Chapter 65: Sacrificing reputation for a little money
Lu Xiang returned home with Fu Qinhui. Seeing him put the bedding back on the bed, Lu Xiang felt relieved. This was Fu Qinhui's home, and she would be uneasy if he slept on the floor every day.
Lu Xiang almost didn't sleep the whole night yesterday. She felt sleepy as soon as she entered the room. When Fu Qinhui went to bed, Lu Xiang was already sleeping soundly.
Fu Qinhui was stunned at first, then he laughed and leaned close to Lu Xiang. Seeing Lu Xiang's smooth neck line, he really wanted to take a bite.
Fu Qinhui held her in his arms and soon fell asleep.
The next day, Lu Xiang woke up late, and when she woke up, the whole family had already gone to work. Lu Xiang blushed and went out to see that the yard was full of pots and pans that had not been put away since they were used to make duck products.
Lu Xiang didn't even have time to eat. She quickly poured out the dirty water in the basins and stacked them up in order so that they would be convenient for next use!
Afterwards, she swept the yard again, and it suddenly became clean and tidy. Lu Xiang went to the small kitchen and had a quick bite of porridge and a side dish.
At this moment, Xiao Cailian came in from outside and secretly stuffed two eggs into Lu Xiang's mouth, saying, "Here, these are for you to nourish your body!"
The Xiao family didn't raise chickens; they bought eggs from other villages. Xiao Cailian would buy ten eggs and lock them in a small cabinet. Only her children and grandchildren could have one on their birthdays; no one else got a share.
She had some trouble yesterday and felt quite embarrassed, so the eggs were her compensation to Lu Xiang.
Lu Xiang said, "Thank you, Mom." She hadn't eaten egg custard for a long time and was craving it. In the 1980s when resources were scarce, she never thought that one day she would be craving eggs.
Lu Xiang happily saved the eggs, but things were different now. She was reluctant to eat the eggs after getting them.
Xiao Cailian said, "I also saw your uncle and aunt. They were carrying manure for the whole village today." The villagers had already dug a place to burn manure and had prepared the straw to lay on it.
The two of them looked so downcast that everyone was gossiping. They used to be respectable people in the Lu family, doing light work. Now they were doing dirty and smelly work.
Lu Xiang didn't say anything. Aunt Lu was a gambler and was determined to go to the county town to live a good life. She wanted her daughter to be a couple with Li Yucai. They succeeded in the previous life and indeed changed their fate in the countryside.
But luck doesn't always come. In their previous life, they had been taking credit for other people's achievements. This life was not as they had expected, and they couldn't stand it.
Lu Xiang ignored others and quickly took out the peppers to dry them. Now the Fu family could do everything else for making duck necks, but Lu Xiang had to do the frying of the ingredients herself.
She has to make enough for ten days each time. Ingredients like peppercorns and chili peppers have to be stir-fried in advance. Some Chinese herbs to remove fishy smell and enhance flavor also have to be mixed in proportion and put in a clean cotton pocket.
Each dish had to be fried in a big pot, and Xiao Cailian ran out because she felt choked by staying in the kitchen.
Lu Xiang had already opened all the windows and packaged the seasoning into portions. Each portion weighed over three pounds, enough for a day's use.
Xiao Cailian saw the effort involved in stir-frying the ingredients and realized it wasn't easy to make money. Duck necks are delicious, but these steps are incredibly complicated. Without patience, you can't really make any money.
Lu Xiang had just finished cooking and quickly changed her clothes; the smell was almost overwhelming. She also washed her hair in a basin of water and washed her clothes as well.
As soon as she arrived at the river, she saw a few elderly aunts and sisters weaving bamboo baskets, looking at her with gentle eyes.
I didn't know Lu Xiang was such a nice girl before, but now she greets everyone she meets when she goes to the Fu family. Most of the young people in the village have gone to the fields. Lu Xiang wasn't in good health, so she wasn't asked to go.
The women could see Lu Xiang often. Occasionally, if they needed to lift something, Lu Xiang would help. Over time, everyone treated Lu Xiang like their own family member.
Aunt Xu asked, "Xiangxiang, have you seen Lu Zhaodi?"
Lu Xiang was washing clothes while saying, "No." She only saw her once yesterday and didn't take it seriously at the time.
She and Lu Zhaodi have always had a bad relationship, and the whole village knows it.
One of them, Aunt Liu, said, "Her mother looked for her several times just now."
Before Lu Xiang could chat with them, Aunt Xu said, "Are you trying to avoid work?" They had just been assigned the job of carrying manure, and it would take a lot of time to run back and forth looking for people.
The villagers like hardworking and honest people. They are too cunning and dishonest. No wonder they raised such an ambitious girl.
Aunt Liu said, "I heard..." Her voice gradually became quieter.
Curiosity and gossip are common to everyone. Even Lu Xiang couldn't help but move closer, wanting to hear if there was any inside information. The aunties and sisters around also came over.
Even though they are hard of hearing, they can still hear any little secrets.
Xiao Cailian came out after finishing her work at home. At her age, she loves the hustle and bustle. Seeing that there were many people here, she walked over and said with a smile, "What are you talking about? I want to listen too."
The surrounding aunts and other women quickly made room for her and told her a piece of gossip they had just heard: "Do you know that it was Lu Zhaodi who stole Mrs. Lu's panties?"
Everyone present was stunned by the news and asked, "Ah?"
The incident of Grandma Lu losing her underpants caused a sensation in the city, even alarming the village chief. Older people like to sew a pocket on their underwear and put money in it. Grandma Lu lost more than 200 yuan.
Even the village chief was embarrassed. If word got out that someone in his village had stolen an old lady's pants, he would be humiliated! The village chief was furious and said that if the thief was found, he would be dragged to the village and displayed to everyone to show who the thief was.
At that time, many old ladies did not dare to hang their underwear outside. They were not afraid of thieves stealing it, but they were afraid of thieves catching it.
There was evidence of Lu Zhaodi's alibi at the time, and it seemed that she went to the county to sell vegetable dumplings.
"Really? That's not something you can say casually?"
Lu Zhaodi used to have a good reputation. Why is she trying to curry favor with people in the county and steal money now?
Aunt Liu said confidently, "It must be true. Her brother Lu Dabao discovered it and secretly told my grandson Huzi. Lu Dabao said Lu Xiang even bought him canned fish."
A can of canned fish costs 80 cents. Ordinary people don’t have that much money, and even if they do, they wouldn’t be willing to spend it.
Everyone was shocked. It was natural for Lu Xiang to want to get close to the city people and live a better life. But stealing money was a crime.
"Does the Lu family know about this?" Xiao Cailian asked.
Mrs. Yang said, "Of course she knows. No one saw Lu Zhaodi this morning. She ran away alone."
Lu Xiang didn't expect that she could be so bold for just 200 yuan.
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