Chapter 36 Chapter 36-Two-in-one stealing chicken but losing rice...
Lin Chunxing was a little embarrassed to say it, so she said softly, "Go ask my sister about this tomorrow."
Lin Qingqing thought that Lin Chuntao had someone do it, so she nodded.
Lin Chunxing followed Lin Qingqing to the kitchen and found Aunt Guizhi. After she told Aunt Guizhi what Lin Chuntao had told her, Aunt Guizhi smiled and said, "Come on, I'll take you there to remember it."
On the way there, she whispered to Aunt Guizhi, "Aunt, how much is the appropriate gift?"
Aunt Guizhi turned around and looked at her. "Didn't your sister tell you?"
"She said so, and gave me six pence."
Aunt Guizhi smiled when she heard this and said, "That's about right. In these villages, everyone gives a few eggs or two catties of millet as a gift. Even two cents is fine. It's just a token of appreciation."
Aunt Guizhi said this because she knew that Lin Chuntao and the others had just divided their bills and didn't owe anyone any favors, so it didn't matter how much they gave. They would pay them back according to the account book later, so it was no big deal.
Although the gifts from neighbors were not many, they still had to be recorded in the account book. Muramasa's eldest son had beautiful handwriting, so every family would ask him to record happy events.
When Lin Chunxing saw people, she called out to them obediently.
"Uncle."
Lin Changzong saw that it was her and asked with a smile, "Isn't your sister here?"
"No, she and my brother-in-law went to the county town and asked me to bring my sisters here."
After saying this, Aunt Guizhi
Aunt Guizhi looked at Lin Changzong and said, "Brother, Chunxing will do the accounting."
After saying this, Lin Chunxing opened her sleeves, revealing a small compartment inside. She took out the copper coin and handed it over.
"Remember my sister's name, Lin Chuntao."
The person next to him counted the coins and said to Lin Changzong, "Six coins."
Lin Chunxing watched Lin Changzong write it before thanking him.
Aunt Guizhi was busy watching over the food on the fire. The feast would soon begin. She smiled and said to Lin Chunxing, Lin Qingqing and the others, "You all should come and sit at the table near the kitchen."
The little girls nodded vigorously when they heard this, their eyes shining.
Generally, at this kind of buffet in the village, anyone who helps will prepare extra delicious food for their children, and they will eat a few more crispy meat balls.
Lin Chunxing followed Lin Qingqing to see Qiao'er. She was wearing a red wedding dress, with her hair tied up and a red flower on her head. When she saw them come in, she stood up and smiled as she picked some melon seeds for them.
The younger sisters were all saying auspicious words of congratulations.
Qiao'er's mother was also there. She was surprised to see Lin Chunxing's outfit. Then she looked at Lin Duo'er and Lin Chunhe following behind her and felt a little unhappy. She just said something polite. Lin Chuntao actually brought all three of her sisters with her.
"Hey, Chun Xing, where are your sister and brother-in-law?"
Lin Chunxing smiled and said, "I'm sorry, Auntie. My sister and brother-in-law went to the county town and didn't have time to come, so they asked me to bring my sisters here."
Qiao'er's mother was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Then you guys stay here and chat with Qiao'er, I'll go get busy first."
After leaving the house, she walked towards the bookkeeping area and asked the person who was in charge of the bookkeeping. Only when she learned that Lin Chunxing and the others had given six cents did she smile again.
The sisters are very happy today. Their new clothes look nice. Although someone occasionally makes a few sarcastic remarks, it does not affect their good mood at all, because they no longer see others mocking them.
While waiting for the meal to start, I squeezed to the front with Lin Qingqing and the others. Aunt Guizhi came out to serve everyone rice, and there were actually crispy meat balls hidden in their rice.
It is called Crispy Meat Ball, but actually there is not much meat in it. It is just cornmeal and wild vegetables mixed together and fried until golden and crispy. It is a favorite of children in the village.
Their family had slaughtered a pig, so there was meat on the table. There was a bowl of broth with slices of meat in it, but the slices were so thin that you couldn't see the meat underneath without using your chopsticks. There was also a platter of offal, with a few slices of intestines, stomach, lungs, liver, and pig's blood, all dipped in water.
The dipping sauce was a bit spicy, but not too salty. Lin Duoer picked up a piece of liver and asked Lin Jiaye, "Brother Jiaye, what is this?"
Lin Jiaye frowned, "Pork liver."
"Can you eat pig liver?"
Lin Duoer thought about the pig liver made by Lin Chuntao and nodded vigorously, "I love pig liver."
