241 The Ding Family
She must have escaped and left Shaoding Village. Infact, she might be planning to leave the county!
Probably…
Probably that was how she turned her life around and walked to the peak of her life.
She had escaped!
Did she save some extraordinary man who came to pay back his gratitude, so that they got married and she became rich due to her husband.
The images she had seen about the girl must have happened after she reached the peak.
She felt slightly better as she thought about these.
At least she knew that after going through twists and turns, the girl would have a bright future.
Otherwise… what would happen to a girl who ran away from her clan and drifted about outside? That thought made her feel anxious.
Qiao Xuan learned of the whole story from Ms. Fang.
Ms. Zhou had wanted to give Ding Xiang some food and drink for dinner the night before, but Fifth Grandma Ding was too annoyed to approve of this idea.
She had lectured Ms. Zhou and ordered her not to give the girl any food.
Fifth Grandpa Ding was also very annoyed by how Ding Xiang humiliated them in front of the whole village, so he intended to make her reflect on herself and let her suffer. He also ordered not to give her any food, until she admitted her mistake.
In Fifth Grandpa Ding's opinion, she would not die just because she missed a meal.
She needed to be seriously disciplined, so she could know what mistake she had made and that she would never dare to do it again.
Ding Erzhu cared for his daughter, but he was too obedient to counter what his daughter had said.
He did not even raise his voice in front of his parents.
Ms. Zhou became desperate. She cried throughout the night.
The following morning, Ms. Zhou felt even more distressed.
But she did not get any chance to shed tears. She had no choice but to make food whilst listening to her mother-in-law's horrible words…
All the way until lunchtime, Ms. Zhou could not stand it any more. She decided to sneak in a bowl of porridge for her daughter at the ancestral hall.
However, she failed to find Ding Xiang at the ancestral hall.
She looked everywhere, but Ding Xiang was nowhere to be seen!
Mentally stimulated, Ms. Zhou staggered home and passed on the message, begging everyone to help her find the daughter.
The Ding Family got startled.
Apart from Ms. Zhou and Ding Erzhu, everyone else got furious about it.
Fifth Grandma Ding snapped. "What? That damned girl ran away? How dare she run away from the ancestral hall? She better not come back, otherwise I will break her leg!"
Fifth Grandpa Ding also trembled in anger. "Unruly kid! This girl has to be lectured!"
The first and the third sections of the family also made complaints.
"We are now the joke of the village again!"
"Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law, how did you turn Ding Xiang into such a kid!"
"I have never seen a girl as bold as this! She ran away from the ancestral hall! Damn!"
"Second Sister-in-law, just don't keep crying! The girl must be hiding somewhere in the mountains and she will return when it turns dark, otherwise, where would she go?"
242 Nowhere To Be Seen
Ms. Zhou glared at her Third Sister-in-law, Ms. Lu
Ms. Lu got startled by her unexpected glare. She became really furious after recovering a bit. She glared back and snapped. "What are you staring at me for? Are you blaming me for not teaching your daughter well!"
Fifth Grandma Ding sneered. "What are all of you making a fuss about? It is a small issue. Just drop it! The damned girl can return when she is tired outside. I will teach her a good lesson!"
"Also, Ms. Zhou, how dare you ignore what I told you? Who gave you the permit to give food to the damned girl? Just wait for your punishment!"
Ms. Zhou could not stand that any more. She cried. "How can you all be like this? Ding Xiang is missing! You are not looking for her but keep saying horrible words. If she is gone, I will kill myself too!"
Ms. Zhou rushed out.
Ding Erzhu went out with her as well.
Fifth Grandma Ding shouted. "Stop it, Second Son, are you trying to rebel against me too!"
With his eyes turning red, Ding Erzhu sobbed. "Mom, that is my daughter! She is gone! What if something happens to her? I need to find her first, and I will receive your punishment when I find her."
Having said the words, Ding Erzhu rushed out.
Fifth Grandma Ding shouted. "How dare you? I have raised you for nothing!"
The other sections of the family got startled and exchanged a look between themselves.
No one had expected that the obedient second section of the family rebelled due to Ding Xiang. They started to feel uneasy. It seemed as if something were falling out of their control.
What happened to Ding Xiang and the Ding Family soon spread all over the village.
Some sighed and some laughed. Some even went out to seek the girl.
After all, it was a living girl that was missing.
Although they all grew up in the mountains, it was a very dangerous place. What if something happened for real?
Fifth Grandpa Ding could not stand the humiliation. He ordered the other family members to look for her.
Fifth Grandma Ding, who was still unwilling to do so, went out with the others after being lectured by Fifth Grandpa Ding.
However, Ding Xiang was nowhere to be seen, even after half a day's search.
They started to get anxious.
The deeper they went, the more dangerous it would be.
So more people went into the mountains to seek for the girl.
Shao Dalang and his brothers, who had just carried the mushrooms home, also went out to help.
Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan returned from the mountains and failed to find Ding Xiang after a while.
Shao Yunduan and Shao Xiaoqi even said that they never saw anyone on their way home.
It was getting dark and even adults did not dare to stay in the mountains when it turned dark.
So the villagers returned one after another, and decided to continue with the search the following day.
They all knew that a teen girl would never end up well after spending a night in the mountains. Probably when they found her eventually after a few days, she would be a corpse already.
Ms. Zhou came home crying loudly. Ding Erzhu, who was dumbfounded, followed her.
243 Shao Yunduan's Consolation
The Ding Family finally panicked!
They, who were fierce, never thought about killing Ding Xiang. She was a living person, their child!
Fifth Grandma Ding panicked above all. It had been she who caused all of this to happen!
The more anxious she was, the more she tried to calm herself down. She pushed the fault onto Ding Xiang. "Damned girl, how dare she rebel! Who taught her this? She doesn't want to be punished? Damned girl, totally damned!"
Inside the room, Ms. Zhou threw herself into Ding Erzhu's arms, crying with hatred. "Just listen to what your mom is saying! How can she be so fierce as to call Ding Xiang names? She is trying to get us all killed!"
Ding Erzhu's veins on his forehead popped, as he patted her shoulders, whispering. "Just… calm down, Ding Xiang… she should be fine!"
During the night, most families in the village started to talk about this. They sighed.
Those parents and grandparents, who never paid enough attention to their children, started to panic as well. They all said that it was Ding Xiang's fault for being rude and hot-tempered…
Qiao Xuan was more certain by this point that Ding Xiang had escaped the village.
She had seen that Ding Xiang was different from the other village girls, and this was exactly what she would have done.
The images in her head had shown that Ding Xiang would definitely become an outstanding and successful woman. But an isolated village girl like her, who intended to escape from her original family, would definitely have to go through some misery first.
Qiao Xuan felt quite emotional, and she looked a bit conflicted.
Shao Yunduan took Qiao Xuan back to the room after dinner.
He closed the door instantly, and with one hand on Qiao Xuan's shoulder, he looked at her seriously.
Startled, Qiao Xuan looked up at him.
Shao Yunduan sighed inwardly. He had noticed that she was absent-minded the whole evening.
Shao Yunduan suppressed his voice. "Listen, you should never reveal anything about your visit to the ancestral hall last night, got it?"
