Chapter 94 Good Intentions Lead to Trouble

Wang Tieniu and his father were also clearing snow at the door. As soon as he saw Liu Ye, he carried a shovel and came to Liu Ye's door, leaving Wang Laopi completely dumbfounded. Could it be that Tieniu had taken a liking to...?

Liu Ye looked up at Wang Tieniu and continued clearing the snow at the door, but she wondered what he was doing there.

Wang Tiezhu took the shovel off his shoulder and began shoveling snow in front of Liu Ye's house. Liu Ye was taken aback by his actions. What did Wang Dani's brother mean by this? Suddenly, she thought of a saying: "Unsolicited kindness is either a sign of ulterior motives or theft!"

"Hey, you don't need to shovel the snow in front of our house. I can shovel the snow myself. You can go help someone else."

Wang Tieniu stopped what he was doing, his face flushed, and stared straight at Liu Ye: "My name is Wang Tieniu, you can just call me Brother Da Niu. We're neighbors, so you don't need to be so polite with me. Go back inside, I'll shovel the snow in front of your door for you. It's so cold, look how frozen your hands and feet are..."

After saying that, Wang Tieniu continued shoveling snow, head down, getting to work.

Liu Ye's lips twitched. Wang Tieniu, Brother Da Niu... His sister and Wu Xincao sold her yesterday. He must already know, yet he still came to try and get close to her, acting like nothing happened. Sure enough, these two siblings are thick-skinned, or maybe they have something going on in their heads. Since he's willing to play the good guy, she'll shovel the snow at the door for him. She picked up the shovel, turned around, went back to the yard, slammed the gate shut, and bolted it shut behind her.

Hearing the door close, Wang Tieniu looked dejected. Liu Ye must be angry with Da Ni, that's why she doesn't like him. Damn Da Ni, you stinky Da Ni, you troublemaker!

Wang Tieniu swung his shovel and vented his anger by scooping up snow, sending it flying everywhere. In no time, he had cleared the snow from Liu Ye's doorstep. Only then did he return to his own doorstep to continue clearing the snow.

Old Wang opened his mouth, wanting to ask if he had taken a liking to Liu Ye, but after thinking it over, he kept his mouth shut. Let him be; Liu Ye was pretty, which man wouldn't be confused by her?

The heavy snow lasted for three days before stopping. Liu Ye spent those three days clearing the snow. Fortunately, the snow stopped early this morning, and she no longer had to clear it. She picked up the basket next to the stove, went to the backyard to get a basket of firewood, and added two more pieces to the stove. The fire immediately burned brighter, making the house and the kang (heated brick bed) warmer.

She was just about to take off her shoes and get onto the kang (heated brick bed) when she heard someone knocking on the door. How annoying! Who could it be now? It was freezing outside, and she really didn't want to leave the room. She always held her pee until she was really desperate.

Liu Ye went outside and opened the door. She saw a girl of about half her age standing there, carrying a basket and with a dirty face. She didn't recognize her, but she seemed to have seen her in the village before: "Who are you looking for?"

The dirty little girl looked at Liu Ye pitifully and said, "Kind sister, I'm from the Li family in Erdaogou Village. My name is Li Daya. Please give me some food. My family has run out of food and we don't have any money to buy any. Please give me some food. My younger brother and sister are sick from hunger. Please give me some food...!"

Liu Ye immediately understood; they were beggars. Okay, she'd give them some. She took the basket from Li Daya's hand: "Wait here, I'll go get it for you."

Li Daya nodded happily. Liu Ye took the basket back to the kitchen. What should she give them? She definitely couldn't give them rice or wheat flour. The government had given her and Brother Bai a lot of mixed grains. Apart from what Wang Ergouzi had secretly kept, she and Brother Bai had only eaten 20 jin, so they still had 60 jin left.

"Okay, I'll give you mixed grain rice then." She took out half a bag of mixed grains from the cupboard, poured it into the basket until it was full, about ten pounds, and handed it to Li Daya at the front door: "Here, take it. Can you carry it? Do you need me to take you home?"

Li Daya happily accepted the basket of mixed grains and rice: "Thank you, kind big sister. I can carry it. I'm off."

After Li Daya finished speaking, she happily carried the basket and ran home. Soon, the news that Li Daya had gotten grain from Liu Ye's house spread throughout the village. Some cunning people, whose families were struggling to make ends meet, also set their sights on Liu Ye.

Liu Ye stuck a willow leaf on the door and had just gone back inside to sit on the kang (a heated brick bed) for a short while when there was another knock on the door. She quickly got up to open it, but when she opened the door, she saw five little girls carrying baskets standing at the door, and her head instantly spun.

What are you doing here?

The little girl standing at the front wiped her nose with her sleeve and said, "Our family has run out of food, and we're all starving. Please give me some food..."

Another little girl held up a basket in front of Liu Ye: "You have to give me as many mixed grain cakes as Li Daya, or my mother will beat me to death."

"I want some too, I want some too! My family has run out of food, we're starving to death. Please fill my bag first."

Liu Ye was shocked. Good heavens! People are never satisfied. She kindly gave Li Daya a basket of grains, and it attracted a whole group of people. Well, she admitted that it was her fault. Her eyes lit up and she immediately had an idea.

She raised her hand at the noisy girls to shut them up: "Excuse me, little sisters, we're out of grains. I'm planning to go begging with you tomorrow. I'll go with you now. I'll go back to the house to get my basket. Wait for me a bit."

After Liu Ye finished speaking, she turned around and went into the courtyard. The five begging girls looked at each other, thinking that Liu Ye was really going to go begging with them. They were so frightened that they turned around and ran home.

The five girls had barely run off when Liu Ye quickly bolted the gate. Good heavens! It's so hard to be a good person. It seems she can't open the gate so easily in the future; she has to ask who's outside first.

She rubbed her passively cold hands and hurried back to the house to get on the kang (heated brick bed). The days were getting colder and colder.

A moment later, the sound of banging on the door came again, but Liu Ye showed no intention of opening it. "Bang bang bang, bang bang bang."

Whoever it is, she's not opening the door this time either. It can't be Brother Bai. If Brother Bai sees that she won't open the door, he'll jump over the wall and come in.

"Clap clap clap, clap clap clap."

The knocking stopped as the sun set. The next morning, after Liu Ye finished breakfast and put the dishes in the cupboard, there was another knock at the door.

She rolled her eyes in exasperation. Good grief, another one. Fine, knock all you want. Their door is sturdy, you can't break it. If you knock too hard, your hands will hurt.

"Liu Ye, this is Zhang Fang. Open the door quickly, I need to talk to you!"

Upon hearing that it was Zhang Fang, Liu Ye was even less willing to open the door. However, she arrived at the front door and said, "Oh, it's Zhang Fang. I caught a cold and I'm afraid of infecting you. Just tell me what's wrong."

Zhang Fang, standing outside the door, put her hands on her hips in anger, but since Liu Ye wouldn't open the door for her, she couldn't do anything about it: "Liu Ye, it's like this, our family has run out of food, and I wanted to buy some from you. Your family is small, so you must still have some of the relief grain that the government gave you. Can you sell me 10 jin? I'll pay you whatever the grain store charges."