Lin Jiaye didn't quite believe it, and neither did the others at the table. They watched helplessly as Lin Duoer dipped the liver in water and fed it into her mouth.
The taste was completely different from what Lin Chuntao cooked for them. She suddenly felt nauseous and almost vomited.
But they were eating outside after all, so she held it in her mouth and looked at Lin Chunxing pitifully.
Lin Chunxing also frowned. Lin Jiaye, who was standing next to her, looked at the lack of adults and chuckled softly, "You didn't say you could eat it? Are you feeling like vomiting? Spit it out quickly while no one is around."
Lin Duoer was actually a little conflicted. After all, it was meat. How could you eat meat and then spit it out? Besides, this was a banquet at someone else's house. It would be so impolite if the host saw you eating someone else's food and spitting it out. After struggling with this for a long time, Lin Duoer suppressed her nausea and swallowed it without chewing. But the moment she swallowed, her stomach churned and she suddenly felt retching. Lin Jiaye quickly poured her a bowl of melon soup. She gulped down half a bowl before she felt a little better.
The meat on the table was eaten, and everyone scooped some broth to soak the rice. The vegetables, melons, beans, etc. were all eaten up. But the offal platter, except for the liver that Lin Duoer ate, two pieces of pig's blood were eaten by others, and the rest were taken back intact.
It was a buffet and the people were still eating. Lin Chunxing and her friends, Lin Qingqing and her friends, and the children from the village were playing in the drying yard.
Since she didn't have to do any other work today, Lin Chuntao went to the butcher shop after selling the mushrooms.
There were still many people queuing up at the butcher's shop to buy meat. Pei Ying and Helan were busy, so she sat aside to rest.
Not long after they sat there, Helan's daughter Xiao Lingling came. Seeing Lin Chuntao sitting there, she thought there was chicken mushroom again and ran over in a hurry.
"Sister Chuntao, did you pick up some chicken mushrooms again?"
The child's voice was crisp, and when he said this, even the people who were buying meat nearby looked over.
Lin Chuntao laughed and said, "No, I didn't see any chicken mushrooms today."
"Next time I find one, I'll bring it to you."
The little girl stared at her with wide eyes, looking at her expectantly: "Really?"
"Of course it's true."
"Great! I can eat chicken mushrooms again."
This little girl looked younger than Lin Duoer and was also a chatterbox. She kept pestering Lin Chuntao with questions and chats. Later, she got bored and ran back to the house to get her toy - stones, and asked Lin Chuntao to play with her on the ground.
There was nothing Lin Chuntao could do as the child kept pestering her, so she squatted on the ground and played with her until the butcher shop finished its work and Pei Ying could go home.
She got up, washed her hands, cut two pounds of front leg meat, and packed up to go home.
Little Bell grabbed her sleeve, reluctant to let her go.
"Sister, will you come tomorrow?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I should come again, it depends on whether my family is busy or not."
"Sister, come over tomorrow and I'll call Little Gourd over so we can play together."
Lin Chuntao reached out and touched her head, smiling and said, "Okay, then I'll leave today."
They walked a long way and looked back to see the child still standing there watching. Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Doesn't Shopkeeper He's little bell go out to play with other children on weekdays?"
"Sometimes she's with Little Hulu from Brother Zhang's family. It seems like because her father passed away, the kids around the shop don't want to play with her."
Lin Chuntao nodded slightly and did not ask for details.
"By the time we get home, Chun Xing and the others will have already eaten. What do you want to eat for lunch?"
The topic suddenly changed, and Pei Ying didn't know what to eat for a moment.
Passing by a mutton noodle stall, Lin Chuntao thought that since they were having dinner together, it would be better to buy some noodles and cook them at home. She happened to have bought some meat as well, so she could cook some noodles in a clay pot, and she was a little greedy.
Pei Ying looked at her and thought she wanted to eat mutton noodles, so he asked, "How about we have a bowl of noodles before going back?"
Lin Chuntao shook her head. "No, but we'll go buy some noodles and cook them ourselves when we get home."
Pei Ying had no objection and followed her.
Lin Chuntao bought more than two kilograms of noodles and went to the grocery store to buy a clay pot. When she was about to go home, she suddenly remembered that she needed to buy some linen.
Pei Ying followed her to the cloth shop. Zhang Qingqing was still in the shop. Seeing that Lin Chuntao had already made a dress out of the cloth she had bought last time, she sweetly praised her, "Sister, which tailor made this dress for you? It's so beautiful."
Lin Chuntao smiled and replied, "I'm a tailor from our village. I came here to buy some linen today."
