Chapter 87: The Lady Matriarch and Wang Dafa Come to the Door Only to Be Put in Their Place

Although Li Su said that women could do it too, Grandfather Li was quite surprised.

But in Li Su’s view, the women in the village were already going into the fields to labor alongside the men, so brewing wine was entirely within their reach, and perhaps they would even be more meticulous about it. The head woman in charge of the winery was also a woman.

After careful consideration, he decided to divide the workers into two groups, men and women. The winery had been built very spaciously anyway.

The two groups could also spur one another on. If the men’s group did not want to fall behind the women’s group, they would work harder; if the women’s group wanted to prove that they were no worse than the men, they would likewise work even harder.

In any case, it was advantageous to Li Su.

And the education he had grown up with taught that men and women were equal. If women were capable, why not give them the chance?

This came as quite a shock to the villagers; no one had expected women to have a chance as well.

Though farming folk were not usually so particular, having women and men working together in the winery—was that really appropriate?

In the fields, men and women worked together, but after all, that was only within one’s own family.

Grandfather Li explained a little more, saying that the work areas for men and women were separated on two sides.

“That’s great, that’s wonderful! I’m going to tell my daughter-in-law right away!”

“I have a niece on my mother’s side, and I think she fits the requirements very well.”

Every household had sons, daughters, or relatives, and they all wanted someone from their own family to be hired by the winery.

Grandfather Li cleared his throat lightly, and the noisy discussion at once quieted down and gradually faded away.

“Within these three days, come find me to register your names. I’ll let everyone know who can enter the winery in the end,” Grandfather Li said.

Some people immediately followed Grandfather Li and Grandma Li back to the Li house to register their names; some went home to call for others; some set off for nearby villages.

They did not think Grandfather Li was joking. He was now the grandfather of a scholar, so whatever he said must be true, and besides, the village really was building a winery.

What the Li family said now carried special weight in the village.

Grandfather Li planned to have a few of the children in the family help register the names of those who came, because he himself could not read, much less write.

He thought to himself that perhaps he should learn to read and write as well.

He was a bit old, yes, but he did not need to go to a private school. He could just have the younger ones in the family teach him when they had time, picking up a little here and there.

And not just him—the entire Li family should learn a bit. It was obvious that Su had the makings of someone destined for great things. As his family, if they wanted to help him in some small way, they at least needed to know a few characters.

And later on, if Su passed the examinations and became an official, and sent a letter home, they would not even be able to read it; they would have to ask the children to read it aloud, and they would not be able to write a reply either.

In a place Li Su did not know, Grandfather Li’s thoughts had already gone very far ahead.

Li Su sent Li Zhengping and Li Zixi to Jiang Yan’s place. Li Zhengping greatly admired Jiang Yan; she was the direction she wanted to work toward, and Jiang Yan was also very gentle toward her and the child.

Li Zhengping and Jiang Yan talked quite well, and Li Zixi sat obediently beside Li Zhengping.

Seeing that neither of them had time to attend to him and Lin Ze, Li Su left with Lin Ze first.

Lin Ze’s tone held a trace of gratitude. “Brother Su, thank you. There’s a lot my mother won’t say to me, but she will talk to your sister. Having a woman about her age to chat with is a good thing for my mother.”

Li Su patted his shoulder. “It’s a good thing for my third sister too. Between brothers, there’s no need to say that.”

Lin Ze nodded hard, his smile deepening.

...

Over at the Li household, the Wang family came carrying a chicken and some eggs.

When Mother Wang and Wang Dafa saw the Li family’s large blue-brick and white-tile house, greed flooded their eyes. How many strings of silver had it cost? If even a little of it were given to their family, they would be made for life!

And what was this about building a private school? With that gold, they might as well give it to our family!

Mother Wang and Wang Dafa grew even hotter-eyed with desire. “Dafa, make sure you perform well in front of Zhengping in a little while!” Mother Wang reminded him again.

