met the "quite romantic" Yan Lizheng.

The old man was wearing a rough but neat cloth shirt and a worn belt around his waist. Although he was not tall, he had a straight back and walked steadily, looking steady and reliable.

It is difficult for Xu Yingtao to associate this old man with "romance".

Yan Lizheng spoke first: "Old Zheng, nothing major has happened recently, why are you here again?"

The two had clearly met when they were collecting grain taxes some time ago.

Village Chief Zheng pointed to the group of young people behind him and said, "They want to go to the county town tomorrow morning. I will lead them to open the way."

Yan Lizheng was just like what Mrs. Zhou said, he would not take bribes at all. He just nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go get the list, everyone follow me in."

Xu Yingtao was a little surprised and asked Zhao in a low voice: "Aunt, can Yan Lizheng read?"

Zhao whispered, "Like my father-in-law, he also learned it in the military camp, but he knows more than my father-in-law."

Then she sniffed again: "Cherry, why do I smell chicken?"

Xu Yingtao whispered, "Yan Lizheng's family is stewing chicken."

Zhao smacked her lips and said, "It's not a festival, the food is really delicious."

Xu Yingtao smiled but said nothing.

After a while, the few of them got the pass with the seal of the village head and handed it to Zheng Wen for safekeeping.

Yan Lizheng's wife, Wu, poured water for everyone.

Xu Yingtao put the basket on the table and smiled at Wu, "Grandma Wu, this is the food I made myself. I'll give it to you and Grandpa Yan to try."

Wu was stunned and quickly refused, "Take it back quickly, we don't have that rule in our family."

It was Village Chief Zheng who chimed in, "Keep it. It's also a token of our love for Yingtao. This girl is very skilled in cooking."

Mrs. Wu looked at her husband again, and when she saw him nod, she picked up the basket and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll go get you a bowl, you guys sit down and take a rest first."

Soon, Wu came out of the kitchen carrying a basket with several large washed bowls in it.

When she looked at Xu Yingtao again, there was a hint of surprise in her eyes: "Did you make the green jelly and ice jelly?"

Xu Yingtao nodded: "Grandma, have you bought some to eat recently? Are you used to it?"

She still remembered that the people who were assigned to sell jelly in Beixi Village were the He family who had lent money to her family.

Mrs. Wu smiled and said, "Not only have I bought it, I have bought it several times. Everyone in the family loves it. I once asked He Si what the jelly is made of. He said a little girl in their village made it. He didn't know anything, so I thought he was stingy and wouldn't tell me."

Xu Yingtao laughed: "Uncle He's jelly doesn't come with any seasoning. I specially prepared the flavor this time. If grandma and grandpa like it, I'll ask Uncle He to bring it to you next time."

When the market in the county town is opened up in the future, we will inevitably have to trouble Yan Lizheng frequently to open the way.

As the group left Beixi Village, an ox cart came unsteadily from the other end of the road and headed towards the gate of Yan Lizheng's house.

After the ox cart stopped, a little girl of about fifteen or sixteen jumped out first. She was dressed simply, but exuded a sense of cleverness.

As soon as the little girl stood firm, she turned around and helped other people in the car.

The first person to come down was a middle-aged man in his forties.

The man was wearing a coarse cloth gown that had been washed bleached, his hair was tied up with a simple bamboo hairpin, his hair was already gray, but his posture was very straight, as if although the years had left their marks on him, they had not erased his transcendent temperament.

The man looked a little tired, probably because he was in a hurry.

After the man got out of the car, he raised his hand to help the woman in the car.

The woman was wearing a cotton dress with a blue background and white flowers. Her hair was neatly done up in a bun, with a few simple silver ornaments dotting her hair. It was neither ostentatious nor did it add just the right amount of gentleness to her look.

The woman looked at the pastoral scenery in front of her, and the fatigue from the days of traveling seemed to be swept away. She waved to the little girl who was traveling with her and said, "Yunlan, go pick a mint to cheer up your father."

Upon hearing this, the little girl immediately went to pull the lush mint on the roadside.

Ox carts are rare. As soon as they entered the village, many villagers followed behind to watch the excitement. When they saw the cart stopped at the door of the village head's house, some kind-hearted villagers shouted at the top of their voices: "Village head, come out quickly, you have a guest!"

Yan Lizheng and his family hurried out of the yard and saw the driver struggling to unload the boxes. They hurriedly called their son to help, then looked at the man sniffing mint and asked hesitantly, "Are you Yan Heng?"

Yan Heng bowed and said modestly: "I am Yan Heng, your honor to meet you, brother."

Yan Lizheng immediately grinned, put his arm around Yan Heng's shoulders and said, "We farmers don't practice such formalities. Come on, come with me into the house. Your sister-in-law is stewing chicken. We have to have a couple of drinks at noon."

After that, he turned his gaze to the woman and little girl standing quietly at the side, scratched his head slightly embarrassedly, and asked: "This must be my sister-in-law, and this little girl, is she Yun... Yun what's her name?"

Seeing this, the little girl hurriedly stepped forward and saluted, saying in a clear voice: "Hello, uncle. My name is Yan Yunlan."

Yan Lizheng nodded hurriedly: "Yes, it's Yunlan, it's all written in the letter, but I'm old now and my memory is not very good, don't blame me, go inside and have a rest."

In fact, he muttered to himself that the word "Lan" was unfamiliar to him. He didn't come across it often and he didn't recognize it.