Zhang Qingqing took her to measure the cloth, paid the money, and then carried the things back home.
The village was very lively. Even outside the village entrance, there were people everywhere, in groups of two or three, laughing.
When Lin Chuntao returned home, Chunxing and the others had not returned yet and the door was locked.
"Wait for me at home. I'll go get the keys from them."
Pei Ying nodded, and Lin Chuntao trotted away.
There were still a lot of people on the drying yard, and those who had finished their meal had not yet left, and were standing around chatting.
Lin Chuntao grabbed a child at the entrance to the drying yard and asked, "Have you seen Chunxing, Duoer, and the others?"
The child pointed her in a direction: "They are playing over there."
"Oh, thank you."
After saying that, Lin Chuntao went in the direction the child pointed.
As she walked through the crowd, someone greeted her and Lin Chuntao responded with a smile. Some people also asked her why she didn't come to dinner, and she simply said that she went to the county town and didn't have time.
Someone else laughed maliciously and said, "In our village, when someone's family is getting married, no one goes out."
Lin Chuntao also looked at her calmly, "If Sister Qiao'er asked me for help, I definitely wouldn't go out. It's not that my sister is younger than me. I can't just give the gifts and bring the whole family to the feast, right? If I don't come, you'll be criticized. If I do that, won't you tell everyone in the village about me?"
The people around burst into laughter, and the woman's face turned red. Lin Chuntao was busy looking for Lin Chunxing and was too lazy to bother with her, so she just left.
Miao and Zhang's sisters-in-law were standing not far away. Zhang and Yang both glared at Lin Chuntao with gloomy faces, showing their extreme dislike.
"Look at her arrogance. She really thinks that by currying favor with the Muramasa couple, she can be ignored by the whole village!"
Miao listened to Zhang's words and laughed, "It's not just the old couple Muramasa. She's also trying to curry favor with Xu Guizhi."
As she spoke, Miao's eyes flickered. She curled her lips and smiled, "But I want to let her know today that the people she fawned over are just treating her like a nobody."
Zhang and Yang frowned and looked at each other, then looked at Miao with some confusion.
Perhaps in their eyes, Lin Chuntao had never offended the Miao family.
The two of them had doubts, but they didn't ask out loud. Someone was helping them vent their anger, so why not?
Just as she was thinking about it, she saw Aunt Guizhi coming out from the kitchen and bumped into Lin Chuntao.
"Aunt." Lin Chuntao called.
Aunt Guizhi saw that it was her and asked hurriedly, "Did you just come back? Have you eaten yet? I'll scoop you a bowl."
Lin Chuntao waved her hands and said, "No, no, I'm going to get the key from Chun Xing. Are you almost done?"
Aunt Guizhi smiled and said, "It's still early. It's not the time yet, and the bride's escort hasn't left yet. We need to eat when they pick us up. We have to stay here all day."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Then I'll come and play with you when I'm done."
After she finished speaking, someone came looking for Aunt Guizhi. She was about to leave when she heard Miao standing over there shouting, "Sister Guizhi! I have something to tell you."
Aunt Guizhi turned around to look at Miao and asked loudly, "What's the matter?"
Miao slowly stood out from among her sisters-in-law.
She looked at Lin Chuntao with a sarcastic look on her face and said, "Sister Guizhi is busy today. If you have time, you should keep an eye on your vegetable patch to make sure it's all stolen."
The people who were chatting stopped talking after hearing this and looked over.
Stealing vegetables? Who stole vegetables? This is going to be exciting again.
Aunt Guizhi didn't think that Miao was coming for Lin Chuntao. She thought that the vegetables were stolen because she didn't go to the field this morning.
"Who stole my vegetables?" asked Aunt Guizhi.
Miao smiled and said, "It's right in front of us, sister-in-law. Some people are smiling at you while carrying bamboo baskets and stealing baskets of vegetables from your fields."
Aunt Guizhi frowned and looked at Miao in confusion.
"Miao Feng, why don't you just say your name? Don't be vague."
After Aunt Guizhi asked this, Miao looked at Lin Chuntao and said, "Lin Chuntao, don't you admit it?"
Lin Chuntao looked at her inexplicably. Aunt Guizhi also suddenly realized what was happening and asked with a frown, "You said Chuntao stole my vegetables?"
Miao replied, "Yes, I was passing by that day and saw her plucking a basket of radishes from your vegetable garden and cutting a lot of leeks. I saw her several more times later."
The people around him hissed coldly and looked at Lin Chuntao.
