Chapter 51
That evening, Zhou Lin, harboring some unspeakable thoughts, took Mu Jin back to the house as soon as it got dark.
Mu Jin blushed, but thankfully it was dark and no one could see her.
Otherwise, I would really wish I could find a hole to crawl into.
On the same day, Mu Jin unusually didn't get up early. Zhou Si made breakfast and wanted to wake him up, but Zhou Lin stopped her.
“Ah Jin went to bed a little late yesterday, don’t disturb him, let him sleep a little longer.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Si stopped walking towards the east room. He didn't want to pry into what was going on in his elder brother's room.
"I understand, brother. You go eat first. You have to go to work in town early in the morning. I'll take out your portion separately and keep it warm for you."
Zhou Lin nodded, ate breakfast, went back to the room, glanced at Mu Jin who was still fast asleep, and smiled slightly.
I covered him up with the blanket, which he was sleeping on, and tucked it in a little. I couldn't help but lean down and give him a gentle kiss.
Satisfied, he got up, gently closed the door, and, bathed in the warm glow of the early morning sun, picked up the prepared green vegetables and, together with Mu Heng, drove the oxcart to town.
When Mu Jin woke up, the sun was already high in the sky, around 9:00 AM.
After a moment of confusion, Mu Jin stood up, her body aching, and let out a soft hiss.
The smell in the room had dissipated considerably. Thinking of Zhou Lin's crazy antics last night, she couldn't help but mutter a curse under her breath, filled with shame and annoyance.
She glanced at the rising sun outside the window, her face flushed slightly, and she felt reluctant to leave the house, feeling extremely shy.
Mu Jin stood there in a daze for a while, comforting herself for a long time. Just as she was about to get dressed, she heard a few footsteps outside the door.
"Why isn't my brother up yet? Is he sick?"
Zhou Si was deeply worried. She wanted to knock on the door, but remembering Zhou Lin's instructions, she hesitated outside the door, undecided.
Bai Qiqiu placed his hand on the door and said urgently, "At this point, if nothing's wrong, our eldest brother should be awake by now. Third brother, don't wait any longer, break down the door!"
Upon hearing this, Mu Jin immediately forgot her embarrassment and said in a hoarse voice, "No, I'm getting up."
This door was newly made by Zhou Linxin, and it hasn't been used for long. If it gets damaged, he'll feel bad.
Hearing Mu Jin's voice, the two people outside were relieved. Zhou Si went back inside, added some firewood to the stove, and warmed the food again.
Bai Qiqiu went to the yard to check the bamboo drying in the sun. If it doesn't rain, he estimated that the pigsty shed could be built in a couple of days.
After washing up, Mu Jin's face was flushed, and she felt inexplicably guilty.
He sat down at the table, scooped a spoonful of brown rice porridge, let it cool, and asked softly, "Where's Zhaoran?"
Zhou Sisheng placed the leftover braised venison on the table and said, "I went out with Muzhou early this morning."
Mu Jin nodded. Whenever he had free time, his second brother would stick to Wen Zhaoran and never take his eyes off him.
I'll probably have lunch at the Mu family's place today, just like yesterday.
After finishing the last mouthful of brown rice porridge, Mu Jin wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, washed the dishes, threw her dirty clothes into a basin, and went to the river to wash clothes.
Because they arrived late, there were only a few scattered people along the riverbank, not many women or husbands.
"Big brother, over here."
As soon as Mu Jin arrived, she heard a light, cheerful voice.
After a moment of stunned silence, he remembered that the young man was Mu Feng, the husband of Zhou Lin's third cousin.
Mu Jin smiled and walked over.
"Brother, why are you so late today?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Jin paused in her hand, which was holding the clothes. She had just recovered when she felt a slight, almost imperceptible, embarrassment. She vowed never to indulge Zhou Lin's nonsense again.
"Something came up at home, so I was delayed for a while."
Mu Feng nodded, "Me too. My grandfather is turning sixty in a few days, and we've arranged a banquet at my house. I've been very busy these past few days."
