Just when everyone was at a loss, a young man dressed as a servant stepped out of the crowd. He untied his purse and took out one tael of silver and two hundred and fifty copper coins. He handed them to Uncle Zhao and said, "My master greatly admires this young lady's courage. He'll pay this first installment for the young lady. Please take it. Could you let her go now?"
Uncle Zhao took the money and weighed it in his hand. Then he winked at the strong man. The strong man put the sack on his shoulder on the ground and left with Uncle Zhao.
As soon as Li Yutao was put down, everyone gathered around to untie the sack. Seeing Li Yutao unconscious, their eyes all turned red. Lady Liu was on the verge of fainting from crying.
Li Yuzhu said to Li Yunren, "Father, you and Xiaodai take Xiaotao and Mother home to rest first. I'll go and thank the kind person."
Li Yunren nodded. "That's right. I should go with you," he said, then looked at the poorly - looking Xiaotao and Lady Liu and sighed, "but..."
Li Yuzhu smiled. "Father, take them home quickly. Mother and Xiaotao need a good rest."
After saying that, Li Yuzhu walked up to the young man and bowed deeply. "Thank you, young master and your noble master, for your help. Please give us some time to pay back this money."
"Please get up, miss. My young master said it was just a small favor and not worth mentioning." The boy replied with a smile.
Only then did Li Yuzhu look up and saw a young man of sixteen or seventeen standing in front of her, smiling simply.
"May I ask your name, young master?"
"Just call me Fuan, miss." After Fuan said that, he turned his head and looked away.
Li Yuzhu also followed his gaze and saw a well - dressed young man not far away. He was fanning casually with one hand and holding the reins of his horse with the other, looking into the distance, free and unrestrained.
Seeing that his young master wasn't impatient, Fuan turned back. Li Yuzhu also withdrew her gaze.
"I'll surely pay back this money within three months. Please leave me your address, Brother Fuan."
Fuan waved his hand. "No need." Then he murmured to himself, "Moreover, we may not be here after three months."
"Then when and where can I find you to pay back the money?"
"Fuan, let's go!" The young man in the distance shouted.
Fuan answered and then said to Li Yuzhu, "Miss, don't worry about it. I'm leaving now. See you if we're fated." Then he rushed towards the young man.
Li Yuzhu stood there, watching the two ride away on their horses. As the sun was setting in the west, the young man was getting farther and farther away.
Li Yuzhu waved her hand and whispered, "Thank you. Goodbye." Then she went home.
When she got home, Li Yuzhu saw everyone gathered in the yard, arguing heatedly. She walked over.
Li Yuan'an said, "Since your mother and I are still alive and your third brother has many expenses, we've decided to divide the family property into five parts. Second son, your family will get one part."
"Father, this may not be fair," Li Yunren frowned and said.
Li Yuzhu pushed through the crowd and walked straight up to Li Yuan'an. She said angrily, "Of course it's not fair. In this big family, whenever there's something disadvantageous, they think of us, but when there's something good, it's as if we don't exist. It's really ridiculous."
Li Yuan'an asked with a dark face, "Then what do you want?"
"Divide it into three parts. Our family gets one part," Li Yuzhu replied.
Lady Sun sneered, "You little brat, you have big ambitions!"
Li Yuan'an said, "Your grandmother and I are still alive. There's no saying of dividing the family when the elders are still around. Since we've come to this point, your grandmother and I should at least get one part. Divide it into four parts. Your family gets one part."
Li Yunren had lived in this big family for more than thirty years. He was still a bit reluctant to leave. So he agreed to Li Yuan'an's proposal to divide the property into four parts, with his family getting one part.
Taking advantage of the afternoon, Li Yunren took Li Yuzhu and Xiaodai to organize their things. After dinner, the whole family got together to discuss how to pay back the three taels of silver and seven hundred and fifty copper coins of interest within three months.
"I'll go to the dock tomorrow to see if there are any job openings," Li Yunren said.
Lady Liu nodded. "I'll look for things at home that can be sold for some money to raise some medicine money for Xiaotao first."
"Okay. Now that we've just divided the family, see what we don't need and sell them for money," Li Yunren said with a heavy heart. Suddenly, he seemed to remember something and raised his voice. "By the way, don't we still have watermelons in the field?"
"That's right!" Lady Liu also cheered up. "Then we'll pick them tomorrow and sell them in the town."
"Watermelons?" Li Yuzhu repeated. Suddenly, the memory of the jelly grass seeds she saw while chopping firewood the other day flashed through her mind. She had an idea and said excitedly, "I've got it. We can sell jelly grass jelly."
"Jelly grass jelly?" Li Yunren asked in confusion.
"What's that?" Lady Liu also looked puzzled.
"It's a kind of snack that's especially suitable for summer. I'll go to the mountain tomorrow to pick some back and make it. You can taste it," Li Yuzhu replied excitedly.
"Okay. Then let's all go to bed early," Li Yunren said as he got up.
Everyone went back to their rooms.
Lying in bed, Li Yuzhu thought that brown sugar was a luxury in ancient times. It was too expensive as an ingredient for jelly grass jelly. So she decided to make fruit jelly grass jelly instead. It would look nicer.
Early the next morning, Li Yunren got up and went to the dock. Lady Liu was about to go to the field to pick watermelons, but Li Yuzhu stopped her.
"Mother, you'd better stay at home. Xiaotao still needs your care."
Lady Liu nodded and agreed. "Then you two be careful. Don't go too far away from Xiaodai."
Since what happened to Xiaotao, Lady Liu had been extremely worried. Looking at Li Yuzhu carrying a basket on her back, she kept giving instructions.
"Got it, Mother. You go and rest. Xiaodai will protect me," Li Yuzhu said with a smile to comfort her.
Xiaodai chimed in, "Auntie, don't worry. I'll take good care of Sister Yuzhu."
Lady Liu watched the two leave home.
Li Yuzhu took Xiaodai straight to the place where she chopped firewood the other day. Pointing at the lantern - like fruits, she said, "Xiaodai, the jelly grass seeds are inside these. Let's pick a lot of them and take them back."
"Okay!"
Since no one had discovered the use of jelly grass seeds yet, they picked a lot in a short time.
"Now let's go and pick watermelons and peanuts," Li Yuzhu said.
Grandpa had said that Li Yuzhu's family hadn't invested in growing watermelons, so he divided the field where the watermelons had been picked to them. But since they had just started picking watermelons, there were still some watermelons in the field Li Yuzhu's family got. However, they couldn't sell much money just by these watermelons.
The two returned home with a great harvest.
"Xiaodai, come and help me make jelly grass jelly," Li Yuzhu said as soon as she put down the basket.
"Okay!"