"The rice was all gone yesterday..."
Seeing Su Qinghe's furrowed brows, Lin Xi, fearing she might lose her temper again, quickly added:
"Aunt Li will hire villagers to help harvest vegetables in her field today. I'll go in a bit, and I'll get my wages today so I can buy some rice."
Su Qinghe sipped her rice porridge, and only spoke after finishing the bowl:
"I'll go with you then, so we can both earn more money."
Even a mosquito bite is still a bite. She was still a little dizzy, so she decided to finish this light work first and then go to the mountains tomorrow. Hunting was currently the most lucrative and fastest way to make money, and with her skills, it wouldn't be difficult.
Lin Xi looked at Su Qinghe suspiciously. Had his wife hit her head? Why would she take the initiative to find work?
"But the wife still has a head injury."
"It's alright, you should go and eat something too! Otherwise you won't have the energy to work!"
Lin Xi then served Su Qinghe a bowl of rice soup before going to the kitchen to eat.
After the two finished tidying up, they rested in the house for a while before going out to Aunt Li's vegetable garden.
Aunt Li owned the most land in Qingshan Village, which was allocated by the government according to family size. Aunt Li was very fertile; her three husbands gave her four daughters and three sons, making her a prominent figure in Qingshan Village.
In this dynasty, having many children could make you walk with your head held high, provided you had many daughters.
The government would give a reward of 10 taels of silver for each daughter born, which was roughly enough for an average farmer's family to cover their expenses for a year.
They had barely reached the edge of the field when people started talking about it.
"Hey, isn't this the one who can't give birth?"
“It was him. I heard that his wife gave him two pregnancy fruits but he still couldn’t get pregnant.”
"What a waste. Aunt Li's family can get pregnant even by eating inferior pregnancy fruits, but he can't get pregnant even after eating two medium-grade fruits. His wife still keeps this kind of man."
"If it were me, I would have sold him to a brothel long ago. What's the point of keeping a hen that can't lay eggs!"
"Don't say that. What if his wife is impotent?"
"That's right, that's right. Besides, their family is so poor they can't even afford to eat. They go out to work every day even though they don't have enough to eat. It's normal that they can't get pregnant because their health is so poor! Unlike Aunt Li's family, they can eat meat every day and their health is so good!"
Several men were sitting in a circle on the field, whispering among themselves, glancing at Su Qinghe every now and then.
As Lin Xi listened to their conversation, she lowered her head in shame, her hands clenched tightly, her nails digging deep into her flesh.
They weren't wrong; it was his own womb that was failing him, and he could never conceive his wife's child.
The excuses about not having enough to eat and working every day are just that—excuses. Even the most physically weak man should get pregnant after two medium-sized gestational buds.
His wife had every right to sell herself; he shouldn't have shamelessly begged to stay. But he really didn't want to... didn't want to be sold to that kind of place...
Lin Xi looked up at Su Qinghe, wanting to plead with her to sell him, but not to sell him to a place like that. But he saw her frowning as she walked towards the group of men.
"What...what do you want to do?"
When Su Qinghe walked towards them, one of the men mustered up his courage and asked.
"I heard your eldest son ran off with some random woman a few days ago? I wonder if he's back yet? Do you want me to help look for him?" Su Qinghe asked sincerely.
But the man got angry when he heard this.
"What nonsense are you talking about!" he exclaimed, his expression agitated.
“My son was betrothed to a wealthy family as a concubine, not some wild woman! Don’t talk nonsense here! Everyone in the village knows this!”
As the man spoke, he pointed to a group of men around him.
And those people did indeed know.
“Su Qinghe, don’t come here to slander other people’s innocence just because we talked about your man.”
“His son was carried away in a sedan chair right under the noses of the villagers that day; we all saw it!” A group of men came forward to testify.
Su Qinghe smiled gently. If the original owner hadn't been gambling and happened to see the person getting off the sedan chair on the way back, she would have actually believed it!
"Did you see with your own eyes that the person sitting in the sedan chair was his eldest son?" Su Qinghe asked with a smile.
"The bride wears a red veil; how can anyone see the groom's face!"
"So that means it's uncertain?" Su Qinghe countered.
"Don't try to argue your way out of this. You haven't even seen my eldest son's face, yet you're accusing him of not being the person in the sedan chair. Then tell me, who is the person in the sedan chair?" the man asked sternly.
"Is that even a question? You've only had two sons. Do you expect your other husbands' sons to cover up the mess they've made?"
"Don't blame me for not reminding you, I saw it that day!" Su Qinghe walked to his side and whispered.
"If you want to make your son's shameful deeds known to everyone, and that affects the marriage prospects of your other sons, do you think your wife will divorce you?"
"You!" The man's face turned pale, and he took a step back in fright.
Seeing that she had achieved the desired effect, Su Qinghe stopped paying attention to the group and turned back to Lin Xi's side.
After this incident, they probably won't have time to gossip about her and Lin Xi anymore.
Su Qinghe had already turned and left, and the group of men were still staring blankly at her retreating figure, not having reacted yet. Only after they had all gone far away did they gather in a circle again and start whispering with exaggerated expressions.
"My wife..."
Lin Xi looked at Su Qinghe walking towards him, feeling somewhat at a loss. He had heard everything she had just said.
He now wonders if he's dreaming, or if his brain is malfunctioning from hunger and he's hallucinating.
"Don't overthink it. Take good care of yourself, and you'll have a baby eventually." Su Qinghe gently patted the back of his hand.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