Ding Xiang was gone after her visit.
She would surely be suspected if something really happened to Ding Xiang.
Then, it would be very difficult to make an explanation.
Qiao Xuan nodded, as her heart turned warm. "I won't…"
"Just calm down," Shao Yunduan said gently, as he looked more relaxed.
"It is not very surprising, when a stubborn girl like her would run away from the Ding Family. It actually might be a good thing for her…"
She had mentioned how she felt about Ding Xiang the night before, and now Ding Xiang was gone.
Shao Yunduan could not help but console her, fearing that she would be saddened by her disappearance.
Qiao Xuan nodded and then leaned against Shao Yunduan involuntarily, saying with a low voice, "I am calm. I even think that Ding Xiang will have a bright future…"
She just regretted not having given Ding Xiang some money.
Shao Yunduan stiffened, and lifted his arm, patting her lightly. "Maybe…"
Shao Yunduan was actually not very sure about it.
244 Separation
Ding Xiang had never been outside the village. A 15-year-old girl like her would definitely run into danger.
Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan suspected that Ding Xiang had run away from the village, rather than in the mountains.
The villagers spent three days but failed to find Ding Xiang.
Three days later, they stopped the search.
It was all they could have helped with.
They all believed that Ding Xiang must have died in the deep mountains.
Either she fell into the valley and went unnoticed. Or she had been eaten up by a beast.
A young girl would not stay alive after spending three days in the deep mountains.
No one, except for Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan, thought that she would have escaped the village.
That was beyond their imagination.
Most of the villagers had only been to the town a few times, and some had never been to the town in their entire lives. No girl in her teens would be assumed to run away from home on such a long trip!
That was just the least they could think of.
Ms. Zhou was so sad that she shouted at Fifth Grandma Ding and Fifth Grandpa Ding that it was their fault that her daughter died.
Fifth Grandma Ding, who had been feeling a bit scared about her potential cause of her granddaughter's death, got even more furious hearing Ms. Zhou's blaming words.
She slapped her twice, saying that she taught her daughter badly, and that it was her fault that Ding Xiang had done something like this…
Ms. Zhou cried even harder. She wanted to live separately, or she was going to get a divorce.
Fifth Grandma Ding and her husband trembled in anger.
Fifth Grandma Ding forced Ding Erzhu to divorce Ms. Zhou, so she did not have to see Ms. Zhou any more, who would remind her of Ding Xiang and make her uncomfortable.
But Ding Erzhu did not agree.
His daughter died and his son was only three years old. Now his mother was forcing him to divorce his wife? That was like killing him directly!
Fifth Grandpa Ding was annoyed too. He agreed with them separating from the family, but not right now, otherwise his family's reputation would be ruined!
But both Ding Erzhu and Ms. Zhou made up their minds to leave the home directly.
They even regretted not having agreed to live separately when their daughter said so. If they had done so on the other day, things would be different now.
In fact, deep in their heart, they wanted to live separately too, just that they did not dare to say it out loud.
Now their daughter was gone, they would definitely move out of the family for the sake of fulfilling her last wish.
Fifth Grandpa Ding snapped and said that if Ding Erzhu and Ms. Zhou would move out of their family, they would be removed from their household and they would have no attachment to the family.
They would just pretend that they never had a son like him!
Also,he did not need to support them when they got old!
Fifth Grandpa Ding said so decisively because he wanted to frighten Ding Erzhu and Ms. Zhou, in case they thought about living separately again.
He expected them to move out after three or five years, when Ding Xiang's disappearance was forgotten about. They would just sit and talk about this peacefully at that time.
But not right now!
Fifth Grandpa Ding's decisive words made Ding Erzhu and Ms. Zhou feel worse.
They had just lost their daughter due to his parents' intimidating attitudes, but his parents did not even feel sorry. Instead, they said such hurtful things, It seemed that the elders did not seem to care about them at all!
245 Nothing Attached
Had they been treated with respect, they would not have heard words like this.
Hence, they nodded without hesitation.
They wanted to move out of the family immediately, and started to live separately.
Ding Erzhu even got a Land Officer and Tribe Chief as witnesses.
Fifth Grandpa Ding was so surprised and frightened that he wanted to sneak into the ground out of humiliation.
How could this obedient son of his become so stubborn?
But he could not revoke his words. He would be even more humiliated if he went back on it. So the whole thing was solved directly.
With the young son in their arms, Ding Erzhu packed some clothes whilst Ms. Zhou carried away two cages of her dowries and left the Ding Family.
Fifth Grandpa Ding was so fierce that he did not even give them any food.
He expected them to come and beg for him when they could not survive.
He would like to see how they could live!
Ding Erzhu and his wife temporarily moved into a barren house close to the village.
Many villagers showed sympathy and gave them some food.
But it depended on them how they were going to survive.
Ms. Fang did not like Fifth Grandma Ding, but she felt sorry for Ms. Zhou and Ding Erzhu. Though she kept saying that it was their own fault for being weak that they were in this state now. Yet that was their personality, which could not be changed easily.
It was, after all, the old grandma of the Ding Family who had caused all of these.
Ms. Fang took a small pot, two sets of bowls and chopsticks, a wooden bucket, some rice, noodles, vegetables, oil, salt, and a dozen eggs from home, and asked Mrs. Xu and Yang Xiaoni to send the things to the couple.
They were rich enough to spare some stuff, and Ms. Fang was very generous.
She said to Qiao Xuan and smiled. "You don't need to go over, it is really filthy there!"
Ms. Fang apparently was favoring Qiao Xuan, and if the other daughter-in-laws of hers were stingy enough, they would get angry as to why they were told to go, but not Qiao Xuan.
But Ms. Xu and Yang Xiaoni did not find it wrong, let alone having anything against that.
But Qiao Xuan felt a bit guilty about it. She felt that it was not so good when her mother-in-law showed the bias so blatantly.
"It is fine, Mom. I can go and see them!"
Qiao Xuan smiled and picked up the basket of eggs.
Ms. Fang believed that she was just curious. She smiled. "Alright then, you can go and check it if you want to."
Qiao Xuan really wanted to have a look at the couple.
Ding Erzhu and Ms. Zhou as well as their son had broken their relationship with Fifth Grandpa Ding and their life must be hard. Ms. Zhou was not very healthy and they had a three-year-old to take care of.
Qiao Xuan and Ding Xiang exchanged a few words and they wondered when Ms. Zhou and Ding Erzhu would manage to get back to their feet.
She wanted to go and visit them so if she asked them for help later, the proposal would not be so sudden.
When Qiao Xuan and her team arrived, the villagers were there too.
They were all curious about how such a thing happened because it had never happened in decades in the village.
At this moment, Ding Erzhu and Ms. Zhou had already got many things piled up in their house, which were all gifts from the villagers.
They had even repaired the house with wood and straws.
246 Fifth Grandpa Ding's Grudge
The vegetables sent by others were all vegetables produced in the field, and at most one bowl of rice, or a bowl of leftovers was added. Seeing that Ms. Fang and her family was so generous, who had given rice and noodles, it would add up to ten kilograms. There were more than a dozen eggs, so they were all shocked.
"You are so generous, Ms. Fang!"
