Zhu Yuanzhang, who commanded the wind and rain, lived a long and arduous life.

In an instant, Li Ru's body trembled.

She looked at her daughter, then at the statue of the City God, and fell silent.

After a while.

Li Ru took a deep breath, lit six incense sticks, three for herself and three for her daughter.

"Xiaohan, repeat after your mother..."

As she spoke, she noticed that the prayer cushions were already in use. Instead of waiting for others to finish using them, she knelt on the ground, looked earnestly at the clay statue of the City God, and kowtowed and lit incense.

"Thank you so much, City God..."

Devout and grateful voices emanated from their mouths.

She was more devout than anyone else. The City God saved her daughter, allowing her to have a complete life, which was equivalent to saving her own life.

They are worthy of being called parents in the world.

After burning incense, Li Ru wondered if she had brought too few offerings while placing the offerings.

She used to feel ashamed towards her daughter, believing that she gave birth to her but failed to give her a complete life, and that it was her fault that her daughter was born with intellectual disabilities.

and so.

Every time she earns money, she spends a lot on taking her daughter to see a doctor.

The doctors couldn't do anything, but she insisted on seeing a doctor, even if there was only a 10% chance of saving her daughter... Even if there was no chance at all, she would still take her daughter to see a doctor.

This is what she owes her daughter.

Medical expenses account for almost a quarter of my monthly allowance, and this has been the case every month.

Because of this, the family always lived on a tight budget, spending all the money earned that day, and even if they didn't spend it all, they would save it for their daughter's medical treatment.

This habit of always earning and spending money today meant that sometimes when she couldn't find work, her family would have to go hungry for a day or two.

She was doing something futile, and some people even asked her if it was worth it.

Li Ru did not answer.

They simply changed the subject, while privately continuing to take their daughter to see doctors.

She always felt that this was something she owed her daughter.

She deserves this punishment for failing to bring her daughter into the world safely.

And over the years of medical treatment...

My daughter's illness hasn't been cured, and the medical expenses have been almost astronomical.

The doctor couldn't cure my daughter that day, even though it cost so much money.

Now that the City God has rescued his daughter, is it appropriate for him to only bring offerings worth a few coins or a dozen coins?

You should know that the City God not only saved his daughter, but also saved her, so that she would no longer have to spend money on medical treatment, and she could save that money for a rainy day.

"No, we need to buy some more offerings."

"Speaking of which, what does the City God like to eat again?"

Li Ru was confused.

She didn't know much about the City God, but there must be some folklore about him, such as the monkey loving to eat peaches of immortality and Pigsy loving beautiful women.

Those gods and immortals all have their own preferences.

Li Ru made up her mind to ask around among the people in the vicinity, or even the disciples of Tianyun Temple.

Once she finds out the City God's preferences, she can buy whatever he likes as an offering.

Just as Li Ru was about to take action, she noticed that her daughter, who had been standing obediently beside her, suddenly ran off in one direction.

"Xiaohan!"

Li Ru was startled and quickly followed.

After running only a few steps, the daughter stopped.

In front of her stood an elderly man dressed in a black Taoist robe.

Judging from his appearance, he seems to be the person in charge of Tianyun Temple.

The daughter... stood in front of the old man!

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."

Li Ru quickly pulled her daughter back and kept apologizing: "Old Taoist priest, my daughter didn't mean to block it. She used to be very well-behaved. I'm so sorry."

Regardless of right or wrong, admit your mistake first when something happens.

This is her survival experience over the years.

She was just a woman, all alone and helpless. If she got into a conflict with someone, let alone noble people like young masters, she couldn't afford to mess with even a man.

If a direct conflict breaks out and she gets injured, then the family's only support will collapse, and both mother and daughter will die!

Therefore, she dared not have any conflicts with anyone.

"fine."

The old Taoist priest smiled and was about to leave when Xiao Han tugged at the hem of his Taoist robe and trousers.

The old Taoist priest looked at her in surprise: "Child, is something the matter?"

Xiaohan was a little shy and looked at the old Taoist priest cautiously: "You are the old man from yesterday. You saved me."

“My mother said that you should thank people when they help you. Grandpa, I’m here to thank you.”

Upon hearing this, Li Ru was shocked.

what?

Is this old Taoist priest the same old man? Or the City God?

She was startled and quickly looked closely at the old Taoist priest's face, but no matter how she looked at it, it didn't resemble the City God's face at all.

Daughter...you must have mistaken me for someone else.

now.

The old Taoist priest was also somewhat bewildered, and indeed he was Zhu Changye.

Zhu Changye was very surprised. He had already concealed his face, so how did the little guy recognize him?

"Child, you've made a mistake."

Zhu Changye chuckled.

He was not one to seek credit. There are people in the world who help others silently behind the scenes, such as the poison well and undercover agents in later generations.

They all secretly protected people, leaving no trace of their reputation.

Zhu Changye didn't consider himself that great, but at least he was helping out with a small favor, and he wouldn't ask for credit for it.

"It can't be wrong!"

"You must be that old man from yesterday!"

Xiaohan looked determined.

This made Li Ru a little embarrassed: "This... Daoist Master, I'm sorry, the child is just being silly, I'll just..."

"No need," Zhu Changye interrupted with a smile.

