The wicked sister-in-law is in charge; meals include fish and shrimp.

Chapter 405 Going home for the New Year

Helian Zhiyan ran over and gently tugged at her sleeve. The little girl was still dressed as a boy, but she looked much taller.

"What's wrong, Xiao Yan?"

Wen Luozhi lifted her onto a chair next to her. The little one looked out the window, then back at her, and sighed softly.

"Sister, when are we going back home for the New Year?"

The New Year is what children look forward to the most, and they should be happy, but what Wen Luozhi saw was a deep, unyielding sadness in the little guy's eyes.

She knew the child missed his parents, but with the Lunar New Year just over a month away, if she went to the Southern Wilderness, she wouldn't be able to make it back in time.

Moreover, the road conditions are not good, and it will take a lot of time to travel if you go in snowy weather.

Knowing this, Helian Zhiyan had never mentioned missing her family in front of her.

Wen Luozhi gently pinched her cheek and said, "The new manager will be able to get the hang of things in a few days. Once he can manage the restaurant without any problems, we'll go back to Shanquan Village."

Helian Zhiyan's eyes lit up immediately, but only for a few breaths.

She looked out the window without speaking. Wen Luozhi tapped the table, thought for a moment, and whispered in her ear, "Next spring, when the snow melts, your sister will take you to the Southern Wilderness."

Helian Zhiyan suddenly raised her head, winked at her, and said, "Pinky promise!"

She held out a hand, and Wen Luozhi smiled and placed her little finger on top, saying, "I'd be a dog if I'm lying."

Bai Zhen stayed here until the second harvest of greenhouse vegetables before returning home. Before leaving, he left a lot of silver for Bai Qinghuan to give to the villagers as New Year's money.

The city seemed to have suddenly become much more crowded, and the restaurants were doing brisk business, always packed.

Wen Luozhi took Helian Zhiyan back home in two weeks before the Lunar New Year, while the others would return a few days later.

The snow was even heavier in the village, and there was a lot of snow on the roads outside. The number of greenhouses was also less than half of what it used to be, which meant that the vegetables inside had already been sold out.

The carriage slowly made its way home. When Wen Luozhi lifted the curtain, she caught a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of her eye. The figure was somewhat thin and unsteady.

Upon closer inspection, she recognized Zhang Chunhua, who was carrying a large basket on her back and holding a stick in her hand. Then she saw her disappear into a greenhouse.

Helian Zhiyan, who was standing nearby, also saw it. When she lowered the carriage curtain, she pouted and said, "Everyone in the village is saying that Lin Huaizhi wants to go to the academy in the prefectural city."

"He must be jealous that Brother Zijing is also in the prefectural city. Why won't he give up?"

It's already good enough to have books to read, let alone being picky. The academy in town is quite expensive, not to mention the one in the prefectural city, where the travel expenses alone are enormous.

Do you think a scholar can just do nothing and expect money to come to him by simply talking?

The money he earned from selling vegetables wasn't even enough for his travel expenses to the prefectural city. Changchunhua just spoiled this ignorant and useless son of hers.

Wen Luozhi raised an eyebrow, thinking that Zhang Chunhua had brought this upon herself.

Helian Zhiyan's little mouth chattered away, showing that despite her small size, she had her own ideas. Wen Luozhi listened quietly from the side.

Why are you so angry?

Seeing the little guy's angry expression, Wen Luozhi couldn't help but smile and ask a question.

Helian Zhiyan rubbed her hands together and said, "He can go to the prefectural city and earn his own money! He's not without hands and feet."

"Brother Zijing can even go outside to copy books when he has time."

Wen Luozhi agreed, but Lin Huaizhi was indeed a selfish and arrogant person who had ruined everything. She was too lazy to even bother to say anything to him.

Before the carriage even arrived at the door, Wen Muchuan was already waiting with two hot water bottles in his hands.

"Our darlings are finally here! Come on, one for each of you!"

Suddenly, a hot object appeared in the hands of the two people, one big and one small. Wen Muchuan quickly invited people into the house, and the coachman was also invited in.

Only a few children and Li Chunxing remained at home; the others had gone to town to buy New Year's goods.

