Chapter 81 Chapter 81 Catching the Red-Handed
Two days later, Dou Yicang returned to the Fan family.
Seeing him come back, Father Fan and Mrs. Chen asked him, "Are your parents doing well?"
Dou Yicang replied, "Everything is fine, and the food is delicious."
Zhen'er and Qiao'er had just coaxed Dafu to sleep. When they went out, they saw Dou Yicang who had just returned. Zhen'er said that there was rice soup in the kitchen.
Qiao'er said, "It's good that you're back. Come get me two buckets of water so I can wash Dafu's diapers."
Dou Yicang responded and secretly glanced at Zhen'er who had returned to the house. Her back was so graceful.
Father Fan and Mrs. Chen came back because they missed him, and they didn't ask him to do anything that afternoon.
At night, Dou Yicang lay on a bed made of wooden boards in the outer room where miscellaneous items were piled up, and he couldn't help but think of what his mother had said to him when he went home.
"This second young lady is in her prime, and she hasn't found a husband yet. My son, since you are such a favorite among young ladies, why don't you go out and make a career for yourself?"
Dou's mother said, "The Fan family is a kind family. If we become relatives with them, they will not only watch their daughter suffer after getting married, but will also help us?"
Dou Yicang said to his mother, "Since everyone knows our family is poor, why would they look down upon us and marry their daughter to us? A while ago, a matchmaker came, but that family didn't have much land, so the matchmaker told Madam Chen to kick him out."
"If my family were to go and ask for marriage with such audacity, I'd probably get a beating too."
Dou's mother said, "You are an honest boy. If you go and ask for marriage directly like this, the other party will certainly not agree."
"The Xue family in our village owns a shop in the city. They are quite wealthy. Their third brother is very pretty, yet he was given a generous dowry to marry into the poor Feng family.
It turns out that the young man from the Feng family had seduced the third brother Xue before they got married, and the two of them had already arranged their wedding affairs before the wedding. The third brother Xue was pregnant with the Feng family's child, so when it came to marriage, he was inferior to the Feng family. Not only did he prepare a richer dowry than ordinary marriages, but he also had to beg the Feng family for money.
Dou Yicang scolded his mother and said that he could not do such a thing.
When he returned to the Fan family, he saw how kindly the Fan family treated him. After hearing what his mother said, he couldn't help but feel happy. If he became a relative of the Fan family, it would be a really good marriage.
Besides, the second young lady is not only beautiful, but also has a good personality, is quiet and kind-hearted.
When she came back today and saw that he was tired, she even asked him to have some soup. Her personality was totally unlike that of the sharp-tongued Third Miss.
When he thought about it carefully, he realized that during meals, it was always the Second Miss who added more rice and scooped up some dishes for him to eat.
Normally, when the Fan family ate together, Dou Yicang would not eat at the same table with them. The Fan family would eat in the main room, and Dou Yicang would order some food and eat in the kitchen.
Sometimes the second young lady would ask him if he had enough to eat and give him more food.
Not only in terms of meals, the second young lady also didn't ask him to do anything when doing housework. The third young lady just wanted to push all the things to him. If it was suitable for her to wash clothes, she would have asked him to do it long ago.
The second young lady was different. She did many things by herself, even feeding the chickens and ducks, sweeping up the shit and urine. If she could ask her to do it, she was willing to do it herself.
Dou Yicang wondered why the Second Young Lady treated him so well?
It's impossible to say that she cares about herself like that! If not, why would she care about whether she has enough to eat, and why would she be reluctant to order him around?
I never thought about it this way before, but the more I think about it, the more I feel that this is the case.
Dou Yicang was so happy and excited that he couldn't sleep in the middle of the night. He had already decided in his mind that Zhen'er was interested in him, but she was shy. As long as he took the initiative, things might work out.
There were not many people at home that day. Kang He and Fan Jing went to the city to take care of their business. In the afternoon, the couple were going to the village to slaughter a pig, so Chen Sanfang also went to the city with them to help look after the shop.
Only Father Fan and the two girls were at home, and there was also a little boy named Dafu.
The sun was shining brightly outside. Dad Fan had come down from the fields in the morning and was taking a nap in the house. His snoring was as loud as thunder.
Qiao'er said that the paper and ink at home were used up, so she went to the main house to ask Fan Xin for some. Then she left, leaving Zhen'er alone in the room holding Dafu and playing with him. The little guy got tired after a while and fell asleep.
Dou Yicang saw Zhen'er carrying Dafu into the house to sleep, so he didn't sleep himself. He packed up a few clothes and wanted to wash and dry them while the weather was good.
Dou Yicang, who was leaning against the eaves and pretending to take a nap, suddenly got up. He hurriedly and diligently fetched two buckets of water from the well and poured them into the basin with Zhen'er.
"I'm here."
