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墨書 Inktalez
The people resting nearby quickly understood what was happening and began to whisper among themselves. Zhu Da angrily grabbed Big Tiger and kicked him. Sister Zhu hurried to intervene, and soon shouts and cries erupted in the field, drawing more people over. When they learned what had happened, they all started pointing and discussing.
In the countryside, it's normal for children to be mischievous, and adults usually just scold them a few times. However, when it comes to stealing, even if they don't hold the child accountable, they will definitely confront the adults involved. After all, no one's belongings come for free; even a single vegetable is valuable.
Sister Zhu was not well-liked in general, and Big Tiger had a habit of stealing food from others. Now that he was caught drinking Xie Youshun's mung bean soup, it was only natural for people to unite against him.
"Alright, stop hitting him. Just make sure he doesn't steal again," Xiao Lihua said when she saw Zhu Da kicking Big Tiger with such force. She genuinely worried that he might hurt the child. Mischievous kids sometimes need a few spanks, but they shouldn't be harmed.
At that moment, Sister Zhu snatched Big Tiger from Zhu Da's hands and pulled him behind her. Hearing Xiao Lihua's words, she turned around and glared at her, saying, "You don't need to play the good person here! It's just a little mung bean soup from your house! What's the big deal? So stingy! Acting like you're dealing with a child!"
Xiao Lihua frowned, thinking that Sister Zhu truly didn't recognize kindness. If it weren't for Big Tiger being a child, she wouldn't have bothered to say anything; she was reluctant to engage with this family at all.
"It's fine for him to drink my mung bean soup, but he should at least ask first. If he had asked, I wouldn't have refused him; you said it's just a little soup. But Big Tiger stole it and even added water to it. Can food be treated so carelessly? Adding water is one thing; what if he added something else? How can anyone feel safe drinking it? If we can't trust it, we might as well pour out all the mung bean soup—what a waste of food that would be," Xiao Lihua explained.
"Sister Zhu, if I went to your house without your permission and drank your porridge while adding water to it, would you still feel comfortable eating it knowing someone tampered with it?"
The people nearby nodded in agreement; it was indeed true. If they were in the same situation, they would feel uneasy drinking it. Those who were timid might even refuse to drink it altogether. Looking at the mung bean soup made by Xiao Lihua, its color seemed quite refreshing; what a shame it would be to pour it out.
Sister Zhu wanted to say more but was pulled back by Zhu Da, who scolded her, "Enough with your shouting! You've spoiled a good child! Go stand aside; if you're not tired, go cut some wheat! Thank you Four Brothers and Sister Four; I'm sorry about this troublesome kid. Otherwise, we'll bring you some mung bean soup this afternoon."
After scolding Sister Zhu, Zhu Da turned to Xie Youshun and Xiao Lihua and said that his name was Zhu Man, but everyone was used to calling him Zhu Da.
Xie Youshun said, "No need, it's just a jar of mung bean soup. Just consider it a gift for the kids. But next time, if you want some, just let me know and don't pour water into this jar again. If only this cleverness were used to learn some skills."
"You’re right, you’re right. That little brat came to apologize! Don’t think that just because your mother is protecting you, I can’t hit you! Just wait until I break your legs!" Zhu Da glared at Big Tiger and shouted. Big Tiger walked over from Sister Zhu’s side and apologized.
Xie Youshun and Xiao Lihua couldn’t argue with a child, so they waved their hands and said it was fine.
Once everyone saw that the commotion had settled down, they all sat back down to rest and chat. Some people looked at Xie Youshun and their straw hats, gloves, and masks with curiosity. After taking a look, they understood how to use them and all praised the idea, saying they wondered why they hadn’t thought of it themselves. If they had thought of it earlier, they could have suffered less. Knowing that this was Xiao Lihua’s idea made them regard her with new respect. Many people knew that Xiao Lihua had changed her temperament recently but hadn’t interacted much with her; now they saw it was indeed true.
Xiao Lihua didn’t have enmity with everyone before, so these people began to praise her.
"Hmph, you could come up with this idea and even make it well, but why didn’t you think to tell others? You could have told the villagers or even your family! Not telling even your family shows you only think about yourself. Do you feel particularly comfortable watching us suffer while you don’t?"
Sister Zhu said, her face itching and hurting from the wheat awns, and her hands also hurt.
Upon hearing this, some people felt uncomfortable too; they thought about how good the idea was. If they had been informed earlier, wouldn’t they have been able to prepare sooner? At least they could have been more comfortable. However, Xie Youshun and the others didn’t say a word; not even to their families—how selfish!
Xiao Lihua replied, "We thought of this yesterday on the spur of the moment. As you can see, these straw hats, gloves, and masks are quite easy to make; we finished them in one night. We couldn’t just run out in the middle of the night to tell everyone."
Everyone saw that the straw hats were simply woven and that the masks and gloves weren’t made too intricately. They immediately felt that Xie Youshun and his group weren’t such selfish people after all; their previous thoughts were indeed overly suspicious. The villagers were quite simple-hearted; when they realized they had wronged someone, they felt uneasy inside and began to speak up for Xie Youshun and his group. Some who had issues with Sister Zhu even said she was just looking for trouble, which made Sister Zhu’s face turn red with anger as Zhu Da pulled her away to cut wheat.
