"Miss Xia, thank you." On the way back, Xia Ping'an solemnly thanked Xia Chunmei.
"Thank me for what?"
"Thank you for being willing to teach my sister your skills. Actually, you shouldn't pass on your skills. Your skills are your livelihood, you..."
“Xiaojiaping is too far from where we live. We can’t keep walking four hours to notify them every time an order comes in. Since my aunt and sister-in-law are willing to give me twenty catties of grain, I should help them out.”
Xiaojiaping is so far from Yijia Village, Xia Chunmei is not worried at all that they will steal her business. Moreover, the market for banquets in rural areas is huge. As long as you have good skills, you will not have to worry about not having business.
Most importantly, Xia Chunmei's focus will not be limited to the village forever, and the dishes she can cook are far more than just this.
...
Xia Chunmei sent Xia Pingan to Jiujing Bay to check if Xia Honghua had been drowned.
She went home, and on her way back, she took advantage of the last chance of the day to catch six pheasants.
Xia Chunmei took a shortcut back through the back door, so she wasn't seen by anyone.
"Big sister, we have so many pheasants at home, can we kill one to eat?" Xia Qiumei started a new round of chicken-eating requests.
"All you ever think about is eating." Xia Qiumei had already asked for pheasant once or twice.
"Big sister, we have enough food now. Didn't you say that we would kill a chicken when we had enough food? Just kill one."
"Okay, kill one tomorrow."
"That's great!"
Xia Qiumei happily hugged Yaomei and jumped three feet high.
"Don't drop your little sister."
"No, it won't happen." Xia Qiumei happily hugged Yaomei and spun her around. Yaomei thought her second sister was teasing her, so she laughed too.
"Oh, right, sister, Aunt Jinlian, Uncle Lao Ba, and Uncle Shuiniu all brought us eggs today, and a lot of other people brought dried vegetables. There were so many people bringing things that I didn't remember them all. I put them in the kitchen."
Xia Chunmei went over and saw that there were at least fifty or sixty eggs, as well as some dried eggplants and dried bamboo shoots, filling the whole basket.
They were thanking themselves for taking them fishing last night.
Xia Chunmei caught two and delivered them to Chen Jinlian's house. During this period, Xia Tianji had delivered five or six loads of firewood, each load containing a generous amount.
Xia Xiao'e and her brother and sister deliver a load of firewood and two baskets of pine needles every day. The firewood and pine needles are paid for on the spot with eggs, but the firewood has not yet been settled.
"Chunmei's here! Xiao'e, quickly wash some pears for your sister Chunmei to eat." Old Mrs. Qiu was very enthusiastic when she saw Xia Chunmei.
"Grandma, don't be so polite. I'm here to thank Uncle for bringing us firewood." Xia Chunmei opened the lid of her basket and took out two pheasants. "Two females. Maybe they'll lay eggs if we keep them."
"You haven't even finished your work, why are you in such a hurry to bring it here?" Chen Jinlian said.
"It's almost finished, but the eggs will probably take another two days."
"It's okay, no rush, it's fine even if you don't give it to me."
Recently, their family has earned a lot of money and eggs thanks to Xia Chunmei. Now they have two more pheasants, which weigh about four or five pounds in total. They are very content.
Chen Jinlian picked out seven or eight large and beautiful pears for Xia Chunmei to take back, as fruit was still relatively scarce in this era.
Xia Chunmei also craved fruit, so she didn't stand on ceremony. Before leaving, she said to Xia Xiao'e, "Xiao'e, I have enough pine needles, but I still need more firewood. Send me ten more loads."
“Okay, we siblings will take care of it.” Xia Xiao’e and her brother were the only people in the village who earned eggs by burning firewood, which drew envy from a group of their friends.
They were both incredibly happy.
Other children also asked Xia Chunmei if she needed firewood, but Xia Chunmei had already promised them, so she naturally couldn't let others do it.
...
"Mother, I saw Xia Chunmei. How come she's acting like nothing happened and even took three pheasants to Xiao'e's house?" Xia Xiumei found it very strange. How could a young girl have the leisure to visit neighbors after something like that?
"Could it be that Auntie made a mistake?" Xia Xiumei asked with a worried expression.
"It's impossible for her to fail," Xia Changjiang said. In his opinion, even if Xia Chunmei had some ability, she couldn't possibly know that Xia Honghua was trying to trick her.
"Then why is she acting like nothing happened?" Xia Xiumei was very worried. She was already Fan Baowen's woman, and she had even bought fertility drugs from a miracle doctor. She might already be carrying Fan's child. Therefore, Xia Chunmei's marriage to Fan Baowen had to be called off!
“Xia Chunmei is back, so Honghua should have brought people with her.” Chen Sanhua also felt something was wrong. “I’ll go check on that bitch again.”
After saying that, Chen Sanhua got up to go find Xia Chunmei.
"Chen Sanhua, Xia Changjiang, you two bastards, get out here!" Zheng Xiaolan's voice came from afar.
Xia Honghua's family has arrived.
Xia Chunmei heard the noise and immediately ran out.
Xia Honghua's children and Li Yu's relatives and friends, a dozen or so people, all carrying weapons, gathered at Chen Sanhua's door.
"Qiu Mei, Dong Mei, take Yao Mei and hide at Aunt Li Hua's house. No matter what happens, don't come out!"
Xia Chunmei quickly took her three younger sisters to Aunt Lihua's house next door. "Auntie, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you to take care of my three younger sisters. Remember, no matter what happens, don't come out!"
Although Xia Chunmei told Xia Honghua that Chen Sanhua had told her about the plan in advance, she was the one who switched the bowl of mung bean soup.