"There are eggs too!"
"Oh they are so rich…"
They all turned to Qiao Xuan subconsciously, and thought without any hesitation. The first section of the Qiao Family had a very rich daughter-in-law, so they were offering so much.
"I am just here visiting you all…" Ms. Fang smiled, feeling both proud and happy. Her daughter-in-law was not only rich, generous but also very good at making money. But she needed to keep a low-profile otherwise they were all going to be even more jealous.
Ms. Zhou and Ding Erzhu were shocked.
Ms. Zhou shedded tears. "Ms. Fang, this is so generous of you… we have eggs…"
"Just keep them for the child!" Ms. Fang patted Ms. Zhou's hands, feeling a bit sorry for her who looked pale and skinny as well as the starved boy next to her.
Ms. Zhou felt her heart break, and could not turn down her offer.
"Thank you…" She sobbed.
They could not help but console her, seeing her shedding tears.
When it started to get late, they all went home to make food.
Ms. Qiao and Ms. Fang left as well.
Ms. Fang added. "We are all living in the same village, if you ever need any help, just tell us, don't be shy."
Ms. Zhou and Ding Erzhu nodded and sobbed. "Thank you so much, Ms. Fang!"
When everyone else was gone, the small house was quiet again.
Ms. Zhou and Ding Erzhu felt so sorrowful and relaxed as well. But they seemed to have seen hope ahead.
Ding Erzhu said, "I will go and dig a field tomorrow. I will not allow you two to get hungry. We will get better, little by little."
Ms. Zhou nodded and sounded nosal. "But… Ding Xiang… ahhhh…"
Her daughter was gone, forever! Ms. Zhou could not help but sob.
"Don't cry…" Ding Erzhu patted her on her shoulders, and could not stop shedding tears too.
He regretted having lived like this for the past few years. Yet it was too late to think about this now.
No matter what else he could do, his daughter was gone, forever!
Fifth Grandpa Ding was also aware that the fellow villagers had delivered some things to Ding Erzhu and his wife, but he did not stop them. It would have made him look too cruel.
But they would not deliver any food to them because they would not bend down for them.
Fifth Grandpa Ding felt a bit annoyed.
He did not like it when Ding Erzhu and Ms. Zhou had no idea what they ought to do.
They should not be blamed for Ding Xiang's disappearance. It was Ding Xiang's fault that she was gone! She was a grandchild who should have obeyed her grandparents' words rather than do everything on her own!
She not only countered them, but also humiliated them!
Also, she did not listen to his suggestions!
Worse, she ran away from the ancestral hall and ended up dead. So what? It was all her fault!
247 Kind-Hearted
It was completely her fault!
Ding Erzhu had been obedient for so many years, but he countered them so fiercely…
The whole family had become just too troublesome!
At the first section of the Shao Family.
When Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan went back to their own room, Qiao Xuan sighed to Shao Yunduan. "Ms. Zhou and her family are so pitiful. I would like to help them."
Shao Yunduan frowned.
His wife was too kind-hearted.
He understood that she was feeling sorry for them, and she would feel bad if she did not offer them some support.
Shao Yunduan asked. "What is your plan? Fifth Grandpa Ding is a stubborn man, and Fifth Grandma Ding is absolutely unreasonable. If Uncle Erzhu and his family live a bad life, then they would be forgotten gradually, but if their lives get better while they are still here in the village, I am afraid that there will be more trouble in the future. I don't want them to trouble you."
It was never a good thing to get involved with Fifth Grandma Ding and Fifth Grandpa Ding.
Qiao Xuan smiled in return. "Don't worry, I know what to do. My plan is to ask Uncle Erzhu if they are interested in shifting and helping us take care of the field at the Zhang Village! In this way, they should be far away from Fifth Grandpa Ding's family as well."
Shao Yunduan's eyes sparkled as he grinned. "That is a good idea. Don't worry, let's just follow this plan."
Qiao Xuan nodded. She needed to conduct the plan gradually.
Also, they wondered if Ding Erzhu and Ms. Zhou had their own thoughts for the future. They should not disturb their plan either.
Qiao Xuan felt a bit tired after spending two days in the mountains. She planned to make lipsticks in the floral field at home in the near future.
Ms. Xu and Yang Xiaoni were still removing weeds, hence, only Qiao Xuan and Shao Taotao were busy making lipsticks.
As for Shao Xiaoqi… he had just run into the mountains alone for a walk.
He was used to running in the hills. Despite being young, he was very rich in experience, so no one stopped him.
In the evening, after Ms. Xu and all left, Qiao Xuan went to the floral field alone.
She had a basket with her,. She had told the family about getting the wolfberry sprout home for frying. But in fact, she was there to pour in her superpower.
The pomegranate flowers would not bloom until some days later, but Qiao Xuan could not wait. She wanted to use the flowers to make lipsticks, and she needed to use her superpower to hasten the process.
Also she was going to try and make the tea trees grow.
She concentrated hard and her superpower moved with her heart. An invisible energy wave spread out layer by layer like ripples on the water surface. Under her control, all of them went in the direction she wanted.
A quarter of an hour later, Qiao Xuan relaxed and let out a sigh of relief.
She looked at the pomegranate flowers, bright and red hanging on the branches of the trees. Most of them had already bloomed. By the time she came tomorrow, they would all bloom.
Apart from these, there were new flowers that were yet to bloom.
Those transplanted tea saplings had also taken root and the leaves were green. They were full of energy, and there was no slack in the slightest.
Satisfied, Qiao Xuan hummed and went to pick the wolfberry sprouts.
She picked up a small patch of wolfberry, which was growing brightly. The sprouts had spread and the wolfberries were ready.
248 Qiao Xuan's Bad Feelings
Within a short while, Qiao Xuan filled in half a basket and left the remaining ones for frying. They would be made to cook egg and wolfberry sprouts.
After she left the floral field, she ran into Ms. Zhang from the second section of the family.
Qiao Xuan smiled and called out 'Second Sister-in-law' out of politeness, when Ms. Zhang reacted with a smile. "What a coincidence, Fifth Sister-in-law!"
"Yes." Qiao Xuan nodded and smiled. "Bye!"
"Hey, Fifth Sister-in-law." Ms. Zhang stopped her and looked at her basket. "The wolfberry is very fresh!"
Qiao Xuan confusedly let out a response. "Ah… yes."
She wondered what Ms. Zhang wanted to say.
Ms. Zhang smiled. "It looks so fresh! I heard that you have many wolfberry sprouts planted in your floral field, maybe I can go inside and get some as well?"
Qiao Xuan, "…"
Wolfberry sprouts were not precious things, and she had many in the field. There were still a whole bunch left.
Theoretically speaking, she should have said yes to this Second Sister-in-law.
However, Ms. Zhang was from the second section of the family, and she did not want her to see what was inside the floral field.
She could not let her see the lipstick tubes, the bee boxes or the trees including the tea trees.
Qiao Xuan smiled. "I can share half of it with you."
"You are so generous. I like you so much!" Ms. Zhang smiled and added. "But I don't want to just take your things. I can pick them up myself. I would like to see what your floral field is like. Fifth Sister-in-law, you won't be so stingy as not to let me in, right?"
