Transmigrated Leftover Woman in Rural Style

Here's today's update. Also, please vote for me in the Qidian 515 Fan Festival! Everyone gets 8 votes, and voting also earns you Qidian coins. I'm begging for your support and appreciation!

Li Xiaonuan sat there racking her brains for a long time, but couldn't come up with a single solution. Frustrated, she clenched her fist and pounded her head. How could she be so stupid? She'd wasted an extra life. The original owner of this body did know how to weave brocade. Although it was cotton brocade, if woven well, it could fetch a good price.

Unfortunately, Li Xiaonuan had to juggle housework and farm work while weaving in her spare time. While others could weave a bolt of cloth in ten days or half a month, it would take her more than a month or two. Because it was woven intermittently, the brocade cloth had some uneven joints and didn't fetch as much a price as cloth woven in one go.

As for embroidery, a poor girl like Li Xiaonuan could only make clothes and shoes a little more exquisite and embroider the simplest lace and leaves. In her memory, the original owner's most frequent embroidery patterns were dahlias and green bamboo.

The original owner of this body was able to save that money simply by picking honeysuckle and other medicinal herbs in the mountains to sell. Thinking of honeysuckle, Li Xiaonuan decided to go into the mountains to see if she could find any herbs. In her previous life, her maternal great-uncle was a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, and Li Xiaonuan had learned about many medicinal herbs from him.

Thinking this, Li Xiaonuan felt a sense of anticipation. It was a pity she couldn't go to the mountains today; she'd go tomorrow morning. Even if she couldn't find any valuable medicinal herbs, picking some honeysuckle would be good. It was honeysuckle season now.

While Li Xiaonuan was deep in thought, Li Xiaogang had already arrived outside the yamen. The area outside the yamen was quiet, indicating that there hadn't been any major cases recently. Li Xiaogang first went up to the yamen guards and inquired about the village head and the others.

Seeing that he was just a child, the constable told him that the village head and others were on business and asked him to wait aside. Xiao Gang wanted to give the constable some money so he could go in and take a look. But then he thought that money was hard-earned. Besides, Xiao Yang would tell him what had happened. So he obediently sat down on the steps in the corner and waited.

He sat there until the gatekeepers changed shifts. This time, it was an older man from the same village who came to guard the gate. Seeing that Xiao Gang was sitting there listlessly, even starting to doze off, the older man beckoned him over and asked, "Xiao Gang, are you waiting for Xiao Yang? Why don't you go inside and wait?"

Xiao Gang grinned sheepishly and said, "Hello, Brother Liang. That guy just wouldn't let me in, afraid I'd cause trouble."

The constable patted Xiaogang on the head and laughed a few times, saying, "Oh, that's exactly right. You're just a kid, coming here to ask questions on your own, no one would dare let you in. But I know you, so I'll let you in."

Xiao Gang chuckled upon hearing this. His simple-minded appearance only made the constables laugh even harder. Xiao Gang lowered his head shyly, his eyes darting around a few times before he looked up cautiously and asked, "Brother Liang, can I buy some food to take in? My brother and the village head haven't had breakfast yet."

The constable called Liang stopped laughing, patted Xiao Gang on the shoulder, and said, "Well done, you're actually quite considerate. Go buy some food. They won't be able to finish their business anytime soon."

Xiao Gang responded with an "Ai!" and turned to run into the street. He had already figured it out; he couldn't bring the soup noodles into the government office. So, he bought some meat pies and steamed buns instead. His older sister had asked him to cut a pound of braised pork, without specifying what kind, so he took it upon himself to buy the cheapest pork head meat.

When Xiao Gang returned to the government office with the food, the constable Liang Ge was chatting with another constable. Upon seeing Xiao Gang, Liang Ge asked the constable to take him inside to find the village chief and the others. Xiao Gang offered the man some flatbread and steamed buns, but he refused, saying he had just eaten.

Looking at the ten sesame seed cakes, ten steamed buns, five mantou (steamed bread), and a pound of braised pork head on the coffee table, Xiao Yang really wanted to grab Xiao Gang and teach him a lesson, telling him he didn't need to buy so much stuff. There were only four of them, including Xiao Gang.

Xiao Gang ignored Xiao Yang's suggestive glances. He used a banana leaf he had casually torn to pack two steamed buns, two dumplings, and two sesame seed cakes, and delivered them to the Wang family mother and son. As he put the things down, he said, "My older sister said that people need to eat their fill to have the strength to take a beating."

Actually, this was his own idea; he wanted Wang Tu to compare in his heart and then regret it for the rest of his life.

Wang Huangshi, who had originally intended to throw the things away, froze in anger upon hearing this. She glared at Li Xiaogang through gritted teeth, but faced with Xiaogang's simple-minded and innocent appearance, she couldn't bring herself to curse him. In the end, she grabbed a steamed bun and ate it with the cheap tea on the table.

Seeing that Wang Huangshi was willing to eat, Xiao Gang smiled. He turned to look at Wang Tu, tilting his head slightly. His slightly round face and pure eyes seemed to ask, "Why aren't you eating?"

Wang Tu was stunned, his heart filled with shame. Li Xiaonuan's words before he came to the yamen had shocked him. Now, everything her family had done spoke volumes: he was wrong, terribly wrong. Having come to his senses, he thanked her, picked up a sesame seed cake, and began to eat.

Seeing that the Wang family mother and son had started eating, Xiao Gang returned to Xiao Yang's side with satisfaction. He grabbed a steamed bun and, while eating, told Xiao Yang that Li Xiaonuan had instructed him to treat the village head and the others to noodles. Unfortunately, they didn't go out, so he had to buy something to bring in.