Zhen'er saw that Dou Yicang did not go for a nap, but instead helped her fetch water, and even took the bucket and started to work herself.
She thought that she had just worked hard in the morning, and if she didn't take a nap at noon, how would she be able to work in the fields in the afternoon?
No matter how strong a person is, he is still a mortal being born and raised by his parents. Even if Dou Yicang is living under their roof, they should not treat him like an animal.
Zhen'er then advised Dou Yicang, "I have finished all the work. Brother Dou, go take a nap. There is still a lot of work to do in the fields this afternoon."
When Dou Yicang heard Zhen'er say this, he lowered his voice and said flirtatiously, "Sister, how can you treat me so well?"
When Zhen'er heard Dou Yicang calling her sister, her face turned red with embarrassment. She thought to herself that this man was so unreasonable. He was older than her, so why did he call her sister?
She kept her mouth shut, as if she wasn't listening to what the man was saying.
Seeing that Zhen'er didn't respond to him, Dou Yicang thought she was still shy, so he took out a silk flower in the shape of a crabapple from his pocket and gave it to Zhen'er.
"Sister, you are so beautiful! When I look at the bright red crabapple blossoms, I can't help but think of you."
Zhen Er's face flushed red with shame after hearing such outrageous words. She was a little bewildered and said, "Please don't say such things again."
"Don't be shy, sister. There's no one at home."
As Dou Yicang spoke, he actually wanted to pin the silk flower on Zhen'er's bun.
Zhen Er was so frightened that she didn't even bother washing her clothes. She said, "Da Fu must be awake. I'll go check on him."
After saying that, he hurriedly stood up and was about to flee into the house.
Seeing this, Dou Yicang wanted to chase after him.
At this moment, Qiao'er came in from outside and coughed lightly.
After hearing Qiao'er's voice, Dou Yicang stopped following.
Qiao'er strode into the courtyard. He glanced at Dou Yicang and saw the crabapple silk flower in his hand. He said,
"Brother Dou, how come you still have such a girl's gift? I wonder which sister gave it to you. You worked so hard this morning, and you didn't even rest at noon to think about someone with this silk flower."
Dou Yicang quickly hid the silk flower in his hand and said, "The third young lady is here."
"This wasn't a gift from anyone. I'm not that lucky to receive a gift from a girl. I just saw it in the county and thought it looked nice, so the silk flower seller gave it to me as a favor."
Qiao'er said, "It was a gift for free, so it's no wonder the silk flower looks so tacky, with the poor material and poorly dyed color. Brother Dou, if you see a girl you like in the future, please don't give her silk flowers like this, or she might be disgusted."
After that, he added, "I knew that Brother Dou would not rest this afternoon, so I asked you to go to Brother Daxin's place to get paper and ink for me."
Dou Yicang gave Qiao'er a lecture, but she was unable to refute him. He just smiled and said, "Miss Third, if you need anything, just call me. I'll go and get things done with you even during lunch break."
Qiao'er ignored him and went back to the house with paper and ink.
When she entered the room, she saw her sister with a blushing face, putting the paper and ink heavily into the cabinet.
"I'm telling you not to treat that farmhand too well. Someone who comes to our house for money to work is just a servant in the city. But we're easy to talk to, and we treat him well. Now that he's doing well, he's even thinking about the master's daughter!"
Qiao'er was just outside when she heard Dou Yicang calling Zhen'er "Sister". She deliberately hid in the dark and watched to see what the farmhand was going to do.
I didn't expect that such a dishonest guy actually wanted to seduce her sister!
Zhen Er felt even more embarrassed when she saw Qiao Er knew about the general. She whispered, "Qiao Er, don't say that."
"Even after all this, you're still speaking for him!"
Qiao'er's delicate brows tightened, and she sat over and took Zhen'er's hand, saying, "Sister, tell me the truth, could it be that you have feelings for him too?"
Zhen'er's eyes suddenly widened, and she said in panic, "That's not the case!"
Qiao'er finally breathed a sigh of relief: "If my sister is blind and falls in love with him, my parents, my elder brother and my husband will be so angry that they will die.
"The matchmaker who came to our house told you that the worst family you could marry into was better than the Dou family, and Mother even kicked the matchmaker out. We're all trying to find a good family for you to live with. If we knew you'd chosen someone worse than that, we'd jump into the fire. How could that be?"
Zhen'er lowered her eyebrows and nodded gently: "I know everything."
Qiao'er said, "When mother and brother-in-law come to visit, I will definitely tell them about this."
Zhen Er felt embarrassed and said, "Let's not talk about it. I'll just stay away from him."
"If he doesn't suffer, he'll still dare to do it. With such a mindset, he'll always find a loophole to exploit."
Qiao'er said, "If you're too embarrassed to speak up, just pretend you don't know what happened, and then I'll just pretend I saw it myself and tell them."