Xia Honghua could definitely guess that it was she who stripped her naked and put her on the bed that led to Huang Da Shazi having marital relations with her, so the Huang family would definitely not let her go!
The three younger sisters are too young; if things get chaotic, they'll only suffer, so they have to hide.
Seeing Xia Chunmei's solemn expression, Aunt Lihua also became nervous.
What exactly happened to Chunmei?
"This is a long story, I'll tell you the details later. In short, I'll have to trouble you to look after my three younger sisters and keep them out of the house!"
With so many people on the other side, especially since Huang Youtian had a knife, Xia Chunmei had to be careful.
"Hurry up and go inside. Chunmei, don't worry, this is my house. If I don't want anyone to come in, no one can enter my house!" Aunt Lihua quickly pushed the three little girls into the side room. "Guixiang, keep an eye on them and don't let them run out."
After the three girls hid, Xia Ping'an floated back and told Xia Chunmei about Xia Honghua's situation.
Xia Chunmei never expected that Xia Honghua would actually pair up with Huang Shazi; she thought she would be drowned.
No wonder the Huang family rushed over with murderous intent.
This outcome is far worse than drowning.
The Huang family's display immediately attracted many villagers to come and see what was going on.
Hearing the Huang family's voices, Chen Sanhua was overjoyed, thinking her plan had succeeded. She stepped forward and said, "Xiao Lan, there's Lin..."
Before he could finish speaking, Xia Honghua's eldest son, Huang Youlin, punched him in the nose: "You're the ones who framed my mother! I'll beat you to death! Beat them!"
Before anyone could react, a dozen people swarmed forward and began punching and kicking Xia Changjiang and Xia Chenshi.
Xia Xiumei was so frightened that she covered her stomach and backed away repeatedly, not daring to go forward at all.
"This is a feud between our two families, so nobody should meddle! Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite!"
Xia Honghua's youngest son, Huang Youtian, stood menacingly at the door, holding a kitchen knife, and addressed the villagers who tried to break up the fight.
Seeing his murderous look, the villagers of Yijia Village dared not make any rash moves.
Xia Changjiang and Chen Sanhua were already screaming in agony.
"Young man, you're Honghua's son, aren't you? How could you be so cruel to your uncle and aunt? Couldn't you have talked things out properly?"
"Yes, let's talk things out."
"They are all close relatives. Let's sit down and discuss and resolve this together."
"Just talk things out properly, don't let it escalate to the point of causing a death."
...
Some villagers, feeling sorry for him, tried to persuade him with kind words.
"Who the hell is related to him! Bah!"
"We don't have relatives who specifically target each other!" Xia Honghua's daughter, Huang Xiaotao, said angrily. "That old hag Chen Sanhua gave my mother two taels of silver to trick Xia Chunmei into going to Jiujing Bay to sell her to a fool. She even said that all the money from the sale would belong to my mother. She also bought sleeping pills for my mother to put on Xia Chunmei. My mother is stupid. She was blinded by money and never thought that Chen Sanhua was trying to harm her!"
Huang Xiaotao sobbed uncontrollably. She was already married, but now her mother's reputation was ruined, and she was going to marry a fool. She would have no face to stand in her own family anymore.
News of her mother's affair would soon reach this place. Her mother's reputation was ruined, and she couldn't let Xia Changjiang and Chen Sanhua have an easy time, so she stopped hiding it and revealed everything about the conspiracy between Xia Changjiang, Chen Sanhua, and her mother.
Xia Honghua's second daughter, Huang Xiaoju, also cried as she said, "She made my mother lure Xia Chunmei to Jiujingwan and drug her in the mung bean soup. But then she told Xia Chunmei the plan. As a result, Xia Chunmei was fine, but my mother was... Waaah... This is what relatives are like. This is what my good uncle and aunt are like!"
What exactly happened to your mother?
"It goes without saying that she was sexually assaulted after falling into a coma."
Why did Chen Sanhua harm Xia Honghua?
"Who knows?"
...
The villagers were all talking about it.
"No, no!" Chen Sanhua cried and shouted, "It's all a misunderstanding! I didn't mean to harm Honghua!"
"You old bitch, you're still trying to argue!" The Huang sisters, Xiaoju and Xiaotao, grabbed Chen Sanhua and slammed her head against the wall repeatedly.
"Ah... Help! Help!" Chen Sanhua screamed repeatedly.
The villagers felt sorry for Huang and tried to help several times, but the Huang family blocked the doorway. Huang Youtian was holding a knife and looked fierce, so no one dared to make a move.
Xia Xiumei was so frightened that tears and snot streamed down her face as she wailed, "Stop hitting her! Stop hitting her! Waaah... My parents didn't harm my aunt! It was Xia Chunmei! It must be that bitch Xia Chunmei who's up to this! Go find her, she's definitely the one doing this!"
Chen Sanhua was stunned by the beating and blurted out, "I didn't harm Honghua! The only person I wanted to harm was that bitch Xia Chunmei! We didn't mean to harm Honghua! Stop hitting her! Stop hitting her! Let me go!"
Hearing this, Xia Chunmei's lips curled up slightly, finally admitting it, hehe.
"What did Chunmei do to you? You're trying to hurt her."
"Exactly, do you know how hard it is for people who don't have parents?"
"Oh dear, could it really be because of this marriage with the Fan family? Is your Xiumei really having an affair with that scholar from the Fan family?!"
"No wonder he kept picking on Chunmei."
"That must be it!"
...
Hearing these words from the villagers, Chen Sanhua, Xia Changjiang, and Xia Xiumei felt utterly hopeless.
How will they live in Yijia Village after this?
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