Chapter 81: Chapter 81: I just seed to have heard them talking about selling sothing. Chapter 81: Chapter 81: I just seed to have heard them talking about selling sothing. Lu Youxi packed her bags and quietly took a box of milk to Aunt Lin’s house next door.
“Aunt Lin,” Lu Youxi called softly.
Hearing her soft voice, Aunt Lin also replied in a whisper, but with a face full of joy as she ca out to greet her, “Oh my, Youxi, you’re leaving tomorrow. You must be so busy today, how do you still have ti to co over here?”
Seeing Lu Youxi smile, Aunt Lin imdiately said, “Co on, let’s go inside and talk.”
Aunt Lin pulled Lu Youxi into the house, and Lu Youxi put the milk and eggs on the table, “Aunt Lin, thank you for looking after these days. This is for you, and please don’t look down on it.”
“Oh!” Aunt Lin made a show of refusing, “Why are you giving this to ? It would be much better if you kept it for yourself to drink!”
“Aunt Lin, please just accept it,” Lu Youxi insisted. “Moreover, I have to thank you for convincing the villagers to gossip by the roadside for my dad to hear, constantly reminding him how badly my grandparents and aunt and uncle have acted, which kept him from going soft and getting involved in their matters.”
In fact, the village gossip Lu Zhenguo overheard had all been arranged by Lu Youxi.
Lu Youxi had secretly sought out Aunt Lin.
Aunt Lin, accustod to gossiping about every little thing in the village over the years, had her own way of spreading rumors and developing a network of gossipers.
With Aunt Lin’s help, Lu Youxi didn’t have to ask each villager to cooperate; it was as if the whole village was cooperating.
Lu Youxi was concerned Lu Zhenguo would go soft, so she asked Aunt Liu for help.
The villagers were to chat to Lu Zhenguo whenever they saw him about the old scandals concerning the Lu Family’s elders and how they treated Lu Zhenjia, to remind him.
If Lu Zhenguo still went soft after that, he would indeed be a saint, and nothing Lu Youxi did would work.
And this strategy proved to be effective.
“I didn’t do much, really. Besides, with the weather like this, everyone enjoys cooling off outside, and when they’ve got nothing else to do, what’s more enjoyable than gathering to gossip about others?” Aunt Lin said with a laugh, “Plus, the stuff about your family is the hottest topic recently, and there’s nothing else worth talking about. I reckon even if we keep gossiping about this for a few more months, no one would be fed up with it.”
Especially with the Hu Family causing a scene every day, there was always sothing new to talk about.
Gossip was certainly plentiful.
Aunt Lin never expected Lu Youxi to be so open-minded, not only permitting but even encouraging villagers to discuss their family gossip.
Who else would be pleased with that?
It was just to constantly remind Lu Zhenguo not to be soft-hearted.
Aunt Lin sighed and looked at Lu Youxi with silent admiration. In his previous life, Lu Zhenguo must have done a great deal of good to be blessed with a daughter like Lu Youxi in this life.
Thinking a few months would be quite enough, Lu Youxi took Aunt Lin’s hand, “Aunt Lin, I’ll have to rely on you after I leave.”
Aunt Lin seed a bit troubled, “A few months is okay, but if it’s for a longer ti, with the sa old gossip, well, there really won’t be anything left to say. Unless the Lu Zhenjia family can stir up so more trouble.”
“A few months is more than enough,” Lu Youxi said gratefully.
Aunt Lin breathed a sigh of relief, “Alright, consider it done. I can’t promise anything for a longer period, but two or three months, absolutely no problem.”
After thanking Aunt Lin once more, Lu Youxi left to return to her own house, picked up another box of milk she had placed inside the wall, and went to Aunt Liu’s house.
It was to thank her for the favor she had done by speaking with the village chief when Foolish Hu’s parents had co to propose marriage.
By the ti Lu Youxi got back ho and walked through the courtyard gate, she saw Zhou Shuyan standing under the shade of the large mulberry tree in the courtyard.
The sunlight, filtered by the leaves, left only speckles of light shining through the gaps, scattering fine fragnts upon Zhou Shuyan’s body, like patches of gilded foil, sowhat dazzling to the eye.
Upon seeing Lu Youxi return, Zhou Shuyan naturally smiled at her.
Lu Youxi was a little srized, unsure whether it was Zhou Shuyan’s warm smile or the effects of the sunlight that made her heart beat wildly.
She didn’t even rember when that mulberry tree was planted; it had been large since she could rember.
Every year around June, it bore mulberries.
Liu Yushu would pick them and sell them in town.
While picking, Old Madam Lu would take so for Lu Youxue to eat.
Lu Youxue would then secretly save half of them for her.
Liu Yushu would secretly hide so for her as well.
She rembered in her previous life, she hated Lu Youxue and refused to take them.
The ones Liu Yushu secretly offered, she also refused out of stubbornness.
If she had been willing to accept them, she would probably have eaten more than Lu Youxue.
In this life, she returned a bit late; the mulberries had all been picked and sold off.
She also rembered that shortly before returning this life, she had refused to accept the mulberries Liu Yushu had secretly saved for her, hurting Liu Yushu’s feelings.
“What are you thinking about?” Zhou Shuyan’s voice sounded from above her forehead, just as Lu Youxi ca back to her senses.
She instinctively looked up and saw Zhou Shuyan was already quite close. But perhaps because the sunlight was strong, Zhou Shuyan’s face seed a bit hazy, as if there was a thin, transparent veil between them.
“You were standing under the mulberry tree, and I was thinking about how I’m going to miss the mulberry season every year once I go to the Imperial Capital to study,” Lu Youxi said with sowhat of a regretful smile.
“When Dad and Mom and I go to the Imperial Capital, we’ll all miss out,” Lu Youxue said, appearing beside them at so point.
Lu Youxi suddenly rembered, “Right, where are Mom and Dad?”
Inside, they’re discussing tuition fees,” Lu Youxue whispered. “I think I overheard them talking about selling sothing.”
Lu Youxi rembered she had not yet ntioned to her parents about the scholarship she had received.
One reason was because there had been too many chaotic issues before, and the scholarship seed trivial, slipping her mind.
Another reason was that Lu Youxi worried that if Lu Zhenguo saved up so money, it would be taken by the Lu Family’s elders and Lu Zhenjia.
If they knew she didn’t need the tuition, she feared Lu Zhenguo would soften and give the money to them.
“But we’ll need to talk about that later. Why are you always eavesdropping?” Lu Youxi realized that Lu Youxue, the little one, seed too fond of listening to others’ conversations now.
That wasn’t a good thing at all.
“I didn’t an to eavesdrop; I just happened to overhear a bit while passing by,” Lu Youxue explained.
“Eavesdropping isn’t a good behavior,” Lu Youxi admonished Lu Youxue.
Lu Youxue quickly nodded, “I wouldn’t do it on purpose.”
Lu Youxi raised an eyebrow, thinking to herself that Lu Youxue was becoming quite the wordsmith, “You little slicker!”
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