When the village chief heard that she had returned, he went to the fields, picked all the vegetables, and brought them over.

Wen Luozhi was somewhat amused and exasperated. "Uncle Village Chief, wouldn't it be better if you had Brother Afu take all of these to town and sell them? They'd be worth quite a bit of money."

"Hey!" the village chief said, flicking his pipe. "This is different! This was specially saved for you."

"These vegetables were grown with the shed open for two days; they taste even sweeter after being touched by snow!"

Wen Luozhi cut off a piece of purple cabbage and started eating it; it was indeed much sweeter than the ones she had eaten at the manor before.

Several voices came from outside the courtyard. It turned out that Aunt Wang, Aunt Zhao, and a few others had come together.

"That girl Luo is finally back. Your mother has been talking about her endlessly for a while now."

Before entering, Aunt Wang shook the snow off her clothes. After coming in, she shoved a basket of fried food she was protecting into Wen Luozhi's arms.

"You're the only one who didn't get any. The old lady carefully fried them right away, so take your time."

As soon as she finished speaking, Aunt Zhao placed two large jars of fermented glutinous rice on the table and said with a smile, "This is freshly made by your aunt and specially saved for our Luo'er. It's good for a young lady to eat more of this."

That wasn't enough; even more people came from outside the courtyard, each carrying something in their hands.

In no time, the large table was piled high with food, and there was also a lot of food on the floor, with meat and vegetables, as if it were a pre-New Year celebration.

"Oh, this is great! We don't even need to buy groceries for our New Year's Eve dinner, haha!"

As Wen Muchuan poured tea for everyone, he chatted and laughed. A group of people sat around the stoves in the room, listening to Wen Luozhi talk about things in the prefectural city.

The most talked-about thing is, of course, the post station. Recently, a new, commonly used route has been opened, and even villagers are sending a lot of things out, which is both fast and convenient.

However, because it was a snowy day, the delivery people at each station worked very hard, so the prices were a bit higher, but everyone could accept it.

"If any young people in your family want to send gifts, they can come to me. If it works out, it's a good business."

The village is basically saturated with people who either farm or work in workshops.

Apart from Zhangjia Village, which had dealt with them earlier, there were several other villages in the surrounding area whose residents didn't know what to do.

I heard that Shanquan Village and Zhangjia Village have made a lot of money growing greenhouse vegetables, and the village chiefs from several villages have also come to visit, but that's something for next year.

As soon as she said that, several villagers started asking questions.

"Luo Zhi, I have a cousin on my mother's side, I wonder if that would work?"

"He's not content farming at home; he always wants to be out and about. He might like this kind of work."

The speaker was a girl who had just married into the village from Aishan. She was now earning a good income working in a workshop, and her husband's family was also doing well working in the village, so she naturally wanted to help her family.

Wen Luozhi nodded and said to her, "As long as he's interested and not afraid of hard work, he can give it a try. If he thinks it's good after the trial period, he can continue working there."

"Okay! I'll go back and talk to him, and tell him to come see you after the New Year."

The young wife beamed with joy, and the others, thinking of their own relatives, also spoke a few words to Wen Luozhi.

As everyone was chatting animatedly, there was a knock on the door.

Wen Luozhi got up and saw that it was Yang Da at the door. She smiled and walked over, saying, "Uncle Yang, what are you doing standing at the door? Come in and warm yourself by the fire. Everyone's inside anyway."

Yang Da waved his hand somewhat awkwardly, feeling embarrassed to face Wen Luozhi because of Huang Cuihua.

"Uncle won't go in. Here are some vegetables from our garden, girl, take some and have some."

As he spoke, he unloaded the basket and then peeled back another layer, revealing several pieces of cured meat lying inside.

"Your auntie just made it recently. She heard you were back and asked your uncle to bring it over for you to try."

He pushed the basket aside, and before Wen Luozhi could even reply, he scratched his head, looking somewhat embarrassed: "Sigh, my mother at home is so inconsiderate. Uncle apologizes on her behalf."

After he finished speaking, he took a step back and pretended to bend over, but Wen Luozhi caught him with quick reflexes.