m the onlookers."Hu...Hu Laosan"This man was none other than Hu Lao San, who had been driven out of the squad for his selfishness and inaction in the face of death.When the villagers ventured into the...more than

Li Lao Tai suddenly regretted it.

She's so absent-minded, how could she just blurt that out...

Old Mrs. Li quickly pulled Jia Yi to her side and patted his back gently, comforting him: "Jia Yi, don't be sad. Your mother is truly gone... When you and your elder brother just left home, we received the news. Your fourth uncle rode a horse searching at all four city gates but couldn't find you both, so he missed it..."

Jia Yi took a deep breath, suppressing the shock and complexity in his heart. He replied softly, "Grandma, don't worry, I'm fine. It's just... I didn't expect to hear from my mother again. She passed away."

The old woman also sighed, recalling the days of chaos. "This matter is really complicated. Let your father tell you and your son in detail sometime,"

Jia Yi nodded. Li Lao Er saw his son's despondent state and couldn't bear it, so he got up and pulled his son, "Come on, the vegetables in the back garden haven't been planted yet, go help your old man."

Jiayi silently followed his father and walked out slowly.

When they disappeared through the doorway, Li Zhensheng finally frowned and asked his mother, "Mother, what exactly happened"

Old Mrs. Li embraced her granddaughter as she came out of the house and whispered, "It was on the day you left home. The head steward of the Hou Mansion suddenly came to report that when they moved their capital here, they found a severely injured madwoman by the roadside and had been keeping her in the courtyard where the servants lived. Now, the madwoman has recovered, and she insists that she is from our Li family and wants to see us."

"So we hurried over and it really was Lao Er's daughter-in-law. At the time, we didn't catch up with Jia Yi, fortunately, we brought Jia Ren back from the academy to see her one last time... Wu Cuifang said that she didn't elope with anyone. She was tricked by her younger brother, Wu Erdog. She heard about our family news when she was at Houfu, but she felt ashamed to come back..."

Li Zhensheng was at a loss for words, "She really… Ah, she just died like that! How heartbreaking it must be for Lao Er and Jia Ren Jia Yi!"

"Indeed," the old woman sighed, "the second son is alright. For all these years, Wu Cuifang hasn't been clever, their marital relationship has worn thin, but Jiaren and Jia Yi... after all, she is their biological mother! Thankfully, after the funeral, Jiaren stayed with Mr. Wen for a few days and was persuaded to change his mind. Now it's Jia Yi's turn..."

The old woman rubbed her temples fiercely, “This Wu Cuiflower, I really don't know whether to hate her or pity her! A wife should be virtuous. This second son of mine has chosen a daughter-in-law that I didn't carefully vet.”

"Don't worry so much, dear. A person's life, the good and the bad, are all predetermined by fate. The second son is doing alright now. In a couple of years, when he's ready, we can find a suitable bride for him to remarry."

Li Zhensheng appeased his mother with words, but in his heart, he knew that his younger brother was thoughtful and discerning. Finding another good woman to spend the rest of his life with would likely be difficult.

Jia Yin remembered her elder brother and ran to the backyard, just as her second uncle walked out with red eyes.

He crouched down and rubbed his little niece's hair, "Funiu is worried about her brother, go keep him company."

Jia Yin nodded, then waddled away on her chubby little legs to the corner of the garden.

Jiayi was holding his knees, sitting under the shade of a tree, his shoulders trembling with silent sobs.

Jia Yin thought for a moment, then quietly sat down beside him.

The Li family had a large number of children. Not including the two cat and dog boys brought back by their eldest uncle at the end, there were five other sons.

The eldest is benevolent, the second joyful, the third righteous, the fourth happy, and the fifth peaceful. It can be said that these five brothers each have distinct personalities.

Chia-jen is steady and intelligent, Chia-huan is quiet and diligent, Chia-xi and Chia-an are mischievous and likeable, Jia-yin likes them all very much and gets along well with them. But if she had to say her favorite, it would still be Chia-yi, her eldest brother.

