Spring comes to the desperate place

It was already November when the potatoes were harvested. The weather had turned completely cold and the Song family's pigs had fattened up. Each of the three big fat pigs weighed more than 200 kilograms, and the heaviest weighed more than 280 kilograms, heavier than those of any other pigs in the village.

Last year, after we slaughtered the New Year pig, we stuffed it with a lot of sausages, and everyone said they were delicious. This year, we have three big fat pigs at home, and the family is planning to slaughter them all by the end of the year and stuff them with about 100 to 180 kilograms of sausages. We can keep some for ourselves and give the rest as New Year gifts.

Song Chunlin also started to count the seasonings in the space. Most of the seasonings he collected were supermarket stocks. He didn't look at them when he collected them. He just moved the unopened boxes into the space. These boxes were easy to store and could be stacked neatly without having to sort them out himself. But the downside was that if he wanted to find something, he had to take them out one by one and look through them.

The marinade packets at home were used up, so he rummaged through the boxes and finally found a box of marinated meat packets.

The weather is getting cold quickly this year, so Song Qin thought of braising some food in advance and putting it in Song Chunlin's space, so that she can take it out and eat it directly when the weather gets cold. Anyway, the things in the space will remain the same as they were when they were taken out. It would save her the trouble of heating up the food when the time comes. Song Qin can just cook some rice and stir-fry some vegetables and she can start eating.

Today, Song Qinshi braised vegetarian dishes, including lotus root, edamame, potato chips, dried tofu and kelp. She braised a big pot of each. Aunt Song also took out all the eggs she had saved, more than a hundred of them, and boiled them all to make braised eggs.

"Grandpa, are we going to braise all these eggs without leaving any behind?" Song Chunlin asked Song Amao curiously.

Song A-mo nonchalantly scooped up the cooked eggs from the pot and said, "They're all braised. Don't you like braised eggs? They're more delicious than boiled eggs. Anyway, the chickens in the backyard lay eggs every day, so we can eat them whenever we want. Besides, these eggs won't last long, so we might as well take this opportunity to cook them and save trouble in the future."

What Song A-mo said made sense, and Song Chunlin also said that he understood. The Song family had been eating these braised dishes these past two days. Song Qinshi was quite generous in cooking now, and she used plenty of ingredients, so the taste was naturally good. People passing by the Song family could smell the unique aroma in the air.

Gu Fengyue drove a horse-drawn carriage to the Song family, smelling the aroma of braised meat. He thought they were in for a treat today. He hadn't eaten such delicious braised meat for a long time.

"Brother Gu, I'm so hungry!"

A childish voice came from inside the carriage. Gu Fengyue lifted the curtain. Xiaojiu inside was touching his belly and sniffing the air like a puppy.

"It smells so good, did Auntie prepare something delicious?"

Gu Fengyue looked at his greedy look and couldn't help but laugh: "Get out of the car quickly, we are here at the right time, your aunt must have made something delicious and is waiting for you to eat it."

"Oh, okay, brother will hold me!" Xiaojiu couldn't wait to get off the carriage. He ran to the door of Song's house and knocked on it.

Although he was small, the sound of knocking on the door was urgent and loud. Song Chunlin was the first to hear it. He used his mental power to see that it was the Ninth Prince and Gu Fengyue, so he hurried to open the door.

Xiaojiu hasn't been to the Song family for nearly four months. He was in a hurry to knock on the door just now, but now that the door is open, he feels a little timid. He opened his round cat eyes and looked at Song Chunlin with a hint of timidity.

"Brother Chunlin." The kid called out softly. Song Chunlin was held in Meng's arms and rubbed against him madly for a long time, which made Xiaojiu giggle and even alarmed Grandpa Song in the house.

Grandpa Song came out holding Song Xiaobao. The first thing he saw was Gu Fengyue. It was not until Song Chunlin shouted "Hey whoosh" and pulled Xiaojiu up from the ground like pulling up an onion in dry land, and put him in the yard with a "thump". Gu Fengyue was frightened by his actions. These two were his ancestors. If they fell, he would not know which one to help first.

Fortunately, both of them were fine, and they were still shouting at Grandpa Song with a smile. Grandpa Song's heart melted when he heard the two little brats shouting at him, and he kept saying, "Okay, okay."

"Hey, Xiaojiu is here."

"Yeah, hello grandpa, hello Xiaobao."

Song Xiaobao hadn't seen Xiaojiu for four months. When he saw him, he was stunned for a while, as if wondering who this familiar-looking little brother was.

When Xiaojiu called him, Song Xiaobao finally remembered who the other person was. The feelings of human cubs would not become estranged due to a short separation. The two held hands and played for a while before regaining their previous intimacy and started running around the yard like good brothers.