Qiao Xuan got disgusted.
was trying to morally kidnap her!
She would be stingy for not letting her in?
Then okay!
"Second Sister-in-law, I have got all the wolfberry sprouts and the wolfberries inside aren't big enough for the sprouts to come out. If you want, you can have mine in the basket."
"Alright… that is fine." was a sneaky person. She had wanted to take them, but she did not want to just take the stuff. She wanted to get a look at the whole floral field.
"But I just want to see your floral field, why not let me in? I see the Elder Sister-in-law, Third Sister-in-law and Taotao keep going inside. Maybe I can help you too?"
Qiao Xuan's face sank. "No thanks, they are enough!"
"Fifth Sister-in-law!"
"I always ask Mom for approval. How about you asking her what she thinks?"
Ms. Zhang got stuck.
Ms. Fang would never approve of this request.
She knew very well that Ms. Fang was sneaky and stingy.
Ms. Zhang's smiled staggered. "We can talk about this later…"
Qiao Xuan smiled politely. "Okay, I need to go now! Bye!"
With that, she left.
Ms. Zhang saw Qiao Xuan going away and her face sank. She was not pleased at all.
"Bah!" She spat on the ground and mumbled. "What are you putting on an act for!"
249 Dumbfounded
Ms. Zhang was not interested in Qiao Xuan's floral field. She just wanted to get close to Qiao Xuan.
If she was able to persuade Qiao Xuan to let her work for her, she could earn 10 won a day easily, which would be great for her.
But she also understood that the likelihood of it happening was very small.
Hence, she thought about borrowing money from Qiao Xuan.
Her brother's wife was soon going to give birth to a baby, and they needed money. But her mother-in-law was too stingy to loan her any money, so she had to come up with some other ideas.
She had two sisters and one brother.
The three sisters were all taught to treat their brother well since they were young. They were repeatedly told that the brother was the only offspring of the Zhang Family!
Their brother had a sweet tongue and he treated his sisters well. So the sisters were good to him too, and continued to help him even after they got married.
Now his wife was going to give birth and she had to get some money and other things to help him!
She had been watching Qiao Xuan these days, and wanted to get close to her.
But Qiao Xuan barely stepped out of the house. Moreover, she was always with someone, so she never got the chance to speak with her.
So Ms. Zhang went to the floral field to meet Qiao Xuan, when she heard that Qiao Xuan was there alone.
But she was still a bit too late to run into Qiao Xuan inside. Otherwise, she could just have exchanged some more words with her alone.
She could even help Qiao Xuan do some work at the time, so that Qiao Xuan would not turn her down, if she made a small request.
Also, she never expected that Qiao Xuan was so blunt.
She had said it so straightforwardly, and Qiao Xuan should have at least approved this small request since they were in the same family! Why was she not allowed to see the floral field? But Qiao Xuan just turned her down!
She could also tell that Qiao Xuan had no interest in speaking with her, let alone getting close to her.
She needed to find another opportunity to speak with her alone. But the chance was very slim.
Ms. Zhang was so annoyed that she had no idea what to do.
Qiao Xuan did not bother about this encounter.
She was not even afraid of Ms. Niu, how could she be afraid of Ms. Zhang?
What she had not expected was that Second Uncle and Third Uncle came to their home again. Both of them were very displeased.
They kept blaming Qiao Xuan for hiring cousins rather than them, and said that it was not at all reasonable on her part.
She had promised to hire them when she had some more work to do.
Qiao Xuan told the others that she paid 10 wen a day, which Second Uncle and Third Uncle were happy to accept. It was always good to get some payment.
Qiao Xuan did not turn them down. She nodded and smiled. "Okay, but have you forgotten about the rakes we made for you? You can count and see how much labor you owe us? You can pay back what you owe us and then we can talk about payment."
Both Second Uncle and Third Uncle were dumbfounded.
They had already forgotten about the labor, but for Qiao Xuan who mentioned that.
How much labor was that? It was worth more than 20 days!
So, they needed to work for the first second section of the family for free before they were able to get paid?
250 Attitudes
How could that be possible!
Second Uncle immediately said, "Your work is your own, how can you take the shared labor as personal labor?"
Ms. Fang took her daughter-in-law's side. She snorted. "Why not? I support her! Anyone who has an opinion against that, come to me!"
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Thanks, Mom!"
Who would dare to speak with Ms. Fang?
Also, Shao Sanlang and the others in the family could tell that Qiao Xuan was teasing the second and the third sections of the family, so they were glad to watch the show.
Eldest Uncle, who wanted to keep his face, did not dare to counter his wife, when his family took so much advantage of Qiao Xuan and her dowry.
Qiao Xuan continued. "I have rules for my work. You need to produce 20 pieces of a particular size and dimension every single day, otherwise the payment won't be given. If you want to work under such strict requirements, you can do that."
Second Uncle and Third Uncle turned pale.
They had no interest in doing the labor work.
They were even less willing to work 20 days for free.
Shao Yunduan added. "It is really hard work. We don't want you to do that, that is why we hired someone else. If we have some other easy work, we will turn to you for help!"
Second Uncle and Third Uncle snorted and left.
They were not interested in doing heavy labor.
But they felt a bit regretful by this point.
They should not have signed that paper to start with! That was not right!
They felt so annoyed that they had to work for approximately twenty days for free if they ever wanted to work for Qiao Xuan in the future.
Ms. Fang laughed. "It was a great idea! If they ever want to ask for our help, we can keep bringing up this note again and again!"
Shao Sanlang laughed. "That is really good!"
Eldest Uncle frowned and glanced at Qiao Xuan, sighing. "But…"
"But what?" Ms. Fang snapped. "Isn't it good that we have rules to deal with each other? Who wants to work for free? We can offer help, but they need to pay us or make an equal return. Isn't that reasonable? We would need help as well!"
Ms. Fang sounded so firm that Eldest Uncle snorted. "You don't understand!"
Ms. Fang rolled her eyes. "Then you can stop talking about it!"
The others simply ran away when they saw an argument coming.
Seeing the scene, Ms. Fang left and Eldest Uncle was alone in the room.
Eldest Uncle was so annoyed. "You know nothing!"
What were they all doing?
They did not have any love for others.
Eldest Uncle got very annoyed and believed that it was Ms. Qiao who had changed everyone's mind.
But Qiao Xuan's idea made the others in the family feel so motivated!
They had a rooster to eat for dinner that night.
Shao Xiaoqi had brought one home from the mountains.
She put the chicken nuggets in a large bowl, added seasonings, dried dates, ginkgo, and lotus seeds. Then, she put them in a large pot and steamed them with water. It was the best way to keep the freshness and sweetness of the chicken, and it tasted just right.
251 Hard Working
There were many fish in the big water tank, so a big catfish was caught and stewed with eggplants.
Qiao Xuan also saw that the salted duck eggs she had marinated a while ago could now be eaten. They were not too salty. She peeled several of them. The snow-white egg whites and the oily orange-red egg yolks looked very tempting.
Also, there were other dishes, including a plate of stir-fried wolfberry buds, wolfberry egg drop soup, cold yam slices, cold fungus, peanuts, and green peppers. It was a table full of bright colors. There was meat and vegetables, all looked very appetizing.
