Zhang was pushed and staggered, her face turning several shades paler.
She stood still and tugged at the hem of her clothes.
Then, she silently lowered her head and walked up to the Pei family. Before Pei Yao could react, she knelt down on the ground with a thud.
Upon seeing this, Chen Fang immediately rushed to help her up.
"Madam Zhang, get up and speak, don't kneel."
Zhang stubbornly refused to get up, only looking at them with guilty eyes:
"Master Pei, Madam Fang, what happened just now... I'm truly sorry. I explained it to Dayong when I got back yesterday, but he wouldn't listen, and even..."
Zhang choked up for a moment before continuing:
"Madam Fang, it's all my fault. I'll kowtow to you, but please don't send me away. I really need this money."
The Zhang family has three children. Qi Dayong is unambitious, lazy, and loves to play.
As soon as he had a little money at home, he would immediately go out and fool around with his cronies.
This made it very difficult for Zhang to take care of the children alone at home, and they were so poor that they could hardly afford to eat.
Now Zhang has finally found a job, earning sixty coins a day.
She works hard, saves up her earnings, and can buy some meat for her child during the Lunar New Year.
Chen Fang felt very sad as she looked at the woman kneeling in front of her.
She knew all too well that it was not easy for a woman to survive in this world.
Now we see Zhang's current state.
She had done nothing wrong, yet her husband still misunderstood her and even physically assaulted her.
In the end, she, a woman, had to stand up for others and beg for forgiveness.
They didn't do anything wrong.
Seeing Zhang's actions, the women behind her also stepped forward to apologize to the Pei family.
Chen Fang and Pei Yao helped Zhang Shi up from the ground.
“Zhang Niangzi, you don’t need to be like this. You’re not the one who made a mistake today. It’s those men’s fault. We won’t abandon you because of this. Just keep working hard.”
Pei Yao, who was standing nearby, couldn't bear to watch any longer and stepped forward to help her up.
Although Pei Yao's tone was gentle, it was very powerful.
Zhang raised her eyes and looked at the two of them, prompted by what she said.
Tears blurred her vision, and she couldn't see Pei Yao's figure clearly, but the words "You are not the one who made a mistake today, you did nothing wrong" were clearly heard.
Like a thunderclap in the rainy night, it sparked a flame in her heart.
She looked at Chen Fang and said, "No one has ever told me I'm not wrong, they..."
Whether it was when she was a daughter in her parents' home or when she was a daughter-in-law in the Qi family.
No one has ever said to her, "You're not wrong!"
When she was little, she was taking care of her brother from her maternal family. She accidentally made him fall, and her parents pointed at her and scolded her.
"Can't even take care of a child properly, what a waste of raising him, all he does is eat and do nothing, in the end he'll just marry into another family anyway."
But she was only five or six years old at that time, still a child herself.
After she grew up and started her own family, Qi Dayong would always beat and scold her.
"It's all your fault, you jinx! After all these years of marriage, you've only given me three daughters and not a single son. Are you trying to make my family line die out?"
Zhang had heard such words countless times, and her heart was already numb.
They always blame themselves, putting all the responsibility on themselves.
But today, Pei Yao told her: You did nothing wrong!
She looked at Pei Yao with a complicated expression.
Pei Yao simply gave her a faint, bright smile.
Chen Fang addressed everyone:
"Let's go, ladies. We've already wasted a lot of time today. We need to hurry up and get things done, or we won't be able to finish later."
"good!"
The women immediately became incredibly energetic, as if they had been injected with adrenaline.
Pei Yao had prepared several pairs of scissors at home beforehand, and she brought them all out this time.
The dried kelp needs to have some of the messy edges trimmed to make it look neater and more presentable.
Some people took the dried kelp off the rope and placed it in a shady spot.
Those in the shade used scissors to trim the harvested dried kelp neatly.
After trimming, they were tied up with hemp rope, and then Liu Tie and Niu Qingshan drove the oxcart back.
The people from Liujia Village had arrived in a hurry at noon, so they didn't have time to bring their dinner from home.
With this in mind, Pei Yao told her family and went home early.
I steamed some large steamed buns and stir-fried two large bowls of pickled celery and minced meat.
Because there were many people, Pei Yao made extra steamed buns, afraid that they wouldn't have enough to eat.
On her way back to Black Coast, Pei Yao encountered other people who were also bringing dinner to their families, including Aunt Niu Er.
"Grandma Niu, are you here to bring dinner to Brother Qingshan?"
Pei Yao caught up with Aunt Niu Er ahead of her.
Aunt Niu turned around, her face full of kindness: "Yao girl, yes, I made some cornbread and pickled vegetables to send to Da Niu."
Pei Yao carried everything in a basket, and because it was a bit heavy, she lifted it up a bit more.
The two chatted and laughed all the way, and encountered other people delivering food along the way.
When Pei Yao returned, everyone had already trimmed the dried seaweed.
Pei Yao placed the basket containing water and steamed buns aside, then invited everyone to come over for a drink and a rest.
Pei Dalang had already brought some water, but Pei Yao was worried that eating steamed buns would make her drink too much water, so she brought some plain boiled water as well.
When Pei Dalang and Pei Yichen heard that it was time to eat, they immediately put down what they were holding and came over.
"Yao'er, what are we eating today? I'm starving."
Pei Dalang asked casually.
Pei Yao lifted the gauze covering the basket and replied with a smile, "Time to eat steamed buns."
Pei Yichen rubbed his stomach: "Sister, I've been starving for ages."
The steamed buns in the basket were made by Pei Yao herself; each one was golden yellow, large, and soft.
It looks very appetizing.
Especially the large bowl of minced meat and pickled cabbage, which was emitting an enticing aroma.
Because they didn't have enough wheat flour at home, Pei Yao mixed some cornmeal in with it.
However, it does not affect the taste at all; on the contrary, it adds a unique aroma to the steamed bun.
Pei Yao's family specially bought fine cornmeal, which is free of impurities and won't irritate the throat when eating it.
It also has a sweet corn flavor.
People in Liangshui Village were being brought food, and when they heard their families calling them, they all came over.
The women from Liujia Village who had no one to bring them food quickly took a cup of water and sat down to the side.
However, he still secretly glanced over several times at the steamed buns in Pei Yao's basket.
After a busy afternoon, the thin porridge and wild vegetables I ate for lunch, which had no oil or fat, had already been mostly digested.
My stomach was burning with hunger.
However, they didn't expect their families to bring them food, since there was still some distance between the two villages.
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