Jia Yi was just like those middle schoolers from a past life, passionate and bold. He approached everything new with curiosity and fearlessness, like a burning fire, consuming himself while illuminating everything around him.

It's as if with him around, there are no worries, no insurmountable difficulties.

She envied him deeply and hoped that her brother would always live with such passion.

But at this moment, the brother, whose vitality was as strong as fire, was crying...

She stretched out her arms and hugged her brother tightly, patting his back gently.

Jia Yi's spine stiffened for a moment, then slowly raised his head. Seeing it was his younger sister, he reached out and hugged her plump little body, burying his face in her shoulder. "Fu Niu, brother doesn't have a mother anymore! Mother wasn't good to me or Big Brother. I don't like her, but now that she's dead, we don't have a mother anymore…"

"Brother, you still have me, Dad, Grandma, your older brother and younger brother, your uncles and aunts. We all love you. We'll mend your clothes and cook delicious meals for you!" Jia Yin tried to comfort her brother, but as she spoke, she remembered her past life and couldn't help but choke up.

“Brother, you are already very happy. You don't know that some children are even more pitiful... They not only have no parents, but also no grandparents. They live alone. They eat alone, feed the chickens alone, plant vegetables alone, sleep alone, talk alone, and the whole world feels like a tomb...”

Jiayi heard his younger sister crying, so he quickly picked her up. He forgot to wipe away his own tears and said, "Funiu, why are you crying Big brother is fine! Don't be afraid, Funiu. Big brother isn't pitiful at all, not even a bit!"

He gently wiped away his sister's tears with his big hand, mumbling softly: "Grandma would skin me alive if she saw you crying. Please forgive your brother, okay I'm soothed by you, really. I'm not sad at all anymore!"

Jia Yin couldn't help but grin as she listened. She took out two candy balls from her pocket, putting one in her brother's mouth and keeping the other for herself.

The sweet taste made Jiayi squint his eyes, tightly closing his mouth, reluctant to speak.

Jia Yin leaned against her brother's chest and whispered, "When my brother is sad, he eats a candy, and his heart doesn't feel so bitter."

Jīayì nodded, then suddenly felt something was wrong.

My little sister is only three years old, how does she know so much

She seemed to have tasted too much bitterness and had become experienced.

He subconsciously hugged his younger sister, "Brother will never let you suffer!"

"Hmm!" Jia Yin nodded, proudly lifting her chin. "I have five older brothers, no, now there's also Big Uncle's Li GeGe and Mao GeGe, that makes seven older brothers, seven pillars of support! There's no way I would suffer!"

The old woman was also thinking of her grandson. She quietly leaned against the edge of the garden and secretly peeked, seeing her grandson holding his granddaughter, chatting and sharing candies together, seemingly very lively. She let out a long sigh of relief.

Then, hurry to the kitchen, knead the dough, mince the filling, and prepare dumplings for dinner. Let's give our son and grandsons a good meal to nourish their bodies...

Villagers longed to hear about the excitement beyond their thousand miles, and after dinner they all gathered at Li's house.

Just then, the village head and his wife, the Liu family's three members, Zhang the physician, and Zhao Uncle, etc., had just finished eating dumplings at Li's house, so all the villagers were gathered.

It was rare for the mischievous boys to stay indoors, instead of going out to kick a ball. They sat obediently by their parents' side, ready to listen to a story.

A villager, unable to contain his curiosity any longer, asked loudly, “Master, I heard that there’s a sea in Quanzhou that stretches as far as the eye can see, like the sky. They say there are large foreign ships and fish as big as houses. Is this true”

Li Zhensheng nodded, "It's all true."ped his younger brother's forehead and laughed, "Don't listen to him rambling. He's just too greedy! Wherever he goes, he acts like a girl, always wanting snacks."My younger sister also spoils him. Ev...