101 Nice Treatment
Qiao Xuan thought for a while and smiled. "Okay, 2 liang isn't a high price, but Manager Qin, you pay promptly, so I will take the deal."
"Good, good! Miss, if you have some more, bring it to us please!"
The manager let out a sigh of relief and smiled, as he asked the assistant to start weighing the goods.
Two liang for 500 grams was not a low price, nor was it high. The manager was trying to get a bargain, because he did need to spend extra effort in dealing with the original plants.
Qiao Xuan took the deal and told him that she was aware of the market price well enough.
Manager believed that if the seller was not as smart as this young miss, he would definitely have managed to buy all the plants at 2 qian per 500 grams instead.
The final bill was 172 liang for 43 kgs.
If they give half of it to the shared savings, each of them would still get dozens of liang in the end.
The three of them were really pleased.
They bought some good food, and Qiao Xuan fetched the newly-tailored clothes, before heading back to the village happily.
Qiao Xuan asked Shao Yunduan to join them when she was handing out the money.
Shao Yunduan was startled as he said, "You went to the town? You have to tell me when you go to town next time. I need to be with you."
Qi and Taotao could do nothing.
If something happened, they were not going to be of any help. They would even be frightened away!
Qiao Xuan got very happy when she heard that he cared about her safety rather than the money, so she said, "Alright, next time, I will tell you first…"
Qiao Xuan was smiling inside her heart. She was so lucky to have a husband who treated her nicely!
Shao Yunduan was really worried about her safety. He had witnessed how Madame Qiao and those from the Qiao Family treated her, so he was really angry and concerned about her. He was scared that she would run into them.
Those annoying servants were even worse than their masters. They would always flatter the masters in all kinds of manners.
What if some housekeeper, servant or annoying aunties ran into Qiao Xuan and bullied her?
But seeing how Qiao Xuan reacted… he suddenly became shy…
But he felt somehow happy too, when he saw her cheerful face.
Qiao Xuan, Shao Yunduan, Shao Taotao, Shao Xiaoqi, Ms. Fang were dividing the money.
Ms. Xu did not notice the amount of money, as she was watching her children eating snacks and putting on new dresses.
Ms. Fang and Shao Yunduan were very surprised to see this much money.
Qiao Xuan took two notes, each of them was worth 50 liang, whilst the rest was 10 liang as well as some small changes.
They had spent some on food, such as ribs and pork belly as well as 50 kgs of rice and 15 kgs of flour.
Those staple foods were consumed fast in a large family like theirs.
Ms. Fang patted her throbbing heart as she said in a shivering voice, "This… much money was earned because you sold that plant?"
"Yes, Mom!" The three of them nodded with a smile.
"Oh my!" Ms. Fang almost collapsed. "It is so much!"
"Mom, this is just a small part. We have seen more than 20 mu of the plant. We can dig some more tomorrow. We are going to earn much more than this!"
Ms. Fang. "…"
"Let me… digest it slowly…"
Shao Yunduan helped Ms. Fang to sit down.
"Mom, Ms. Qiao found the plant, but I think that if she gives half of the earnings to the shared pool, it might be a bit too much. What do you think?"
102 No Greed
Shao Xiaoqi and Shao Taotao nodded as well. That was exactly what they were thinking too.
"But for Fifth Sister-in-law, we would not have recognized the plant, nor would we have sold it for this much money. Fifth Sister-in-law should take the largest share!"
"Yes, yes!"
Qiao Xuan did not care much about it. She knew what her mother-in-law was like. She smiled. "It is fine, we have all worked hard. But Mom, you have to hide the money and never share it with anyone else."
The others agreed as well. They believed that this was the most important thing above all!
Ms. Fang took a deep breath. "Ms. Qiao, Duan, Qi and Taotao are right. You earned the money. You don't have to give so much to us! What about you giving 20 liang to me, and the rest can be yours."
20 liang was already enough for them.
Honestly, they could not save 20 liang even in an entire year in the past.
Ms. Fang believed that she should cherish the windfall, rather than being greedy.
Qiao Xuan was able to earn this much money, because she was fortunate. The others should not be too greedy for her money, otherwise there would be misfortune along the way.
Startled, Qiao Xuan had not expected that her mother-in-law would be so generous. She said, "Mom…"
"Mom is right, just do as she says." Shao Yunduan added.
She could keep her earnings.
Shao Xiaoqi and Shao Taotao had no objection to the proposal.
Qiao Xuan thought for a while and agreed with a smile.
"Then, I won't say no."
Ms. Fang said with a smile, "You deserve it!"
Shao Xiaoqi and Shao Taotao did not do much and still got 20 liang respectively.
Qiao Xuan had more than 120 liang in savings right now.
She stuffed 2 liang back to Ms. Fang.
That was an extra benefit, which made Ms. Fang smile. Her daughter-in-law was quite understanding, and knew how to make money and respected her. She was the lucky star of the family!
When they were done with money sharing, Shao Meiling and Shao Xiaozhi came, looking around.
Shao Xiaoqi immediately said, "We don't have any wild animals today, cousins."
So… they could just stop looking.
Shao Meiling smiled. "You borrowed a bullock cart to go to the town, what did you do there?"
Shao Xiaozhi. "What did you buy?"
Qiao Xuan replied. "Why must we report what we have brought to you everytime? It is none of your business!"
She left from there without speaking with them any more.
Shao Meiling and her sister got so annoyed that they turned to look at Ms. Fang, who ignored them as well and went into the kitchen instead.
They realized that their elder aunt-in-law would not defend them against her daughter-in-law.
"Let's leave!" The two of them dashed off.
Soon the two elder women were at the door.
Ms. Fang countered them and the two of them left in anger as well.
Ms. Fang realized that they should not be indulged, even though her family was making money now.
Qiao Xuan cooked some more food for dinner.
She made braised and sugar-coated ribs, and turned pork belly into braised meat whilst adding some chives with egg soup and eggplants and beans.
Qiao Xuan thought that her father-in-law would say something about this but her father-in-law said nothing even after they finished the dinner.
Qiao Xuan was very surprised.
Shao Yunduan immediately clarified. "They owe you 2 liang. Dad doesn't dare to say anything right now."
Qiao Xuan struck her head. "Ah, good!"
It was good that she had a substantial dowry!
103 No Step Backwards
She could do whatever she wanted!
What Qiao Xuan did not know was that when Eldest Uncle returned to the room, he had a long chat with Ms. Fang.
Although he did not believe it firmly, he still insisted.
"…They were just here on a visit, why are you treating them as if they are thieves? It will make our name sound bad, and it will hurt us too. We are one family…"
Ms. Fang sneered. "We are not one family! We are living separately! We all have sons, daughter-in-laws and grandchildren to support. What are they doing here? They keep thinking about getting something from us, whenever they see us bringing something home."
"Just on a visit? They always return to their home with something or the other. Qi is not yet married, but when he has a wife in the future, and they keep coming to us again and again, his wife is definitely going to be annoyed. No nephews are going to support their uncles and aunts! They can get something from us occasionally, but they come to us every time Qi goes up to the mountain. Bah!"
"Ms. Qiao can buy whatever she wants. Why is it their business? Why must they dig into what she is doing? Must she share with them what she has got? They will always come to you whenever we refuse to give them something. You can share things with them, but leave us alone. If you are not convinced, just ask your son and daughter-in-law, who on earth is willing to share the gains? You can go and ask anyone!"
"Bah, don't ever say that they have nothing, and will give us something when they have it. Look at Xiaozhi and Meiling! When they eat candies, they don't share any with Taotao! When they kill roosters for a meal, have they ever shared a bowl of soup with us?"
Eldest Uncle, "…"
He could not come up with any instance when he was offered something by them.
