Chapter 5 Friendly Neighbors

When those exiled here first arrived, who wasn't emaciated, dirty, and even dying? But the Zhao family wasn't like that.

Zhao Liya observed the expressions on the other side and knew her words had taken effect. She spoke with increasing confidence, "We have no grudges against each other, so why bother to cause trouble? Now that we're here, we just want to stay here quietly and wait for news. If anyone causes trouble, well, we're not pushovers! We'd rather fight to the death than surrender. If anyone wants to give it a try, let them try!"

Hu Ling waved his fist in protest: "Right! Don't think we are easy to bully! We are not afraid of you."

The hooligans were so angry and aggrieved. They just wanted to take advantage of them and make some money. Was it really that serious? Was it really that serious?

"Please, the three of you, we won't see you off!"

How could the hooligans dare to ask them to deliver it? They ran away in shame, crawling and tumbling.

Zhao Liya and Hu Ling breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhao Liya said, "I don't know if I can scare them off, but we'll just have to fight back. No matter what, we have to gain a foothold here and live well."

"Well, let's just be more careful next time."

"Yeah! Come on, let's clean the house quickly."

"good!"

Take it one step at a time. If you can't avoid it, you'll have to face it head-on. There's always a way.

Of course, everyone in the house heard the commotion outside. Zhao Lixiang and Zhao Lin rushed over when they saw the two of them come in: "Brother and sister, did you chase away all the bad guys? Brother and sister are so awesome!"

If their parents hadn't held them back and covered their ears, they would have run out to watch the fun.

Several adults laughed and said, "Well, your brothers and sisters will protect you. We are not afraid of bad people."

Zhao Xiang and Deng looked at their daughter and adopted son with some complicated feelings.

This girl has never been interested in music, chess, calligraphy, or painting since she was young, but prefers martial arts. I thought she was just joking around, and thought it would be good for her to exercise her body, so I let her do it.

I don’t know whether to sigh or be glad.

The house still needed to be cleaned. Zhao Liya said, "My brother and I should go to the neighbors and borrow some cleaning tools. We can't do it with just our hands."

Zhao Xiang and Deng nodded in agreement, and then they left.

Two hundred meters to the right of their house, there was a house surrounded by a yellow mud wall and a vegetable garden surrounded by a fence in the middle. It was difficult to see the inside clearly, so the two decided to go over and take a look.

After knocking on the courtyard door, a woman in her forties, with a round waist and strong arms, held the door with both hands and looked them up and down warily. "Who are you?"

"Hello, Auntie," Zhao Liya smiled. "We're new here and plan to stay temporarily in the house to the left of yours. Could you lend us a broom, shovel, hatchet, dustpan, and other tools to help us clean?"

The woman let out a "whoosh" and became interested. Her shrewd eyes sparkled as she looked at them a few more times and gossiped, "Newcomers! Hey, there are new people in our village! Where are you from? What crime have you committed?"

Zhao Liya and Hu Ling: “.”

Although Zhao Liya didn't think these things couldn't be said, she was still a little caught off guard when someone asked her so directly.

The woman sneered at the scene and said disapprovingly: "In this place, what is there to worry about? It's not shameful to say it! It's already like this, what's there to be embarrassed about? I think you are a good girl, okay, I'll lend it to you, we will still be neighbors in the future!"

Zhao Liya was delighted and said with a smile: "Thank you, auntie!"

The woman looked at the two of them discreetly and said, "Wait!"

She said, closing the door and going back to get her things.

Widow Qu quickly brought the things over and said with a smile, "You can just call me Aunt Qu. I'm not lending it to you for free. So, you two have to work for our family for a few days."

Zhao Liya and Hu Ling looked at each other and nodded in agreement: "Of course. We've been busy these days. Can we wait a few days?"

"OK!"

With the right tools, the whole family joined together to start cleaning the house inside and outside. Even the two little ones, Zhao Lixiang and Zhao Lin, helped to pull out weeds.

Zhao Liya and Hu Ling used shovels and hoes to weed the wild weeds growing thickly in the yard. The yard was quite large, and they were sweating profusely under the scorching sun, exhausted.

The edges of the grass leaves are sharp, and if you are not careful, you will easily scratch the back of your hand. After cleaning it, there are countless red marks on the back of your hand and wrist. When exposed to the sun and sweat, it feels hot and stinging.

After clearing the weeds, the yard looks much tidier and more pleasing to the eye, which is worth it.

There was a lychee tree in the yard, with many green fruits hanging on it. There was also a plum tree with lush branches and leaves, but no fruits were seen. Instead, there was a pumpkin vine climbing up it, and two pumpkins weighing about five or six pounds were hanging in the air. They were green and looked very cute, which made Zhao Lixiang and Zhao Lin look at them curiously for a long time.

Zhao Liya kept the pumpkin vine when she was clearing the weeds. It can still grow and maybe even produce a few more pumpkins.

There were also a few beans climbing and entangled in the weeds. Zhao Liya carefully untied their vines and kept them. She then went back to get sticks for them to climb on. The beans could be cooked as a dish.

The four adults worked together to lift the fallen fence, drove the stakes back in, and tied it in place with ropes made from long foxtail grass.

This fence is just for show; many of the branches are infested with insects, or are dry and brittle, breaking easily. It's a makeshift measure for now, but it definitely needs to be replaced.

Zhao Liya wiped the sweat from her cheeks and let out a breath. There was still a lot to do.

Time flies by so fast when you're working. Just when everything is ready, you look up and see the western sky is already filled with brilliant sunset glow and the sun is setting.

Zhao Lixiang ran over and gently tugged at Zhao Liya's clothes. The little girl said softly, "Sister, I'm thirsty. I want to drink some water."

"Drink some water." Zhao Liya licked her dry lips. She didn't feel it before, but as soon as the little girl said that, she suddenly felt her throat smoking.

Looking at the little girl's equally parched lips, she couldn't help but feel pity for her. She thought the little girl must have been extremely thirsty to tell her. She gently stroked her slender and tender shoulders and said, "Be good and wait. I'll get you some water."

Zhao Lixiang smiled sweetly, her eyebrows curved as she nodded vigorously: "Yes!"

In order not to bother two people with the same matter, Zhao Liya had no choice but to go to Widow Qu's house again.

She felt that Widow Qu was quite straightforward and was also her closest neighbor, so it was necessary to establish a good relationship with her. She wanted to ask her about the situation in the village later.

Sisters, please support my new book! Collection, recommendation, monthly ticket, check-in, and get started! (┯_┯)

(End of this chapter)