Seeing that Mo Xiaomei's words were neither evasive nor dodging, and even had a hint of teasing, Liu Quan quickly grasped Mo Xiaomei's hand and said, "My beauty, with your looks, how could your husband bear to see you working so hard? Why do you need to sigh and complain here?"
Mo Xiaomei withdrew her hand at the opportune moment, feigning panic, and said, "Husband, what are you doing? I am already married." With that, she ran away.
"I never expected to encounter such a stunning beauty in this godforsaken place. She's much prettier than that ice-selling lady!" Liu Quan said to the servant.
The two servants looked at their master with a puzzled expression, then at the runaway Mo Xiaomei, and said, "Master, are you sure you have good eyesight? How can she be called a beauty?"
Although the woman was somewhat attractive, even in this rural village, she was hardly a stunning beauty, not even half as pretty as the woman selling iced drinks.
Liu Quan gave the servant a hard knock on the head and said, "Do you doubt my eyesight? This lady is not only stunningly beautiful, but her skills are definitely better than that ice-selling lady's! Do you believe me?"
The servant believed it; the ice-selling woman wasn't as seductive as this one in front of him.
Mo Xiaomei thought about Liu Quan, whom she met at the village entrance today. Not only was he more handsome than her husband Niu Er, but his clothes also suggested that he was either the brother-in-law of a high-ranking official or the son of a wealthy family.
Although Niu Er wasn't handsome, he wasn't ugly either. Niu Er had a kiln-firing skill, and he made a living from it. Although he wasn't rich, he wasn't poor either.
It was also very good to Mo Xiaomei.
Niu Er's parents only had one son, Niu Er. They originally had two sons, but the elder one couldn't survive, and they had no other children. Moreover, they were kind people and never said a bad word about Mo Xiaomei to outsiders.
Offspring were still very important to the people of the Great Zhou.
Some families will beat or scold their daughters-in-law because they have not been able to conceive for a long time, or even because they have not given birth to a son.
But Niu Er's parents never said a harsh word to Mo Xiaomei, and Mo Xiaomei never suffered any mistreatment.
These days are extremely comfortable.
Mo Xiaomei tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep. Her mind was filled with the image of the man holding her hand during the day, and she felt a constant itch in her heart.
The sky finally brightened.
On the eighth day of the seventh lunar month, although it was still quite hot, a light rain fell in the morning, and the air was filled with a gentle warmth.
A dozen or so female workers each performed their duties.
Sang Yu was slicing fruit, and Niu Cuihua was juicing it. "Sang Yu, aren't you planning to build a house? When are you planning to start?" Niu Cuihua asked.
“No rush, no rush,” Sang Yu said.
The three siblings of the Sang family used to sleep in pig cages or dilapidated temples. This spring, they built a small bamboo house on wasteland.
However, bamboo houses are not very warm; they are fine to live in during the summer, but not in the winter.
"Cuihua, is it possible to stay at your school?" Sang Yu was thinking that when school started, he wanted his ten-year-old brother to study in Niushan Village. The tuition was cheaper than in Sangjia Town, but it was closer to him and much more convenient.
"No, that won't do!" "However, if you talk to the teacher, it's possible! You want your younger brother to come study?" "He can come to our house to study! We don't charge tuition."
Niu Cuihua said, "As long as he helps us with some chores after class, that's fine!"
"I heard you have a younger sister. How old is she? If she's older, she can help my mom with some chores. We'll pay her wages so she doesn't work for free!" "If she's younger, she can keep my three little sisters company!"
"She's almost twelve, a bit older than you!" Sang Yu said, her face slightly flushed. "You, you mustn't cut your hand!"
She actually cut her hand, as she had said.
"Ouch!" Blood immediately appeared on her finger.
Sang Yu tore strips of cloth from her cheap, coarse linen clothes and wrapped them around Niu Cuihua's hands.
“You rest, I can do it all by myself!” Sang Yu said.
Niu Cuihua laughed and said, "How could I be so delicate? When we were poor, what kind of work didn't I do with my parents?"
That she started working in the fields with Niu Da when she was eight years old is not wrong.
Her smile made Sangyu's face turn even redder.
"Sangyu, listen, what's all this commotion outside?" Niu Cuihua tugged at Sangyu's sleeve and asked.
Chen Yu and Niu Meihua, who were making pickles, and Niu Da and Niu Yong, who were picking melons in the field, also heard the noise and came to the front door.
Little Fu Bao, Niu Bao Lan, and Niu Bao Zhu, the three little radish kids, held hands and ran out the door. When the female workers saw this commotion, they all came out as well.
A finely dressed man and four servants arrived, accompanied by music and carrying several boxes.
Chen Yu tugged at Xiang Jinlan's hand and asked, "Auntie, which girl is he engaged to?"
Liu Quan's two servants each led a pig, and one of them was also carrying a box. Liu Quan himself was looking dashing and debonair, waving a fan.
"I don't know!" Xiang Jinlan said.
Niu Dadao: "Isn't that Liu Quan, the county magistrate's brother-in-law?"
He didn't have a good impression of Liu Quan.
Ever since his wife stopped selling ice, he made a special trip to his cold drink stall to inquire about his wife, Chen Yu, and his daughters.
"Where is he going right now?" Niu Da couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
Little Fu Bao smiled and tugged at Niu Da, saying, "Daddy, don't worry! Let's take another look!"
Liu Quan swaggered past the Niu family's house and headed towards the direction of Niu the Mute's house.
“This is really strange. There are no young women of marriageable age over there! There are only two little girls, the older one is only ten years old! The rest are all boys!” Chen Yu said.
“Yes!” Xiang Jinlan said.
"Could it be that he's going to marry someone else's wife?" Little Tan asked, slightly surprised. "There are some young wives over there, but the best looking one is from Niu Er's family!"
The old, young and old, women and children of Group Nine all put down their work and went to Niu Er's house together. Liu Quan indeed stayed at Niu Er's house.
Niu Er's father, Niu Aiguo, also worked in a kiln and was in his fifties. His mother, Mei Saihua, was also in her fifties.
When Niu Aiguo and Mei Saihua saw the people who had arrived, they went up to them and asked, "Who are you?"
"My name is Liu Quan, and I have come here to propose marriage!" Liu Quan said.
Upon hearing this, Niu Aiguo's face turned red with anger. "This gentleman must have come to the wrong place. I don't have any unmarried girls in my family!"
Liu Quan smiled and said, "Old man, I'm not here to marry your daughter, but to take your daughter-in-law as a concubine!"
As he spoke, he ordered his men to open the two boxes, saying:
"This is twenty thousand copper coins," "That is two hundred taels of silver," "These copper coins are my reward to you! The silver is a gift for the little beauty!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com