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墨書 Inktalez
The preparations for the New Year were nearly complete, and cooking was no challenge for them. Li Yan, this new exemplary older brother, had even learned to cook specifically so that Li Ming could grow up healthy. Zhou Miao and Yu Tian could also whip up a few signature dishes. However, no one knew how to make dumplings, the simplest of all. Li Ming was just a little glutton who only ate without helping, and being from the south, Yu Tian was even less familiar with it.
As for Li Yan and Zhou Miao, they were only half-skilled; they could wrap dumplings but struggled to roll out the dough. In the past, Li Yan would buy dumpling wrappers from a specialized store. Li Yan sought help from the Village Chief's Wife, who was very enthusiastic and brought over a rolling pin and other tools. The men were quick learners, and by evening they had already made over three hundred dumplings. Among them, the ones made by little Li Ming were the most creative; some looked like ingots, others like small boats, and occasionally he would shape them into little rabbits or turtles, showcasing a particularly innovative spirit.
"Brother, does it look good?" Li Ming asked, holding up a misshapen dumpling with his fair hands. "Brother, look, it's a sunflower."
To be honest, upon closer inspection it did resemble a sunflower, albeit an abstract one. Zhou Miao chuckled as he turned to mold a big smiley face. "Tian Tian, doesn’t this look nice?" Yu Tian turned around; these two were quite embarrassing. In reality, their ages were probably similar at heart, right?
"It looks bad; yours is clearly the best," Li Yan said gently while looking at Li Ming's little face smeared with flour. He wiped the child's face with a clean towel. "Ming Ming, can you let brother eat your sunflower later?"
"Okay." Li Ming nodded heavily and then frowned at Zhou Miao. "Brother, you need to be quick when eating dumplings; Brother Zhou will steal them." Yes, Zhou Ge was indeed a foodie; Li Ming had already labeled him in his mind.
Steal... steal what? Am I really that lacking in artistic talent? Zhou Miao was utterly speechless; that sunflower looked as if it had been shaped by a chick. Anyone who didn’t know might think it was a turtle instead. "Tian Tian, I feel insulted."
Yu Tian glanced at the so-called sunflower and finally said something righteous to avoid hurting the child's self-esteem.
"Ming Ming, when we eat dumplings later let’s kick Zhou Miao out so he can't steal any."
Great! His wife had completely been assimilated by that little brat! His clever wife! "Tian Tian, can you really do that? Would you be able to?"
Yu Tian dodged Zhou Miao's intense gaze that felt like it could burn him alive and shivered all over. The levels of combat power were different; Yu Tian couldn’t help but marvel.
"You guys have such a good relationship," said the Village Chief's Wife with a chuckle. "I wonder if things are really unsettled in the city now? Quite a few people have returned from working away these days; life seems to be getting worse day by day. But don’t mention it; even Xuan Laotou's grandson has come back. You wouldn’t believe it—his grandson is a leader in the big city and has bought himself a car after just a few years." The Village Chief's Wife sighed and continued, "I don’t know what’s going on with Heavenly Father; one moment it’s scorching hot and the next it’s freezing cold. You wouldn’t know this year’s autumn harvest can’t compare to last year’s at all. My husband is thinking of planting more corn and potatoes next year since those are easier to grow. Rice is precious; without water it dies."
Her words served as a reminder for everyone present; they were newcomers and didn’t know when the weather would improve. It wouldn’t do to remain idle for too long; otherwise people would surely start to suspect them—if they weren’t working how could there be food? Li Yan contemplated farming matters and decided to plant some corn.
The New Year wasn’t particularly interesting; usually in the city it was just about eating and drinking, and now in the countryside it was still about eating and drinking. Of course, with just the four of them drinking was out of the question; however, Li Yan still treated the Village Chief and several respected elders in the village to a meal as part of their introduction since they were newcomers—it was an unavoidable courtesy.
In the current situation, there was no fuss; four people cooked a meal together. All four had decent cooking skills, and at this time, no one cared much as long as there was fish and meat.
During the meal, Zhang Liang, reeking of alcohol, caused a scene, claiming that Li Yan was not from this village and questioned why he could come and go as he pleased. Zhang Agou was so angry that his face turned red; he pointed at Zhang Liang's nose and shouted, "You're really something else! This house originally belongs to Li Yan's family. Are you just eyeing the bones? You should check if those bones are even edible. With so many people here today, I want to make it clear: if anyone else has their eyes on this house, they are going against me, Zhang Agou!"
His words were harsh but received widespread support. Since Li Yan's family arrived in the village, they hadn't done anything wrong; they were polite and even gave snacks to the children. It wasn't that everyone was greedy for those snacks, but it highlighted the difference between people. Zhang Liang was just a good-for-nothing who often engaged in petty thefts. Everyone was already tired of him, but he bullied others because of his strength.
Moreover, if someone occupied a house that had been empty for years, that would be one thing; but now that the rightful owner had returned, did he really think he could act like a local tyrant?
"Is this Zhang Liang?" Li Yan asked calmly, showing no sign of annoyance. He smiled gently and said, "I don't know what happened, but this house was left to me by my grandfather. Not only am I the legal heir along with Mingming according to the law, but we are also recognized as the legitimate owners by the government. Just based on what my grandfather left us, I can't just ignore this house. Zhang Liang, according to your logic, does that mean if your own house has been unoccupied for years, someone can just take it?"