He is a free spirit, and since the child recognized him, there was no need to hide it.

Zhu Changye waved his right hand lightly, and his face, which had been concealing itself, returned to normal.

Suddenly,

It looks exactly like the statue of the City God!

Li Ru's eyes widened: "Old man, you...you, you really are the City God!"

Zhu Changye laughed and said, "I am honored to be entrusted with such an important task by the King of Hell. I am indeed the City God of Yingtian Prefecture."

As he spoke, Zhu Changye looked at the little girl and asked curiously, "Child, how did you recognize me?"

Xiaohan, who had initially looked somewhat timid, became happy upon seeing the real Zhu Changye.

"Grandpa, I guessed!"

"My mother says this is called intuition!"

The little guy said happily.

Zhu Changye was slightly taken aback, then laughed: "That is indeed a simple and unpretentious reason."

“Your mother has suffered so much for you in the past, so remember to be filial to her in the future.”

Xiaohan smiled and said, "Grandpa, he definitely will!"

Li Ru, standing to the side, looked on with satisfaction and said with a gentle smile, "Xiao Han, you don't need to put too much pressure on yourself. Your mother is still healthy and can move around. You don't need to be filial to her."

"You should take care of yourself first. You've only just recovered, and you might have developed some hidden ailments..."

She was halfway through her sentence when Li Ru suddenly woke up.

Oh no, what did I just say?

How could he say that his child had a hidden illness in front of the City God?

This was healed by the City God, and you still have doubts...

Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! You have such a foul mouth!

Li Ru cursed herself several times in her mind, but quickly apologized in reality: "Your Majesty, I didn't mean to say that Xiao Han had a hidden ailment, I..."

Zhu Changye waved his hand to interrupt and laughed, "It's alright, it's normal for parents to worry about their children."

After all, my family went through the same thing back then.

In his mind, Zhu Changye added a sentence.

Back then, sometimes when the kids bumped and bruised themselves while playing, Chang Le would worry terribly, saying things like, "What if they break their legs?" She exaggerated the problem.

You're just scaring the kids!

Shaking his head, Zhu Changye stopped thinking about it.

"Alright, I have some things to attend to, so I'll be leaving now."

Zhu Changye walked out of Tianyun Temple.

Behind him,

Li Ru is still struggling with a decision, seemingly a kind of internal struggle.

After a long pause, his gaze hardened.

"Your Majesty, if I may be so bold as to ask, what do you like to eat?"

She shouted.

Zhu Changye stopped in his tracks.

He didn't turn around.

This startled Li Ru quite a bit. She secretly thought to herself that she should have known better than to ask. She was really bold to dare to ask the City God.

"Osmanthus cake, not too sweet, I can't eat it at my age."

A gentle, warm voice came from ahead.

After saying that, he left again.

Li Ru paused for a moment, then burst into laughter: "Alright, I'll remember that! Goodbye, City God!"

Li Ru watched Zhu Changye leave with a beaming smile.

She was secretly delighted, thinking that the City God was so gentle and had no airs at all; he was truly a good City God.

And what a blessing I must have accumulated over several lifetimes to actually be able to see the City God in person!

She was very happy.

"Xiaohan".

After a while, Li Ru squatted down, hugged Xiao Han's little head in her hands, and looked with her in the direction Zhu Changye had left: "Remember this from now on, the City God is more important than your mother, understand?"

Xiaohan nodded: "Mom, I know."

.

….…….….….….

the other side.

As Zhu Changye left Tianyun Temple, two of his grandsons were waiting at the gate.

He's a real grandson.

Zhu Yuntang and Zhu Bai.

"Master, you've finally come out! We've been waiting for you for so long."

Zhu Yunwen's face was full of bitterness.

Zhu Bai glared at him: "You brat, how can you talk like that? Being able to wait for our master is a blessing for us!"

"I...I..." Zhu Yunwen was speechless after being rebuked.

Zhu Changye laughed and said, "Alright, alright, you two stop talking. Where's Xiong Ying? I haven't seen him."

Zhu Bai replied, "Master, Xiong Ying came to see me this morning, saying he needed to help the old man with his official duties, so he won't be coming today."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Changye suddenly realized what was going on.

"That's fine."

"Since he's not coming, let's go."

Zhu Changye led his two grandsons out of the city.

He was going to take two people to meet Zhang Yishi outside the city.

Zhang Yishi was outside the city on a task assigned to him: to buy salt mountains.

Since arriving in Yingtian Prefecture, Zhu Changye has discovered that there is not much salt in Yingtian Prefecture.

It is a scarce resource.

There are clearly many salt mountains outside the city, and salt can be produced there if the methods are correct, but no one has noticed.

Those salt mountains were considered waste mountains by both the government and the people. Not only could they not grow crops, but it was also difficult for vegetation to grow. They were even more useless than barren mountains.

If the barren mountain is properly managed, at least some vegetation can grow.

Zhu Changye was thinking of buying back those salt mountains that no one cared about, making salt in his own Taoist temple, and then selling it to make money.

The Taoist temple receives donations, but it is not wealthy on its own.

Not to mention that recently, that money was also used to renovate the Taoist temple.

The Taoist temple doesn't have much money left.

That money wasn't enough to build the "orphanage" he envisioned.