This was the first time they ate salted duck eggs. Everyone praised them, especially the oily salted egg yolk, which everyone loved.
Qiao Xuan decided to buy some tofu the next time she met a tofu seller. She would cut it into finger-sized diced tofu, and fry it with salted egg yolk. The taste would be very good.
The following day, Shao Dalang and the others were still going to chop mushrooms. It would mostly be done in the next two days. After that, they would use a saw to cut the fungus material into a suitable length, and then build a shed. With that, the fungus room would be completed.
Qiao Xuan, Taotao, Ms. Xu and Yang Xiaoni continued to work in the floral field.
Seeing the pomegranate tree blooming, they were all amazed.
However, when the pomegranate flower bloomed, it meant that a new lipstick variety could be produced. Everyone was looking forward to it.
Qiao Xuan was very generous. When the lipsticks were done, she gave one to each, which was quite tempting for the ladies.
Yang Xiaoni and Ms. Xu helped to pick the flowers before getting down to weeding.
"Work hard, we will be done with the weed in a couple of days!"
"Okay!"
Having exchanged a few words, they started to work hard.
Qiao Xuan was worried that Ms. Zhang would appear here, which might be a potential trouble. She needed to send her away.
She was not going to let her in.
However, Ms. Zhang did not appear.
That was quite surprising.
She was sure that when Ms. Zhang sucked up to her the day before, she must be planning to get something out of her.
But did she give up so fast after she was turned down?
Suddenly she realized that her Elder Sister-in-law, Third Sister-in-law and Taotao were all here, and Ms. Zhang must not want to be seen by any of them.
Therefore, she did have the intention but she also wanted to dodge the rest of the first section of the family.
Qiao Xuan wondered whether she was planning to borrow money from her.
Ms. Zhang always took advantage of her in-laws' home, and tried very hard to move everything to her mother's house. Therefore, if she went to the first section of the family to borrow money, she would most likely be turned down.
After all, she would never return it, since she intended to give away the money to her mother's home!
If she could not return the money, the first section of the family would not give it.
Maybe Ms. Zhang believed that if she was alone, she could be easily persuaded!
Qiao Xuan felt speechless.
However, when Qiao Xuan understood what Ms. Zhang wanted out of her, she believed that as long as she was not alone, Ms. Zhang would not ask her for money.
She was not afraid of Ms. Zhang. She just did not want to get involved with her.
Qiao Xuan and Shao Taotao managed to make 24 lipsticks during the morning.
It was a blended shade consisting of red and orange color, beautiful and shining like the sun, tempting and lustful.
Qiao Xuan gave one to each of them. Shao Taotao loved it.
"This is such a good shade!"
"It should look good on the lips!"
"…Yes! But a bit too bright. I may not dare to put it on my lips…"
"Why not? Elder Sister-in-law, you can put some and wipe off a little."
The four of them talked and laughed together.
Qiao Xuan threw a look at the yard, and used her superpower to ripen two watermelons. She asked Shao Taotao to help her carry them home.
252 Watermelon
"Let's see if they taste good at lunch!"
Shao Taotao smiled. "Of course they are sweet! You planted them!"
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Your tongue is sweeter!"
Taotao smiled shyly.
This watermelon was bigger than a large bowl, green in skin with dark stripes. At the knock by slightly buckled knuckles, it gave a crisp and elastic sound. Qiao Xuan suddenly started drooling.
She knew that the watermelons she planted would taste sweet!
Ms. Fang and the others in the family had never seen watermelons before. They had only heard about it from Qiao Xuan.
"Can watermelons be eaten raw? It is so sweet!"
"I heard about a kind of sweet melon that can be eaten raw. It is very sweet!"
Liu Yan's eyes widened.
A watermelon? Was that a real watermelon? She did not see it wrong, did she?
Did Second Miss manage to get watermelons?
Liu Yan could not help but comment. "Watermelons are precious things and we don't usually see them here. Every summer, Old Master can get three or four. He and Madame Qiao take them as treasure. When you cut the red melon inside, there is a lot of juice and a fresh fragrance. I heard that it tastes very sweet."
Liu Yan was a maid, but she worked for the County Magistrate, so she did have some knowledge about unusual things.
Hearing what she said, everyone looked at the watermelon with respect and treated it carefully.
"Is it so precious?"
"Then it must be a good thing!"
"We are so lucky to get a taste of it!"
Ms. Fang asked. "Ms. Qiao, just save them to make money, since they are so precious!"
They all nodded and agreed.
The farmers knew that precious things should not be ruined, but sold. That was what a farmer's family normally thought.
They were already very satisfied and grateful to have been able to taste this precious thing.
After all, that was something even the County Magistrate believed as being precious.
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Mom, we have many more in the yard, and soon they will be ripe during summer! We can eat them as much as we can, not as precious as you think. We have enough seeds and we can plant as many as we want!"
Ms. Fang smiled and waved her hands. "Just sell them for money, we don't want to eat them!"
"It is fine, we have a lot of money now but we need good food! We can plant some more next year and sell them."
Ms. Fang laughed. "Haha!"
As she thought about the fact that the family was not bad for money now, and watermelons could be grown in this field as Qiao Xuan said, it was not too uncommon to be able to grow them in the field. So she said nothing more.
But what she did not know was that Qiao Xuan had used her superpower to ripen the watermelon, otherwise they would not grow this big.
Normal people would not be able to get this without spending much energy, and the fruits might not have grown so well either.
Honestly, watermelons attracted bugs.
If it was raining during flowering and fruiting, the fruits might be dead.
But for Qiao Xuan, none of these was a problem. She could always dodge it successfully.
Therefore, her watermelons grew well, big and numerous.
Ms. Fang and the family had no idea about this, so they believed what Qiao Xuan said about how to plant them, and dropped the idea of thinking of them as precious.
253 Not Herself
Qiao Xuan placed the two watermelons in the cold-water bucket, waiting for Shao Dalang and the others to return to have a taste.
Ms. Xu asked Qiao Xuan in a staggering voice. "Fifth Sister-in-law, can I take some seeds to my mother's home, so they can plant some next year too?"
"Sure!" Qiao Xuan nodded without hesitation. "The black seeds are ripe. You can take back as many as you want."
Overjoyed, Ms. Xu said, "Thanks so much, Fifth Sister-in-law!"
Ms. Xu felt so happy when her request was granted so easily.
After lunchtime, they surrounded the table and looked at the watermelon with wide eyes. Ms. Fang felt a bit nervous as she cut it.
With a crisp and low sound, the watermelon burst open. The flesh of the melon was bright red, with countless black seeds inside.
This watermelon was brought back from the wild. It was not the excellent variety like the modern times. There were relatively many more seeds.
But the watermelon tasted much fresher too.
"It tastes so good!" Shao Sanlang swallowed down the seeds.
Yang Xiaoni licked her lips, smiling. "Yes, it looks very tasty!"
Ms. Fang threw a look at the couple, who were only out for food.
She cut the watermelon into pieces and picked them up carefully.
Everyone picked up a piece each and the juice filled up their mouths. The flesh was soft and the juice was abundant. The fresh sweetness instantly captured all the perceptions in the mouth.
