Chapter 62 Returning a Kindness
Aunt Wang's wishful thinking failed, and she was repeatedly and rudely asked to leave by Wang Xiaozhi. She was so angry that her face was longer than a horse's. She glared at Wang Xiaozhi and said, "Pah, you lowly slut who looks down on people!"
After saying that, she shoved Wang Xiaozhi aside and rushed out of the house. Then she grabbed a few pieces of firewood from the Chen family's yard and left, cursing all the while.
Wang Xiaozhi was furious. What kind of person was this? He was absolutely asking for a beating.
Chen Zhao quickly comforted his wife, "Alright, alright, don't be angry. It's not like you've only known her for a short time."
Grandma Chen also said, "Yes, Xiaozhi, getting angry with this kind of person will only hurt yourself."
Chen Zhaosan's sister-in-law was even angrier than Wang Xiaozhi, "That shameless old woman has stolen things from our house again!"
Wang Xiaozhi took a deep breath. "This is my fault. I should have gone out with her."
Chen Zhao replied, "She ran so fast, you almost got knocked over by her. It would be strange if you could catch up with her."
He paused for a moment and then said, "It's just a few pieces of firewood. I'll go up the mountain and collect more later."
Wang Xiaozhi's mood improved slightly. She said, "I wonder if this old woman will go directly to Uncle Hao."
Chen Zhao wasn't sure, but he was certain of one thing: "Don't worry, even if she goes, Uncle Hao won't listen to her nonsense."
Even if her daughter were the right age, given their family's reputation and habits, Hao Yu would be a fool to marry into their family.
Wang Xiaozhi was certainly aware of this, and she explained, "What I'm worried about is Wan Niang and Xiao Yang."
As long as it doesn't snow, Jiang Yuan and Hao Yu will go up the mountain to hunt or run errands. If the old woman goes to look for someone, she can only find Xie Wanniang and Xiao Yang.
Xiao Yang was just a child, and Xie Wan's mother didn't know much about the villagers. Wang Xiaozhi was worried that Xiao Yang might be tricked by the old woman and have something valuable stolen from her.
"No, I have to go check on them." Her two children were playing with their older and younger siblings in the main room, so she was free to help. She looked at Chen Zhao and said, "If someone comes to exchange bean sprouts, could you please greet them for me?"
Chen Zhao nodded, "Then hurry back."
Wang Xiaozhi nodded and hurried over to Xie Wanniang's place.
Hearing the knock, Xiao Yang toddled outside. "Who is it?"
“It’s me, Wang Xiaozhi,” Wang Xiaozhi replied through the door. “I’ve come to see your Sister Xie.”
"It's Sister Wang." Xiao Yang deftly removed the door latch and invited Wang Xiaozhi in.
Wang Xiaozhi asked her, "Has Aunt Wang from the west end of the village come here?"
Xiao Yang nodded vigorously, "She came, but my sister didn't open the door for her."
Wang Xiaozhi laughed when she heard this. When she saw Xie Wanniang come out to greet her, she said something similar to what Xiaoyang said, "You were right not to open the door for her."
Xie Wanniang laughed, "I don't know her, and she was being secretive and wouldn't introduce herself, so I didn't open the door for her. Later, Xiaoyang told me that she likes to take advantage of others, so I was even less likely to let her in."
She invited Wang Xiaozhi into her room, then poured her some hot water and gave her some snacks. "Did she go to see her sister?"
Wang Xiaozhi nodded, "She insisted that I marry her daughter Sanni to Uncle Hao. I didn't want to listen to her, so she called me a snobbish little slut. If she hadn't run away quickly, I would have cursed her a few more times to make up for it."
Getting angrier as she talked, Wang Xiaozhi couldn't help but complain to Xie Wanniang, "You have no idea, she cursed at me and even stole a few pieces of firewood from my house when she ran away. She really deserves a beating."
Xie Wanniang was dumbfounded. "Isn't she afraid you'll go to her house and settle accounts with her?"
Wang Xiaozhi sighed, "They're all no good. It's not worth fighting with them over a few words of insult and a few pieces of firewood."
Xie Wanniang thought to herself: We can't just suffer in silence like this, otherwise that woman will definitely take advantage of us in the future.
But she didn't say that to Wang Xiaozhi. Everyone has their own principles. She is vengeful, but that doesn't mean Wang Xiaozhi has to be the same.
Anyway, that woman had already cursed at her, so when she got a chance to teach that woman a lesson, she could also hit her a few times to vent her anger on behalf of Wang Xiaozhi.
While the two chatted, Xie Wanniang continued embroidering without stopping.
Seeing Xie Wanniang's exceptionally precise and fluid needlework, and the fact that the half-piece of embroidery she had created was so beautiful that it was hard to look away, Wang Xiaozhi couldn't help but say to Xie Wanniang with envy, "Your embroidery is just too good."
Xie Wanniang smiled and said, "She's still far inferior to my master."
Upon hearing this, Wang Xiaozhi became even more envious. It's so nice to be a child from a wealthy family. Not only can you read and write, but you can also learn cooking, embroidery, medicine... If only she or her daughter had Xie Wanniang's skills!
Glancing at Xiao Yang, who was holding an embroidery hoop and meticulously learning to embroider, Wang Xiaozhi gritted her teeth and tentatively asked Xie Wanniang, "Wanniang, have you... ever thought about taking on an apprentice?"
"Huh?" Xie Wanniang looked bewildered. "Taking on apprentices? What kind of apprentices?"
Wang Xiaozhi glanced again at the embroidery hoop in Xiaoyang's hand, "It's just..."
Xie Wanniang suddenly realized, "You want to learn this? That's fine, but you'll need to take care of your hands first."
She got up, took a box of unused lard ointment from the cabinet and handed it to Wang Xiaozhi. “Take this home and use it. When your hands are no longer cracked and rough, and you can smudge without getting a snag, then come back to me to learn embroidery.”
She paused for a moment and then added, "There's no need for me to become your disciple."
"Many of the things I know are family skills passed down from my master. Before she taught my sisters and me, she had already made an agreement with my mother that she could teach us sisters everything she knew, but we could not pass on her skills to others."
"Therefore, whether it's you or Xiaoyang, I can only teach you some basic common sense and general skills."
This can be considered her returning the favor.
When the village hires people to build houses, the host family is required to provide lunch and dinner for the master craftsman and the laborers.
Fearing that she wouldn't be able to manage on her own, Wang Xiaozhi had already come over to tell her the moment she learned that she planned to build the house herself, and that she would bring two of her close female friends over to help her with washing vegetables and cooking.
Xie Wanniang offered to pay them wages, but Wang Xiaozhi refused, saying she would only provide them with two meals a day.
Xie Wanniang could not possibly agree to this arrangement, so her original plan was to convert the wages she was supposed to pay into rice, flour, meat, and eggs, based on the price for hiring people in town, and have them take it back to supplement their family income.
Now that Wang Xiaozhi has expressed interest in learning embroidery from her, she can use this to repay the favor and save herself the trouble of persuading Wang Xiaozhi to accept the rice, flour, meat, eggs, and other gifts she offers.
As for the other two young wives that Wang Xiaozhi planned to hire to help her, Xie Wanniang certainly couldn't let them work for nothing. Since the plan to give them three ingredients had changed, she would still pay them their wages.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com