After being jilted, the entire neighboring village was filled with deep regret.

Chapter 308: Escape

The courtyard gate creaked open, and Granny Zhang was somewhat surprised to see Han Shi. "Isn't this Xiao Tai's mother? I heard Shen Yi is back. Congratulations! I'm making pancakes right now and was thinking of sending some over later."

"No need, no need. My Xiaotai baked durian pancakes and made papaya, white fungus, red date, and milk soup. She said your Xiaoxi likes sweet things, so she asked me to bring some over."

"Oh! How could we accept this! When Xiaoxi was little, she drank goat milk that Xiaotai brought her, and almost all the clothes she wore were brought by Xiaotai. It's one thing for her to often go over there to freeload, but why are you personally bringing her food?" Granny Zhang blushed, feeling very embarrassed.

Just then, a small head peeked out from the doorway and gave Han a sweet smile, "Grandma!"

"Oh! Our little Xi is so good! Come, come, Grandma has brought you some food. Try it while it's hot, and if you want more, just tell Grandma, okay?"

Madam Han affectionately patted Shen Xi's head, ignored Granny Zhang's objections, insisted on leaving the things behind, and ran away.

Granny Zhang chased after her, but Han was nowhere to be seen.

Shen Xi shouted from inside the house, "Grandma, come and eat! The milk soup smells so good!"

"You child! You can't keep taking advantage of your Aunt Su."

Shen Xi said obediently, "Grandma, don't worry, I will be filial to you and Aunt Su when I grow up."

With just one sentence, Granny Zhang's temper was completely appeased.

Xiong Kai listened silently to the girl's bright voice in the yard, recalling the moment when the girl peeked out, before disappearing around the corner.

Unaware that she had escaped a calamity, Han continued to deliver goods from house to house.

Xu's side also delivered food to Shen Mu's house.

His family members were also gathered in the courtyard looking at the imperial treasures, but it was noisy and peaceful there, and some people were even eyeing the imperial gifts.

As Xu entered, she cleared her throat, put down the things, and congratulated Huang Xinghua with a smile, saying, "Our Shen Yi said that the Emperor bestowed gifts upon them, and it really was one gift for each person. Your family must keep these things safe. Shen Yi said that they have reported them to the county government. There are even words engraved on the gold, indicating that they cannot be used and can only be displayed. You should do as Shen Yi did and set up a courtyard specifically for storing them."

"Huh? There's such a saying?" Huang Xinghua's eyes widened, her gaze filled with bewilderment.

Shen Dagou scratched his head and said, "Mother, the Marshal seems to have said those words, but I was too happy to understand at the time."

"You child, how could you not understand something so important?" Huang Xinghua was speechless, reluctant to scold the child, so she just said it lightly.

Xu quickly tried to smooth things over, "Don't blame Big Dog! He risked his life for all of this, you should praise him. But the yard can't be neglected. Quickly find the village chief to buy the land next to your house and build a big yard to house it."

"Okay, okay! I'll ask Shen Yi later, and we'll do exactly what they do," Huang Xinghua solemnly promised.

Xu put down her things and left leisurely.

As soon as she left, the quiet courtyard became noisy again.

An old woman said skeptically, "Xu is just talking nonsense! Why can't she use the reward given by the Emperor? She must be bluffing!"

This time, no one responded to her. Whether Madam Xu was bluffing or not could be found out with a little inquiry. It wasn't like only Shen Dagou had imperial gifts. Besides, they did see something engraved under the gold, they just didn't understand what it was, and dared not make a fuss.

Because of Xu's words, Shen Mu's relatives no longer had any intention of staying here and all tried to find out more.

Huang Xinghua closed the courtyard gate and said with a long face, "Fourth Aunt is really shameless. When our family was in trouble, they didn't help us. Now that everyone's life is better, she sees that Big Dog got something good and she actually wants us to share it. Why doesn't she just come and take it from us?"

Granny Chen's face wasn't too good either, but she didn't add fuel to the fire. "Ignore her. She's the kind of person who hates others and laughs at those who don't. She can't wait to have all the good things. Before, her family was the best off in our branch, and they always made fun of us. Now that our family is ahead of them, it would be strange if she didn't cause trouble."

As long as what Shen Yi said is true, she can't cause any trouble.

"It's so annoying!" Huang Xinghua was still indignant. She carefully put away the imperial gift and had Wei Erya take it back to the courtyard.

Huang Xinghua said, "As your Aunt Xu just said, these things have all been officially registered with the county government, and no one can take them away. They can only belong to your family."

You can take this back and keep it for now. We'll expand the yard later and build a nice new place to hang a plaque.

The others immediately helped Wei Erya move her things.

Looking at his younger siblings, who had grown quite a bit, Shen Dagou asked, "How's things at home? Are you still working for Sister Su Tai?"

Shen Ergou and Shen Tian both nodded obediently.

Shen Ergou said, "Brother, now that you're back, I won't go over there."

The room fell silent instantly.

Shen Dagou shook his head and laughed, "No need, you just do your job well. I'm not in a hurry. I've been risking my life on the battlefield for years, and I haven't had a good night's sleep in a long time. So I plan to help with farm work in the spring and take a year off before I start thinking about anything else."

Huang Xinghua was heartbroken. "Even if you do nothing and rest for a year, it's fine. You can do whatever you want. I support you. If you want to work, there are jobs available. The strawberries grown in our village are now made into strawberry jam, and it sells better than before. This year, Su Tai ordered more than half of the village's strawberry jam to be sent to the capital. A while ago, her relative came back from the capital and said that it sold well and that she wanted more next year."

I understand from Su Tai's suggestion that the villagers should plant more land. Our village is out of land, but Liujiazhuang has some! If I can manage, I'd like to buy some more land too.”

After listening to Huang Xinghua's detailed explanation of the village's situation, Shen Dagou had a better understanding of the situation.

At the same time, Shen Yi saw off the last group of guests, closed the courtyard gate, and turned to enter the bathhouse.

Su Tai went in to rub his back and casually mentioned Su Chuan and Su Ming's business dealings.

"Originally, I was just thinking of helping my cousin Yunyun out, but I didn't expect them to get along so well. This year, they sent two shipments to the capital. One was strawberry jam, and the other was rice, brown sugar, and some fruits that I got for them. The goods arrived in the capital in November, which is the time when food is scarce, so there was no worry about them not selling."

"That year alone, I earned eight thousand taels from selling strawberry jam. Adding in other earnings, our family made tens of thousands of taels."

Shen Yi was shocked: "So many! Are there other people who know?"

Su Tai pondered for a moment and said, "My cousin and A-Ming only know about it, but they've made quite a bit of money."

Shen Yi's tense nerves relaxed. "That's good. They're trustworthy, so there's no need to worry."