In an instant, all the cells in the mouth were mobilized, and they couldn't wait to swallow. Different voices rang in the room.
"I want more!"
"Oh god, it is so tasty!"
"Sweet and juicy, full of flesh!"
"No wonder it is precious. So tasty!"
"Ah, I can eat up the whole thing!"
"…"
They all spoke highly of the fruit and just could not stop.
Even Liu Yan was given a piece. Liu Yan was so startled that she could not help but remember how it tasted after all.
That was watermelon! A precious thing! Second Miss could do everything!
They ate it all up except for the two large slices left to Shao Xiaoqi who was in the mountains.
It tasted great.
Qiao Xuan eventually fell in love with the taste.
Sweet, fresh and drooling!
In the scorching summer, at noon with the sun in the sky, eating watermelon soaked in ice-cold water was so pleasing!
The watermelons had numerous seeds, but it did not hurt.
Qiao Xuan did not want to sell them but there were many of them at home, and they could not finish them alone.
She was not giving this fruit to anyone else. Her father-in-law no longer mentioned giving it to the other sections of the family, though he had that intention. Qiao Xuan ignored him conveniently.
Shen had already made the plan about how to sell the watermelons.
She intended to visit Mingren Tang in a couple of days and talk to Manager Qin about it. Maybe the watermelons and tea leaves could be sold through them.
She herself would never show up to do so.
Otherwise, Officer Qiao and Madame Qiao would get a clue!
254 Not Returning
Thinking that even her parents were not able to eat these precious things throughout the summer, Qiao Xuan could not help but feel glad.
She was going to sell the watermelons at a high price to some rich people, someone like her parents.
Ding Erzhu and Ms. Zhou were not living a good life. The water and field had been opened by someone else and Ding Erzhu was left with barren land.
He had no money to buy a field. He could earn a little bit by opening a few mu, and when he had more money, he could sign a contract. But no one would expect to give the money in advance.
At this rate, they would definitely starve.
Opening fields was not easy, especially when the weed was growing so crazily.
Their son was only three years old and he could not be away from his parents, but Ms. Zhou did not want her husband to work alone. She was anxious too. Two of them were very slow, but one person alone could not finish the work!
Half of the year had already passed. Now, they needed to hurry up to open up wasteland, plant some taro, soybeans. They hoped to rush into harvest before winter came. If it was delayed, there would be no harvest in autumn and winter. Then, what would they do?
They had already made the plan. In autumn and winter, they would go up into the mountain to dig yam and in autumn, there were wild chestnuts, date in the mountains too.
They could dig mushrooms too. They would probably ask the first section of the Shao Family to see what they could eat.
Also, Ding Erzhu would chop some wood and sell it in the town. In this way, they might be able to buy some thick clothes and food for winter.
It was so difficult to live through these days.
But they would not regret this life which they had chosen. They were going to continue to persevere no matter what.
The couple had to bring their son along for the wasteland opening.
They put the son under the tree and started to work.
The three-year-old was so naughty that he kept playing with mud, stones, weeds and when he was fed up with it, he ran around.
Ms. Zhou had no choice but throw away the shovel to catch her son.
Ms. Zhou felt so tired that she had to carry the son on her back all the time.
In this way, she could catch him whenever he tried to run away.
But the sun was too strong for the son so he got sunstroke, and developed a fever during the night.
The couple got so frightened that Ms. Zhou almost passed out.
Ding Erzhu tried to borrow some money from his parents to visit a cheap doctor, but Fifth Grandma Ding and Fifth Grandpa Ding refused to give him money.
Fifth Grandpa Ding told him that he should apologize first before being given the money, and make the promise that he would never rebel against them again.
Otherwise, he would get no money at all because he was not part of the family and could not get anything from him.
Ding Erzhu's heart was broken.
He had respected his parents for more than 30 years and that was what he got.
His parents threatened him with his sick son's life.
If he returned to the family, he would be humiliated to death!
His wife and his son would suffer even more!
Ding Erzhu turned away without looking back.
He had his teeth clenched and knocked at the door of the first section of the Shao Family.
255 Ideas
He did not want to cause trouble to Ms. Fang, but the first section of the Shao Family must be the only people who would be willing to help them, under such circumstances.
Ms. Fang was a kind-hearted person and her family was capable enough to help them. The other families might offer vegetables, bowls of rice, but never money…
Hearing what he said, Ms. Fang was startled and loaned him 50 wen immediately.
Ding Erzhu thanked her with tears in his eyes and hired the doctor from the next village overnight.
Luckily, the boy was not seriously sick. He drank some medical herb soup and by lunchtime the following day, the body temperature dropped. Although it arose a little bit later, yet eventually, it dropped after one day.
The couple guarded the boy throughout the whole night and did not dare to move away. They felt as if the sky had fallen down.
Ms. Fang and Ms. Qiao visited them the first day, and came to see them again the next day. They had some food with them, including some vegetables and the rooster that Shao Xiaoqi had hunted.
Qiao Xuan even brought a big watermelon for the child to eat, but she told them not to feed the child too much at one go.
Ding Erzhu and Ms. Zhou felt really grateful. Ding Erzhu almost kneeled down to kowtow to Ms. Fang, who asked Ms. Zhou to help him up.
Ding Erzhu wiped his eyes and said, "Ms. Fang, you are such a great family. We will never be able to pay back for what you have done for us! Please, tell us whenever you need us to do anything! We are strong people and we will pay you back in our next life too!"
Ms. Fang sighed. "Just drop it. We are living in the same village. You two are diligent people and you will definitely have a good life!"
Ding Erzhu and Ms. Zhou nodded hesitantly, accepting Ms. Fang's good intention.
But they really could not imagine what on earth their future would be.
Would they get better? They just could not see any hope!
Ms. Fang and Qiao Xuan exchanged a look, as Ms. Fang coughed and said, "You can't go on like this. The boy is too small to leave you, and you have nothing here, and you won't make it through winter. I have an idea, would you like to listen?"
Ms. Fang's words hit Ding Erzhu and Ms. Zhou's hearts. That was exactly what they were worried about.
Hearing what Ms. Fang said, the couple looked suddenly motivated. Ms. Zhou said, "Ms. Fang, you are a nice person, please tell us what ideas you have. If you can help us, we will be really grateful!"
Ding Erzhu nodded.
The couple looked at Ms. Fang expectantly.
Ms. Fang knew of Qiao Xuan's good fields at the Zhang Village, and it was Qiao Xuan's proposal in the beginning. So she thought about this and believed that it was a good idea.
She knew about this couple. They were both very honest and down-to-earth people.
Moreover, their child was so pitiful!
They could help Qiao Xuan to guard the fields, and could also live a better life themselves.
Ms. Fang told them about this, but asked them to keep the secret.
Qiao Xuan was the daughter of the County Magistrate. When Ding Erzhu and Ms. Zhou heard about the fields, they did not find it strange. They assumed that those fields were just the dowry.
They knew all about keeping the secret.
The Shao Family had their own problems. The second and the third section of the family were greedy for Qiao Xuan's properties, and hence, Qiao Xuan needed to keep it a secret.
