Ma Yongshun was 37, six years older than Yan Xia. As a farmer, he was strong and the two slender men were no match for him. However, the two men had held him back tightly, and his mother was being stopped by Zhou Yiliu. He was worried that his mother would get hurt if he got into a conflict with them, so he had been holding back.
Good peaches.
As usual, Yan Xia gave an extra deposit.
"Manager Yan, there aren't many peaches left on your trees. This is the last batch. Once it's all delivered, we'll have to wait until next year."
"Okay, I understand."
The shop has made enough peach jam to last until next spring.
"By the way, Manager Yan, could I buy two of the pastries you gave me last time? My kids really loved them and didn't get enough, so I thought I'd make them happy."
Aunt Tao is very perceptive. Although her great-grandchildren didn't seem unhappy when she told her there were no more pastries yesterday, she still noticed that the light in their eyes had dimmed a little.
There were only three pieces in total. The adults in the family shared one piece, and the children shared two pieces.
It was just a taste.
In the past two years, their family's life has improved a lot. They're not living a particularly good life, but at least they don't go hungry. They can eat their fill of coarse rice porridge and wild vegetable gruel every day. She has also saved some money for emergencies, so it's okay to spend some. People are only carefree when they are children.
Aunt Tao didn't want the children to have any regrets, so she bought two pieces today so they could eat them all in one day and have a good time.
"Okay, it's been hot lately, so peach shortbread isn't selling well. I'll sell it to you at a discount, 20 coins will do."
Yan Xia didn't give it away this time; she just sold it at cost price.
Sometimes, personal relationships are more valuable than money, and she didn't want Aunt Tao to feel burdened.
The price of 20 coins is about the same as the price of those cheap pastries outside.
"Oh, what a coincidence! Then please wrap it up for me, Manager Yan. Here, take the money."
Aunt Tao counted out 20 coins and handed them to Yan Xia.
We chatted briefly before I left.
She told her children to watch the shop, then went to buy two cucumbers and some side dishes to make a cold noodle dish.
When we returned to the shop, I found that my son had an extra package in his hand, it wasn't very big.
"Mother, you're finally back! When I came out of the backyard just now, I saw Aunt Tao put this package on our counter. She saw me and ran out. I chased her outside the shop to give it back to her, but she wouldn't take it, saying it was bought for you. What should I do?"
The package in Jin Fu's hands was still warm, and you could occasionally smell a fragrance – it must be meat buns, but it was rather heavy.
"It's okay, give it to me."
Yan Xia opened the package and found three meat buns and a melon inside.
It was the same melon she had just used to smash someone; it even looked almost identical, so it must have been bought from the same stall.
She shook her head helplessly.
Aunt Tao really knows how to handle people.
Such families will eventually get better and better.
With such a wise and morally upright elder, Aunt Tao's descendants must all be well-educated.
Just like Aunt Tao's youngest son, he never wanders around when he comes to her shop. He just stands there and won't move unless Aunt Tao tells him to. When he goes to the backyard, he never even glances at the osmanthus flowers.
Men and women are different, and even if there is a big age difference, they still need to know proper etiquette.
"Take it to the backyard. Take this melon home and eat it. Meat buns should be eaten while they're hot. You and Guihua can each have one."
Yan Xia picked up a meat bun and stuffed it into her mouth.
It makes my mouth feel good and my heart feel even better.
I don't know if it was because the food was too good or because of the warm hospitality.
Days passed by like this.
Soon, it was time for Zhu Wenjuan to get married.
There was no extravagant celebration, and there was no wedding dress worth two taels of silver.
They didn't even have a new set of clothes.
In the morning, Liu Wangtao excitedly welcomed Zhu Wenjuan from the Chen family to the Liu family.
The bad weather and the muddy feet of Zhu Wenjuan added to her already unhappy mood.
When Zhu Wenjuan arrived at the Liu family's house and saw the old, dilapidated mud house, her face turned pale.
There was only one simple table set up in the courtyard.
I estimate it can seat a maximum of 10 people.
Originally, the ceremony was to be held in the main room to worship heaven and earth, but Zhu Wenjuan's mother-in-law, Aunt Efen, skipped this step.
It was said that her husband had died, and with her parents incomplete, she could not pay her respects.
They even brought out a brazier and made Zhu Wenjuan step over it, saying it was to ward off bad luck.
unlucky?
She has both parents alive and grandparents still alive, so what bad luck could she possibly need to get rid of?
This is a way of humiliating her.
She wanted to return to the Chen family with her back straight, but her aunt grabbed her arm and wouldn't let her move.
Zhu Xiaohua whispered in Zhu Wenjuan's ear.
"Good girl, don't make a fuss. Your aunt has already given the dowry to your parents. There's no going back. Live a good life. Your man will support you. Just bear with it today. No one makes a scene on their wedding day."
What can she do now that her aunt has said that?
With a dark expression, he stepped over the brazier and went to the bridal chamber.
It was supposed to be a wedding room, but it was just the house Liu Wangtao used to live in. It didn't even have any simple decorations, let alone any red decorations.
The quilt on the wedding bed was thin, and there was only one pillow. Liu Wangtao had slept on it so much that the front and back were different colors, probably because the oil stains from his body had seeped into the linen.
The roof was dilapidated and covered in cobwebs. There was only one small window in the room, so no sunlight could get in. The room was pitch black and looked rather eerie. Even the wooden bed was loose and creaked when you sat on it. Apart from the bed, there was no other furniture in the room.
There wasn't even a stool in sight; the only thing visible behind the door was a dark wooden spittoon, emitting a faint stench, though it was unclear whether it had been emptied or not.
Zhu Wenjuan sighed.
She tried to accept the reality before her that the Liu family was even worse off than her own family.
Although her family was always hungry, their house was clean and tidy.
Forget about cobwebs, you can't even touch the table and there's not a speck of dust.
It's all thanks to her obsessive-compulsive disorder about cleanliness.
She sat there until noon, and apart from her aunt visiting once, no one else entered. Zhu Wenjuan grew impatient and was about to leave when the door was slammed shut and she couldn't open it no matter what she tried; it must have been locked from the outside.
"Open the door!"
Is anyone there?
Zhu Wenjuan was very flustered and shouted outside from inside the house.
"What are you yelling about? Can't you sit still? Stay here until tonight! Once Tao'er has finished his drink and left the table, he'll naturally come inside. Don't embarrass the Liu family, you vixen! Go back to your bed!"
That voice—it's definitely her mother-in-law's.
Zhu Wenjuan was somewhat exasperated.
She was a perfectly good young woman, but on her very first day of marriage, she was called a vixen and wasn't even allowed to leave the house to eat.
What kind of logic is that?
Although she was angry, she could only sit back on the bed. After all, the room was so small that it was just a few steps away, and there was nowhere else to stay.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com