Chapter 114
Mu Jin stood at the door for a while, then suddenly realized it was all so boring.
He didn't really care how Zhou Ming and Mu Qing lived their lives, whether they were troublesome or treated each other with respect.
The most important thing is to live your own life well; the Zhou family isn't worth wasting any of his energy on.
After thinking it over, Mu Jin straightened up and saw that the other boys in the family were engrossed in watching, so she didn't say anything to spoil their fun.
However, because she lived in the village, the Zhou family's affairs were like an all-pervasive wind; even though Mu Jin didn't want to specifically inquire about them, she inadvertently learned quite a bit about them.
Mu Qing, who was about to break down the door, was stopped by his older brother. Perhaps he had come to his senses, he stopped trying to kill himself and went back to his parents' home with Xiao Suo'er in his arms.
He declared that if that scoundrel was around, then he wouldn't be here either, and told Zhou Ming to figure it out himself.
Unexpectedly, two days have passed, and Zhou Ming and Qi Ling have not left the house; they must be staying at home together.
It would have been better if Mu Qing hadn't left; her departure just made room for the newcomers.
Finally, Zhou Ming's courtyard gate opened. Dozens of eyes were secretly watching, but he acted as if nothing had happened. He drove Mu Qingyin, who had bought a cow because of Mu Jin, and also had a cow that Mu Jin had bought a few days ago, directly to the town.
The neighbors nearby were secretly astonished; when this man turned ruthless, it was truly chilling.
Aside from his sordid relationship with Mu Jin, Mu Qing is, in front of outsiders, a eloquent, hardworking, and good-natured man.
Because most of the women and husbands in the village sided with him, they were very disgusted by Zhou Ming's behavior.
Most of the men in the village disagreed, as it was common for capable men to have three or four wives. They felt that Mu Qing was being too petty and jealous, which was not befitting of a proper wife.
Mu Qing waited and waited at home, but Zhou Ming did not come to invite him home.
When his sister-in-law came to visit and Yan Zhouming went to town, his heart turned as cold as the dead of winter.
He might not be a very good guy.
They love to be the best, take advantage of others, are petty, and have high aspirations.
Before marriage, with her charming tongue, she had just as many suitors as Mu Jin who wanted to marry her.
Zhou Ming said that he chose Mu Jin because there was no hope for her.
But she also put in a lot of effort for him, and the two of them were once deeply in love.
Because of how Zhou Ming is treating him now, Mu Qing finds it hard to accept.
Looking at Xiao Suo'er sleeping soundly on the bed, it felt as if my heart was being cut by knife after knife.
When Mu Jin heard news about Zhou Ming's family again, it was already Mu Qing who was making a fuss about getting a divorce. Zhou's grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousin took turns going to Mu Qing's house to persuade him.
Zhou Ming, however, did not take it seriously, only feeling that Mu Qing was using tricks to threaten him with divorce and force him to give in.
Neither of them was willing to back down. Zhou Qiang and Bai Jin had just returned from town when Zhou Ming, who seemed indifferent to their situation, dragged them into writing a divorce agreement.
The two were completely bewildered. They had only been away from home for about twenty days, so how could their second brother have ended up getting a divorce?
Zhou Ming, however, knew that Mu Qing had feelings for him, and acted as if he was not afraid of trouble. He figured that Mu Qing would not dare to accept the divorce papers after his scheme failed.
Unexpectedly, Mu Qing simply accepted the divorce papers with red eyes and trembling hands.
After the Mu family man who had come with him carried the dowry home, he left without looking back.
Zhou Ming froze on the spot.
Although Zhou Wushi also disliked Mu Qing, it was still a shameful thing to talk about her son getting divorced.
Unfortunately, no matter how much she or Zhou's grandmother tried to persuade them, the two were as stubborn as mules and insisted on getting a divorce before they would stop.
They've already separated, so there's no way to control them anymore.
She wanted to stop the Mu family from moving the dowry, because in her heart, those things already belonged to her family.
But Zhou Laosan stopped him. He had already embarrassed himself enough; he didn't want to give others more fodder for gossip.
However, Mu Qing's ruthlessness was truly unexpected.
When Mu Jin heard about this, she was quite surprised.
What shocked him even more was that Zhou Ming was still waiting for Mu Qing to be unable to bear it anymore, to come back and admit his mistakes, and for him to condescend to reconcile with him. But only six or seven days later, Mu Qing got married with Xiao Suo'er in her arms.
Around noon, Zhou Si, perhaps still quite surprised, came to chat with Mu Jin, carrying her sewing basket.
"Big brother, what do you think second brother is thinking?"
Zhou Si continued embroidering, while Mu Qing, whom he had married yesterday, still looked on in disbelief as if in a dream.
Mu Jin sat to the side, making summer clothes for Zhou Lin. Upon hearing this, she thought about it carefully.
"Perhaps because of affection, one cannot tolerate even the slightest betrayal."
Zhou Si was taken aback for a moment, then realized that if Mu Lingyun were like his second brother, he might have made the same choice as Mu Qing.
Zhou Si murmured, "I wonder if Second Brother regrets it."
Not far away, Bai Qiqiu said with a smile, "He's still regretting it. This morning, when I came here, he was driving an oxcart, taking that boy to town."
Mu Jin gently shook her head, feeling that Zhou Ming's trip to town at this moment had a somewhat panicked, fleeing feel to it.
"However, the husband that Second Brother...Qing Ge chose this time seems to be an honest man."
Zhou Si paused for a moment, realizing that it was no longer appropriate to call Mu Qing "Second Brother" now.