"A rooster is so small! If they have anything spare, they would definitely share it with us…"
Ms. Fang sneered. "What do you mean by small? If they have the heart to share it with us, they would do that whenever they want. They have taken full advantage of us. Now, they should just stop it! Our children are growing up, and we are going to have more daughters-in-law! You are defending your brothers, but if you expect your daughters-in-law to support their uncle and aunts, I don't think that any of the daughters-in-law would be glad to do so! Are you trying to make sons and daughters-in-law to get separated from you?"
Eldest Uncle was angry. "We are one family, we don't have to split hairs!"
"You don't, but what good have we got? Why can't we split the hairs? We need to share every time! But they share nothing, and think that we owe them something! You can be generous, but leave us alone!"
Having said this, Ms. Fang became even angrier and went to sleep.
She was definitely not going to take a step backwards.
She was strong enough to snap at him. She had her son and daughter-in-law to back her up, and it did not matter if her husband was arguing with her.
Maybe he could just leave the family!
He could check if his brothers would want to keep him and feed him!
The following day, Eldest Uncle was not feeling well, but no one noticed it or spoke with him. That made the old man feel even worse.
He had nowhere to vent his anger either.
So, he skipped breakfast, and left with a shovel on his shoulders.
Shao Dalang was down-to-earth and seemed to have sensed that his father was upset about something.
Ms. Fang sneered and waved her hand. "Just leave him alone!"
He would come to join them for a meal when he was angry.
Or he was going to ask his brothers for food? They would never be that kind to take care of him!
Shao Dalang did not think that it was right, but when he was about to say something more, Ms. Xu blinked at him and stopped him.
104 Ms. Xu's Anticipation
Ms. Xu snapped at him. "Don't be silly. Dad and Mom must have had a row. As their juniors, we should not get involved in the matter."
Shao Dalang was startled. "A row? That can't be possible! They were fine last night…"
Ms. Xu snorted. "Who knows! But just listen to what Mom says! If you ever dare say anything more, she will teach you a lesson!"
Shao Dalang thought for a while and nodded with a small answer, saying nothing more.
After breakfast, Qiao Xuan asked them to help dig the gastrodia elatas.
"Qi, Third Brother and I found a large patch of it, and they are very valuable. Brother, and Sister-in-law, help us in bringing it back. I will pay you 5 liang a day. It will take just a couple of days."
She had asked Ms. Fang about the payment, and Ms. Fang agreed with it. Only Qiao Xuan recognized gastrodia elata and it was she who found this valuable plant, so Ms. Fang even believed that 5 liang for the couple would be a little too much.
5 liang for one day?
If Qiao Xuan was a stingy person, she could have kept it as a secret and sell it on her own.
She could have earned all the money by herself.
But she exposed this to the family because she treated them well. Also, half of her earnings would need to be handed out to the shared savings.
Shao Dalang and his wife, as well as Shao Sanlang were shocked.
"Fifth Sister-in-law…" Ms. Xu's voice was shivering. "Are you saying that we can earn 5 liang a day? Five liang?"
Shao Dalang found that Ms. Xu's reaction was a little bit improper, but he could not help but turn to Ms. Xu who was gasping. He looked at Qiao Xuan and said, "Fifth Sister-in-law, have you made a mistake?"
Shao Sanlang gasped and had not become normal yet.
"Brother." Qiao Xuan smiled. "I have not made a mistake. Five liang for one person per day, ten liang for two days, but… please keep it a secret."
"I will, I will absolutely keep it a secret. Fifth Sister-in-law, let's go now!" Ms. Xu almost jumped in excitement.
Ten liang for two days! They would earn 20 liang for two days together! In a couple of years, they would be able to afford to send Junyan to school, even after handing out the money to the shared savings.
Ms. Fang could not help but throw Ms. Xu a disdainful look. This narrow-minded woman, she acted as if she had never seen any money before!
But then she realized that she had really never seen much money before. So she decided to drop any disciplining talks with her.
"Just listen carefully!" Ms. Fang snorted. "You should tell this to no one else, including your father! If you meet your mother's family, you should keep it a secret from them as well! Never mention this to anyone ever, understand?"
Ms. Xu was startled and nodded constantly.
So did Shao Dalang and the others.
Soon they set out to do the work.
Shao Yunduan tagged along as well.
He was trying to take a walk in his spare time, to balance his time devoted to his studies.
They worked fast, and it took them just half a day to finish the work.
Compared to the digging, transporting was an even more difficult task.
It was a long way to go…
They were all good at physical labor work, but it took some effort to carry everything out.
Shao Xiaoqi rented a bullock cart and they all gathered at the entrance of the village. Shao Yunduan decided to keep Qiao Xuan company in the town, whilst Shao Xiaoqi and Shao Taotao followed along.
Ms. Xu was very excited. She was nervous too, and did not follow along out of hesitation.
"Do you think that Fifth Sister-in-law will give us the money?"
Ms. Xu did not believe that it was a reliable thing.
That plant looked like cheap stuff. Were they worth a penny?
105 Acceptance
Shao Dalang said, "Fifth Sister-in-law doesn't joke around. When she makes a promise, she definitely sticks to it."
Ms. Xu nodded and smiled. "Then we will have 20 liang altogether, and we… we are going to have savings of our own!"
"Yes!" Shao Dalang smiled with brightened eyes.
They sold a lot of plants this time, and the weight became 268 kgs. Manager Qin counted it as 270 kgs instead.
The payment was 1,080 liang altogether.
Manager Qin's eyes almost popped out, and he asked his assistant to serve them tea. He said in a flattering tone, "Mr. Shao and Mrs. Shao, how much more of this do you have?"
Qiao Xuan thought for a while. "Similar to this amount, not too much!"
It was wild-growing and the production wasn't that great.
Otherwise 20 mu of gastrodia elata would have led them to great fortune.
"Good, good!" Manager Qin said with a smile. "We want it all, we buy it at this price, okay?"
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Okay!"
Qiao Xuan gave Shao Xiaoqi and Shao Taotao 100 liang each. It was they who kept Qiao Xuan company when she found gastrodia elata and they deserved to have this much share.
The two of them accepted the money happily.
Qiao Xuan gave nothing to Shao Yunduan, but asked him with a smile. "I can keep it for you, and you can turn to me, when you need money, alright?"
Shao Yunduan suddenly thought of how his mother guarded the money at home, and how his sister-in-law watched out for the savings, so he wondered what she meant…
But Shao Yunduan cut off the suspicion and nodded. "Okay…"
Qiao Xuan chuckled and stuffed the money into her arms.
Back at home, they started to divide the money.
They gave Shao Dalang, Mrs. Xu and Shao Sanlang ten liang each and they would receive ten liang more the following day.
Ms. Xu was so happy that her eyes sparkled. She thanked her constantly and wondered where she should keep the money.
Shao Sanlang was glad as well. He had the money! And he was going to sell more of this plant with his brother tomorrow as well!
He was going to buy a lot of good food! Like braised pork, roasted chicken, big ducks and all kinds of delicious meat dishes from Restaurant Yanhe, some candied sugar-coated dried fruits from dim sum shops, melon seeds and peanuts and so on…
He was going to buy a lot!
Ah, it made him so happy!
Qiao Xuan gave 100 liang to Ms. Fang as well.
Ms. Fang accepted the money when Shao Yunduan told her to.
Qiao Xuan could not help but smile. "Mom, I really admire you for how you deal with different things! I am so glad to have a mother-in-law like you!"
Ms. Fang was not greedy at all, which Qiao Xuan appreciated greatly.
"Honestly, you girl!" Ms. Fang chuckled. "It is Duan's honor to have married you! But you are right, I am not greedy!"
"I feel so glad to have you here."
"Yes!" Qiao Xuan smiled. "Mom, you are kind and friendly, and you will certainly have a lot of good fortune!"