"Don't run so fast, be careful not to fall." Grandpa Song was worried that the two would fall, so he followed them closely to prevent them from running towards the well.

Song Chunlin brought Gu Fengyue into the house. Song Dazhuang and Song Qinshi had not returned from working in the fields, and Song Chunsheng was still in school. Only the two old people, Grandpa Song and Grandma Song, were left at home with the two younger ones, Song Xiaobao and Song Chunlin.

Song Chunlin naturally didn't need the two old people to look after him. Grandpa Song was mainly responsible for looking after Song Xiaobao, while Grandma Song was busy in the vegetable garden in the backyard. The vegetables didn't grow well when the weather was cold, so Grandma Song thought of harvesting all the vegetables, drying them into dried vegetables and keeping them for eating slowly in the winter.

Although there are a lot of supplies in Song Chunlin's space, those things are enough for the Song family to eat for two lifetimes, but most of the Song family's daily necessities come from the output of their own land.

It’s not that the Song family doesn’t want to eat and drink well, but on weekdays there are still some friendly families in the village who come to visit. If they see that there is nothing in your vegetable garden, but you can eat fresh vegetables, eggs and meat every day, they will inevitably think too much.

In addition, the Song family had come from hard times and were frugal by nature. They did not feel it was hard to just grow vegetables and raise chickens, but rather enjoyed it.

Song A-mo came out of the backyard carrying a basket of vegetables. She heard bursts of laughter coming from the front and thought one of the voices was particularly familiar. She paused for a moment, then quickened her pace and came to the front yard. She found that it was indeed Xiaojiu. She put the vegetables on the ground in surprise and shouted to Xiaojiu:

"Little Nine!"

Xiaojiu turned around and saw that it was Grandma Song. He smiled and ran into her arms. Grandma Song's arms smelled of clean soap. Xiaojiu liked being hugged by Grandma Song the most. He felt that she was very much like his own mother.

Song Dazhuang and Song Qinshi returned home at dusk. Before they even entered the house, they heard the laughter of children inside. They thought it was someone else's child visiting, but when they walked in, they found it was Xiaojiu.

"Hey, Xiaojiu, you haven't been here for a long time. Come and see Uncle Song." Song Dazhuang was about to step forward with a smile, but was stopped by Song Qin.

She twisted Song Dazhuang's arm angrily and said with disdain, "Look at how dirty you are. How dare you come forward? Go wash up quickly and don't suffocate the child."

Song Dazhuang lowered his head and sniffed the smell on his body, smiled, and really went back to change his clothes.

Dinner was Song Qin's braised food. There were all kinds of braised food filling up the table. Gu Fengyue and Xiaojiu ate till their mouths were drooling.

After the meal, Gu Fengyue drank tea and said that she wanted to talk to Grandpa Song about Xiaojiu.

Grandpa Song looked at his husband, son and daughter-in-law and did not let them leave. Gu Fengyue did not care either. He briefly talked about Xiaojiu's life experience and suggested that the Song family adopt Xiaojiu.

"Adopt? Us?" Song Dazhuang was a little shocked. According to Gu Fengyue, Xiaojiu was a prince. How could they, ordinary people, adopt a prince?

"We can't do this, we can't do this, this is against the rules!" Song Dazhuang was so anxious that he was pacing around the room. He had never thought of having anything to do with the royal family in his life, and now suddenly a prince fell from the sky for him to raise, Song Dazhuang couldn't accept it.

Song Qinshi had the same idea. They were just common people, and the royal emperor was too far away from them. When the Ninth Prince came to visit before, she just thought he was a child from a wealthy family. Now she knew that he was not only a prince, but his biological mother was also the mastermind of the rebellion. Now when she looked at the child, she felt very complicated.

On the one hand, they felt sorry for the child who had lost both his parents at the age of four and was left helpless. On the other hand, they were worried. They had adopted Xiaojiu. What if he grew up and remembered his biological mother, tried to find out the cause of her death, and then resented them for revenge? What should they do then?

Should I sever ties with Xiaojiu, or let him drag the entire Song family down with him?

In any case, neither of these two results are what they want to see.

Everyone present had mixed feelings, and Xiaojiu, who was at the center of the topic, keenly noticed the change in the adults' attitudes, just like the palace servants. In just a moment, just a moment, those people's attitudes towards him completely changed.

Xiaojiu pursed his lips, looking like he wanted to cry but didn't dare to. His emotion infected Song Xiaobao who was standing next to him, and Song Xiaobao hugged his arms in fear.

Song Chunlin stood behind the two of them, touched their heads and calmed them down.