Mu Jin remained noncommittal. She thought that if a married man had brothers, and he returned home after a divorce, he probably wouldn't stay long.
In such a short time, and considering he's a divorced man, frankly, it would be hard to find someone better than Zhou Ming.
However, this matter had nothing to do with Mu Jin, and he couldn't be bothered to bother with it.
In a while, Zhou Lin will be going to town, and he will have to go home from time to time to keep an eye on the craftsmen at work.
With the wheat harvest season fast approaching, it's time to harvest the half-acre of ramie that Bai Qiqiu planted on his acre of land.
There was plenty of work to be done at the dye shop, so there was no time or energy left for the Zhou family.
The village is once again filled with the fragrance of locust blossoms, with white flowers adorning the green leaves.
Mu Jin had been craving this for a long time, and now, a full bowl of steamed locust flowers is a must-have at every meal.
As he ate, Wen Zhaoran felt as if he was exuding the fragrance of locust blossoms from the inside out.
But seeing that Mulan really liked it, she patiently ate with him meal after meal.
As the wheat ripened, the Zhou family's story gradually faded from the villagers' conversations.
Men and women, basking in the scorching sun and drenched in sweat, wielded sickles.
Zhou Lin, Mu Youyu, and Lin Huzi all went to the fields together. This time, Mu Jin wasn't busy. The three of them spent two or three days harvesting all the wheat in the fields.
The joy of the harvest dispelled the fatigue of the past few days. Mu Jin went to Mu Lingyun's place and bought two catties of meat to nourish Zhou Lin.
Once the wheat is harvested, Mu Youyu and Lin Huzi will be able to handle the rest of the work.
The sweltering June arrived as scheduled, and Zhou Lin resumed his daily routine of going to work in town.
Although Mu Zhaoye did not urge him, he knew that the carpentry shop was short-handed these days.
Out of respect for Bai Qiqiu, he had already granted Zhou Lin such a long leave, so he couldn't very well continue to stay at home.
Last night, the family caught a whole wooden basin full of cicadas, and Mu Jin also had Zhou Lin take them to town.
As the weather got hotter, Mu Jin ate less. Bai Qiqiu tried various ways to cook delicious food from the northern frontier for him, and he finally ate a little more.
Fortunately, he was not feeling unwell, so his brothers didn't force him to eat.
"Where did Li-ge'er and Nuo-ge'er go?"
Hibiscus picked up a mouthful of cold noodles, ate it with cucumber, and slurped it down.
“Nuoge’er took Lige’er to the foot of the mountain to collect cicada shells, and they ate them there.”
Mu Bai spoke up, pointing to a bowl of cold noodles in front of him, topped with three spoonfuls of minced garlic. It was spicy and sour, quite appetizing.
Mu Jin nodded gently, "I need to tell them not to go too far in."
Wen Zhaoran laughed and said, "Brother, don't worry. Although Li Ge'er is still a bit immature, he's very shrewd. You don't know how many times you've told him to stay away from men, whether you know them or not, when you encounter them in secluded places. Now he avoids men and doesn't talk to anyone else."
Bai Qiqiu chimed in, "Today when I went to deliver food to the foot of the mountain, Lin Huzi told me that Li Ge'er ignored him."
Mu Jin chuckled, suddenly realizing that she had been a little too wary of Li Ge'er.
He shook his head helplessly. When he came back, he would still have to teach him how to greet and talk to the men he knew.
The wheat was threshed and dried three to five times before finally being stored in the warehouse.
This year's wheat grains are fuller than last year's, yielding nearly two bushels per acre.
It is clear that applying manure several times and watering the fields with a wooden bucket is quite effective.
Because there were many people in the family, in addition to Zhou Lin earning money, the family's vegetables, dyeing workshop, and poultry also brought in income.
With a wave of her hand, Mu Jin decided to keep all the wheat harvested this year for her family to eat.
I was planning to go to the big stone mill in the village and grind a bag of flour to bring back.
Unexpectedly, before the wheat could be washed in the basin, the bright sunshine outside was suddenly overcast, and large raindrops began to fall instantly.
Summer rains always come unexpectedly.
Before the raindrops started falling, Bai Qiqiu, Wen Zhaoran, and Mu Bai hurriedly ran to the courtyard and moved the several bolts of cloth that were drying to the dye house.
But the rain came too suddenly, and the remaining piece of cloth was soaked.
When the three returned to the kitchen, Mu Jin quickly poured each of them a bowl of hot water.
The rain was too heavy to go back inside to dry their clothes, so Mu Jin added a bucket of water to the pot and shooed the three of them to the stove to light a fire and dry their clothes and hair.
A heavy rain brought away the sweltering heat of the past few days.
The sounds of cicadas and frogs, one after another, are so pleasant that they make you want to sleep.
Hibiscus smelled the damp earth, yawned deeply, her eyes glazed over, and nodded vigorously.
Bai Qiqiu, having dried the clothes halfway, said, "Brother, there's a raincoat here in the kitchen. The rain has lessened a bit now, why don't you go back inside and rest for a while?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Jin was so sleepy that she finally nodded, put on her raincoat, and went back to her room to sleep.
After Mu Jin left, Mu Bai roasted himself for a while, then, feeling hot, sat down at the entrance of the kitchen to watch the rain.
The owl was sleeping sprawled out at his feet.
For a moment, the only sounds in the courtyard were the rain and the occasional croaking of frogs and chirping of cicadas.
Wen Zhaoran couldn't sit still any longer. Braving the rain, she ran back into the house, dried her wet hair, changed into clean clothes, lay down on the bed, listened to the rain, and fell asleep peacefully.
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