"Hahaha! That is great!" Ms. Fang laughed loudly.
Shao Yunduan. "…"
He almost believed that he was the extra one…
The following day, they worked hard and earned 1,260 liang after the sale.
Qiao Xuan gave 100 liang to Ms. Fang, Shao Xiaoqi and Shao Taotao each, and gave 20 liang to Shao Sanlang, Shao Dalang and Mrs. Xu respectively.
106 Qiao Xuan More Satisfied
She had 900 liang left to herself.
In this way, she had approximately 1,900 liang saved with her.
Great that she had the superpower. Money just came in like a flood.
Otherwise she would not have been able to find those precious things in the mountains.
After all, it wasn't easy to find those hidden treasures in the mountains, and that was why the villagers were all so poor.
A day later, Qiao Xuan planted two mu of gastrodia elata.
She had asked Manager Qin to get 2 mu of panax notoginseng and 2 mu of Taizi ginseng seeds for her. It would be better if he could get ginseng seeds or ginseng that was still alive.
Manager Qin nodded and even signed a contract with her. He asked her to keep planting those things and they would buy all the plants, at a relatively reasonable price.
Also, they were also going to return the money for the seeds to her.
Well, if the plants did not grow, then she would have to bear the cost of the seeds.
This was because the seeds for panax notoginseng and Taizi ginseng were not cheap.
Qiao Xuan heard that Mingren Tang was operated by the Tang Family in the capital, which was a medical family and received full respect. The grandpa, namely the master of the family, used to be the imperial doctor for the Emperor.
He was from a very noble and reputable family of medicine.
They might not be the most prestigious one, yet they were least one of the most prestigious ones. Due to the special social status, even the most prestigious families would not dare offend them, and sometimes the most prominent families would even want to do them a favor.
After all, everyone needed doctors at some point.
The richer a family was, the more scared they were of diseases.
That was why Qiao Xuan became even more satisfied.
If she was able to continue her collaboration with the Tang Family, then her original parents would not dare do anything to her either.
The Tang Family was a noble family and they had been running a medical business, which needed a stellar reputation. Due to her and Shao Yunduan's social status, the Tang Family would not do anything like stealing the techniques from her, like planting those herbs.
Ms. Xu was willing to help when they were planting gastrodia elata.
She was very envious of those 2 mu of Gastrodia elata. She could not help but let out an emotional sigh, standing with Shao Dalang. "This is a very valuable plant, and they are going to make even more money! What about us seeking these plants in the mountains too? If we find some ourselves, we are going to make a fortune as well!"
She knew that even if half of the earnings was given to the shared savings, it would still mean a great deal.
Shao Dalang was a down-to-earth man. He said to her, "They are not so easy to plant. We know nothing about it. Just drop it. We can't recognise those valuable things in the mountains, and it is dangerous out there. We have earned so much this time already!"
Ms. Xu pursed her lips. "It is never too much money for us!"
"Also, we have earned 60 liang, but 30 liang are for the shared savings, and we only have 30 liang left. That is so little."
Shao Dalang turned a surprised look at her.
30 liang was not enough?
"Darling, don't overthink it. We are just ordinary farmers, and we should not be…"
Greedy!
"Alright, alright!" Ms. Xu felt as if she were stricken down. She snorted. "Those are just thoughts, look at what you are saying!"
Shao Dalang scratched his head and tugged her sleeves. "I don't mean anything else, I just mean that we should learn to be satisfied, look at what we have now, it is enough!"
107 Recognition
Ms. Xu. "…"
This man was dull and dumb in head. Messages just did not get through.
But he was slightly better than before. Who would complain about gaining so much money!
The fifth sister-in-law could pay them this much money, probably because she herself had earned a lot.
Well, she could not say anything about it, since she earned the money with her abilities. But if she could recognize what the plant was like, then she could go into the mountains and dig them herself.
She could sell them and earn the money for her own pocket.
The more Ms. Xu thought about this, the more she wanted to do so. So the next day, she pretended to work in the land, but sneaked into the mountains instead.
She was going to find gastrodia elata.
She had no knowledge of what it looked like, but when she was digging the plant, she bore the appearance in her mind.
As long as she could run into the plant, she was going to recognize it.
But gastrodia elata was not easy to find.
Without Qiao Xuan's superpower, it could not be possibly found at all.
Anxious, Ms. Xu panicked. She kept going deep into the forest without any awareness. The path as well as the trees were getting so strange and the veins were flourishing, getting denser. But Ms. Xu just did not notice the change.
When she realized that something was wrong, she glanced about, as cold sweat dripped alongside her cheeks. Where was she?
It was very quiet around, and trees were covering her head, as if there were numerous pairs of eyes hiding behind the woods, and a beast would come to lunge at her and eat her up.
Suddenly, Ms. Xu let out a scream, when she heard a weird sound of a bird chirping across the mountains. She tripped over and fell.
She kept screaming and ran backwards despite the pain.
Luckily, Ms. Xu left some footprints on the path that was barely visited by anyone. She grew up in the countryside, and often worked in the mountains. So even though she went through the difficulty at the beginning, she managed to escape from the woods.
When she came to the familiar place, Ms. Xu collapsed as she panted, crying.
She felt so regretful, though she had no idea what made her feel this way.
But after this experience, she understood that she was not capable enough to do it herself.
She could not make a fortune through this.
Ms. Xu felt very jealous and admired her fifth sister-in-law. No wonder her mother-in-law kept speaking highly of Fifth Sister-in-law and calling her a lucky star. True, she was indeed a lucky star.
She had to admit that she was not destined to be as lucky.
Well, she had some savings in hand, and even though they had separated from the big family, the family of four would definitely live a good life.
Also, some of Fifth Sister-in-law's earnings would be given to the shared savings too, so when Mother-in-law had enough money in her hand, the whole family would have a better life as well.
Hence, she decided to leave the money making job to her fifth sister-in-law. She was sure that Fifth Sister-in-law would not forget about her, whenever she was going to make a fortune.
As she thought about this, Ms. Xu felt slightly comforted.
From that moment on, she dropped her strange thoughts.
The whole family had no idea what Ms. Xu had been through. Qiao Xuan spent the following days at home, since she was really tired in the past few days of non-stop mountain visits.
Shao Taotao was making the shoe soles, and Qiao Xuan helped her.
There were no other entertainment things she could do, so she got really bored and decided to kill the time by doing some needle work.
108 Later
In the afternoon, Qiao Xuan spent some time on the flower field which was located at the entrance of the village.
She had used her superpower to make the trees grow, and now, some already started to bloom.
The 30 bee boxes were standing in three rows neatly, with numerous bees going in and out, buzzing around.
Qiao Xuan stopped in front of one gardenia tree that was taller than herself.
She looked at the blossoms attached to the twigs, reached out for the trunk and poured in more superpower. Soon, one of the blossoms started to open itself, and gradually, while flowers covered the entire tree.
The white, egg-sized flowers were blossoming in an enticing way, covering up the trees and giving off a wonderful scent.
Qiao Xuan picked several flowers and held them in her hands. Then she put in more superpower, trying to extract the oil from them.
She rubbed the flowers, crushed the petals, and instilled her superpower gradually, extracting the water inside and then made it evaporate under the sunshine.
It was a difficult process, because the superpower wasn't easily controlled. A small distraction might ruin the entire work.
Soon, Qiao Xuan honed her skill.
The crushed petals soon turned brown, and Qiao Xuan cast the petals all over the ground. She noticed the water drops at the tip of her finger, which was very small.
The scent was very pure and strong. It was the smell of gardenias indeed.
It must be the extracted oil from gardenias.
Qiao Xuan was overjoyed.
It seemed that she was going to pay another visit to the town. Some tools needed to be made and jars had to be bought.
