Seeing that she didn’t respond, Hua Erniang beca even more anxious. She slapped the tabletop twice and barked, "I’m not trying to scare you! Everyone says I’m the fiercest woman in Fire Knife Village, but in my opinion, ng Family’s eldest brother’s old mother is even worse! Didn’t I tell you before? She’s like a stone in a latrine - stinky and hard. On the surface, she seems quiet and uncommunicative, but she’s actually suffocating. I’ve lived in this village for over two years, what don’t I know?"
She looked up at Hua Xiaomai and sighed, then continued, "Think about it, why does she seem so anxious about arranging ng Family’s Eldest Brother’s marriage these past few years, but only considers girls from the neighboring villages? Humph, any family in Fire Knife Village who cares a bit for their daughter, even if they think ng Family’s Eldest Brother is a good match, wouldn’t dare to easily give their daughter to him! I’ve said before, your marriage, I don’t ask for the other party to be very rich and noble; the most important thing is that you must not be wronged or bullied. That Old Lady ng..."
Hua Xiaomai felt annoyed, her brows growing tighter. After being silent for a long ti, she suddenly said, "Erjie, aren’t you overthinking this? ng Family’s Eldest Brother takes care of , but only because of my brother-in-law. Where are all those twists and turns coming from in your mind? If you really think it’s inappropriate, have the guts to let my brother-in-law make things clear in front of everyone. What’s the use of worrying about it by yourself here?"
"Tsk, I’m just worried about you..." Hua Erniang began to speak, then didn’t know how to phrase the rest, opening and closing her mouth. She grabbed Hua Xiaomai’s face and stared into her eyes, "Am I really overthinking it?"
"Yes, you’re really overthinking it!" Hua Xiaomai rolled her eyes, fished out the two strings of Copper Coins from the cashbox in the dark and handed them to her, "Here, you don’t want to owe anyone any favors and don’t want involved with others, so take this money and return it to them tomorrow morning, just consider it as if I did business for nothing tonight. But let’s get one thing straight first, even if you beat to death, I won’t dig up those chilis behind the house. They are my life!"
At that mont, she was only concerned about the money and chilis. Hua Erniang felt sowhat relieved and thought for a mont before pushing the money back, "A whole two hundred wen, I can’t bear to part with it either. We’ll find another way to return this favor in a couple of days."
Upon hearing this, Hua Xiaomai couldn’t wait to toss the money back into the box and stuff it under her pillow at the edge of the bed. She yawned and said, "All this nonsense you’re spouting for no reason has made miss counting my money. I’m tired and going to sleep."
Hua Erniang had no choice but to stand up, paused, then couldn’t help but nag again, "At least take a bath before going to sleep. You fried fish and shrimp today, you reek of grease, it’s stinky. You’ll also soil the bedding. And..."
"Enough already!" Hua Xiaomai, torn between laughter and exasperation, pulled her up from the chair and shoved her out the door, "Your husband is waiting for you!"
Hua Erniang stood outside cursing under her breath for a bit before stomping back to the eastern room. Hua Xiaomai closed the door, stood behind it for a while, then went to the bathhouse to take a bath and shook out the bedding before crawling in.
...
The next morning, Hua Xiaomai woke up early, heard Hua Erniang feeding the chickens in the yard, making "cluck cluck coo coo" sounds, and thus got dressed and went out with a water jug to water the chilis and other vegetables behind the house.
Soon, Jing Taihe also got up, and talked with Hua Erniang in the yard for a bit.
Their voices were low, difficult to make out clearly, but Hua Xiaomai could vaguely hear phrases like "Little sister thinks I’m overthinking it" popping out of Hua Erniang’s mouth. Hua Xiaomai had a pretty good idea they were probably still discussing yesterday’s matters.
Not wanting to eavesdrop any longer, she carefully watered the vegetables. Seeing the tender green leaves dotted with water droplets rolling down in the early morning sunlight, looking sparkling and translucent, she couldn’t help but curl her lips into a smile.
Jing Taihe had a brief chat with Hua Erniang, got everything ready, and was about to head out the door with the basket of food. At this mont, a little boy about seven or eight years old ran into the courtyard from outside.
"Jing Brother, are you ho? My grandfather wants you to co over to our place," the boy said.
Hua Erniang recognized the little boy as the grandson of the Zheng family from Fire Knife Village and felt a bit baffled, "Your grandfather has sothing to do with our Taihe?"
"I don’t know, my grandfather just told to co and tell you, Jing Brother, if you’re free, go now," the boy finished his ssage and ran out, leaving Hua Erniang and Jing Taihe looking at each other.
"I’d better go and see," Jing Taihe hesitated briefly, put down the basket in his hand, smiled reassuringly at Hua Erniang, and walked out.
Hua Erniang stood in the courtyard, dazed for a while, feeling unsettled. She hurried to the back of the house and told Hua Xiaomai about it.
"We have never had anything to do with the Zheng family, not even with the old residence, we have had no interaction. Why would he ask your brother-in-law to go to his house for no reason?"
Hua Xiaomai felt her heart also could not settle, but with Hua Erniang already in a fluster, she had no choice but to try to calm her, patting her back, "Don’t worry for now, your brother-in-law will be back soon, and then we’ll understand. Thinking too much now is useless."
The sisters sat and stood in the courtyard, anxious and waiting for about an hour before Jing Taihe finally ca back at a leisurely pace.
Hua Erniang imdiately went up to et him and saw he seed sowhat dispirited, her heart skipped a beat, and she frowned, "...What happened, what’s the matter?"
Jing Taihe glanced at her, then shifted his gaze to Hua Xiaomai’s face. His lips moved, but no words ca out.
Such a slowpoke!
Hua Xiaomai, too anxious to bear it, stamped her foot and walked over, "Brother-in-law, what exactly happened, just tell us!"
"The village chief said..." Jing Taihe coughed, sighed out of sheer reluctance, "the village chief said that our nightly stalls by the river are too noisy and rowdy, causing...much dissatisfaction among the villagers." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welco to the Qidian website (qidian) to cast recomndation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian to read.)
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