Li Yan's expression seemed fine, but his words were direct and sharp. He first placed the government at the forefront and used laws to intimidate them. In any case, Zhang Liang had no justification whatsoever.
"Don't talk to me about laws; this is Zhangjia Village! Even the King of Heaven can't interfere," Zhang Liang stubbornly insisted. He sat down next to a middle-aged man without caring about his expression and poured himself a drink. After finishing it, he shouted, "Li Yan, hmph! This is Zhangjia Village; how dare you occupy a house belonging to the Zhang family? If it weren't for me, someone would have taken this house long ago. You guys are just picking up scraps! Let me tell you—no way!"
"Oh? So many people have their eyes on it? Then tell me who exactly is interested? I want to see if you're just talking nonsense," Li Yan said deliberately expressing disbelief.
At this point, several people's faces turned pale with anger; if Zhang Liang named names today, he would offend more than one or two people.
Zhang Liang wasn't drunk yet; just as he was about to speak up again, he swallowed his words back down. Furious, he glared at Li Yan and finally stood up cursing: "Are you trying to set me up? You better remember this: get out of our Zhangjia Village quickly or don't blame me for being rude."
As soon as Zhang Liang left, those at the table began bombarding him with various past grievances. Zhou Miao observed with a sneer; most of these people were too afraid to provoke Zhang Liang earlier and could only mutter behind his back. Regarding Zhang Liang's fierce gaze as he left, Zhou Miao narrowed his eyes; perhaps he needed to stretch his legs a bit—staying cooped up at home all day didn't seem good for him. His wife wasn't exercising with him either.
In recent days at the beginning of the year, beggars often came to the village asking for things. Most people would give them one or two coins since money didn't hold much value anymore. Some beggars who asked for food were turned away by homeowners; food prices were too high now to give anything away.
Li Ming's little friend harbored deep resentment towards beggars and spent all day waiting at the door with Wonton and Dumpling. Whenever a beggar passed by, they would act intimidatingly with Wonton and Dumpling leading the charge. Wonton and Dumpling were purebred Tibetan Mastiffs; their imposing stature and sharp fangs often displayed made it so that not even a single beggar dared approach their home throughout the year.
Yu Tian felt frustrated about the incident when Li Ming got bitten; he merely observed Li Ming's actions without offering any criticism. These days people's hearts seemed increasingly wicked; while those children were indeed pitiful, most people were selfish—no one could be great enough to sacrifice themselves for others, especially when those others were strangers.
Li Yan received a call from that person, whose voice sounded somewhat weary. The man asked Li Yan to bring Li Ming to him, mentioning that the situation outside was tough and urging Li Yan not to be stubborn.
Li Yan couldn't understand why the man was so insistent on having them return. After all these years, what significance would it hold? With a sigh, Li Yan eventually gave him her address, stating that she was living well there, her tone lacking some resistance. After all, having seen so much during this time, life was not easy for anyone.
The man inquired about their hometown after hearing they had returned. Perhaps it was because Li Yan finally spoke more with him, or maybe he genuinely wanted to know about rural life; he asked many questions before hanging up. Li Yan touched Li Ming's tender little face, thinking that he should have forgotten that person by now after all these years.
As spring approached, families in the village began to get busy. Although the rural areas had stored grains, given the current situation, everyone wanted to plant as much as possible. Li Yan had six acres of land in her space, which was already enough for the four of them to eat. Plus, the growth period in her space was half that of the outside world; even with their large appetites, it would be more than sufficient.
Zhang Liang caused another stir regarding land distribution. He didn't know where he got his information but claimed that city dwellers wanted to return to the countryside to farm. He was trying to grab a few more acres of land, mainly targeting the previously uncultivated plots that no one wanted to farm anymore. However, after a harsh winter, people's awareness of potential hardships resurfaced, leading to discussions about distributing wasteland.
Zhang Agou benefited from Li Yan's family and specifically allocated three acres of land near the village to them during the distribution. Even though it was a good location, no one complained except for Zhang Liang, who made a fuss about favoritism. But with four people in their family, how could they survive on so little? The villagers were generally straightforward and didn't fuss too much over such matters. Almost every household in the village had over ten acres of land; only someone like Zhang Liang would dare to make a scene. Moreover, Li Yan's grandfather used to own land too, but over the years it had been transferred to others since no one farmed it.
Zhang Liang's family originally had fifteen acres of land and managed to occupy an entire section of wasteland on the east side due to his incessant complaints, amounting to about six or seven acres. In any case, everyone had enough land; even if there were more acres available, they wouldn't have enough hands to work it all. Thus, this arrangement was settled.
Zhang Agou feared that Li Yan's family might be unhappy with just three acres since it was indeed a bit small—enough for their family but challenging if they hoped to sell grain for money.
Li Yan decided to do a favor and spoke very diplomatically. She mentioned that they weren't particularly skilled at farming and that three acres would suffice. After all, with six acres in her space already, that made nine acres total; any more would surely wear them out.
After hearing this, Zhang Agou thought highly of Li Yan's family. Although Zhou Miao seemed rather carefree at first glance, upon closer inspection he appeared to be a decent young man.
With the land allocated, everyone awaited spring for cultivation. However, as April rolled around, they noticed something increasingly amiss: the temperature still hovered around minus seven or eight degrees Celsius. How could they possibly start cultivating land in such weather?
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