"Grandpa's birthday?"
Mu Jin put down the wooden stick she was using to beat the clothes; no one had ever told her about it.
Mu Feng was surprised, "Big brother doesn't know?"
Mu Jin nodded and sighed, "I haven't been married into the Zhou family for long, and I haven't remembered the elders' birthdays yet. A Lin and Si'er have been busy these past few days, so I guess they haven't remembered either."
The elders of the Zhou family were open-minded and kind. When the family divided the property, they spoke up for him a lot. Now that the elders were celebrating their birthdays, he naturally had to do something to show his appreciation.
"A banquet will be held in five days. Remember to come, brothers."
Mu Jin wet the clothes in her hands and smiled, saying, "Of course I'm going to wish my grandfather a happy birthday."
The two chatted as they washed clothes, the sound of wooden sticks striking the clothes echoing throughout the room.
Not far away, a group of men, holding fishing nets, rowed a wooden boat and cast their nets into the middle of the river.
The man at the front was burly and stood out from the crowd. Judging by his arms, his fists, as big as palm leaves, could probably kill a bull.
His back view was menacing, and when the man turned around, a scar ran from his forehead down to his right cheek.
Fortunately, its eyes weren't injured, but it looks even more menacing now.
Mu Feng soaked his clothes in the water. "Brother Zhaoye is fishing again. My son will buy one to take home later; the elders at home love to eat it."
Mu Jin thought about it and realized that she had been enjoying plenty of wild pheasant, rabbit, and deer meat lately, thanks to Zhou Si.
It's been a long time since I've had fish.
The fish caught in the river are not expensive; you can buy one for just a few coins.
After washing the clothes and drying them at home, he hurried back to the house to get some money and then went to the river to buy fish.
"Qi Qiu, I'm going to buy fish. Here's three coins for you. Go to Aunt Wang's and buy two pieces of tofu. We'll make carp stew with tofu today."
Bai Qiqiu was weeding in the vegetable garden when he heard this, he straightened up and said, "Brother, I'll go with you."
He lives in the most water-scarce area of northern Xinjiang, where the rivers are not as wide as those in Mujia Village.
Having lived here for so long, his favorite thing is the river in the village.
He can swim, and his favorite thing to do when he was a child was to go fishing in the river. Unfortunately, as he grew up, things changed, and he hasn't been to the river in a long time.
Since there were no fishing nets at home, the only way to catch fish was to stand on the riverbank with a wooden fork and spear the fish, which was extremely difficult.
Mu Jin smiled and said, "Let's go, or it might be too late."
Most villagers are reluctant to eat meat. Fish is cheap, and although it has a fishy smell, it is still a meat dish.
Because whenever someone in the village goes fishing, most villagers will buy one or two fish.
When Mu Jin and Bai Qiqiu arrived, Mu Zhaoye had just scooped the fish from the second fishing net ashore.
Just then, Mu Nianjun walked over carrying Xiao Weiwei. Mu Jin hadn't seen her little nephew for a long time and missed him dearly, so she handed the money to Bai Qiqiu.
"Qi Qiu, go buy them, pick out two big ones."
When Mu Nianjun walked up to her, Mu Jin glanced at Xiao Weiwei in his arms. She hadn't seen him for two or three months, and he had really grown a lot.
The fair-skinned young man stared at the hibiscus, his round, bright black eyes curving into crescents.
She seemed to really like her handsome uncle, and with her little hands, she wanted Mu Jin to hug her.
The joy in Mu Jin's eyes seemed to overflow as she reached out and took him from Mu Nianjun's arms.
"Oh dear, Weiwei has gained weight again."
Hibiscus gently patted his plump little bottom, which was very bouncy.
"Aww!" Little Weiwei wriggled her chubby body and protested twice.
Mu Nianjun smiled and wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth with a cotton handkerchief.
"Brother Nianjun, you go buy the fish first, I'll watch over him for you."
Mu Jin lifted Xiao Weiwei up and laughed.
Mu Nianjun shook her head. "Your brother-in-law has already passed away. The weather is nice today, so I brought him out to get some sun."
