Chapter 143 - 143 Helping out Again
143 Helping out Again
Aunt Guihua then said to Lu Jiao with a smile, “Jiaojiao, then I will go harvest some herbs. Did you know that everyone from the village went into the mountains today for herbs? I took some time coming here just to talk to you. I’ll leave now.”
Aunt Guihua then left to go into the mountains.
These days, every villager was looking for herbs to harvest. There were too many people and the resources got divided up fast. If they didn’t go early and get their share, others would.
Once Aunt Guihua left, Lu Jiao went to the east bedroom.
Inside, Xie Yunjin was reading. He felt rather high energy and his legs didn’t hurt anymore. When he got bored, he would read.
He sensed Lu Jiao come in and stopped flipping his book and looked up.
Lu Jiao went to him and mumbled in a low voice into his ear, “Aunt Guihua just came to tell me that she saw your dad visit Widow Wang last night.”
Though she pretended to deny that was her father-in-law in front of Aunt Guihua, she was silently pretty certain that the man was Xie Laogen.
It was all because her mother-in-law didn’t bring much joy to her home and her father-in-law has likely been stressed for a long time. For an understanding young woman to appear at a time like this and heal his pain, wouldn’t he embrace that?
Xie Yunjin’s eyes darkened and his lips formed into a sarcastic smile.
The thought of his mother made him want to laugh. That woman thought she had everyone in the palm of her hands yet in the end, her man emotionally distanced himself and her son physically distanced himself. He wondered how she would feel about all this.
Xie Yunjin didn’t regret his actions. If he didn’t stop them once, his father and Widow Wang would’ve gotten together a long time ago. He helped his mother stop that homewrecker once, yet his mother exiled him the moment he was injured. She also accused him of being unfilial. If she thought that, then he shall truly become unfilial.
Xie Yunjin closed his eyes and leaned back, “Ignore her.”
Lu Jiao nodded, “Okay, got it.”
She wasn’t going to get involved in this in case she became known as the ultimate bad person. It was Xie Yunjin’s business and she had no plans to interfere.
Lu Jiao planned on going to cook but Xie Yunjin stopped her.
“Lu Jiao, that wheelchair you designed before… you can ask Uncle Youcai to make it now.”
His legs should be able to handle sitting in a chair soon. As long as he doesn’t use them like normal, he should be okay.
Lu Jiao agreed with a grin, “Okay, after lunch, I’ll visit Uncle Youcai.”
Xie Yunjin studied her and realized she was in an extremely good mood today. The grin basically never left her lips and her almond eyes were warm like the Sun.
Xie Yunjin couldn’t help but be infected by her positivity and he felt lighter. If he knew not separating would make her this happy, he would’ve told her sooner.
Lu Jiao didn’t know what Xie Yunjin was thinking. She went to prepare lunch happily.
Lunch was naturally lavish. Other than fish balls, braised pork, she made fish head soup, steamed eggs with meat, mushrooms with vegetables, chives with pork, and lastly, she used half of the bones she bought last time to make broth and added noodles to it.
Because of this, not only did Xie Yunjin pick up on her elated mood, but the four little ones also noticed.
The Fourth Born hugged Lu Jiao, “Mommy, you seem to be so happy today. You made so many dishes.”
The four little ones didn’t know which dish to focus on today. Their mommy was incredible for being able to make so many yummy dishes! They looked delicious.
Lu Jiao pinched the Fourth Born’s cheek, “When is mommy not happy?”
Today, she was simply exceptionally happy.
Xie Yunjin had given her custody of the four little ones. How could she not feel thrilled? Before, the idea of separating from the four little ones made her sorrowful. Now that it didn’t need to happen, she was naturally euphoric.
She leaned down to kiss the four little guys once each, which made them giggle.
Lu Jiao then rolled up her sleeves and announced, “Eat! I’m confident there’s enough for all of you.”
The four little ones giggled more because of how she was acting. Even the First Born chuckled heavily.
Lu Jiao scooped out the noodles with bone broth and grabbed a separate plate for the fish balls and braised pork. She delivered them to Xie Yunjin.
“Try these. These are my signature dishes.”
Xie Yunjin has been listening to the laughter outside and his handsome had softened to an unspeakable degree. As he watched Lu Jiao enter, his gaze practically emitted light.
“Okay.”
Days like this were not bad at all. A kind mother and filial sons allowed him to focus on his studies, so he could become successful and provide for the family.
Lu Jiao placed the food by his bedside and didn’t leave right away. Beaming, she told Xie Yunjin, “Today, the villagers all went into the mountain.”
Xie Yunjin remembered how Lu Jiao taught the villagers how to identify herbs and felt a wave of appreciation, “Thank you for teaching them.”
Lu Jiao shook her head. That was easy for her to do. Plus, if all the villagers harvested herbs daily, the herbs will disappear soon enough. It was never a long-term solution for everyone’s financial situation.
Since Xie Yunjin agreed to let her raise the children, Lu Jiao decided to help out the Xie villagers again.
Of course, the main reason was that the Xie villagers were pretty good people themselves. Plus, the pharmacy that she planned on opening with Zhao Lingfeng required a large quantity of medical ingredients. Villages outside of the Xie Village will likely need to start growing medical ingredients.
Lu Jiao thought about it and said, “Honestly, harvesting herbs from the mountains isn’t a long-term solution. I have another idea that will benefit the Xie Villagers.”
Xie Yunjin raised an eyebrow, “What idea?”
The idea to get the villagers out of poverty interested Xie Yunjin. In the past, he’s always wanted to wait until he passed the exam and earned an official title before he figured out some ways to help the villagers. If there were solutions available, naturally he was willing to try them out. After all, this was his home.
Lu Jiao said, “As you know, the Xie Village is near the mountains, resulting in high humidity and lack of sunlight. This is why agriculture here never grows well. I can teach everyone how to keep leeches. Leech is a medicinal ingredient – an expensive one at that. If the villagers can learn how to keep leeches, the Xie Village will never be poor again.
Also, on the hills near the mountain, we can clear the land and plant honeysuckle. Honeysuckle is also a medicinal ingredient. Though not as expensive as leeches, it has a short growth cycle, which will give the villagers additional income.”