By noon, there were still some wheat left uncut at Xie Youshun’s place. He asked Xiao Lihua to go home to cook while he continued cutting here.
Xiao Lihua told him to rest if he got tired and then went home to prepare the meal. Remembering she had promised to make noodles for them in the morning, she rolled up her sleeves and started making dough. She made hand-pulled noodles that were thicker and chewier, along with egg sauce. Thinking about how hungry the noodles would make her feel, she also used the leftover dough to make two pancakes and stir-fried some vegetables. While she was making the pancakes, the two children had already started eating noodles from their small bowls by themselves and enjoyed them very much. By the time Xiao Lihua finished frying the pancakes and vegetables, they had already finished eating.
"Mother, we went to the field, let Dad come back for dinner," Shitou said to Xiao Lihua.
"Go ahead, but don't run. If you run right after eating, you'll get a stomachache. Just sit under the tree at the edge of the field and play; don't stay out in the sun."
"Got it, Mother, we're leaving now!"
Shitou held Muto's hand and walked out. Muto waved goodbye to Xiao Lihua before they left.
After a while, Xie Youshun returned. Seeing the food on the table, he noticed there were two bowls of noodles and realized that Xiao Lihua hadn't eaten either. He said to her, "You eat first; I won't let you starve while waiting for me."
"It's fine; it's nice to have someone to eat with. You go wash your face; I've already prepared the water for you." Xiao Lihua took a broom from the kang and helped Xie Youshun sweep off the grass and wheat chaff from his clothes, then pushed him to wash his hands and face. Xie Youshun immediately went to wash up. After he returned, he ate heartily, finishing a large bowl of noodles first, then going for some pancakes. He felt particularly full and energized. Seeing that Xiao Lihua was still eating slowly, he handed her the remaining pancakes, saying, "You should eat more."
"I'm full with this bowl; if you don't want it, leave it for later. You can have it before cooking dinner tonight."
"Wife, you really think of everything."
Xie Youshun smiled. Although he was quite tired, he felt happy inside, as if he could handle another day and night of hard work. No wonder people say that marrying a good wife makes life feel promising; it truly is like that.
Xiao Lihua glanced at him and continued eating her noodles, but she noticeably ate faster.
After finishing their meal, Xie Youshun hurried to take the Ox Cart to the field. The two began bundling wheat and loading it onto the Ox Cart, transporting it home one cartload at a time. The village had a designated drying area for grains; however, this time they had enough space in front of their house to dry the wheat from this acre of land as well.
The villagers watched as Xie Youshun used his own Ox Cart to haul wheat and felt envious. However, Xie Youshun's Ox Cart had already been lent out long ago, so it wasn't available for others to use.
Waiting to finish harvesting his own Wheat, Xie Youshun lent the Ox Cart to the Old House. This was something they had agreed upon long ago. Xie Youshun did not go to help with the work; there were enough people at the Old House's dry land, so he was not needed. Instead, he went to help Wang Dashan's family. They had two acres of Wheat, and it was a bit strenuous for just the couple to harvest it alone. Not long after Xie Youshun arrived, Xiao Lihua also came. She let her two children sit at the door watching the Wheat and taught them simple games, not worried about them running around. With their help, Wang Dashan's land was quickly harvested.
In Xiaqiao Village, families generally had both dry land and Paddy Fields as well as Shatian, so the Wheat could be harvested quickly. Usually, it would be finished in a day, dried the next day, and then rolled with a roller to separate the grains from the husks before bagging them. The Wheat would either be sold, saved for taxes in autumn, or ground into flour; every household calculated carefully.
Today was a bountiful harvest; everyone had gathered more grain than usual and was very happy. Despite being tired, smiles were on everyone's faces. However, this smile faded when everyone finished packing the Wheat and prepared to rest before planting corn in a few days. The cause of this change was several officials dressed in uniforms who visited the village chief's house and left quickly.
Soon, the large bell in the village rang out; that meant the village chief was calling everyone together. Generally, when the village chief had important matters to discuss, he would ring that bell.
The villagers dropped their work and headed towards the bell. Xie Youshun and Xiao Lihua also went, each holding a child. Along the way, they saw many people heading in the same direction, all talking about what might have happened. Everyone's face showed tension because when that bell rang, bad news usually followed.
"Youshun, what do you think it is?" Xiao Lihua asked, feeling a bit anxious; she just wanted to live a peaceful life.
"Don't worry; if there's something going on, it's a matter for the whole village," Xie Youshun reassured her, though his brow was also furrowed.
When they reached under the bell, a large crowd had already gathered. Children and women stood at the back while men stood at the front. The village chief Li Gao stood on a stone at the back with a heavy expression on his face, which made everyone even more nervous; they wondered what serious issue could have caused such concern from him.
Seeing that most of the people had arrived, the village chief took his pipe away from his mouth, cleared his throat, and spoke loudly: "Villagers, please be quiet! I called everyone here because there is something important to discuss! Please listen without causing a commotion; this is an unavoidable situation that we must find a way to get through!"
"Village chief, just tell us what it is! Your words are making us even more anxious!" someone shouted from the crowd, and many echoed in agreement.
The author has something to say: I'm uploading this a bit late; I'm sorry for promising more updates. I'm going to write now and expect to finish before nine o'clock. If it's late, it means something unexpected happened. I'll do my best!^-^ I'll reply to comments after finishing the second update.
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