But before Lin Chuntao could say anything, Aunt Guizhi scolded her, "Bullshit! What do you mean by stealing vegetables? Chuntao paid for the vegetables she took from my fields! What are you talking about here?"
Paid money! These four words exploded in Miao Feng's mind.
In this village, every family grows vegetables. Those who don’t have enough vegetables will ask their neighbors for some. Who in the village would be so unfair as to grow vegetables to buy?
Lin Chuntao bought it! Where did she get the money to buy food?
Aunt Guizhi looked at Miao and Zhang's sisters-in-law, then at the people filling the drying yard. She finally understood. Why did these sisters-in-law choose this moment to deal with Lin Chuntao? Had they seen it earlier, why didn't they come to her and tell her? Why did they choose this moment?
When she thought about the adults in the Lin family who kept staring at the children, she became more and more angry.
He raised his voice and asked, "Miao Feng, what do you mean?"
Miao Feng pulled the corners of his mouth awkwardly and said with a smile, "So this is a misunderstanding. I'm doing this for my sister-in-law's good."
"Who are you to me? Do I need you to do good for me? If you really do want good for me, why didn't you tell me the first time you saw her picking vegetables? You were staring at her from behind, why didn't you ask me to join you? People like you are so filthy and evil! You thought you had something on the little girl, and since there were so many people around today, you wanted to let the whole village watch you bully them! You're still an aunt, don't you feel guilty?"
Aunt Guizhi was so angry that her hands were shaking as she pointed at Miao Feng. She wanted to use her to kill someone with a borrowed knife? What kind of person was this?
Seeing Aunt Guizhi was furious, Lin Chuntao quickly took her hand and said softly, "Don't be angry, Auntie. This is just a small matter."
Aunt Guizhi looked back at her and held her hand with her backhand.
"What's a small matter? Even if someone bullies you like this, is it still a small matter?"
After hearing what Aunt Guizhi said, everyone in the drying yard looked at Miao Feng.
Neighbors, if someone's vegetables were stolen, they would have run to tell the owner in less than two quarters of an hour. Who would be like Miao, who endured it and kept staring at them several times? And then she picked a time like this when there were so many people around? And she said she was doing it for their own good? If it was really a thief, they'd have already stolen several crops. What good would that do?
"That's right, Lao Wu's family, what's wrong with you? Isn't it enough to kick those sisters out of the house?"
Aunt Guizhi and her mother-in-law chimed in, and Miao's face looked like a sunset glow.
She forced herself to say, "Auntie, isn't this a misunderstanding?"
Lin Chuntao chuckled and asked, "Misunderstanding? Miao Feng, do you think you can just brush it off with just two words?"
"I know why you're so angry, and why you've waited until today to come and catch me off guard."
"Didn't I pretend not to see you, didn't call you, didn't say hello to you that day?
"You might be thinking, you didn't offend me, and my being kicked out has nothing to do with you. You're the elder, so why shouldn't I call you?"
Miao gritted her teeth and tried to maintain her composure.
Lin Chuntao shouted, "You're such a bad guy! You offended me so many years ago! My mother was seriously ill in bed after giving birth to Duo'er. What did you do? You went to her to try to make her give birth to a son, and not only did you make her angry, you also went to sow discord in front of the old lady. You said you had no idea what my mother was thinking. She hasn't given birth to a son in so many years, and you said you had a secret remedy, but my mother didn't want it!"
"The old lady can't stand my mother. After what you said, my mother didn't even have dinner!"
"You bitch! I've been wanting to scold you for a long time."
"Those of you standing in the back, do you think she's only stepping on my mother to flatter herself? She hasn't spared any of you sisters-in-law! The eldest daughter, as the old lady's niece, isn't considerate enough to the old lady at all, and is even worse than her, an outsider daughter-in-law; the second daughter-in-law and his wife are both lazy, greedy, and unruly, and the children they will raise will be useless; the fourth daughter-in-law has such a fierce woman, whom the matchmaker despised back then, so why did the fourth son marry her? She's not worthy of him at all."
Lin Chuntao paused and continued, "Actually, it's not just her. Everyone in our village who married into the family around the same age as her has been gossiped about by her. She not only gossips about her mother-in-law, but yours too! One aunt was pregnant and ate two eggs a day, and she went to the mother-in-law and said they were too pampered. She couldn't bear to eat them when she was pregnant and saved them for the child!"
“I can’t even begin to describe it all!”
"Miao Feng, you're such a bad bastard! I feel like I'm seeing dog shit when I see you! Forget calling you! I have to take a shower every time I walk past you, for fear of getting stained with the smell of dog shit!"