Little Weiwei nestled in Mu Jin's arms, her little head resting on his shoulder. When she saw Mu Sheng carrying two fish, she excitedly kicked her little arms and legs.
"Awooo!"
Mu Jin almost lost her grip, and Mu Nianjun, who was standing nearby, was startled and quickly helped her up.
Mu Jin hugged him tightly and sighed, "He's not very big, but he's surprisingly strong."
When Mu Sheng walked up to him, he quickly handed Xiao Weiwei over to hold.
"Is Bai Qiqiu your fourth brother's fiancé?"
Mu Sheng handed the fish in his hand to Mu Nianjun and took the chubby little Weiwei.
Mu Jin nodded. "Yes, what's wrong?"
Mu Sheng sighed, "You'd better go and do something about it. They insist on rowing a boat down the river to fish. If they fall into the water, that would be terrible."
Upon hearing this, Mu Jin disregarded her love for Xiao Weiwei and hurried to the riverbank.
When he arrived, Bai Qiqiu and Mu Zhaoye were each holding one end of a fishing net, and the atmosphere was tense.
"Let go!" Mu Zhaoye's face darkened.
"Why can't I try it just once?" Bai Zhi Qiu retorted.
The villagers watching from the sidelines couldn't help but admire Bai Zhi Qiu's courage.
When Namu Zhaoye isn't angry, he's quite intimidating. But when he's in a deep voice and still dares to stand up to him, he's probably the only one in the village who does.
Zhou Wushi walked over at some point, her face darkening. Bai Qiqiu was making her youngest son lose face outside.
Adopting the posture of a mother-in-law, she scolded, "Let go of me! What kind of behavior is it for your son to be pulling and tugging at a stranger like that?!"
Bai Qiqiu paused for a moment, "Auntie, I just wanted to go fishing once, what's wrong with that?"
Mu Jin hurriedly said, "Qi Qiu, stop fooling around. Have you bought the fish yet? Come to my house."
Bai Qiqiu listened to Mu Jin and let go, looking unwilling.
He picked up the two large carp that were thrashing on the ground and said to Mu Zhaoye, "Hmph, if you won't let me use it, I'll make my own. Who wants your lousy fishing net?"
Mu Zhaoye glanced at Bai Qiqiu with an unfriendly expression, crumpled up the fishing net, and threw it into the empty wooden barrel where all the fish had been sold.
With a hint of disdain, he said, "You? If you can make a fishing net, you can use my wooden boat as you please."
Bai Qiqiu immediately perked up, "You said it yourself! A promise is a promise, and if you go back on your word, you're not a real man."
Mu Zhaoye scoffed, "I, Mu Zhaoye, have never taken back what I've said!"
"Then wash your wooden boat thoroughly and wait for me!"
"You're quite the big shot, aren't you?"
Mu Zhaoye's second brother couldn't help but retort to Bai Qiqiu.
"Just you wait and see."
Bai Qiqiu left with a message before being dragged back by Mu Jin.
“Brother, that guy is really infuriating. He was about to close up his nets, and I just wanted to borrow them for a bit. After we sold the fish, I offered to split the profits 20/80 with him, but he wouldn’t agree.”
Bai Qiqiu complained.
Mu Jin sighed, "Qi Qiu, those are other people's fishing nets. Whether you lend them to them or not, it all depends on whether they're willing to lend them to you or not."
He finally understood that Bai Qiqiu was extremely insecure about marriage, feeling that she had to give more to be worthy of someone else; otherwise, she was very strong-willed.
Bai Qiqiu muttered, "I'm not borrowing it for nothing. Fine, I'll make it myself."
Mu Jin sighed and laughed, "When Brother Zhaoye turns cold, few are not afraid of him. You are quite bold."
Bai Qiqiu waved his hand, "Big brother, there's a lot of war in our northern frontier. I've seen plenty of men like him. What's there to be afraid of?"
Mu Jin understood that compared to the northern border regions, life in Mujia Village was quite comfortable and pleasant.
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