She needed to have a large white porcelain bowl and pestle for pounding the medicine. The petals could not be pinched by hand. It was much easier to pound them in the bowl first, and then refine them later.
She was going to buy some sealed bottles made of jadestone for the oil.
She was not going to expand the 60 mu of flower field.
It would be too obvious.
She wasn't afraid of the villagers, but the madam at the mansion.
She was going to do something bigger, when she grew stronger.
But she was going to do something on the sly.
She was going to buy good fields directly from the land-owners in the town. She could hire some people to take care of the land, and did not have to do everything personally.
She was not going to expand the flower field for the time being. She could grow all kinds of flowers that she wanted, but if she planted too many flowers, it would cause suspicion.
With her superpower, she could make the flowers bloom numerous times on the same field.
The superpower would grow stronger, the more she practiced it.
As Qiao Xuan was mulling over the plan, she saw that the flowers had already attracted many bees.
Qiao Xuan smiled. It seemed that they all loved it!
She also sensed that her superpower would soon grow stronger, and more fragrant.
Satisfied, Qiao Xuan left the flower field, locked the door and went home.
She had just walked into the yard, when she saw Shao Xiaoqi, Shao Taotao, Shao Junyan and Shao Qing feeding ducks and geese.
Ms. Fang was watching and laughing, standing next to them.
They dug some fish and shrimps from the bucket and cast them onto the ground. The ducks and geese were all jostling to get the food. They looked so cute and fresh, and the sight made Junyan and Shao Qing really happy.
"Mom!"
"Fifth Sister-in-law! Here!"
Qiao Xuan smiled after greeting them. "Where did the ducks come from?"
109 Fish And Shrimp
Her mother-in-law used to think that raising ducks was a waste of food, and it was not worth the while. That was why Qiao Xuan was very surprised to see twenty ducks appearing in the yard.
Ms. Fang smiled. "Your third brother went to town today, and I asked him to bring the ducks home."
Then, she pressed down her voice and chuckled with pride. "Now, we have food for ducks! When they grow bigger, you can just make them into dishes. We can all get a taste of it!"
Qiao Xuan raised her eyebrows, but then nodded with a smile. "That sounds good! I can make many dishes with duck. Mom, just wait to taste the dishes!"
Shao Xiaoqi's eyes sparkled. "Fifth Sister-in-law, what about me buying two more large ducks from town in a couple of days, when the market is on?"
Ms. Fang glared at him in amusement. "You boy, since when did you pick up your third brother's bad habit?"
Everyone laughed.
Shao Xiaoqi chuckled in embarrassment, scooped a small shrimp from the bucket and cast it onto the ground.
Qiao Xuan was brought back to the scene. She said, "You went to fetch fish and shrimps from the river?"
She leaned forward and saw many shrimps, big and small as well as several fish in the bucket. They all looked like delicacies to her.
Seeing them chuckling as they fed them to geese and ducks, Qiao Xuan could not help but let out a sigh of concern.
Those were all river shrimps and fishes from fresh, unpolluted rivers!
They could all turn into delicious dishes!
She had paid too much attention to the mountains, ignoring the treasure in the river.
There were many fish and shrimps in the river these days.
"It is such a pity that you are feeding them to the ducks and geese. They can be our food!"
Shao Taotao's eyes widened. "But Fifth Sister-in-law, they have a weird taste, we don't like it!"
Shao Xiaoqi was motivated instead. "Fifth Sister-in-law, are you able to come up with dishes using shrimps and fish? I can get them home now!"
Shao Taotao got the point too. "Oh! Me too, me too!"
Fish and shrimps had a weird smell, and villagers did not want to put too much oil into making them, nor did they want to add much wine to drive away the taste. So they believed that those things could not be turned into delicious food.
Gradually, people rarely visited the river for fish and shrimps, unless it was a famine.
Hence, they just got the fish and shrimp for ducks and chickens.
Qiao Xuan nodded and smiled. "Of course they can be made into food! There are various kinds of dishes that can be made. Do we have many of these in the river? Let's visit the river and we will make yummy food tonight!"
"Hooray!"
Shao Xiaoqi and Shao Taotao cheered. They dropped the ducks and geese, and went to fetch a bucket and net, heading towards the river.
They had a net at home, which they had no idea when they made it and when they last used it.
Qiao Xuan smiled. "We can go to the town to buy some fish poles. They should come handy in fishing."
However, those things were ordinary tools which might not be available on sale. They could find a carpenter to make some hooks instead.
Ms. Fang did not know what she should say. "You have so many plans! You are so naughty! Keep your fifth sister-in-law protected, and stay safe!"
"Got it!" Shao Xiaoqi and Shao Taotao answered from a distance away.
They came to the riverside, and saw seaweed growing all over the river with slow-flowing water.
110 Qiao Xuan's Interest
Shao Xiaoqi took off his shoes, rolled up his trousers and tied them around his waist. He threw the net into the root of the seaweed, gave it a push and took a step backwards. Finally, the net was cast out.
There were numerous, bouncing shrimps in the net as well as two finger-size fish that showed their white bellies immediately.
Shao Xiaoqi threw away the leaves and small things out of the net proficiently, and gathered up the fish and shrimp, putting them into the bucket.
Soon after, Qiao Xuan tried to explore the river with her superpower.
Her eyes widened after a moment, and she was excited and motivated.
There were numerous shrimps, fish and crabs swimming in there!
Qiao Xuan could see all the fish and shrimps hidden in the seaweeds clearly.
However, shrimps and fish were not like those plants in the mountains. They were water animals which were flexible and difficult to catch.
Also, what Qiao Xuan could see was invisible to Shao Xiaoqi, so they had to make some effort and needed a bit of luck.
Qiao Xuan felt really sorry to see some large fish swimming away from the net.
"Let me try!" Qiao Xuan intended to go into the water.
But Shao Xiaoqi and Shao Taotao turned her down directly.
Qiao Xuan knew that they were worried about her safety, so she had no choice but to drop the idea.
Therefore, she helped them, standing on the bank.
They were very lucky to have so many wild, fresh fish and shrimps in this era, and with the guidance of Qiao Xuan, they managed to catch some fish every now and then.
There were already crucian carps the size of four fingers, a carp, three yellow peppers the size of two fingers and several small trash fish the size of two or three fingers in the bucket.
Qiao Xuan also made a few attempts, whenever it was within her abilities.
However, she could not catch big fish each time from where she stood.
So after a while, she only managed to catch two large fish.
Suddenly, she saw an old turtle that was bigger than her palm, hidden in a crevice under the water. Qiao Xuan was overjoyed, and hurriedly booed to remind Shao Xiaoqi and pointed it to him.
Shao Xiaoqi nodded and tiptoed there. He bent his back and quickly got the turtle in his hands.
"What a large turtle!"
The turtle was fun. Children from the village would always catch one when they were playing or swimming in the river during summer. They often brought it home as a pet but gradually, the pet would be gone.
Qiao Xuan asked him to put it into the bucket, smiling. "It is really good for soup!"
Seeing the harvest in the bucket, Qiao Xuan smiled. "Time to go home! We have enough to eat today, and can come anytime we want for more!"
There were innumerable fish and shrimps in the river.
Shao Xiaoqi and Shao Taotao nodded.
Shao Xiaoqi went back to the bank and the three of them went home together.
They worked on the shrimps and fish, and left the remaining in the vat for the time being.
The shrimps were dried in the pot, and seasoned with some salt. In this way, they could be stored for three days without turning bad.
Chives were added to fry with shrimps, and eggs were cracked to make pancakes. They would be either deep-fried or pan-fried.
The internal organs of the small fish were removed, wrapped in flour batter, and fried in a pan. It was crispy and delicious.
