Chapter 91: Familial Love Makes One Blind

Chapter 91: Chapter 91: Familial Love Makes One Blind

Lu Danian almost choked on his own saliva.

’This guy Zhen has some nerve,’ he thought. ’Does he really expect to call the General his brother-in-law?’

"You can’t just say things like that! Our General has a fiancée. I heard she’s the daughter of some marquis from the Capital City. A woman of her noble status must have extraordinary looks and talents..."

Zhen Jili pursed his lips. ’If she’s really so great, why hasn’t the General married her yet?’

"All she has is a better family background. Aside from that, my sister isn’t inferior to anyone."

Lu Danian had no idea where he got such confidence from. ’This must be what they call familial affection making one blind...’

After staring blankly for a moment, he couldn’t resist asking, "Don’t tell me you want your sister to be the General’s concubine? If she were a concubine, her social standing wouldn’t be so important..."

Zhen Jili flew into a rage and chased after him, trying to kick him. "Your sister can be a concubine! I was just using him as an example. Who said she has to marry the General? Maybe there’s someone even better for her!"

Lu Danian raised his hands in surrender as he ran.

"Alright, alright, I get it! Your sister is wonderful in every way and deserves to be matched with the finest man in the world, happy now? Hey! If you don’t stop, I’m going to fight back!"

Tian Jiao and Jiang Wu had grave expressions.

They had come to the military camp full of confidence, but not only did they fail to make a deal, they were also humiliated.

Jiang Wu comforted her, "At least we didn’t suffer a huge loss. A moment ago, I thought that Lord was going to confiscate our things. I didn’t expect him to be a decent person."

Tian Jiao was not comforted in the slightest. ’If it weren’t for Ji Huan, he might have treated me better.’

She was convinced that Ji Huan had instigated it, and she was burning with hatred.

"Did you hear that? He calls her ’sister’ too. As her ’brother,’ where does that leave you?"

Jiang Wu said sheepishly, "That was in the past. I haven’t had anything to do with her for a long time..."

Tian Jiao snorted. "I never realized how capable Ji Huan is. Who knows what shameful tricks she used to latch onto a sworn brother. So impressive. And then she slanders us."

Jiang Wu hesitated. "But that Lord said Ji Huan never even mentioned us to him."

’Even if she had,’ he thought, ’it wouldn’t be slander, would it? We really did...’

Tian Jiao didn’t believe it for a second. "Look at their relationship! Of course he’d stick up for Ji Huan. I just never expected Wan to be this kind of person. Just because she’s doing business with the army, she won’t let anyone else? She even sabotaged our chances... She just can’t stand to see others do well."

Tian Jiao complained nonstop the whole way, and Jiang Wu couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

Besides, he felt Tian Jiao’s focus was misplaced. ’The real problem is that we can’t sell the vegetables. How are we going to explain this to our families when we get back?’

The thought of this made Tian Jiao even more frustrated. If she didn’t make any money, who knew how her mother-in-law would ridicule her.

As she was racking her brain, Zhen Jili’s words suddenly popped into her head.

Her eyes darted, and she had another idea.

Once the main beams were set, the house went up quickly.

The main hall rooms were finished first, with the idea that people could move in as soon as they had dried.

After that came the side rooms in the front and back courtyards, followed by finishing touches like the courtyard walls and paving the ground.

Generally speaking, winter was actually the worst season for building a house.

The weather was cold and often brought rain or snow. The ground would freeze solid, which was not ideal for construction.

But winter was the off-season for farming in the countryside. Migrant workers returned home for the season, so people had more free time. Because of this, some families occasionally chose to build their houses in winter. As long as proper precautions were taken, it wasn’t a problem.

At first, Ji Huan was also worried about rain and snow, which would not only delay the construction but also affect the quality of the house.

Wang Min had been building houses for years; how could he not know about this problem?

So, he had gathered a full team of workers. Bricklayers and carpenters all pitched in. On top of that, Ji Huan paid generous wages, so everyone was willing to put in the effort. They would rush back to work right after eating and wouldn’t mention clocking out even after dark; Ji Huan was always the one who had to urge them to go home.

Luckily, the weather was on their side, and they enjoyed many consecutive days of clear skies.

With plenty of sunshine, there was naturally less frost. At the end of each day, Wang Min and his crew would cover the construction site with a thick layer of straw mats. Overall, progress was quite smooth.

"The weather’s been real strange this year. Not a single snowfall since winter began. It’s just been dry and cold, without a single drop of rain. The wheat in the fields is done for. Next year will be another lean year..."

Widow Xie and Ji Huan were talking in the courtyard. She was sewing a shoe sole, while Ji Huan was teaching several children to write.

The hot and spicy soup business had mostly stabilized by now. The first few days Ji Huan didn’t go, the others were a bit flustered, but they had all gotten the hang of it. Now, they would sell out before noon, return from town for a nap, and still have the afternoon free for other chores.

Hu Dacheng’s interest in learning to write lasted all of three minutes. Hearing this, he tossed his brush aside and scooted over to ask, "Why is the wheat done for if it doesn’t snow? Isn’t it colder when it snows? And it all presses down on the wheat. If it doesn’t freeze to death, it’ll be crushed to death."

Widow Xie rubbed her needle against her hair. "How should I know? Didn’t the older generation always say, ’A timely snow promises a good harvest’? No snow means a lean year."

That explanation was too vague, so Hu Dacheng went to ask Ji Huan.

Ji Huan guided Dabao’s hand, writing stroke by stroke, while simultaneously answering him.

"You know how you wear a thick, padded coat in the winter to stay warm? Well, wheat gets cold too, so it also needs a coat. When it snows, the snow piles up on the ground in a thick layer, like a quilt for the wheat seedlings. Under that layer of snow, there’s a pocket of trapped air. Since that air can’t circulate with the cold air outside, it acts as insulation and keeps the ground warm. That’s why even if it gets really cold, the wheat seedlings under the snow won’t freeze and can make it safely through the winter. Then, when spring arrives, the melting snow provides water that helps the wheat grow."

Generally speaking, as long as it snows in winter, the next year’s wheat harvest would be bountiful. Of course, blizzards were an exception.

"Oh," Hu Dacheng said.

He didn’t really care if the wheat needed a quilt or not; he just wanted an excuse to be lazy.

Widow Xie was so angry she wanted to smack him with the shoe sole.

It was so rare for Wan to be literate and willing to teach, but of course, her own son was a hopeless case.

Hu Dacheng made a face at her and zipped out of the courtyard, probably off to find someone to play with.

"Sigh, I see how it is. Dragons give birth to dragons, phoenixes to phoenixes, and a mouse’s son will only ever dig holes. A boy like Dacheng... he’ll be lucky to scrape a living from the fields in the future. I can’t expect anything more."

Ji Huan saw that she had just been talking about crops and was now rambling about something else, so she knew Widow Xie wasn’t in a truly bad mood.

The hot and spicy soup stall was Widow Xie’s main source of security now. The little plot of land from the Hu Family was never much to rely on, even in a bountiful year. Thus, despite her sighs, she didn’t seem too distressed.

Ji Huan, however, was not as optimistic. In fact, her heart felt heavy.

Great Zhou and Beiliang had been in a stalemate for a long time without a war breaking out, but she knew that one would start sooner or later.

’After the Northern Pass endures a war, if it’s followed by a year of famine, the lives of the common people will become even more difficult.’

Just as she was thinking this, she saw Hu Liang come out of the west room after his nap, and Ji Huan suddenly remembered something.