144 Bad Person vs Good Person

Xie Yunjin looked down and pondered, “Who would they sell the leeches to? It’d be better to find some buyers who are willing to pay a deposit. Only then, would the villagers stop worrying and keep leeches. Everyone would be worried about having to eat the cost and end up with unwanted leeches.”

Lu Jiao raised an eyebrow. It was no wonder he’ll one day become the First Assistant – he was very thoughtful.

“I heard from the Baohe Tang owner that he wants to build a pharmacy, which will need large supplies of medicinal ingredients. If the villagers are willing to keep leeches, I can talk to him.”

The mention of Baohe Tang’s owner made Xie Yunjin’s eyes darken. Lu Jiao was already heavily involved with Dr. Qi, and now she was talking about the owner as well. Who were these people?

However, given that Lu Jiao was coming up with ideas for the Xie village and the fact that she was over the moon about not having to separate, Xie Yunjin calmed down. He told Lu Jiao, “I will have to talk to the leaders about this.”

Remembering that Lu Jiao hasn’t eaten, he urged her to go have lunch, “Go eat first.”

“Okay.” Lu Jiao went to have lunch. Back in the living room, the four little ones were dripping oil from eating too aggressively.

The First Born liked the fish balls the best. He pointed to it and asked, “Mommy, what is this called? It’s delicious.”

Lu Jiao told him it was a ball made out of fish, most suitable for children. Eating fish makes you taller and smarter.

The Second Born pointed to the braised pork, “Mommy, I like this the best. Will eating this make me grow taller and smarter too?”

Lu Jiao used this opportunity to educate the children, “You should eat everything, no matter what kind of food it is. You shouldn’t only eat one dish just because you like it more, that will result in a nutritional imbalance. You’re still little so you need all sorts of nutrition. Eat everything I cook, okay?”

The four little ones nodded, “We got it, mom.”

Lu Jiao smiled and sat down to eat.

Since the dishes were so delicious, the four little ones ended up bloated. Lu Jiao asked them to go walk the dog and lectured them, “No matter how much you like the food, do not eat until you’re this bloated. Overeating can hurt your stomach. The food isn’t going anymore – whatever you don’t get to eat you can eat for dinner.”

The four little ones knew they were too greedy so they stayed silent as Lu Jiao lectured.

The First Born was the most ashamed. His face blushed red and he didn’t even dare to look at Lu Jiao.

Lu Jiao found him funny and her tone softened, “You ate a lot today because I cooked everything too well. I’m sure you won’t do it again.”

The First Born’s eyes brightened and promised immediately, “Mommy, I won’t eat until I’m bloated ever again.”

The other three chimed in as well, “Mommy, same with me, same with me.”

Lu Jiao laughed, “Go walk the dogs.”

The children ran outside to walk the dogs.

Lu Jiao cleaned up the dishes, then took the children and their dogs to the Village Leader’s home. There, she planned on chatting with Uncle Youcai about the wheelchair.

Many different households resided in the Xie Village. Normally, at this hour, it would be rather clamorous. Today, however, the village was rather empty and quiet.

Lu Jiao knew it meant all the men went farming and all the women went to harvest herbs in the mountain. Now, only the old, young, and weak remained. Despite this, she ran into many friendly faces.

“Yunjin’s wife, where are you going?”

“Is something up?”

“First Born, where are you guys going?”

“I will go with you.”

Third Grandma’s grandson, Gousheng, Aunt Guihua’s grandson, Tiedan, and the son from the Qiu family, Niuniu, followed them to visit Uncle Youcai.

Lu Jiao kept an eye on the four little ones as they walked behind her and chatted with their friends. She didn’t rush them but did caution them occasionally, “Walk in the shade to avoid sunburn.”

There were many trees planted around the village, which provided plenty of cool spaces for the villagers.

If that wasn’t the case, Lu Jiao wouldn’t even bring the kids out at noon.

It was the end of June and the weather was hot. If they behave uncarefully, they’d get heatstroke.

Even with the weather this hot, the villagers still had to go to their farm to pull weeds and exterminate bugs. Grains were the villagers’ lifeline. Without it, they would starve.

Therefore, the idea of leech-keeping was genuinely a good idea. Leeches were extremely expensive on the market and were needed. Plus, leech-taking didn’t require a huge time investment before returns are made – the villagers should be able to sell after one year.

Lu Jiao and the children continued to walk to the Village Leader’s home. However, halfway there, someone stopped her.

It was Widow Li’s daughter-in-law, Xia Lian. The moment Xia Lian saw Lu Jiao, she knelt to the ground with a thump and kotow’ed three times.

“Thank you for saving my life. And thank you for teaching me herbs.”

The past few days, her mother-in-law stopped beating her all because she could now harvest herbs.

Xie Lian knew that the only reason the beating stopped was that Lu Jiao took pity on her.

Given the poor relationship between Lu Jiao and her mother-in-law, there was no way Lu Jiao would’ve taught her family herbs if it weren’t for pity.

Xia Lian wasn’t the only one aware of this. Her mother-in-law, Widow Li, also knew that. This was why she stopped beating her like she frequently did before.

Xia Lian was very thankful to Lu Jiao and had been looking for an opportunity to pay her respect. Sadly, all of Xia Lian’s money was controlled by her mother-in-law and she had nothing to give Lu Jiao except to kowtow.

Lu Jiao didn’t expect this woman to do that and she hurriedly went to help Xia Lian stand up, “Why are you doing that! There’s really no need. Get up!”

Xia Lian was pulled up. She felt highly anxious because of this and didn’t know what to say.

Lu Jiao felt so much pity towards her that it gave her an idea.

If she decides to teach the villagers leech keeping, she could only teach it to the women. That way, the women would be able to get more power and their lives would get easier.

“Are you going into the mountains to harvest herbs?”

Lu Jiao stared at the herbs inside her basket.

Xia Lian smiled and nodded, “My basket is full so I’m going to get this home first and then go again.”

“Okay, then hurry and go. Be careful and don’t get a heat stroke.”

“I got it.”

Xia Lian bowed down to Lu Jiao and went home with the basket.

Behind her, the quadruplets watched her leave and asked, “Mommy, she’s the mother of Shen Daniu and Shen Erniu, why did you help her?”

The four little ones couldn’t understand why their mother would help someone whose children bullied them. Plus, that woman’s mother-in-law once tried to blackmail their mother. So why would their mom help Shen Daniu’s mom?

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