There were still pickles at home, which could be used for dinner at night. Crucian carp, yellow spicy diced, and unknown fish were used to make a big pot of pickles and miscellaneous fish, with a little pepper added to make it sour and a spicy appetizer.
Qiao Xuan served the fried fish on the plate for Shao Xiaoqi.
The fish were small finger-sized, and the bones were already fried. They could be chewed and crushed easily, so even Shao Junyan and Shao Qing could eat them.
111 Rich
The dish of deep-fried fish was eaten up by the four of them quickly.
Ms. Fang tried it and smiled. "Ms. Qiao, you know everything! The fish tastes great!"
Then she added another sentence. "Well, you used a lot of oil, right?"
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Yes, deep-fried things are delicious, and I can try some more dishes like these in the future!"
"Okay!" Ms. Fang smiled.
She had plenty of money now, and they could use as much oil as they wanted to! It was fine!
Apart from the money Qiao Xuan contributed towards the shared savings, Shao Dalang, Ms. Xu and Shao Taotao had also offered some money to her. Ms. Fang had almost lost track of the amount, and she felt really confident at the moment.
Of course, she was not taking any money from her children for herself. She was actually saving it for their future use.
Shao Sanlang came home too, when Qiao Xuan was making dinner.
Shao Sanlang had gone to the town to buy food!
With money in his hands, he was really drooling, thinking about the dish. He only got time today, since he was helping Qiao Xuan plant the day before.
Shao Sanlang was also very confident, with money in his hands. He went to the town-famous Restaurant Yanhe, and bought braised chickens, fish, deep-fried meat and steamed ducks.
Shao Sanlang was very satisfied by the delicious dishes.
He had been to the town before, and he was salivating over the smell that came out of the restaurant whenever he passed by.
He had sworn in his heart that he was definitely going to save enough money to treat himself to the dishes of this restaurant.
The belief was so firm that he could not get rid of it. Therefore, the moment he got money, he came to visit this place directly.
It was indeed a great place. Each dish was delicious. No wonder they were sold at such a high price.
But after one meal, he lost his motivation.
He made a careful comparison, and found that Fifth Sister-in-law's cooking skills were not worse than the dishes served here, and she could even make better food, sometimes.
Therefore, he was going to buy raw meat and take it home. He would ask his fifth sister-in-law to make the dishes instead. But he had not expected that Fifth Sister-in-law would be able to cook fish, since it was never easy to make it, and only restaurants would normally serve good fish dishes…
Shao Sanlang kept half duck and chicken untouched, and he asked the waiter to wrap it up with leaves and have it covered by a layer of yellow paper.
Shao Sanlang left the restaurant in satisfaction. He bought two more roast chickens, five or six kinds of snacks from the Lanhua dim sum shop, and bought melon seeds, peanuts, preserved apricots, dried jujubes, preserved peaches, dried plums and other snacks at the Guoji roasted goods shop. It was a big bag full of stuff, before he went to buy the ducks.
Shao Sanlang did not let his mother know about how much food he had bought. He was worried that his mother would blame him for wasting money. He delivered the ducks home and gave Shao Junyan and his sister two bags of snacks. He put down the roast chicken in the kitchen as well as a slice of pork belly, before dashing off.
He was going to take the snacks he had bought to Yang Xiaoni.
He was going to share it with his future wife!
Yang Xiaoni was still out doing work. In this way, she was able to stay out of her brother's home and avoid seeing them and getting annoyed.
Shao Sanlang found her soon.
Caught by Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan, the two of them learned to hide themselves in the forest. Perched up in the mountain, they could see what was going on in all directions, so they could know instantly when someone was nearby.
112 Foodies
Shao Sanlang brought out all kinds of snacks and Yang Xiaoni's eyes started to sparkle!
"Brother Sanlang, you treat me so well. Wow, the chicken leg and duck leg seem so tasty!"
Yang Xiaoni kept eating the chicken leg and duck leg, feeling really satisfied.
Shao Sanlang chuckled. "Tasty, right? I saved all of these for you!"
"Yes, they are delicious!" Yang Xiaoni nodded and took one bite on the chicken leg and passed it to Shao Sanlang. "Please, Brother Sanlang, you eat some too!"
Shao Sanlang was also drooling for the chicken leg, but he thought of the food he was able to eat whilst Yang Xiaoni had to suffer a great deal for almost half a month.
So Shao Sanlang swallowed his saliva and shook his head, smiling. "I am okay, I am full. You can just eat it all!"
"Okay!" Yang Xiaoni did not show any more generosity, seeing that he turned her down. She soon finished two legs, and some pieces of meat. Then she wrapped up the meat and smiled. "I will eat the remaining later."
Shao Sanlang pulled out all the other snacks, like melon seeds or peanuts. "Xiaoni, look. I bought them myself, let's eat them together!"
Yang Xiaoni's eyes were bright as she cheered in happiness. "Ah you are sooooo nice! We have so much food to eat, that is great!"
Shao Sanlang was excited as well. He nodded. "Yes, these are all ours!"
They started to feast out in the wild. They tried every dish and discussed it enthusiastically. When they were full, they started to eat melon seeds and peanuts.
"Oh yes, Brother Sanlang, where did you get the money for all this?"
Yang Xiaoni asked.
…Yang Xiaoni really did not think of this before, did she?
Shao Sanlang said proudly, "Don't worry, I get paid for my work, good money. I still have some savings. We will buy a lot of other good food when you marry me. Oh by the way, you know about my fifth sister-in-law? She is such a good cook. You will realize it when you come to live with us!"
Yang Xiaoni looked really excited, and smiled brightly.
Shao Sanlang added. "What about me giving you 2 liang, so you can go and buy some dresses and anything else you want?"
"We can talk about this later!" Yang Xiaoni pursued. "It is not long before I can marry you, so it is fine. If my brother knows about the money in my hand, he will steal it!"
Shao Sanlang snapped angrily. "Yang Liang and his wife are terrible! You will not be with them for much longer!"
"Of course!"
Married sister would never need to care about her brother or sister.
Shao Sanlang spent half a day with his future wife. They spent some time chatting after eating. Shao Sanlang gave the remaining food to Yang Xiaoni before he left reluctantly.
Yang Xiaoni finished the food, and hid the snacks. She tucked them over her bed when she returned to Third Grandma Yang's home.
She did not share them with Third Grandma Yang and her family either, otherwise it would be too annoying since she could not tell them where she got them from.
Since she was full, Yang Xiaoni did not return to her brother's home for dinner.
She did not go back to make dinner either.
Ms. Tian was so annoyed that she kept cursing Yang Xiaoni for being lazy and ungrateful. The four of them finished all the food, without leaving anything for Yang Xiaoni.
113 Sweet Barberries!
It was a bustling scene in the first section of the Shao Family.
The dishes served that evening included small river shrimp stir-fried with leeks, pickled cabbage and miscellaneous fish pot, sweet and sour carp, which were all paired with two vegetarian dishes. It was a table full of color, aroma and taste.
The whole family was curious about the new way the fish had been cooked
They believed that Qiao Xuan was skilled at it, and did not hesitate to pick up their chopsticks.
Everyone spoke highly of the dishes.
Shao Junyan and Shao Qing loved sweet and sour carp best.
Qiao Xuan had made them a small portion of shrimp with steamed egg.
The adults loved every dish.
Eldest Uncle said happily, "The fish is really tasty, Ms. Qiao. You can tell the method to your Second Aunt-in-law and Third Aunt-in-law, so they could make some and have a taste of it."
They could not afford to buy meat, but there were many fish and shrimps in the river. Elder Uncle's concern for the second section of the family and third section of the family was already deep inside his head, and he subconsciously thought of them in every aspect.
Qiao Xuan, as well as everyone else in the first section of the family, already lost interest in countering those words.