Then he raised his head and looked at Grandpa Song, and said to him with a firm look in his eyes: "Grandpa, let's adopt Xiaojiu."

Grandpa Song didn't seem to expect Song Chunlin to have this attitude. Looking at Song Chunlin's expression, it seemed that he had already made plans.

However, Song Dazhuang disagreed. He reminded Song Chunlin: "Xiaojiu's status is too high. We can't suppress her."

Song Chunlin was unmoved: "Dad, he is just Xiaojiu, the Xiaojiu of the Song family."

Song Chunlin did not tell Song Dazhuang about Xiaojiu's true identity. On the day of the rebellion, Song Chunlin heard clearly that Xiaojiu was the child of Prince Ru'an. Although he did not know how Prince Ru'an did it, it was beyond doubt that Xiaojiu's biological father was not the late emperor.

The new emperor will let Xiaojiu go and live because of the remaining brotherhood and a little compassion in his heart, but Xiaojiu will grow up eventually. If he continues to stay in the royal family, he won't have to look for him himself. Those people with ulterior motives will instigate Xiaojiu, and that will not be a good thing for either Xiaojiu or the new emperor.

In fact, the best solution is to kill Xiaojiu, but Xiaojiu is only four years old. A four-year-old child is ignorant. If the new emperor does not kill him now, he will become a disaster in the future. If he lives, the brotherhood in the new emperor's heart will be exhausted, and Xiaojiu will die anyway.

Song Chunlin was not interested in the royal disputes. If Xiaojiu had not come to the Song family and Song Chunlin had not gotten along with him, perhaps Song Chunlin would have resolutely chosen to let Xiaojiu die.

But Gu Fengyun had sent Xiaojiu to him, and he had developed a close relationship with the Song family. It would be too cruel to let Song Chunlin send Xiaojiu to death.

So Song Chunlin decided to keep Xiaojiu, but he still had some questions that he wanted to clarify.

"Where did Xiaojiu go? The emperor won't ask, right?"

Gu Fengyue shook her head: "Your Majesty does not want to know where Xiaojiu went. This is the best for him. Leaving him in the Song family is purely out of my selfishness. Only here will Xiaojiu be happiest."

Moreover, he believed in the character of the Song family. They were all kind and soft-hearted people. Even a rough man like Song Dazhuang was most concerned about Xiaojiu's identity and the safety of his family.

Knowing what everyone was still afraid of, Song Chunlin could only comfort them: "Grandpa, little grandpa, dad, mom, and big brother, I have a way to ensure that Xiaojiu will not be discovered, and will not implicate us in the future because of his identity. Xiaojiu is only four years old. How bad can a four-year-old child be?"

The room was silent for a long time. Grandpa Song looked at Xiaojiu who was timidly leaning against Song Chunlin, sighed softly, and said, "Forget it, the child has done nothing wrong."

The phrase "what's the child's fault" was considered as acquiescence to the result. The old man had made the choice, so naturally the others had no objection. In fact, when Song Chunlin said that he had a way to ensure that Xiaojiu would not be discovered, the balance in their hearts had already tilted towards Xiaojiu. Thinking back to the days when Xiaojiu came to the Song family, they found that they were not impossible to accept having such a child in the family.

When Gu Fengyue saw that they decided to adopt Xiaojiu, he felt relieved. He walked up to the two old people and bowed deeply to them.

"On behalf of Your Majesty and Xiaojiu, I would like to thank the Song family for adopting me." Gu Fengyue bowed deeply. This salute was not only to thank them for agreeing to adopt Xiaojiu, but also to thank them for the adoption, which saved Xiaojiu's life.

The young Xiaojiu didn’t understand what was going on. He only saw Gu Fengyue leading him to kneel down before Song Dazhuang and his wife.

"Come, Xiaojiu, meet your new parents."

Xiaojiu kowtowed to Song Dazhuang and Song Qinshi for a whole day in a daze. Song Dazhuang originally wanted to hide because he felt a little uncomfortable thinking of Xiaojiu's identity as a prince. Instead, Song Qinshi held her husband down, and the couple sat on the chairs and accepted Xiaojiu's greetings.

When leaving, Gu Fengyue told Xiaojiu: "Xiaojiu, from today on, you are a child of the Song family. Your name is Song Xiaojiu. Remember?"

Song Xiaojiu nodded. He didn't quite understand what it meant to be a child of the Song family. He only vaguely knew that he seemed to be able to stay in the Song family forever.

"Can I really stay here forever? I don't have to go back?"

"Yes, this is your home. You don't need to go anywhere else. Here, you will have grandfathers who love you, parents who love you, and siblings who can grow up with you. Xiaojiu, you have a home now."