Chapter 346 The Li Family of Shangyuan Village

Grandma Li isn't very old, only in her early fifties, but two of her four sons are in the military, and her daughters-in-law have also joined them—one in the navy and one in the army. To qualify for military service, one must either have served in the military for a long time or have reached the rank of deputy battalion commander. Whatever the conditions may be in the future, these are the conditions at least for now.

The remaining two sons are also quite capable; one is the village head, and the other works in the town government. Both daughters married into well-known families in the surrounding villages. So, the old lady, who has no worries about her livelihood, enjoys farming. Because she doesn't concern herself with her children's affairs, she seems to grow younger and younger.

In this day and age, to live with such clarity and understanding is not only rare, but she's practically one in a hundred—a truly exceptional old lady.

So as soon as she saw Yuanyuan coming over, the old lady quickly invited her into the house.

"Little Garden, it's been a while since you've come. I thought you weren't coming anymore!"

"Grandma Li's vegetables are so good, of course I had to come. Here are my little sisters, we'd like to ask you to order more of their vegetables."

"Hello Grandma Li, I am the ninth child in my family, you can just call me Xiao Jiu."

"Oh, hello, hello, hello, what a big family! Your little girl is so adorable, unlike this little girl, I've spoiled her for nothing, she hasn't come to see me in so long."

After all, they were coming to someone's house to "exchange vegetables." In the past, Yuanyuan would bring things prepared by his family to exchange for these things. These were things that could be bought in the city, but people in the countryside could not buy them without ration coupons. It was very cost-effective to exchange for vegetables according to the price.

So Xiao Jiu prepared a pound of brown sugar for the old lady this time, which made her very happy.

“My niece is about to give birth, and I was wondering where to get brown sugar. You two little devils just delivered it to my door.”

"It's like a pillow coming just when you're sleepy! Alright, alright, you can pick as many vegetables as you want from this garden today, fill them up as much as you like."

Yuan Yuan laughed when she heard this. "We don't have any baskets. Grandma Li, do you have any? If so, could you lend us two?"

Without saying a word, the old lady went to the storeroom and found two very old baskets.

"Here, these two are a bit worn, but if you just use them to store vegetables or something, they can last for a few more years. I'll give them to you."

Yuan Yuan immediately scurried over to take it, saying, "Thank you, Grandma Li. I'll borrow your well water to wash up."

"Wash it, wash it, and leave it here to air dry for a while."

"Don't just stand there! There are vegetables in the front and back yards, and chives outside. Pick whatever you want, there's plenty!"

Summer is truly a vegetable paradise. Cucumbers, persimmons, loofahs, eggplants, lettuce, long beans, green beans, string beans, peppers, and all kinds of leafy greens dazzled the two sisters, leaving them unsure where to begin.

They want everything they see, all kinds of things, and they all look pretty and fresh. Although some of them don't look good, it's really not easy for them to grow this big in an era without pesticides. Even if every kind of vegetable has wormholes, it doesn't affect eating them. They accept all the deformed and cracked ones.

Finally, the old lady cut two large bundles of chives for them, filling the two baskets to the brim. Xiao Jiu also carried a small bag of string beans growing in the corner of the wall.

The two sisters glanced at the sky and politely declined the old lady's offer to stay for dinner. After she warmly saw them off at the village entrance, Xiao Jiu sighed.

"She's a very honest person. Neither of us takes advantage of the other; in fact, I feel like she's at a disadvantage."

"It's not a loss, it's not a loss," Grandma Li said. The reason she planted so many vegetables was to dry them more for the children.

After all, they already had these things at home, so they weren't lacking. After the youngest son and his wife got married, they separated their households and each had their own yard.

Except for those who were with the military and didn't have houses, everyone else had one and didn't need her help. They would come to her place for small gatherings during holidays.

The old man is in very good health. He goes up the mountain to herd cattle every day to earn work points. She works when she wants to, and if she doesn't want to, she just stays home and cooks.

She's living such a wonderful life, I'm so envious. And today, we were lucky; she was home as soon as we arrived. Isn't that great?

Xiao Jiu also felt that there was a reason why the elderly couple was so well-behaved and respected by the whole family. No wonder they looked radiant and always had a smile on their face. The more you looked at them, the more you felt that being with them was neither oppressive nor uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, many elderly women in rural areas don't understand this point and insist on taking revenge on their daughters-in-law for the grievances they suffered when they were young.

After all the hard work of being a daughter-in-law, it seems like she would be letting herself down if she didn't take on the role of a mother-in-law.

Unexpectedly, her suffering had nothing to do with her daughter-in-law; she had been asking the wrong person for the debt.

“My grandparents were also like that. They were very reasonable and treated my mother very well, just like their own daughter. So my mother was very filial to her. I think our family situation is similar to the Li family.”

Yuan Yuan sighed, "My mother wasn't so lucky. Not only did she run into an unreliable man like my father, but she was also unlucky enough to be abused by her mother-in-law and trampled on by her sister-in-law. She lost all her self-respect and personality. Luckily, I was the one who found the Li family and made connections with them. After I left that family, they didn't even know where to buy groceries!"

Yuan Yuan also specifically asked Grandma Li, and only felt relieved after learning that no one from her family had come.

After all, they had known each other for many years, and Old Mrs. Li knew her situation very well. When she learned that she had left that home, she was genuinely happy for her.

It was almost dark when the two returned home. Tang Cuiju was stunned to see how much food they had brought back.

I instinctively asked, "Where did you come from?"

Because you can tell at a glance that the food didn't come from Xiaojiu; the main difference is the appearance.

Only those grown from seed would have so many wormholes, while the ones Xiaojiu took out before were too exquisite and beautiful.

Knowing that they had traded for the chives from the rural suburbs, Cuiju was happy, especially since there were so many chives; she felt she would be doing herself a disservice if she didn't make some chive noodles.

"Xiao Jiu, Grandma Weng seems to have a cellar. Why don't you put all these dishes in her cellar and take them out when you want to eat them?"

After saying that, she winked at Xiao Jiu. Xiao Jiu knew exactly what her sister was implying, so she naturally agreed.

Grandma Weng knew that the sisters wanted to use the cellar, and she was very generous, giving them a key without even asking what they wanted to put in it.

Xiao Jiu was also very considerate, giving the elderly couple a large bunch of chives to improve their meals, which served as payment for the rental fee.

The cellar was dark, and Yuan Yuan was a little scared. Taking this opportunity, Xiao Jiu moved most of the vegetables to his own warehouse.

The remaining small portion was stored in the cellar, so even if it spoiled, it wouldn't be a pity.

Moreover, given that Yuanyuan was afraid of such a confined environment, she probably wouldn't have noticed that Yuanyuan had hidden a lot of vegetables, so it was only natural that Yuanyuan took the key herself.