She presented the way of how the dishes were made, with a smile.
She even added many extra steps to how the dishes were made.
Hearing that so much oil was needed, and wine for pickling and salt and seasonings, Eldest Uncle no longer had the motivation of telling the second and the third section of the family about it.
They would not be able to make the dishes in this way at all.
No wonder the dishes were tasty. They consisted of many condiments!
He did not dare to ask his daughter-in-law to share the dishes, because all of these were bought with his daughter-in-law's dowry money.
Ms. Fang threw a satisfied look at Qiao Xuan, smiling happily.
Soon it was the third day of May.
They were discussing how they should celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.
Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan planned to visit the town, whilst Ms. Fang was making preparations for glutinous rice dumplings.
The leaves and the glutinous rice were all well prepared.
They normally made a few glutinous rice dumplings to celebrate the festival in the past and made some eggs for the children.
But they had a lot of money this year, so they decided to make it big!
Qiao Xuan became interested in making glutinous rice dumplings as well.
One day before the festival, Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan went into the town to buy meat, ribs as well as the seasonings for the meat.
They sliced the pork belly and put the rib in seasoning sauce for the dumplings the following day.
In addition to pork belly chestnut dumplings, there were pork belly mushroom dumplings, pork ribs dumplings, and some red bean candied jujube dumplings, eight-treasure dumplings, and alkaline water dumplings, which they stored for half a month after cooking.
In previous years, the Dragon Boat Festival was filled with alkaline water dumplings and bean dumplings. At most, a little chestnut was added, but meat dumplings were never made, so everyone was looking forward to it.
Qiao Xuan felt a bit regretful. She should have pickled some salted duck egg for salted yolk dumplings.
She started to miss salted eggs. Well, she could buy some to make them herself.
On the third day of May, Ms. Qiao went into the mountains to pick the leaves. Shao Yunduan and Shao Xiaoqi as well as Shao Taotao went into the mountains to hunt.
They decided to bring some wild animals back for the festival.
They were also seeking fresh mushrooms for the dumplings.
They were lucky enough to get wild roosters, wild rabbits, mushrooms and yams.
On a large barberry tree, they saw the large-sized fruits hanging.
Qiao Xuan held her hands against the trunk, casting the superpower without disclosing much.
Shao Xiaoqi climbed up onto the tree, picked one and put it into his mouth. His eyes sparkled. "It is so sweet!"
He picked a large bunch of it and said, "Fifth Brother, Fifth Sister-in-law, try these!"
114 Rules
Qiao Xuan smiled and started to think. Of course they were sweet. She had used her superpower to make them so!
The three of them nodded in agreement. The fruits were really sweet!
Shao Taotao cheered. "It is rare to have such sweet barberries, let's take them home!"
So, they filled up half of the basket with barberries.
Everyone in the family nodded and spoke highly of the sweet fruits, which they had brought home in a large quantity.
Ms. Fang asked Shao Xiaoqi to lead the way again, so Shao Dalang, Ms. Xu and Shao Sanlang could all go to carry the barberries home for drying and wine-making.
The following day, Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan went into the town for meat. They inquired about the landowner. They visited the landowner and decided to buy some land from him.
Qiao Xuan did not want to buy sprodic fields. She expected to buy patches and lots of fields. She could buy good fields as well as dry fields close to the water fields too.
"I will come to the town three times a month. Remember to select the fields for me. I will pay well."
The landowner agreed but added a caveat. "I can't find one very fast. We have to wait."
Qiao Xuan was aware of this too and nodded.
Honestly, no households would sell water fields easily these days, because water fields were the source of their food, water and earnings. Only those who splurged or had no other way out, would sell their water fields.
Once water fields were sold, not everyone was able to buy them.
There were rules inside.
When someone in a clan intended to sell the water fields, those from the same clan got the priority to buy them, and if those from the same clan did not want them, then the outsiders would be the next choice. Even the 'outsiders' were divided into different categories.
For example, if someone from the Shao Family wanted to sell fields, and no one from the Shao Family wanted to buy them, then it would be the Ding family who had the right next. If the Ding family did not want to buy them, then the other families from the village were allowed to buy them. When no one from the above-mentioned families wanted to buy them, then it would be the other villagers' turn.
Also, Cultivated Talent and Advanced Scholar would have the rights to buy the fields first, before the remaining ones could do so.
To sum it up, it was a long queue.
Therefore, if Qiao Xuan wanted to buy good fields from other villages, then she needed to have, to put it simply, good luck.
But Qiao Xuan was not in a hurry. What she wanted to do was to wait quietly.
She wanted the fields, not for the income, but for her fundamental competence and capital.
She wanted to have control over more resources.
When this conversation was done, Qiao Xuan went to fetch some stuff from the craftsmen, such as essences and other things.
The modes and tubes for lipsticks were already made, including 12 sets of modes and 600 tubes. She paid the remaining amount and took them home, whilst booking another batch of tubes.
When she was done with shopping, the two of them returned to the village.
The moment they arrived home, Shao Taotao, who was taking care of the babies at home, told them that Ms. Fang and Ms. Xu as well as Shao Dalang went to Widow Sun's home due to some trouble.
Startled, they hurried there.
There were many people gathered at Widow Sun's door, which was noisy and messy. Ms. Fang's cursing sound as well as Widow Sun's sneer could be heard from a distance away.
Then came Widow Sun's loud scream. "How dare you!"
The two women must have gotten into a fight.
Both of them were startled.
As the couple arrived, Widow Sun was under Ms. Fang, being beaten and crying loudly.
Ms. Xu was really surprised as she stood next to them. Widow Sun's daughter Ding Qingqing went up to help Widow Sun, but Ms. Fang, who was really furious, started to beat the daughter as well.
The mother and daughter were in a disadvantageous position.
115 A Fight
Shao Dalang and Shao Xiaoqi intended to separate them, but they were scared. Widow Sun wasn't a gentle woman. What if the touched Widow Sun, things would get complicated.
The most troublesome was Ding Qingqing, who was a girl and should not be touched randomly.
They were panicking.
Qiao Xuan screamed. "Mom!"
Then she went up, took hold of Ding Qingqing's wrist, who was about to scratch Ms. Fang's face. She dragged her away as she turned to Ms. Xu. "Help us, Sister-in-law!"
She was not a strong woman, while Ding Qingqing was quite strong. She wasn't able to drag her away alone.
Only now did Ms. Xu bring back to herself. She went up and helped.
Both of them dragged away Ding Qingqing, who was screaming and shouting.
When Ding Qingqing was dragged away, Ms. Fang slapped Widow Sun's face two times. Shao Yunduan and his brother helped Ms. Fang stand up on her feet.
"Mom, what is going on?"
Widow Sun decided not to get up. She remained on the ground, crying and cursing.
"They are such shameless people! They are bullying a widow like me! I want to die, I want to die!"
She was already in bad shape, with unkempt hair and red prints on her face and neck. Tears were running down her cheeks, whilst her nose was runny. She looked horrible.
Ms. Fang spat and cursed. "You shameless bitch! How dare you spread rumors about me? You are a widow, so what? How dare you cry when you spread rumors around! You are the shameless one!"
Ms. Fang started to tell the story in anger…
It was a long tale.
The first section of the Shao Family had brought many mushrooms home, and the villagers, who saw that they had no problem eating mushrooms from the mountains, also went to the mountains to fetch mushrooms.
They got some from the Shao Family first and decided to find the right ones.
Ms. Fang gave them generously to those who came to the door.
But there were so many mushrooms in the mountains, and they were open to everyone in the village. They could never get enough of them.
Even the second section of the family and the third section of the family went to find some mushrooms. But they did not want to put much seasoning inside the food, so they did not think they were tasty, thus dropping the idea.
