Chapter 292: Benevolence in Every Inch

The old man, after having his meal, went out for a walk, ignoring Li Xian.

Li Xian had originally planned to go with Li You to check on the initial processing plant in the afternoon. However, Li You and Wang Zhiye from the Commercial Bureau seemed to hit it off, with both of them drinking heavily and talking non-stop about everything from the forestry bureau's situation to national affairs. They drank from around two in the afternoon until after five.

Li Xian, Su Ya, and Zou Ni had spent the afternoon sealing window gaps with putty, but the drinking continued. By the time the sun was setting, Li You, red-nosed and burping, finally helped Wang Zhiye out of the house.

If not for Li Xian's intervention, Wang Zhiye might have become his aunt—after a few drinks, it was almost as if they had sworn eternal brotherhood.

Seeing Wang Zhiye swaying and barely able to stand, Li Xian and Su Ya helped her back inside. After much effort, they finally got her onto the kang. Li Xian hoped she would sleep through the night to give his family some peace. However, within an hour, just as Zou Ni and Su Ya finished dinner, Wang Zhiye, who had seemed unconscious earlier, bounced back to life, carrying a bottle of alcohol and searching the yard for Li You—apparently still not satisfied with the afternoon's drinking!

Li Xian was at his wit's end.

"Hey!" Seeing Wang Zhiye dragging the still-drunk Li You off the kang, Li Xian couldn't take it anymore. "You're a young lady from the bureau. Can't you be a bit more mindful of the impact? Director Xu sent you here to do a report on the typical examples, right? You haven't done any real work this afternoon. Did you come here just to drink with my father?"

"Are you serious?" Wang Zhiye, facing his criticism, was displeased. "You're upset because I drank two meals' worth of alcohol at your place?"

"Yes!" On the kang, Li You, still dazed, burped and said, "You can't speak to my sister like that!"

After scolding Li Xian, Li You patted Wang Zhiye's arm and spoke with a slurred tongue, "Sister, don't be upset. Don't listen to this little brat. Since you're here, make yourself at home. Stay as long as you like, and my brother will provide you with good food and drinks. Tomorrow, hic, tomorrow we'll have a feast!"

"Ah!" Seeing Li You fall asleep right after, Li Xian rubbed his temples—this batch of forestry bureau officials really lacked quality!

Noticing Li Xian's frustration, Wang Zhiye's eyebrows involuntarily twitched.

The old lady wasn't one to easily forgive. She still remembered the time at Beilin with the sanitary napkin investigation—she hadn't forgotten that!

Now, it seemed the opportunity had come.

While Li Xian was preoccupied with the commotion in his home, a few barks were heard outside.

Guests had arrived.

...

The guest was none other than Zhu Laowu, who had just been released from ten months in prison for refusing to pay fines for exceeding the child limit.

Zhu Laowu's wife had been taking care of their six children alone, and though she thought of her husband, she didn't have time to visit him. Zhu Laowu knew nothing about what was happening at home.

In prison, he had heard that their house had been demolished and wondered how his mother was managing. He also learned that the Eight-Nine Forestry Farm had been hit by a disaster, and the farm families had lost their land. Zhu Laowu was so distressed that he almost escaped.

The prison director, a good man, learned of Zhu Laowu's situation and repeatedly comforted him, finding him a lot of small tasks to perform to earn good behavior and potentially reduce his sentence. With the director's help, Zhu Laowu worked hard and was released a month early.

Upon his release, Zhu Laowu hurried home, eager to see the state of his family. However, upon arrival, he found his wife and six children living comfortably in the sawmill's guardhouse, better off than he had been recently. He felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders.

Chen Guixiang, however, was overwhelmed with grievances and couldn't hold back once her husband returned. She recounted their recent hardships and how Li You and his family had helped them.

Hearing this, Zhu Laowu was moved to tears.

After holding his wife and crying for more than half an hour, he wiped his tears and said, "The Li family is truly remarkable; they saved our lives. Now that I'm back, I need to thank them."