Li Xiaoyang also chose to eat steamed buns. He ate quickly and finished both buns in no time. When Xiaogang grabbed a steamed bun, Xiaoyang initially tried to stop him. Unfortunately, Xiaogang was quick and immediately put it in his mouth and took a bite. The village head and his companion had been given sesame seed cakes from the beginning.

When Xiao Gang came in, he deliberately only borrowed two pairs of chopsticks from the yamen runner who had led the way. Therefore, neither of the brothers ate the braised meat. When the two village heads put down their chopsticks and said they were finished eating, there was still half a braised meat, one steamed bun, and two sesame seed cakes left.

Xiao Yang knew that the village head and his companion had deliberately left these things behind. He accepted it calmly and told Xiao Gang to pack up the things. He thought he would have a chance to repay them in the future. Xiao Gang was obedient; he packed up the things and found a corner to sit in.

At that time, without computers and the internet, efficiency was very low. Therefore, it took half a day for the officials in the government office to finally verify the information of Li Xiaonuan's family. Only then did they send someone to summon Xiaoyang and the village head to come and reissue the betrothal gifts. Upon seeing the yamen runners, Wang Huangshi unconsciously became nervous.

The betrothal gifts were prepared in just a quarter of an hour. Afterwards, the court hearing began regarding Wang Huangshi's alleged deliberate damage to the betrothal gifts. With ample witness testimony and physical evidence, and Wang Huangshi's confession, the verdict was swiftly handed down.

However, Li Xiaoyang knelt and begged to exempt Wang Huangshi from the hard labor punishment. This put the county magistrate in a difficult position. He discussed the matter for a long time with the county magistrate and his clerk, and reviewed the old regulations. In the end, he replaced the hard labor punishment with a fine of twenty taels of silver.

Wang Huangshi kowtowed in gratitude, but she still harbored resentment towards Li Xiaonuan's family. Twenty taels of silver was a large sum for them, and it pained her to pay it. Her resentment turned into hatred when she was being flogged. They had already been exempted from hard labor; couldn't the Li family also exempt them from this caning?

Fortunately, after King Yi ascended the throne, he abolished the old custom of publicly punishing women by stripping them of their trousers. Nowadays, government offices have special areas for guarding female prisoners, and the officials there are all women. Similarly, female officials are also responsible for administering punishments to women.

Wang Tu had previously knelt and begged to take the punishment in place of his mother. However, considering the implications of this incident and to prevent more wicked women from committing similar transgressions, the county magistrate rejected Wang Tu's request. Filial piety must be applied appropriately to be considered true filial piety.

After twenty strokes of the cane, Wang Huangshi's dress was stained with blood on her buttocks and thighs. However, she was still in good spirits, hadn't fainted, and still had the strength to curse Li Xiaonuan. Wang Tu, on the other hand, was banned from taking the imperial examinations for five years due to his moral failings.

This was also part of Emperor Yi's reforms. He believed that those who admitted their mistakes and reformed, those who turned over a new leaf, could be forgiven. Of course, those who committed serious crimes were not included in this category. When Li Xiaonuan learned of this, she felt genuine admiration for this emperor.

By the time the matter was successfully concluded, it was already early afternoon. As the group walked out of the government office, a light drizzle was falling. The sky was dim, and none of them had brought umbrellas or raincoats. They were considering simply braving the rain to go back, since it wasn't far anyway.

Li Xiaogang tugged at Xiao Yang's sleeve and handed him the food. He ran to the stone lion on the left side of the yamen and pulled out a few large banana leaves from under its rear end. Li Xiaoyang was already used to Li Xiaogang's often unexpected actions.

When the village head and his companion received the banana leaf from Xiao Gang, they couldn't help but scrutinize him from head to toe. Unfortunately, Xiao Gang's simple-minded appearance was innate, and he often pretended to be foolish. Therefore, the two of them couldn't see anything amiss.

The two largest and most intact banana leaves were given to the village head and his companion. Xiao Gang then gave the remaining, better one of them, to Wang Tu. After exchanging a few words with the village head and his companion, the two brothers shared a leaf and rushed into the rain.

Following Li Xiaonuan's instructions, the two brothers bought all the necessary items and hurried home. Meanwhile, Li Xiaonuan, after serving her parents lunch, paced anxiously in the yard. When the brothers still hadn't returned by the time it started raining, she grew even more worried.

When Xiao Yang and his brother returned home, Li Xiaonuan had already created a waterway through the main room. The two brothers looked at the wet trail, then at Li Xiaonuan's mud-covered cloth shoes, and both laughed.

Confused, Li Xiaonuan asked, "What are you laughing at? Tell me quickly, did things go smoothly?"

The two brothers finally stopped laughing, and Xiao Yang was about to answer Li Xiaonuan's question when Su called them inside. Li Xiaonuan, curious about how things were going, followed them in.

Inside the house, the couple were already dressed. Li's father, Li Dacheng, leaned against the headboard with his back to a quilt. This was the only bed in the Li family, which they had acquired when they settled down.

Seeing that the three siblings had all found stools and sat down, Madam Su asked, "Is everything settled? Did you get your sister's birth certificate back?" She was asking Li Xiaoyang.

Li Xiaoyang nodded, and as he took out the new betrothal letter, he replied, "Yes, it's all taken care of. This new betrothal letter costs one tael of silver, all paid for by the Wang family."

Madam Su took the brand-new betrothal letter and examined it carefully inside and out before handing it to Father Li. After Father Li accepted the letter, Madam Su turned back and asked, "Was everything alright at the government office? Did no one give you any trouble? And did Wang Huangshi stop saying anything bad about your sister?"

[May 15th is almost here! I hope to continue my efforts to climb the 515 Red Envelope Ranking, and on May 15th, I can give back to readers with a red envelope rain and promote my work. Every little bit helps, and I'll definitely update harder!]