Chapter 35 Rumors Abound, Secret Conspiracies

Zhu Mingyue: "If you're selling food, it's best to have enough space for a few tables and chairs."

The woman said, "That's suitable. My shop is only a little smaller than that noodle shop. It can easily fit seven or eight tables and chairs, but I can't sell at a low price."

"You said it is all negotiable!"

The woman made a gesture he couldn't understand and said, "Forty-two taels."

Zhu Mingyue was incredibly excited by the large area the woman described, but the price immediately dampened her enthusiasm.

The woman looked somewhat troubled. She had a good impression of the young man and wanted to lower the price, but her own situation was really difficult, and forty-two taels was the lowest price she could offer.

"Young master, I think you should come with me to take a look. It's not far ahead, just a few steps away. Once you see it, you'll understand why I'm selling it at this price."

Since the other party had taken the initiative to invite her, Zhu Mingyue certainly wouldn't refuse. After all, looking around didn't mean she had to buy anything; it was good to just admire the sights.

"Auntie, please wait here for a moment. I'll go and call my mother and my younger brother. We'll go see it together." With that, she took off running.

Zhu Mingyue ran to the entrance of the noodle shop, but Xie Pei was nowhere to be seen. Undeterred, he peered inside a few more times and called out "Xie Pei, Xie Pei" in a low voice several times, but no one answered. Instead, he was chased away by the noodle shop owner, "Go away, go away, go away. If you're not going to eat, don't stand in the way at the door. If you delay business, you'll have to pay for it!"

Zhu Mingyue: ...This person is so annoying. Making noodles that taste so bad is really a waste of business.

A hand gently landed on his shoulder from behind. When he turned around, he saw Xie Pei standing behind him.

Xie Pei said calmly, "It's resolved. Let's go."

Zhu Mingyue's pupils dilated in shock, and she exclaimed in panic, "You killed him? No way, no way, murder is illegal."

"I gave him some alcohol and threw him outside." Xie Pei couldn't keep up with Zhu Mingyue's train of thought, so he added, "He won't die."

"Oh, that's good," Zhu Mingyue breathed a sigh of relief. "By the way, we can't go back yet. That auntie said she has a shop on West Street and could show us around."

The woman was not lying; the shop was not only on West Street, but also in the central area, just a few dozen steps away from the noodle shop, right across the street.

Zhu Mingyue fell in love with the place as soon as she entered. In addition to the spacious shop, there was also a small loft on the second floor, which was only about one-third the size of the first floor. There was a bed there, which people could rest in.

Compared to the other shops I visited this morning, this shop's price of forty-two taels is indeed not expensive.

Zhu Mingyue was extremely conflicted; even if the amount of silver he had on him doubled, it still wouldn't be enough.

But he didn't want to give up, so he shamelessly tried to take a gamble. "Auntie, to tell you the truth, I'm willing to give you forty-two taels, but we don't have that much money right now."

Woman: "How much do you have?"

Zhu Mingyue closed her eyes, steeled her resolve, and said bluntly, "Seventeen taels."

“That’s definitely not going to work,” the woman waved her hands repeatedly. “Seventeen taels is far too little.”

“I don’t want to buy your shop for seventeen taels. I just want to discuss with you whether we can use this money as a deposit, and I can sign a contract with you to pay back the remaining twenty-five taels in installments. It’s not too late to go to the government to collect the taxes after I have paid off the rest.”

The woman was still hesitating, but Zhu Mingyue was anxious: "Auntie, not many families can afford to come up with more than forty taels at once." This is a town, not a county seat; how many wealthy families are there?

The woman realized the problem and hesitated, as if she was about to agree.

Zhu Mingyue seized the opportunity to add fuel to the fire, saying, "I heard that your son is still studying, so he must be in dire need of money right now."

"I'll sell it!" the woman finally made up her mind. "Seventeen taels it is."

An hour later, Zhu Mingyue leaned against a big tree, looked up, and smiled brightly at Xie Pei.

Although he is now back to being penniless, at least he finally owns his own shop!

In the evening, Zhu Mingyue sat on a wooden stump in the yard, shoveling rice into his mouth in the afterglow of the setting sun. He was exhausted today; he had only eaten two bites of noodles at noon, and he felt nauseous from hunger on his way back.

The courtyard gate was open. Zhu Mingyue heard footsteps and peeked out to see Li Zhengyang.

He hurriedly swallowed the food in his mouth, smiled, and stepped forward to greet him, "Brother Li, what brings you here so late?"

"Nothing much," Li Zhengyang chuckled sheepishly. "I just came to check on you since I had nothing else to do."

Zhu Mingyue was puzzled. What was so interesting about him? Only Li Zhengyang was willing to foolishly approach him; everyone else would be trying to avoid him.

"Well, actually I just wanted to tell you, to tell you..." Li Zhengyang couldn't bring himself to say it.

Zhu Mingyue urged, "Brother Li, just say what you want to say!" He was getting so curious by all the hesitation.

Li Zhengyang's face turned bright red, and he steeled himself and blurted out everything: "Those people in the village are just bored, their mouths are full of gossips, they just listen to rumors..."

