Chapter 254 The Fourth Brother is Back

Song Chunxue parked the car at the gate, not intending to go into the yard.

"No need, I've already done enough."

Her gaze drifted elsewhere, and soon she heard the Tian family's butterfly open the courtyard gate, munching on a carrot and watching the commotion.

"Oh, Brother Mei, you've come to see your aunt. Are you really interested in her, or are you just up to your old habits and bothering her for something new?"

"If you like her, then find a matchmaker to arrange the marriage. Otherwise, your constant pestering of this widowed woman is bad for her reputation."

Mei Yang turned to look at her, "Anyone who dares to gossip, I'll rip out their tongue."

"..." The sound of the butterfly chewing on the carrot was crisp, but it didn't reply.

"Aunt Tian is right, if you were..."

"If I were to hire a matchmaker, would you agree?"

"Won't."

Mei Yang shrugged. "That settles it. You're not a virgin anymore, you can't be easily fooled. I need to show you that I genuinely want to treat you well, otherwise you'll drive away countless matchmakers."

"Forget about it. I've said it before, men are not as reliable as the two dogs in my yard. If you still don't know what's good for you, one day I'll fight you to the death and show you my determination."

Song Chunxue's hand rested on the hilt of the knife at her waist. "Don't force me to cut you."

"You can't beat me in a fight. I wasn't paying attention that day and you got the upper hand..."

"What? What?" Butterfly shouted, "Her aunt took advantage of you! How did she do that?"

Song Chunxue and Mei Yang turned their heads at the same time to glare at Hua Hudie.

"You're dressed like a moth, no wonder your husband doesn't want to come home. If you wipe off the powder on your face and slim down your waist, maybe he'll come back and take a look at you."

"..." Aunt Tian, ​​who had been watching the commotion, got herself into the fray. After a moment of stunned silence, she suddenly burst into tears, "You, Mei Yang, Aunt Song was right, no man is any good, waaaah..."

"Bang!"

The next moment, she turned around and slammed the courtyard gate shut. Her sobs faded into the distance, but her sadness was genuine.

Song Chunxue tapped the knife against her palm, looking at him with a sinister gaze. "So you like slim girls. But everyone gets old. There aren't many girls her age with a waist; they all turn into big oil tanks. Sixteen-year-old girls don't. Maybe when you die of old age and are buried, she'll still be slim."

"If you keep blocking this place, we'll have a fight."

Mei Yang sighed helplessly, "Why is a woman always clamoring to fight? Don't worry, if you looked like him, I'd probably be about the same. I like you, so I won't look down on you."

Who the hell cares about him and doesn't mind?

Song Chunxue took two steps forward and kicked him straight in the shin.

"..." Mei Yang subconsciously held her breath, sweating profusely from the pain.

"Are you coming or not?"

Mei Yang took a deep breath. "I'm not leaving. I'll help you haul two truckloads of dirt back."

"Alright, then you wait." Song Chunxue opened the courtyard gate and shouted to the two wolfhounds inside, "You puppies, bite him to death!"

"Woof woof woof!"

"Woof woof woof, woof woof!"

Two puppies darted out of the yard gate, ran up to Mei Yang, and barked wildly at him.

"Bite him, bite his leg to pieces, and we'll give you extra meat today."

"Woof woof, woof."

For some reason, the two puppies didn't dare to approach Mei Yang. At first, they were able to bluff and bare their teeth, but later they took a few steps back and stammered as they hid behind Song Chunxue.

"..." Looking at these two good-for-nothing wolfhounds, Song Chunxue felt a little uneasy. Could it be that the murderous aura on him was too strong?

Mei Yang stared at Song Chunxue expressionlessly. When his single eye lowered his brow, a chilling murderous aura inexplicably arose.

Song Chunxue gripped the knife hilt tightly; her intuition was right, this kind of person was no different from a bandit.

"Fine, since you don't like me that much, I'm not so ungrateful." With that, he took two steps back, turned his back to her, and said, "You go ahead with your work, see you later."

This meeting made Song Chunxue feel uneasy.

She hauled the soil into the yard, preparing to move it little by little onto the wall.

If she placed it directly on the wall, it would soften the fortress wall, so she wanted to lay some bricks to create a garden. The garden couldn't be too big. She would spread the remaining soil in the backyard to plant some chives and scallions, making it easier to make fermented vegetable water.

Just as she was hauling the soil to the backyard, there was a knock on the gate.

"Bang bang bang!"

"Mother, I'm back."

Fourth brother?

Song Chunxue quickly patted the dirt off her clothes and walked outside, thinking that the fourth brother had indeed returned, and she wondered if he was injured.

"mother."

Upon seeing Song Chunxue, the fourth son rushed over with tears in his eyes, "Mother, I'm back."

Song Chunxue, her hands covered in dirt, held them out in mid-air. "Why are you back? Were you tricked?"

The fourth brother sniffed, then walked silently toward the kitchen, carrying nothing but the dagger at his waist.

“My classmates and I were all deceived. I was afraid of being sold to the south as a slave, so I ran away in the middle of the night. They confiscated all my belongings. If my mother hadn’t told me to sew the loose silver into my clothes, I might not have been able to come back.”

Song Chunxue stood still, listening to him recount the thrilling events in a few words, her heart pounding with anxiety.

"It's good that you're back. Next time, don't trust your classmates so easily. They've never been anywhere. Do you think what his relatives say is reliable?"

"Besides, what if your classmate is lying to you, and he was actually with his cousin or other relatives to sell you off somewhere else? They won't admit it."

Song Chunxue lowered her head and patted the dirt off her knees. "Are you hungry? I'll go cook. Go wash your face, change your clothes, and rest for a bit."

The fourth brother drank a large bowl of raw fermented liquid and then came out of the kitchen to start taking off his clothes.

“These clothes are stained with blood, I’m going to change them and burn them.” The fourth brother’s voice trembled slightly with lingering fear. “We went together, and one of us was a year older than me. He lost his life on the way back. I never want to run away again, even if you beat me to death.”

Song Chunxue's heart tightened. "It's better to burn it. I'll cleanse you of any bad luck later."

As she spoke, she lit a fire in the brazier, carried it outside the courtyard gate for him to step over, and then threw his clothes and shoes into it to burn.

When the third child returned home that evening, he wasn't surprised to see the fourth child sitting blankly in the yard.

"Hey, you're back?" Sanwa noticed his tanned face. "Did you have fun on the way?"

The fourth brother laughed, "It was quite fun; I almost lost my life."

"Tell me quickly, how have you been these past few days? Where is your mother?"

"They drew talismans in the house, saying it was to exorcise evil spirits and change my luck." At this point, the fourth brother lowered his voice and asked, "Has anything else happened these past few days?"

Sanwa lowered his voice and said, "Let's talk in my room."

After Song Chunxue finished drawing the talisman, she went to cook. After eating, she recited the incantation according to the book left by the Taoist priest, sprinkled wine on Lao Si and beat him with willow branches before calling the two of them into the house.

She poured wine for Sanwa and Lao Si, staring sternly at Lao Si, "Tell us carefully what happened along the way, so we can tell you the whole story. Don't let your classmate sell you out and then help him count the money."

The fourth son drank a glass of wine, lowered his head and admitted defeat, "I'll explain slowly, Mother, please don't be angry."