Although the villagers are boring and always like to chat, many of them are talking about things that have already happened and then forget about it. Most of them don't have any bad intentions. People like Miao Feng are rare.
Lin Chuntao stood there quietly. She was eloquent and after she finished speaking, many women in the village who were about the same age as Miao Feng had gloomy faces.
When Miao Feng took a look, those people who were very familiar to him seemed to have become very unfamiliar.
She trembled uncontrollably and pointed at Lin Chuntao, cursing, "You little bitch, you're talking nonsense!"
"You know whether you're talking nonsense or not, and so do everyone present. They'll remember what you say to them!"
"Perhaps in the eyes of many people, we sisters have lost our mother and were kicked out of the house, so we are pitiful and can be bullied; we are living in hardship right now, but we have hands and feet, we won't starve to death, and we don't need pity. It's even more ridiculous to think we can be bullied. I have the ability to sign a severance letter and the ability to live with my sisters without begging. I won't offend others unless they offend me!"
Sun was standing not far away. She hurried over after hearing Aunt Guizhi scolding, but Lin Chuntao did not give her a chance to speak.
Whispers were heard around, and Miao looked back at her sisters-in-law. Their faces were very ugly, and it seemed that they all believed what Lin Chuntao said and would not help her at all.
Miao Feng felt that if she hadn't fainted, she wouldn't have known how she would have gotten out of the drying yard today. Her body went limp and she collapsed.
Lin Chuntao snorted coldly. Do you want to be killed?
She looked back and saw the dishwater that had not been poured out, so she bent down, picked it up and walked towards Miao. In front of everyone in the Lin family, she poured the dishwater directly on Miao's head.
Lin Xian'er and the others were afraid that the dishwashing water would splash onto their clothes, so they quickly took a few steps back.
She sneered, looked at Miao's trembling eyelashes, and whispered, "If you do that again, I won't be splashing dishwater!"
After she said that, she took the basin and turned to leave.
Today was someone's wedding, and Miao had just finished the wedding and pretended to be dead, but she couldn't just leave like that.
She looked across at Qiao'er's mother, who looked unhappy, and said loudly, "Aunt, I'm so sorry! Qiao'er is getting married today, and Chuntao wishes her and her husband a happy and loving marriage, and a son soon, and a long and happy marriage!"
As Lin Chuntao finished speaking, someone beside her suddenly clapped and said, "Well said!"
Qiao'er's mother's expression improved a little. She looked at her and smiled, "Thank you, Chuntao. Your sister Qiao'er is in the room over there. Go play with her for a while."
Lin Qiaoer was the bride after all, so Lin Chuntao agreed directly to her mother's words.
She still had some money on her, and when she entered the house, she saw some discarded red paper. She took a small piece, wrapped two copper coins in it, and gave it to Lin Qiaoer.
Lin Qiaoer didn't answer and refused repeatedly.
When a girl gets married here, her family will give her some dowry and some copper coins from the bottom of the box, but no one will give her any more money. Even very close elders will give her shoes, socks and cloth, but not money.
Lin Chuntao handed over the copper coin and felt that it was not much. However, their two families were not close, so even two copper coins surprised her.
"Sister Chuntao, I can't accept it, really, you take it back."
Lin Chuntao refused and forced it into her hand, saying with a smile, "Congratulations on your marriage, sister. You must keep it and don't think it's too little."
Lin Qiao'er took the red envelope and said, "Then I would like to thank Sister Chuntao."
Seeing that she accepted it, Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Then sister, please be busy first. I have to go back to feed the piglets first. I will come back to play later."
After Lin Qiaoer agreed, Lin Chuntao came out.
The people from Lao Lin's family had already left the drying yard. The others who were supposed to be working were working, while those who were not working were still chatting on the side.
Lin Chunxing and the others had been waiting for her outside for a long time, and they went to greet her when they saw her come out.
Lin Chuntao looked at them and asked with a smile, "Are you having fun? Do you want to continue playing or come home with me?"
"I don't want to play anymore. I'm going home." Lin Chunxing replied softly.
Lin Chuntao nodded slightly, "Let's go then."
The sisters walked through the drying yard. As they left, the villagers gathered in groups of three or five and said, "Chun Tao has become more eloquent."
The people who were listening laughed and said, "What can we do if it's not done properly? Look at what Miao did today. If it's not done properly, she will definitely be labeled a thief."
Another person chided and laughed, "Chun Tao scolded me well. Miao Shi really lost more than she gained. I wonder if her sisters-in-law will treat her well when she returns."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com