Watching the people before her, listening to their simple words, Bai Sheng couldn't help but be moved.
In this world, there are indeed many people, like Old Woman Chen and the Lu family's third branch, whom you can't warm up no matter how kindly you treat them. But there are also some people who, as long as you treat them with sincerity, will reciprocate with genuine affection.
Such people are not easy to encounter, after all, hearts are hidden behind skin, and those who give their true feelings first are easily defeated.
Bai Sheng felt very fortunate.
Looking back to when they first arrived at Red Tree Slope, no one could have imagined this day. Perhaps it was when Du Min and Feng Ping kindly reminded them that their younger siblings had been captured, or perhaps when Tian Dou stood up to testify for them, the barriers between hearts began to dissolve bit by bit.
Seeing Bai Sheng's eyes moisten, Lu Ye squeezed her hand and looked at everyone. "My wife and I are very grateful for your trust. Since everyone is unwilling to take back their deeds of sale, we will not force you. If you change your minds in the future, you can always come to us."
Everyone nodded excitedly.
Bai Sheng adjusted her emotions and then looked at Huo, Yin, Tong, Tie, Mi, and Mian.
Seeing that their mistress was suddenly looking at them, they all tensed up. Did their mistress intend to "drive" them away too? Even though they were all useless eaters, they would work even harder.
They didn't want to be driven away! No matter what, they wanted to stay in this home forever.
If their mistress said she would release them from their slave status, they would... kneel and beg, or like Huang Gou Sheng, cry their hearts out...
In short, they would never let go, dead or alive.
The few of them were extremely nervous, but they heard their mistress say, "Huo, Yin, Qiu, Dong, Tong, Tie, Mi, Mian, I will not release the slave status of you eight for the time being. From now on, as long as you each perform your duties and diligently fulfill your responsibilities, I will not mistreat you. When you reach the age of marriage, your master and I will help you arrange it. Everyone can rest assured."
Lu Huo and Lu Yin exchanged glances, pursed their lips, and smiled.
Tong, Tie, Mi, and Mian also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
With the household affairs settled, everyone began preparing for the full moon banquet ten days later.
The four little cubs were becoming increasingly adorable, like carved jade, and the wet nurses didn't want to let them go. Lu Huo and Lu Yin followed the wet nurses every day, learning how to care for the cubs, while Qiu and Dong attended to Bai Sheng personally.
For this full moon banquet, Bai Sheng and Lu Ye planned to give the workers two days of paid leave and to invite all the villagers of Red Tree Village.
The entire village had a total of 74 households, nearly 300 people.
Setting up forty tables would be more than enough.
The warehouse already contained a lot of dried and cured meats that Lu Ye had "bought." Fresh meat and vegetables would have to be "procured" the day before the banquet.
Bai Sheng was discussing the menu in the kitchen with Tian Gui Hua, Mi, and Mian when Lu Yu suddenly rushed in with his short legs.
"Sister-in-law, quick! My second brother, Tian Dou, and Tie Zhu are fighting with a group of children from Qian Fei Village!" Lu Yu panted and said urgently. He was afraid his second brother would kill someone and get into trouble.
"Fighting?" Bai Sheng and Tian Gui Hua exclaimed simultaneously.
They dropped what they were doing and, led by Lu Yu, rushed to the scene of the fight.
It turned out to be at the Sandy Ridge where Zhang Lan Lan had secretly met Lu Ye.
Lu Yun, Tian Dou, Tie Zhu, and a group of children who had recently moved to Red Tree Village were seen fighting with another group of children.
Lu Yun, Tian Dou, and the others knew some martial arts, so they naturally had the upper hand. However, they were already holding back considerably, otherwise, those children who were older than them would have lost their lives long ago.
The remaining children were cheering, trying to break up the fight, or crying, creating a chaotic scene.
"Stop! All of you, stop!" Bai Sheng shouted.
Tian Gui Hua rushed forward and pulled away Lu Yun, Tian Dou, and Tie Zhu, who were raining punches on someone.
When the defeated children saw adults arrive, they immediately started crying aggrievedly, "The children from your Red Tree Village are hitting people, I... I'm going to tell my parents. They'll settle the score with you! They'll put you all... all in jail! Waaah..."
They looked several years older than Lu Yun, their faces swollen like pig heads, their bruised eyes narrowed into slits. Bai Sheng had some impression of them; they were indeed children from Qian Fei Village.
"No crying!" Bai Sheng sternly ordered.
The crying stopped abruptly.
"Stand at attention, all of you, and don't move!" Bai Sheng commanded coldly, pointing at all the mischievous children.
The children automatically lined up into two factions: one led by Lu Yun, the Red Tree Village faction, and the other led by a tall boy, the Qian Fei Village faction.
It was clear that the Red Tree Village had achieved a landslide victory, as the most serious injury on their side was a superficial scratch, while the children from Qian Fei Village were all bruised and battered, with many of them appearing to have dislocated arms.
Tian Gui Hua looked at the children on her side with pride. From her understanding of children, Lu Yun and Tian Dou would never hit someone without reason; it must be the children from Qian Fei Village who deserved a beating!
Bai Sheng scanned the scene with sharp eyes, her gaze finally settling on Lu Yun. "Xiao Yun, tell me! Why were you fighting?"
Lu Yun wiped the sweat and dirt from his face and pointed at the children opposite him, angrily saying, "These scumbags mocked and insulted Tian Ya!"
Tian Ya?
Right, how could Lu Yun and the others fight without Tian Ya being present? Where was Tian Ya?
Bai Sheng and Tian Gui Hua looked around, but couldn't see Tian Ya.
"They mocked Tian Ya for not having a little ding-ding!" Tian Dou said, his nostrils flaring with anger.
What?!
Bai Sheng and Tian Gui Hua were shocked. The matter of Tian Ya's physical defect... was likely no longer a secret.
Lu Yun rubbed his nose and said, "Our children from Red Tree Village were having a pissing contest..."
"A pissing contest?" Bai Sheng asked, confused.
"Uh... it's like standing at the same distance and seeing who can piss into a pottery pot," Lu Yun explained, touching his ear. As the "General of Dung," he originally didn't want to waste a single drop of urine, but for the sake of his friends' enjoyment, he decided to sacrifice his urine this time. After all, it wouldn't be too wasteful to piss into a pottery pot.
Bai Sheng looked ahead and indeed saw a chipped pottery pot with urine stains on it.
Lu Yun continued, "Who knew, these children from Qian Fei Village came over and cursed our children from Red Tree Village as bastards born to bastards, saying their piss was short and not even half as far as theirs.
So... we mocked them, saying they didn't even have water to drink and couldn't piss if they wanted to.
Later, both sides decided to have a competition.
But a few of us had already peed, and only Tian Ya and a few other children hadn't. So, we let them participate in the competition.
Tian Ya refused, and the children from Qian Fei Village called him a sissy and came to pull down his pants. As a result... they discovered that Tian Ya didn't have a little ding-ding. Everyone burst into laughter, but Tian Ya started crying, crying very sadly.
The little scumbags from Qian Fei Village called Tian Ya a pervert, a deformed monster, a eunuch... I... Tian Dou and Tie Zhu couldn't stand them laughing, and their curses became more and more unpleasant. We couldn't help but beat them up."