Wang Dafa nodded. No matter what, he had to coax Li Zhengping back first.

As for Tianhua, not only did her family circumstances not compare to Li Zhengping’s, she was also lazy, nowhere near as diligent.

When Li Zhengping had still been managing the household, Wang Dafa had dallied with Tianhua because he thought she was good in every way. But now that Li Zhengping was gone, and he had truly gotten together with Tianhua as he wished, he was not as happy as he had imagined. Life had only become harder.

Just the beating alone had nearly killed him and Tianhua, and the medicine they had to take afterward had only made their already impoverished household even worse.

Grandfather Li came over and saw Mother Wang and Wang Dafa, his brows knitted tightly. It was fortunate that Su had sent Ping’er to the town, or else having to look at these two irritating wretches would have been disgusting.

“What are you two doing standing at the door?” Grandfather Li asked.

Behind him followed some of the villagers, who had come to have Grandfather Li record their names. Seeing his dark expression, they began to wonder who these two people were.

When Mother Wang saw that there were others behind Grandfather Li, she was delighted. With so many people watching, the Li family surely could not refuse to let the child be seen by them!

Mother Wang quickly forced a smile and stepped forward. “Uncle, Dafa has been thinking about Ping’er and Zhaodi, so he brought a chicken and some eggs to see the mother and daughter.”

Wang Dafa also hurriedly came forward. “Grandfather, I was in the wrong before, and I know it now. Zhaodi is, after all, my own daughter. At the very least, let me see her.”

Grandfather Li’s face darkened. “Get out.”

Mother Wang and Wang Dafa’s expressions stiffened. Mother Wang forced herself to continue, “Uncle, that’s not very fair of you. Zhaodi is after all a member of our Wang family.”

Mother Wang then looked toward the surrounding villagers. “Everyone, say something fair. Even if we’ve divorced, we are still the child’s real grandmother and father. Can we not even see the child?”

Grandfather Li gritted his teeth so hard his jaws hurt. “Then why don’t you look at the kind of things your family has done? And besides, our family does not have any Zhaodi.”

Mother Wang hoped the villagers around her would speak up for her, but the villagers exploded in outrage instead. This was exactly the time when they were grateful to the Li family!

“The Wang family still dares to show up here? Do you really think the people of Apricot Blossom Village are easy to bully?”

“Who doesn’t know the filthy things your Wang family has done? I heard you already got a beating—how have you still not learned to behave!”

“Are you going to leave on your own, or do you want us to drive you out? From now on, no one from the Wang family is allowed in Apricot Blossom Village. If you come once, we’ll beat you once.”

The villagers had been deeply moved by Li Su building the private school and the winery and hiring workers. Now that someone had given them a chance to show their support, they were more than willing.

Leaving aside everything else, one side was the Li family from the same village, and the other was the Wang family, who had no connection to them at all. Besides, the Wang family had been in the wrong first, so naturally the villagers would not speak up for them.

Mother Wang and Wang Dafa were dumbfounded. How had this turned out so differently from what they had imagined? Why was everyone helping the Li family?

The two of them stood there in a daze for quite a while before Feng Cuicui and the others inside heard the commotion and came out.

Just seeing Wang Dafa made their bodies ache hotly. Back then, when their fists had rained down on him, every blow had been accompanied by searing pain.

The Li family glared at Wang Dafa, their fists already itching to move.

Wang Dafa shrank behind Mother Wang, not daring to raise his head and meet their eyes.

“You Wang family still dare to come?” Feng Cuicui angrily looked around, found a hoe, and lifted it as she charged at Mother Wang and Wang Dafa.

Mother Wang and Wang Dafa’s eyes were filled with terror, and they bolted at once. The chicken in Mother Wang’s hand took the chance to wriggle free and flap away.

Neither of them even thought to turn back and catch the chicken, fearing that Feng Cuicui would really bring the hoe down on them. With what part of their bodies could they possibly take such a blow?

The Wang family had an especially deep impression of the Li family’s ferociousness.