"It's just rain?" Zhu Mingyue added.

"Yes, don't believe everything you hear. Don't take what they say about you seriously, and definitely don't get angry."

Zhu Mingyue's eyelids twitched heavily: "Brother Li, please explain yourself clearly. What did they say about me this time?"

"You didn't know?" Li Zhengyang slapped his forehead, cursing himself for being stupid. He had only heard some bad rumors about Zhu Mingyue before rushing to comfort her, only to find that she had no idea about it at all!

Zhu Mingyue: "Know what?"

Meeting Zhu Mingyue's gaze, Li Zhengyang braced himself and spilled everything he had heard, "The villagers are all saying you and Xie Pei are having an affair. They're saying, they're saying you and Xie Pei..."

"Enough!" Even without hearing what was said next, he could guess what it was. Zhu Mingyue's vision went black; being framed for spreading rumors about him was truly unexpected.

“Don’t be angry,” Li Zhengyang sighed. “Anyway, I believe that you and Xie Pei are definitely innocent.” Zhu Mingyue is Xie Hong’s wife after all, and Xie Pei’s proper sister-in-law. What kind of shady business could there be between a brother-in-law and sister-in-law?

He was angry at the time, and what angered him most was not only what the villagers said about Zhu Mingyue. When he got home, he told his parents everything they said, expecting them to condemn those people. But his mother didn't care at all. She even said that Zhu Mingyue was so beautiful that no one could resist her, and that she and Xie Pei were living together in seclusion and might have been having an affair.

Li Zhengyang argued with his mother for a few moments, then got kicked by his father, who scolded him for being ignorant. Unable to contain his anger, he ran off to find Zhu Mingyue. Before coming, he was fully expecting Zhu Mingyue to be so upset about being talked about behind his back, and he wanted to comfort him and tell him he believed in him. However, Zhu Mingyue knew nothing about it. Seeing Zhu Mingyue's current state of being unable to bear the blow, Li Zhengyang felt both guilty and regretful after speaking.

Yu Guangzhong caught a glimpse of Xie Pei returning from carrying water in the distance, and his eyes lit up as if he had found a lifeline.

He gently patted Zhu Mingyue's arm twice to comfort her, then quickly moved closer to Xie Pei and whispered, "Xie Pei, you must know what the villagers are saying about you and your sister-in-law behind your back, right?"

Xie Pei nodded and walked past him expressionlessly.

"Hey, don't be in such a hurry to leave!" Li Zhengyang blocked his way. "He was still in the dark, but I exposed him, and he's really upset right now."

Xie Pei frowned and looked over. Zhu Mingyue was still sitting on the small wooden stool, but now she was facing away from the door and no longer looked as cheerful as when he left. Her thin back revealed a pitiful look.

"He cried," Xie Pei said calmly, a hint of gloom in his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Huh?" Li Zhengyang didn't understand whether Xie Pei was talking to himself or asking him, but he still told him the truth: "He's probably crying. You can help me comfort him. If you ask me, don't take those people's foul language seriously. The truth will prevail between you and your sister-in-law."

Xie Pei: "Help you?"

Li Zhengyang: ...Brother, is there something wrong with your focus?

Zhu Mingyue held the remaining rice in her hand, stuffed a mouthful into her mouth, but found it tasteless.

Xie Pei lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on the top of Zhu Mingyue's head.

Zhu Mingyue's hair grew longer every day. When it was too hot at home, he would untie his headscarf, comb all his hair back, and tie it into a small bun with a hair tie. As long as Zhu Mingyue lowered his head slightly, the bun would become a pigtail pointing upwards, swaying from side to side with his movements, lively and cute.

Xie Pei rubbed his fingertips together and snatched the bowl from his hands. "Don't eat it if the food gets cold."

Zhu Mingyue's thoughts returned, and she looked up at Xie Pei standing in front of her. She hadn't looked closely before, but today she saw that Xie Pei's changes were enormous. Not to mention, his face, which was so thin that he looked almost unrecognizable when they first met, had now returned to normal, and his superior features were now fully displayed on his face.

So Zhu Mingyue thought viciously, "He's good-looking, and Xie Pei is good-looking too. It's normal for good-looking people to be envied. He doesn't care, so Xie Pei probably doesn't care either... right?"

Well, actually he wasn't sure either. What if Xie Pei was very resistant to such rumors?

Xie Pei,

"Hmm," Xie Pei responded softly.

"You should know what those people outside are saying about us, right?"

Xie Pei: "No need to pay attention."

"Aren't you angry?"

Xie Pei shook his head, picked up the bowl, and left.

With that, Zhu Mingyue could rest assured.

To be honest, he didn't care at all about what others said about him behind his back. He was just afraid that these words would also reach Xie Pei's ears, and that these baseless rumors would affect his normal relationship with Xie Pei.

"Xie Pei, Xie Pei!" Zhu Mingyue got up and skipped after him, smiling at Xie Pei who was washing dishes: "Actually, I'm not angry. It's better for us to live a good life together than anything else. We'll make them furious!"

Xie Pei paused slightly while washing the dishes, pursing his thin lips and remaining silent.