"No."
That evening when Li Yao brought Wang San'er back home, Village Head was still waiting for them in the yard. As soon as he heard that she was asked to go see the County Magistrate, she rejected it without a second thought.
"Li Yao," Wang Jiafu said solemnly, "Let's not talk about giving County Magistrate face for now, but he is an official and we are commoners. As commoners, how can we not obey the officials?"
Li Yao sighed inwardly. The most annoying thing about this social system was exactly this.
Everyone must be divided into classes.
And people at the bottom didn't seem to have the courage to rebel either. She didn't see a shred of the bold spirit of "a man should aspire for more".
"Then let Wang Er go," she said.
"It's better if you go yourself."
"I'm sick," Li Yao said. "I caught a cold from the cold winds on the mountain today. I'll have to stay in bed for at least ten days to half a month. If the County Magistrate can wait, I'll go see him after I recover."
Wang Jiafu's mouth twitched. What nonsense illness was this! But since Li Yao insisted on not going, he had no choice but to lie for her. Fortunately, she said to let Wang Er go, so he could still explain himself.
Wang Er was a little nervous about this task.
This time was completely different from last time.
Last time they were just digging a small well. It wouldn't matter much if they couldn't get water. But this time they were digging a big well, which required the effort of the whole village for many days.
If they couldn't get water, the loss would be huge.
"Don't worry," Li Yao said, "Since the small well has water, you can definitely get water from the big well too."
Wang Er nodded and hurriedly packed up.
When Lv Xiucai heard that Wang Er was leaving for at least ten days to half a month, he also went home and packed some things.
After teaching Wang Er for so long, he realized Wang Er was a promising talent. So he couldn't fall behind on his studies. Anyway, he didn't need to work on digging the well. It would be good to teach him some reading when they had time.
Li Yao didn't object to this. She prepared enough rations for the two and also packed a thick cotton quilt. The night temperature was a bit cold now. It would be easy to catch a cold without shelter and food.
After Wang Er left with Village Head for the county government, Li Yao went to check on the new house construction site.
All the foundations had been laid and were now drying. Over a dozen villagers were helping transport bricks from the foot of the mountain, already stacking large piles.
These weren't the adults Li Yao called on, but people who came to help voluntarily after she had solved the water shortage problem. Yesterday the adults wanted to pay them wages, but no one accepted any money.
Li Yao felt this was inappropriate.
Everything should be separate. She dug the wells and fought the drought, for which the County Magistrate had already rewarded 50 taels of silver. So she absolutely would not take advantage of the villagers' small favor.
So she asked Wang Xiao Si to go to the market with the adults to buy a few jin of high-quality pork, and cooked two large pots of dishes, as well as steaming baskets of big white buns.
When it was noon, the villagers who were helping with the work were about to go home for lunch when they suddenly smelled the aroma of meat dishes.
Wang Xiao Si and He Xiaoya brought over two large pots of dishes on a cart, as well as several large steaming baskets.
"Everyone come eat!"
Looking at the big white buns and smelling the rich meaty aroma, over a dozen villagers couldn't help but swallow drool. But everyone had agreed earlier that they were helping to transport bricks and would absolutely not accept any money from Li Yao, so they definitely couldn't eat this meal either.
"Your granny said to let me go home and eat," Wang Yuanbang said. "If I take advantage of sister-in-law's generosity, I'll be scolded when I go back."
Wang Yuanbang was Li Yao's husband's youngest brother, the fourth child in the family. He was 17 this year but didn't have a wife yet.
He had been working as a laborer with his third brother Wang Yuanguo at the Yizhou Prefecture pier. Now Wang Yuanguo didn't do hard labor anymore and was helping Li Yao purchase beeswax and other things, becoming a professional purchaser.
So Wang Yuanbang didn't want to do hard labor either. He wanted to come back and work for sister-in-law Li Yao.
It was just that he had only been back for a few days and hadn't even seen Li Yao's face yet.
"Fourth uncle, don't be so polite," He Xiaoya said. "It's just a meal. How can that be taking advantage? Besides, you're all coming to help our family work without taking any wages. If we don't even give you meals, what will others say about us? My mother said that if you don't eat this meal, then don't come help our family in the future."
Everyone looked at each other, unsure what to do, and kept looking to Wang Yuanbang, since he was the closest to Li Yao here.
Wang Yuanbang really wanted to eat this meal. After all, it smelled too good, far better than the fare at the canteen. But working as a laborer at the pier, he only made 70-80 wen a month. How could he afford to eat out?
"Alright, let's eat then," Wang Yuanbang made up his mind. He'd just take the scolding when he went back. At least his stomach would be full first.
Seeing him agree, the others also revealed joy on their faces. They wiped their hands on their clothes and crowded over to divide up the dishes and buns.
Today's dishes were made by He Xiaoya.
One was garlic sprout braised pork, and the other was a stir fry of pork belly cut in a 3:7 ratio, boiled then sliced into strips and stir fried into a scrambled egg shape, with plenty of sauce, and finally tender garlic sprouts added in at the end. With the rich aroma of pork fat, how could anyone resist this flavor?
Especially for villagers who rarely got to eat meaty dishes and did physical labor all year round, as soon as a slice of the fatty yet not greasy pork entered their mouths, the wonderful soft and chewy feeling could make their souls leave their bodies.
The other dish was stir fried cabbage.
Cabbage is very common, but few people love to eat it.
Because cabbage doesn't have oil or juice, when cooked it becomes soggy and runs through your intestines.
But He Xiaoya's cabbage was different. She didn't boil it in water, but used a lot of oil to stir fry it over high heat, and added a lot of lard cracklings right before taking it off the heat.
The cabbage cooked this way had some crispy tenderness, and was permeated with the fragrance of pork lard.
"Xiaoya, your cooking skills are so good!"
"These dishes are too delicious!"
"Sister-in-law Li Yao's casual home cooking is better than what we eat on New Year's!"
Seeing everyone eat the dishes heartily, He Xiaoya was filled with complex emotions.
Her mother didn't even let her eat a lot of these two dishes at home.
She said eating too much fatty meat and lard could make you fat easily. Although people say a broad mind and a fat body are fortunate, her mother didn't think gaining weight was good. She didn't understand why, but just listened to her mother as always.
But in the eyes of these other villagers, this was cuisine they might not even get to eat on New Year's.
This reminded her that not long ago, her family was probably not as well off as the people in front of her. But now, everything was completely different.
And all of this was brought by her mother.
Not only did her mother change their family's life, she also brought blessings to the villagers. So in her eyes, even though her mother was still cold-faced all day, she knew her mother was definitely not a ruthless, unfeeling shrew who didn't even recognize her own family like some people said.
Just as He Xiaoya was lost in thought, shouts suddenly came from the foot of the mountain.
"Everyone come quickly!"
"Zhu Yougui is stealing water to irrigate his fields!"
Upon hearing this, several people who were eating immediately put down their food in righteous indignation.
"Wanting to use water without contributing effort, how can there be such good things?"
"Let's go see!"
"We need to teach people like him a lesson with a beating or two to make him behave!"
Seeing over a dozen people rush to the drought relief well without even finishing their meals, He Xiaoya also felt a little anxious.
"Xiao Si, I'll watch the food here. Go call mother back from the mountain quickly."
"Okay."
Wang Xiao Si immediately ran off like the wind.