256 Nosy
The couple got overjoyed and could not wait to immediately implement the plan.
"Don't worry, we will work hard and watch the fields, and we will never reveal anything to anyone!"
Ms. Zhou sobbed. "I really have no idea what to say…"
Qiao Xuan smiled. "I need to hire someone to watch over the fields anyway. We know you well and trust you. Some land officers can be sneaky and the business may not be so easy. So, please, Second Uncle Ding, I will check the fields every 15 days, the rest will be in your hands."
Ding Erzhu panicked a little, feeling nervous and anxious. He had never watched over any fields before, and he had no idea whether he would be able to do a good job at it. But he cherished this opportunity that no one else had got.
Also, for his family who had already fallen in despair, it was an excellent thing!
"I will be fully devoted!"
When the deal was done, Qiao Xuan told them with a smile that they should move there early, in fact the next morning. She asked them to wait outside the village.
She and Shao Yunduan would take the bull there and pick them up.
Since the deal was a secret, no one from the village should see them together.
Ms. Zhou and Ding Erzhu nodded.
As the couple said bye to Ms. Qiao and Ms. Fang, both of them felt a huge load off their chests. They were highly motivated.
"Good, this is good!"
"Yeah! Ms. Fang and her whole family are nice people! We have to work hard!"
"Yes, of course!"
At Fifth Grandpa Ding's home.
Fifth Grandpa Ding heard about Ding Xiaoshi's fever getting better and let out a sigh of relief. But then, he felt even more annoyed. He believed that the Shao Family should not get involved with them.
But for the Shao Family, he might have forced Ding Erzhu and his wife to come back home.
As of now, he looked like the ruthless one!
"Nosy family! They are burning their money!"
Fifth Grandpa Ding complained and asked Fifth Grandma Ding to take ten eggs, several kgs of rice and some beans, eggplants and chilis to visit Ding Erzhu and his family.
"Just go and check on them. They are still part of the Ding clan!"
Fifth Grandma Ding snorted unhappily but did not counter him.
Yes, they should not be too cruel because the villagers were spreading all sorts of rumors!
But it was their fault! It was her second son and his weird family who knew nothing better!
They were weirdos who pretended to be honest and obedient! They were actually the opposite!
This matter should not have become such a big deal!
Fifth Grandma Ding got so annoyed whenever she thought about this.
Visit them? Give them food?
"No way! They don't deserve the eggs! They will never get any food from us!"
Fifth Grandma Ding snapped and took four eggs out of ten, and scooped out a bowl of rice. After that, she left for Ding Erzhu's residence with the eggs, rice and vegetables.
The watermelon was sweet, red and juicy. When Ms. Qiao and Ms. Fang left, Ms. Zhou asked Ding Erzhu to cut it open and feed Ding Xiaoshi.
Ding Xiaoshi loved it and smiled brightly.
The couple tasted it too and praised it highly.
257 How Dare He
"What is this watermelon? It tastes so good!"
"Yeah, they are so generous and friendly."
Ms. Zhou even remembered what Qiao Xuan had said. She mentioned specifically that they should not give their son too much of this fruit. So the three of them ate half and kept the rest for the evening.
Qiao Xuan also said that cut watermelon could not be eaten the next day, otherwise it would turn rotten and cause diarrhea.
Fifth Grandma Ding arrived after they ate some watermelon.
The moment she walked in, the warm air of the room turned cold. The family had a bad look on their faces, including Ding Xiaoshi.
Fifth Grandma Ding glared at them and snorted. "What are you staring at me for? Not calling me?"
Ms. Zhou's lips moved and then she turned away. She was silent, saying nothing as she bit the lips.
Calling her?
The whole family was a pack of beasts, they were not people!
Ding Erzhu opened his mouth but uttered no sound.
He was used to being ordered around by his mother, and he subconsciously was going to address her as mother. Yet when he thought of how his family was treated, he stopped himself!
"You ungrateful people!" Fifth Grandma Ding said angrily, "I am bringing you food and you are treating me like this? You are not even calling me mother?"
Ding Erzhu sneered. "I have moved out of the family and kowtowed to you. I can't call you mother. I can't afford to call you mother!"
"You…" Fifth Grandma Ding shivered out of anger as she pointed at Ms. Zhou and said, "You bitch! You must have told him to do so! My son used to be an obedient person but after he married you, everything changed. You bitch must have told him to behave like this. You have caused so much trouble to my son. Are you satisfied by what you have got now? You will have to pay for your deeds!"
"I am going to pay for my deeds!" Ms. Zhou screamed. "I can bear the payment, but will you be able to bear the consequences? Are you afraid?"
"How dare you!" Fifth Grandma Ding continued to snap and started to roll up her sleeves to hit Ms. Zhou. "You bitch!"
Ding Erzhu suddenly stopped her and responded with a sunk face. "Just go home, you don't have to take care of us. Also, we don't need your stuff! Just take it back with you!"
Fifth Grandma Ding looked at Ding Erzhu with disbelief. Her lips were shivering but she just could not utter a sound.
Her son was always obedient and did not dare to disobey her. She never believed that him moving out of the family was a big deal.
She never thought that an obedient person like him would ever achieve anything good. He was just a stupid coward who would make no big deal after he moved out.
She thought that he would always want to return and beg her!
But it was not until this moment did she realize that she was wrong.
How dare this coward say things like this!
"I am going to see how much further you are going to last! How are you going to survive? I will wait and see!"
"Don't blame me for not taking care of you!"
Ding Erzhu turned around and tried to hold his misery.
His mother never liked him because he knew that he was not pleasing enough. But what he had not expected was that his mother would treat him like this.
Fifth Grandma Ding sneered and was about to leave, when she saw Ding Xiaoshi bending over the short table, trying to put some melon with seeds into his mouth.
258 Confused No Longer
Ms. Zhou saw that too. She went to catch her son and pacified him. "Just calm down, we will eat it later."
The sweet scent of melon spread around.
Fifth Grandma Ding could not help but swallow down her saliva.
She could not help but ask. "What is that thing? Where did you get it from?"
Ms. Zhou became vigilant and snapped. "Ms. Fang gave it to Shi, a watermelon found in the mountains."
No one had ever seen a melon in the village, nor had anyone heard about melons at the Shao Family's yard, so Ms. Zhou thought that the melon was found in the mountain by Shao Xiaoqi.
Fifth Grandma Ding snorted but could not move her eyes away from the watermelon.
Ding Xiaoshi's fingers had dug out a piece, and the sunk part was filled with watermelon juice, which made it look really tasty.
Fifth Grandma Ding wanted to have a taste of it but she did not want to say it. The truth was that she was drooling already!
In the past, Ding Erzhu would have cut a generous part and given it to her, but Ding Erzhu and Ms. Zhou showed no reaction now.
Fifth Grandma Ding snapped, when she could not ask for it openly. "They always bring a lot of things home, but watch out, they eat mushrooms that kill people. This must be a horrible thing too!"
Ding Erzhu and Ms. Zhou got angry.
Ms. Zhou said in a trembling voice, "It is none of your business."
Ms. Fang was so friendly and they had accepted her offer. They did not need to hear any comments from others.
Ms. Zhou mustered up her courage to counter her mother-in-law.
