"Are you pregnant?" Everyone widened their eyes and asked in unison.
Aunt Zhou nodded with certainty, "Yes, she was pregnant, so they got married so suddenly."
Xu's mother's eyes darkened, and her face showed no expression. She simply said, "Don't say that carelessly. In today's world, women are always treated more harshly. The slightest disturbance could result in a life."
Although she didn't like Xu Qianrou and even hated her a little for harming her daughter Jiaojiao, when she heard the news, she subconsciously warned everyone not to talk nonsense.
In this day and age, getting pregnant before marriage is really a disaster for a woman. She might even be criticized for having an affair, so no matter what, it is better not to talk about it.
Everyone thought about it and realized that this was indeed the case. They just wanted to gossip and didn't really want Xu Qianrou's life. It would be bad if someone died because of their gossip.
Aunt Lan Fang came out to smooth things over. "Well, we were just talking. Alright, alright, we have to leave quickly, or else everyone will pick all the cabbages."
"Yes, yes, let's go quickly. I heard that many people from other villages are buying there. We have to hurry."
"Okay~"
The atmosphere relaxed again, and everyone chatted and laughed as they walked towards the next village, all of them skipping the previous topic.
Xu Qianjiao's eyes darkened. She suddenly remembered what happened at dinner. It turned out that the glass of wine had this function. Xu Qianrou was now reaping the consequences of her own actions. She would not do anything because she did not want to dirty her hands.
Aunt Zhou knew this news, and probably other people knew it too, but she was not so kind as to remind them. All she could do was watch coldly from the side, which was already her magnanimity.
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The few of them walked and stopped, and arrived at the next village before three o'clock in the afternoon.
The aunts took Xu Qianjiao and Xu's mother to the door of the family as if they were familiar with the place. Aunt Zhou reached out and knocked on the door, "Guilan~ We are here~"
"Hey, here I come~" a response came from inside the door, and then the door opened.
A woman with slightly dark skin and a rather stout figure came out. She was wearing a brand new cotton-padded jacket and looked like she was living a comfortable life.
She looked at the group of people at the door, her face immediately lit up with smiles, and she greeted everyone warmly, "Come on, come on, come in, come in."
After saying that, he opened the door and let everyone into the yard.
The yard is very big, but it is filled with piles of things, including cabbage, sweet potatoes, taro, and some mountain products, mushrooms, fungus and the like.
Aunt Guilan pointed at the cabbages nearby and said, "Hey, you're here to exchange for cabbages, right? Come on, they're all here, you can pick some out. My cabbages are 4 cents a pound, and the sweet potatoes and taro next to them are also 3 cents a pound, mushrooms are 5 cents a pound, and black fungus is also 5 cents a pound, none of which require a ticket."
Everyone silently calculated in their minds that cabbage was cheaper this year, 4 cents per pound. Although it was a little more expensive than outside, she didn't need a ticket and could buy more, so it was still a good deal.
But sweet potatoes and taro are a little more expensive, 5 cents more expensive than those sold outside, but the advantage is that you can buy more. There is no other way, there are many people in the family, and the food we are given is not enough to eat, so we have to buy them even if they are more expensive.
As for mushrooms and black fungus, you can wait until spring to pick them in the mountains yourself. There is no need to buy them.
Since cabbage is cheap, you can buy more of it, less sweet potatoes and taro, and forget about mushrooms and black fungus, they are too expensive.
With this thought, everyone rushed to the cabbage stall. Not to be outdone, Xu's mother rolled up her sleeves and joined the fray. She turned around and told Xu Qianjiao, "Jiaojiao, go pick some sweet potatoes and taro. Let's buy 100 kilograms each."
"Okay." Xu Qianjiao responded and squatted over to pick the sweet potatoes and taro.
She looked at the pile of sweet potatoes and taro, confused. She didn't know how to choose whether they were delicious or not. She just picked some without worm holes. As for whether they tasted good or not, she left it to fate.
Aunt Guilan found Xu Qianjiao's slow selection a bit amusing. She clearly didn't know how to choose, yet she was so serious about it. She squatted beside her and picked up a sweet potato. "Look, pick one like this. It's spindle-shaped, with a smooth, clean surface, and a hard and shiny finish. It's very sweet and sticky."
Xu Qianjiao looked carefully at the sweet potato in Aunt Guilan's hand and nodded in sudden enlightenment, "Oh, so that's how it is. I understand. Thank you, Auntie."
After that, she began to quickly pick sweet potatoes. She picked out the big, plump ones with clean and smooth skin. Soon she had a large sack full of them. "Is this enough for a hundred pounds?"
"It's not enough yet. Just pick up half a sack and it will be enough." Aunt Guilan glanced at the sack beside her and said with a smile.
Xu Qianjiao nodded, then squatted down and picked up half another sack.
Then she moved to the taro pile. She picked up the taro and looked at Aunt Guilan eagerly. Aunt Guilan shook her head helplessly, then squatted over to teach her how to pick taro.
Xu Qianjiao learned quickly and grasped the essence in a few seconds, then picked out a large bag of taro in no time.
After she had made her choice, Xu's mother had also ended the battle.
Mother Xu walked over to Xu Qianjiao and squatted down to examine the sweet potatoes and taro she had selected. "Not bad, you picked some good ones."
"That's what Aunt Guilan taught me to pick." Xu Qian raised her head proudly and said with a smile on her face.
When Xu's mother heard this, she immediately walked over to socialize with Aunt Guilan. After a while, the two women, who were both good at socializing, were chatting arm in arm, looking like good sisters.
Xu Qianjiao was stunned watching from the side. How could this be possible? The elders had excellent communication skills. They became good sisters so quickly.
Socially anxious people say they don't understand~~
"Okay, okay, Fang~ Come here, I have some good stuff here, let me take you to see it." Aunt Guilan pulled Xu's mother and whispered mysteriously.
Xu's mother's eyes lit up and she whispered, "Okay."
Then, Aunt Guilan said loudly with an exaggerated expression: "Hey, the toilet, this way, I'll take you there."
"Okay, okay, thank you, Sister Guilan." Xu's mother also responded loudly in cooperation.
The questions and answers between the two completely dispelled the curiosity of the other people in the yard. They had just seen the two whispering to each other and thought there was something good. Now it seems that Xu's mother just wanted to go to the toilet and quietly asked Guilan to lead the way.
They lost interest in an instant, and everyone immediately lowered their heads and continued to pick things on the battlefield. When a large group of people were picking things, they relied on quick eyes and hands. If you were a second late, the sweet potatoes and taro you had picked would have been taken away.
After watching the people in the yard continue to lower their heads to pick things, the two of them looked at each other, then walked to the backyard arm in arm mysteriously.
Xu Qianjiao glanced at the two of them, pouted, and consciously stayed in the yard to wait. She watched the other aunts fighting hard to choose things, and couldn't help but admire them in her heart, "Aunts are really hardworking, fighting for it with each other, it's amazing, they are all people with sharp swords."
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