Chen Guixiang shared this sentiment. After her husband's return, the whole family decided to express their gratitude. They gathered the children, prepared some items, and went to the west end of town.

When the family of eight entered, the Li family was having dinner.

Seeing them, Zou Ni exclaimed, pulled the still-sleeping Li You up, and invited them in. "Laowu's back? Come in, warm up by the kang!"

In terms of relations, Zhu Laowu hadn't had much to do with the Li family before and was quite unfamiliar with Li You and Zou Ni. However, feeling grateful for the Li family's support while he was away, he immediately knelt on the floor upon entering the room.

"Uncle! Aunt! I'm deeply grateful for taking care of Guixiang and the children while I was away. I've come to bow and thank you!"

Without waiting for Zou Ni and Li You to stop him, he kowtowed three times.

This scene shocked everyone in the room. Wang Zhiye, unsure of what was happening, jumped up in alarm, avoiding the bowing—a bit superstitious about such displays.

"Old Five, what are you doing?" Li You, startled by Zhu Laowu's actions, woke up from his drunken state. "We're all from the same village. Helping out is the right thing to do. You don't need to make such a fuss! Get up!"

As Li You helped Zhu Laowu up, Chen Guixiang pulled her two daughters down and had them bow as well.

This display of gratitude left Li You flustered, running around barefoot to help everyone up and bring them to the dining table.

Wang Zhiye, who had never seen such a visit, looked on with her mouth agape, finally asking Li Xian for an explanation. Li Xian, busy with the guests, didn't respond.

Zhu Laowu didn't want to cause trouble and had planned to leave after expressing his thanks. However, seeing his daughters still hungry, and despite the difficult conditions at the sawmill, he felt embarrassed.

Li Xian lifted the two little girls onto the table and couldn't ignore their eager eyes. Zhu Laowu and Chen Guixiang felt awkward and sat by the table.

After wiping his forehead, Li You noticed the two bags of items and wasn't pleased. While pouring Zhu Laowu a cup of wine, he complained, "You've come back and just wanted to visit. Why did you bring things?"

Zhu Laowu knew Li You was now the manager, but even if he weren't, he was still a significant figure in the forestry farm. Feeling uneasy in the well-lit main room decorated with rare light fixtures, he explained, "Uncle, these aren't rare items. We don't have much to repay you with. These are just pickled vegetables and homemade bean cakes that Guixiang prepared…"

These weren't special items. Almost every household in the farm made them in winter.

Worried that Li You might find them insufficient, Chen Guixiang added, "I made the pickles carefully, washing them several times, and the bean cakes are made with new flour and cloth… They're very clean. Don't mind the modesty."

Feeling slightly embarrassed, she glanced at Li You's family and said, "It's all we could manage…"

Seeing Chen Guixiang's awkwardness, Li Xian smiled slightly.

Though the family had settled at the sawmill, it had only been a month without wages and harvest. These items were likely from their old neighbors.

The items weren't extraordinary, but the sentiment behind them was significant.

He added more food to the two children's bowls, then went to the door, pulling out the two plastic bags.

One bag held neatly packed pickled vegetables, and the other contained meticulously made bean cakes, smooth and delicate, looking like cream despite being made from coarse grains. The cakes were still warm and dusted with bean flour.

He opened the plastic bag, took out a board of bean cakes, and placed it on the table. 

Without adding sugar, he ate three cakes in one go.

"It's delicious!"

With his mouth full of sticky bean cakes, Li Xian could barely speak but managed to say, his face flushed.

Chen Guixiang was stunned, her eyes welling with tears. "Big brother, if you like them, I'll make more for you tomorrow!"

Li Xian swallowed the bean cakes and used his chopsticks to serve everyone, including Su Ya and Wang Zhiye.

"These really aren't just pleasantries. You all should try these. I've never had such bean cakes before."

"Mm, it's delicious."

"Oh, the flour is really fine. Old Five's wife, come by more often and teach me how to make these bean cakes. It'll be good for the kids to have something new to munch on."

Listening to the praise, Chen Guixiang nodded vigorously.