They even laughed at the first section of the family for eating horrible things like these…
However, all went well until some family got poisoned by the mushrooms from the mountains. Luckily, it wasn't highly poisonous, and they didn't eat too much. The family had abdominal pain, vomiting, and bile came out. After tossing all night, they drank a few large bowls of mung bean soup before getting better.
After that, the villagers were too frightened to find mushrooms or try new things.
However, Widow Sun kept spreading rumors around the village, saying that it was the first section of the Shao Family who set them up. But for her mushrooms, no one would have got poisoned. So the Shao Family should take responsibility.
There had already been many people who were jealous of the Shao Family, and they believed that what Widow Sun said was true. So, they started to complain about the Shao Family.
It was true, but for them, no one would have eaten the mushrooms in the mountains.
Therefore, it was their fault!
The affected family also wanted to get some compensation from the Shao Family!
116 Reason
They had a rich daughter-in-law, didn't they? They must be having a lot of money…
That was how those terrible rumors went about.
They had not dared to spread the rumor at the beginning, but Ms. Niu and Ms. Ma joined the group, which emboldened them.
When Ms. Niu and Ms. Ma failed to take advantage of the first section of the family, they found that Ms. Fang had found her supporter, namely her daughter-in-law!
Ms. Niu and Ms. Ma were very annoyed.
With this opportunity in hand, they started to make a big noise.
They were not defending the Shao Family at all.
Therefore, when the villagers found that the two women from the Shao Family were spreading rumors, the others started to spread even worse and wilder rumors.
Ms. Fang's friends passed on the message to Ms. Fang.
Ms. Fang was so annoyed…
So, she went about in the village and cursed at anyone who said those things to her.
After all, she had to catch them right on the spot!
She could not just let the rumor spread!
Otherwise, it would be her family which would look bad!
Right then, she happened to catch Widow Sun, who was the main culprit behind the rumor!
Ms. Fang and Widow Sun had never liked each other, and at this moment, she was taking revenge for all the past doings.
Ms. Fang gave Widow Sun, who was in the middle of making a false claim, a push, and then they started to shout at each other and fight.
Ms. Fang glanced about and shouted at Widow Sun. "Are you so stupid? There are many poisonous mushrooms in the mountains, and everyone knows that. We pick mushrooms for ourselves. Who has the say to stop us?!"
"No one has set the rules for picking mushrooms in the mountains!"
"It has nothing to do with our family whether others want to get them or not! It's not that people in our family are forcing someone to go up the mountain to harvest. Ms. Sun, you slanted mouth, slanted eyes, black heart and liver, a bad stomach woman! Why did you say that Ding Daniu's family got into trouble because of us? Should our family be responsible for compensation? If you don't tell me a reason today, I will tear your stinky mouth apart!"
Only now did Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan understand what was going on.
"How ridiculous!" Shao Yunduan said coldly. "Mom, don't worry, everyone with a wise head would understand what is going on. They won't find the ridiculous thing worth the while."
Qiao Xuan laughed and said in a mocking tone, "Auntie Sun, it is your fault. You are trying to cause trouble between our family and Ding Daniu. We never offended you before, did we? We eat mushrooms, wild plants and fish and shrimps. We can eat whatever we want. No one can dictate what to do to us, right?"
"We are all adults, and we are not stupid, we know what the reason is. You are so silly to have caused the conflict between us!"
All the villagers nodded. Some felt guilty and anxious, some were reasonable.
"True! The matter has nothing to do with the Shao Family!"
"True, they never forced you to eat the mushrooms!"
Ms. Fang sneered. "Do you think that she had a brain? If she did, she wouldn't have done something like this! You bitch, stop pretending to be dead. Speak now, speak! Here is the stage for you!"
117 Louder Cries
"How dare you call me a bully! I can scold you and hit you as much as I want, you have no right to complain about others when you are being a bitch!"
Ms. Fang glared at Widow Sun, and intended to kick her.
Widow Sun was also good at being rude. But she had no way out when she ran into someone like Ms. Fang. She was worried about the strength of the Shao Family, and Ms. Fang even had a Cultivated Talent as a son and County Magistrate's daughter as the daughter-in-law, so she did not dare to say a thing but started to sob.
Disdainfully, Ms. Fang said, "Shame on you! You think people would find you pitiful and feel sorry for you because you are crying?"
Widow Sun cried even more loudly.
She was ashamed, angry and was holding a grudge.
But Ms. Fang did not care. She did not intend to let her go so easily.
It was never easy to get rid of the 'sin' of spreading rumors. If she was too nice, they would continue to bully her. So, she could not stand being at the center of the rumor.
Forced, Widow Sun could not help but collapse. "Why are you only targeting me! Everyone is spreading rumors about you. Why do you cling to me!"
Qiao Xuan laughed. How stupid could this woman be!
She had just betrayed her accomplices!
She added. "But my mother-in-law only heard the rumor from you, so it is your fault! You are still trying to cause conflicts between us and everyone else! You must not spread any more rumors, for the sake of morality!"
All the villagers agreed and started to complain about Widow Sun.
"True! She spreads rumors about everyone! How immoral!"
"Bad woman!"
"Don't talk nonsense when you have no evidence!"
Window Sun was so angry at the moment!
Ms. Fang goaded her with a sly smile. "True! Otherwise, you can just tell me who is spreading the rumor."
Widow Sun did not dare to spill any names, in case she offended others.
She even regretted having shouted that out loud a while ago.
She was feeling so messy inside her head.
As she was just in the middle of the mess, Qiao Xuan forced her. "No telling? Then you are the one creating rumors about everyone! I never knew there was anyone like this in our village."
Annoyed, Widow Sun screamed. "It is Ms. Niu and Ms. Ma who did it! They did it, yes they did it!"
"What?" Ms. Fang was startled, so was everyone else.
"It is Ms. Niu and Ms. Ma!" Widow Sun sneered as she calmed down. She had just revealed Ms. Fang's sisters-in-law to see what could Ms. Fang do about it now. But for these two women, she would not have been caught red-handed by Ms. Fang today.
Widow Sun thought angrily that Ms. Fang could go to them for justice if she dared.
"Ms. Niu and Ms. Ma both said that you have a rich daughter-in-law so you pushed away your own family! You are selfish and self-centered, and you must be setting up the trap for the villagers to fetch the mushrooms in the mountains! You have to pay for the consequences!"
"They even said that the first section of the family look kind, but they are actually very greedy. They try to rob their daughter-in-law's dowry, whilst the daughter-in-law is a stupid woman who has been tricked but still treats you well, how funny!"
118 Ms. Niu And Ms. Ma
Widow Sun decided to spill everything in one go, be it real or false.
"You goddamn bitch!" Ms. Fang was about to beat Widow Sun out of anger, before she finished her words. Ding Qingqing screamed as she held Widow Sun in her arms.
"Mom!" Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan stopped Ms. Fang directly.
Qiao Xuan said gently, "Mom, these words are ridiculous. Widow Sun is used to causing conflicts between people, and now they are trying to separate our family! I am not stupid. I can tell who treats me well and who doesn't. How ridiculous!"
"I am not lying. It was Ms. Niu and Ms. Ma who said it! Hey you two, don't you dare run away!" Widow Sun screamed at the top of her voice, as she saw Ms. Niu and Ms. Ma among the crowd.
The crowd turned to the direction she was pointing towards.
The villagers around Ms. Niu and Ms. Ma retreated backwards subconsciously, so the two women stood out directly.
"You two!" Ms. Fang glared at them two, looking really furious!
With teeth clenched, she asked word by word. "Is Widow Sun speaking the truth?"
"I…"
"God and Buddha in heaven, anyone who dares to lie will bring bad luck to the whole family. I can swear to God that I did not lie, do you dare to?" Widow Sun, who had successfully switched the conflict, decided to put all the blame to the two women.