Fifth Grandma Ding got annoyed and snapped at Ms. Zhou.
Ding Erzhu could not stand that any more and dragged her out.
Fifth Grandma Ding shouted some more and finally left.
She mumbled. "Heartless people, don't even let me have a taste of it…"
She could not help but feel like tasting it.
"Just… don't take what she said to your heart…"
Ding Erzhu mumbled.
Ms. Zhou sneered. "I used to be stupid, but I will not be foolish any more!"
Ding Erzhu was stuck speechless.
Fifth Grandma Ding rushed home in anger and when Fifth Grandpa Ding saw the things brought back intact, he snapped. "Why are you bringing them back?"
Fifth Grandma Ding sneered. "They are hanging out with Ms. Fang! They don't want our things. They just turned me down! Do you think I should have still pushed it to them?"
Fifth Grandpa Ding was startled. "How could that be possible?"
"Why not?" Fifth Grandma Ding sneered. "Maybe you can have a try?"
Fifth Grandpa Ding fell in silence.
He sighed…
How could it have become like this?
The following day, the first section of the Shao Family ate breakfast. Afterwards, Shao Taotao took Ms. Xu, and Yang Xiaoni into the floral field for lipsticks. Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan went on the bull cart and fetched Ding Erzhu and his family, so that they could all head towards the Zhang Village.
After the wheat was cropped, Qiao Xuan had not seen the field but had long planned to. It was just the right time.
There was no house built there, so Qiao Xuan went to the Land Officer and paid the bill for Ding Erzhu and his family to settle for the time being.
259 Fields
s
Qiao Xuan had bought five mu of fields. She still needed to build a yard and plant some stuff. Since Ding Erzhu and his family were here, a simple house could be built first for them to settle down.
Qiao Xuan needed to make a good plan about how to build the yard.
They could have three wooden rooms built for his family.
Before winter arrived, she was going to have a large house in the huge yard built for Ding Erzhu and his family, who should be used to the work by that time.
Everyone was eating at the Zhang Village. Zhang Xiaofeng and Zhang Chunlai came to greet them happily upon hearing the news.
It was always Shao Yunduan who dealt with guests.
In this era, women were always looked down upon and could not keep control of the situation. For another, Shao Yunduan was the Cultivated Talent who would subconsciously attract some respect from outsiders. Thirdly, since Shao Yunduan usually had no expression on his face, he looked very intimidating.
Shao Yunduan glanced at the couple and greeted them, introducing them to Ding Erzhu and Ms. Zhou. "This is my uncle and aunt-in-law, and they will be living here from today on. They would be in charge of the business here. You know this place well, so please take good care of them."
Upon hearing the words, the faces of Zhang Chunlai and the other three people changed, especially the two women, who could not conceal their expressions.
"Okay, okay, don't worry, boss!"
"Yes, yes we will definitely, definitely take good care of them!"
When Zhang Xiaofeng and Zhang Chunlai were asked to temporarily watch over the renters, the couple, and everyone in their family, was really pleased. They were also tenants, but the tenants in charge were different from other renters.
Ordinary renters always sucked up to the ones in charge.
They even tried to have competition among themselves, trying to find a winner.
But they soon realized that they did not have to have competition between themselves any more, because the boss's relatives had appeared in front of them, and they themselves had fallen into the stage of ordinary tenants.
They had no way to compete with them.
They could just offer some help to this new uncle, who barely had any idea about the situation here. If he could say some good words in front of the boss, then it would be great!
As they thought about this, they felt slightly better.
Shao Yunduan asked the couple to eat lunch at the Land Officer's family together.
The couple nodded and agreed. Their wives were not supposed to eat along with them, so they said hello and left.
After lunch, Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan took Ding Erzhu, under the guidance of Zhang Chunlai, for the trip to the field, showing the rice cultivation.
Crops were farmers' life, and everything related to grain was critical for the tenants throughout the whole year, so everyone took good care of the crops and the land.
Qiao Xuan had used her superpower to make the crops grow secretly.
Though there was no big difference, the rice would definitely grow stronger, better and not bug-ridden.
Those long, soft leaves were dangling, looking really beautiful and radiant, so lively that Qiao Xuan felt very satisfied.
Soon, Qiao Xuan bid farewell to Zhang Chunlai and his partner.
As she was talking, the two of them nodded whilst glancing at Shao Yunduan.
Qiao Xuan could not help but laugh.
In other people's eyes, Shao Yunduan was the real boss, whilst she was just the boss's wife.
260 Words
After all, what did women know?
Shao Yunduan said, "My wife says that you can go home now since everything here is sorted. All you need to remember is that you have to listen to my wife's orders, and to take care of the fields whilst helping my uncle with the work, and you will be treated well."
These words were exactly what Zhang Chunlai and his family needed to hear. Feeling assured, Zhang Chunlai smiled and said some flattering words, before leaving politely.
Ding Erzhu let out a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat on his forehead. He laughed bitterly. "Nephew, am I going to be in charge of these tenants? I… I am not very sure about it! What if I ruin your business… I will…"
"Uncle Erzhu, don't worry about it." Qiao Xuan smiled. "Actually, the tenants take good care of their respective fields. All you need to do is to stay here and guard them, in case they cause some trouble. You can leave the rest to the others. If you need anything or run into anything that is not good, just tell us about it."
Shao Yunduan nodded. "Yes, what you need is to stay here so that the tenants would be careful about their work."
It was their food they were taking care of.
Ding Erzhu felt slightly better and smiled. "Oh that… that will work!"
What Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan had not expected was that Ding Erzhu had come up with a different idea. What he interpreted was that he did not need to take care of the fields, because the tenants would take care of the crop themselves, and that what he needed to do was to watch their moves. In case if there were any rows, or lack of diligence, tricks etc, he should reveal them to Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan about the strangeness.
What they did not expect was that due to Ding Erzhu's habit of watching the tenants, he got a deep understanding of what those tenants were like, because of which, in future, Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan would dodge a huge crisis accidentally.
"Is this the only thing I need to do? Anything else? Just leave it all to me!" Ding Erzhu added.
It seemed that he had taken a huge advantage of the couple and that made him feel unbalanced.
Qiao Xuan thought for a while and smiled. "We are going to see the land where the houses are going to be built. If you have time, you can help me work on the land!"
Ding Erza's eyes sparkled and he smiled. "Sure, no problem!"
Qiao Xuan avoided Zhang Chunlai because she was worried that the tenants would keep the secret even if they met them.
So they should be kept away.
In this way, when Ding Erzhu was introduced to the tenants, Ding Erzhu's influence would be set up.
Otherwise those two people would look like Ding Erzhu's guides.
They met several tenants who talked about their situation. Qiao Xuan felt slightly better knowing that nothing serious happened during this period.
Later, the three of them went to visit the land they had bought.
That land was close to the Zhang Village, located at the foot of a mountain, which had a few small hills.
That was where the house for Ding Erzhu's family would be built.
Qiao Xuan gestured with her hands and said that the new house would take up 3 mu and the remaining 2 mu will be the hill, which could be developed into a crop yard.
Qiao Xuan gave Ding Erzhu five liang to settle down, which included the money for building the house.