Before they said anything, she screamed and stopped them with her poisonous oath.
"You…"
"You are just talking nonsense!"
Widow Sun sneered. "I am not lying!"
It was time for her to feel proud. She was going to see how the three of them fought with each other.
Ms. Niu and Ms. Ma were dumbfounded.
They could definitely counter her, but Widow Sun's vow was too fierce for them to cook up any lies.
Actually, Ms. Fang knew that the two sisters-in-law of hers were spreading rumors, except the one about dowry.
These two sisters-in-law of hers dare to say everything.
They were so used to taking advantage of the first section of the family, that they got angry, when they found that they were no longer able to take advantage of them. It was as if the first section of the family owed them something big!
That was why they vented their anger in this manner!
It was so humiliating when they spat out the family affairs to the whole village.
But she had no other way out, now when Widow Sun put it out in front of everyone.
"You are really nice, aren't you?" Ms. Fang sneered.
Ms. Niu explained. "This is what the villagers say! I was just making some comments! Also, but for you, why would anyone go and pick the mushrooms?! It is your fault!"
"Did I force you to pick the mushrooms?"
Ms. Niu snorted. "If you hadn't picked the mushrooms, no one else would have done the same…"
Qiao Xuan chuckled. "We aren't stupid, are we? Don't we have the ability to choose what to do and what not to do? Are you all going to follow our steps?"
"Ms. Qiao is right! I address you as my sister-in-law and we have always offered so much help to your family. But you are making complaints behind our backs! That is so hurtful! Henceforth, we are not just separate sections of the family, we will live separately too! Don't come to our door whenever you feel like it from now onwards!"
Ms. Niu and Ms. Ma looked timid, unconvinced, yet they did not dare to utter a sound.
119 Daughter-in-law
There was no need to conceal anything, when the affair was already revealed to the whole village.
Ms. Fang added. "You think that I am coaxing my daughter-in-law for her dowry? Have you personally witnessed that?"
Ms. Niu and Ms. Ma became even more furious.
Ms. Ma said, "After Ms. Qiao becomes part of your family, you always have new clothes to wear, meat to eat, and wagons full of stuff. They are all bought by Ms. Qiao!"
"That is true." Qiao Xuan smiled. "I can do whatever I want with my dowry! Mom treats me well, and I love to buy those for her, so what? If you don't feel that is fair, you can get a good daughter-in-law for yourself as well!"
Everyone started to laugh.
After that, everyone felt jealous as well. Ms. Fang was so lucky as to get a daughter-in-law like that.
She was the ideal one!
Shao Yunduan could not help but turn to Qiao Xuan. Excitement arose in his eyes, and he could not help but feel gentle towards this woman next to him.
"You…" Ms. Ma almost wanted to spill blood out of anger. "You ungrateful girl. I am doing this for your sake! You have been tricked! Just see what will happen when you lose all your dowry!"
"That is not your business any more!" Qiao Xuan smiled. "I can earn money when I run out of my dowry. Moreover, I have my husband with me, right?"
Startled, Ms. Ma suddenly realized that Shao Yunduan had already become a Cultivated Talent.
He had a promising future ahead.
No, that was not possible! Shao Yunduan must have had dumb luck to have become a Cultivated Talent. It was because Liulang had gotten sick and he took his position. He was definitely not going to have a promising future.
Liulang had said that Shao Yunduan was never good at studies, and the teacher never spoke highly of him. It must have been the ancestral blessings that helped him obtain this position, and he was never going to make it to the next level!
Ms. Ma could not help but say angrily, when she thought of how her son had not even made any progress in studies. "You can never know what is going to happen in the future, maybe… maybe…"
Despite what she was thinking, she did not dare say anything bad about Shao Yunduan, in case Ms. Fang tore her apart and their Elder Brother would also give up helping them either.
Therefore, she had to put it in an implicit way, indicating that it was Qiao Xuan who was not clear-minded enough.
Qiao Xuan smiled even more freely. "Yet again, it is not your business, Second Aunt-in-law. I am so happy to have a mother-in-law like this, who is like no one else, who might even cause me to lose my dowry."
Villagers burst into laughter.
Everyone present understood what Qiao Xuan was saying and she was right.
Those were true words!
"You!" Ms. Mang got so annoyed.
Ms. Fang was no longer as angry as before, when she heard what Qiao Xuan said.
She felt proud to have a daughter-in-law like this, who was helping them make a fortune and even managed to keep peace in the family.
Suddenly, Ms. Fang did not feel like going any further with Ms. Niu or Ms. Ma. They were just jealous of her. The more jealous they were, the better life they would live. That was the biggest revenge she could take on them. She was going to make them even angrier!
"Good girl, I know you are the best! You are our lucky star, and you have brought a great fortune to our family! You will get better and better. These jealous ones can wait and see, right?"
120 Fight On
Ms. Fang glanced at Ms. Niu and Ms. Ma, snorting. "I can tell that you never treated us well, since you have spread rumors such about us! In that case, we will not hang out so often. How shameless you are to have paid this kind of respect to us, who helped you before! Just try to save some face for yourself!"
Ms. Fang snapped at Widow Sun. "You bitch, keep your mouth shut! If I hear anything more about this matter, I will tear your mouth apart! Let's leave!"
Ms. Fang left with her sons and daughters-in-law happily and proudly.
Ms. Niu and Ms. Ma glared at Widow Sun and left in embarrassment.
Widow Sun cursed out loud for a bit and then went home with her daughter.
Back at home, Ms. Fang let out a sigh of relief and said with a cold face, "Just listen carefully, don't you show a smile to the second section of the family and third section of the family anymore! They are such ungrateful people. I will never share any food with them in the future! How dare they try to take advantage of me!"
Qiao Xuan tried to console Ms. Fang, and distracted her by discussing the preparation of festivals.
Shao Yunduan tried to speak with Qiao Xuan, but then decided not to.
Qiao Xuan leaned forward and asked him with a smile. "Anything you want to say, darling?"
Shao Yunduan."…"
She was calling him darling so naturally. It sounded really nice.
"Don't be mad about what was being discussed about your dowry."
"What? I am not!" Qiao Xuan smiled. "My dowry is not valuable. Anyways, I am prosperous now. And, we will get wealthier in the future, won't we?"
Shao Yunduan smiled and nodded with the load going off his heart. "True!"
Qiao Xuan smiled. "If I am not as wealthy in the future, I will turn to you for money! You have to create some wealth too!"
Shao Yunduan could not help but feel his heart throbbing. As he saw her sparkling and black, large eyes, he nodded. "Of course, my earnings are all yours! I need to study now, I am going now."
He tried to calm himself down as he left, making Qiao Xuan chuckle. "Fight on, darling!"
Shao Yunduan almost tripped over.
In the afternoon, when Eldest Uncle returned home, he looked very happy.
He said with a smile, "I just ran into my brothers. They said that we can celebrate the festival together tomorrow. We are eating at Second Brother's home tomorrow night, all of us."
"What?" Ms. Fang was startled.
Eldest Uncle seemed to show off when he walked in, speaking loudly. Both Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan heard him, and everyone was really surprised.
Shao Sanlang responded with a sneer. "Dad, are you sure? You couldn't have heard it wrong, could you? It is such a rare event that Second Uncle invited us…"
During the past few years, the three sections of the family gathered for dinner at the first section of the family, and it had always been the first section who treated them all.
The other sections had never offered even a single grain of rice.
Sometimes they even complained about the size of the chickens, which were not enough for them.
It was so surprising that the second section of the family would offer to treat them to dinner.
"What are you talking about? You should be careful with your words, you bridegroom-to-be." Eldest Uncle glared at Shao Sanlang angrily and then said with a smile, "I told you that they are not that stingy! They are treating us to dinner!"