In the afternoon, Kang He, Fan Jing and Chen Sanfang came back from their home in the city. After they returned, Fan's father and Dou Yicang went to the fields again. Taking advantage of this time, Qiao'er told the three of them everything that had happened that day.
When Chen Sanfang heard Dou Yicang wanted to seduce Zhen'er, she was furious. "He's so arrogant! He seems so honest and docile, yet he dares to seduce my girl. I think he has forgotten why he came to our house!"
After hearing this, Fan Jing went straight to the field to get the person without saying anything.
Kang He quickly grabbed Fan Jing.
After knowing this, Kanghe was also angry.
He was not angry because he felt that Dou Yicang's family was poor, but also because he had a crush on a girl from a wealthy family. Poor boys are also human beings, and human beings have hobbies, and that's right.
But he was wrong to use this method.
If he really likes Zhen'er, why would he deliberately go to his lover's house when there are not many people at home? It is obvious that his intentions are not pure.
If he really loved her, why would he not consider the girl's wishes and do things secretly, as if he was afraid that others would know.
"Sanlang, this can't be tolerated!"
Chen Sanfang rarely ignored Kang He. She said, "Just think of it as asking Da Jing to bring the man back and give him a good lesson."
Kang He said, "Catch the thief and the stolen goods. We can take him away when we have nothing to do. If Dou brat denies it now, we will be in the wrong."
"Zhen'er is a reserved person, how could she have the nerve to argue about something like this? Furthermore, that kid would start making a scene outside, saying that our family had wronged and mistreated him, damaging both our family's reputation and Zhen'er's. At this age, there's no time to make mistakes."
Chen Sanfang thought about it and felt that this was indeed the case. When he was looking for a good family, if his reputation was ruined, how could he still be a good family?
Fan Jing frowned: "So we're just going to let him get away with it?"
Kang He said, "For now, we really have no choice but to let him be. Just pretend that we don't know about this and treat him as usual."
"Now that he's got his mind set on this, he won't stop just this once. If he tries to molest Zhen'er again next time, we'll catch him!"
After hearing this, Fan Jing breathed a sigh of relief. Although he was annoyed, he could only do as Kang He said for the time being.
It turned out that Jiao Kanghe was right. Although Dou Yicang failed to achieve his goal once, he did not give up the idea.
Seeing that the Fan family was acting as usual, he thought that they didn't know about the incident, which just meant that Zhen'er didn't talk about it to her family. If she didn't say anything, wouldn't that just confirm his guess?
Little did he know that his whole family was waiting for him to fall into their trap.
In late April, some ingredients were brought home one after another, and a banquet was to be prepared on May 19th to celebrate Dafu's hundredth day.
The whole family wanted to have a great time, so they started preparing early.
One day, Dou Yicang got another chance.
Qiao'er followed Chen Sanfang to the city to do some shopping. Father Fan took a day off and went to Carpenter Wang's house to have a drink and have fun. Only Zhen'er was left at home.
Dou Yicang was working in the fields. When he saw that everyone had gone out, he went home to get a hoe and then slipped back.
When Zhen'er saw him coming home, she hid herself and took Dafu to the main house.
Dou Yicang stopped her and said, "Sister, you haven't talked to me much these days. Today is a rare free day. Why don't you have a good chat with me? It will also help me to relax."
After that, she said that the weather was getting hot, and asked Zhen'er for a mandarin duck handkerchief that she had embroidered herself.
"I will keep it close to my heart, never letting it get lost, and never letting anyone else even see it. At night, I'll put it under my pillow, and I'll have a good dream, and my dreams will be of my sister."
Zhen'er was so frightened by what he said that she no longer blushed with embarrassment, but her face turned pale. However, Dou Yicang was still completely immersed in his own thoughts, showing no sign of restraint. He continued:
"Sister, I know you find it inconvenient to talk at home during the day. If you're willing, we can talk outside. I'll wait for you outside in front of the old haystack at midnight. There's no one there, and I've already checked."
"You are such a shameless person! Who would you want to meet you outside in the middle of the night?"
Dou Yicang was so engrossed in what he said that he didn't even notice what was happening outside. Chen Sanfang pushed open the gate and walked in, cursing.
Even though Chen Sanfang was old, she felt very embarrassed to hear Dou Yicang's shameless words. She cursed loudly:
"You're a toad dreaming of swan flesh, coaxing an innocent girl into spending the night with you. You're a pervert with a sinister heart. You've been so patient pretending to be honest for months. If I hadn't been late coming back to get my things today, I would have been fooled by you!"
Dou Yicang was frightened and turned around to see Chen Sanfang and Qiao'er coming back. His heart was beating so fast that it almost jumped out of his chest.
When Zhen'er saw Chen Sanfang and her sister, she felt like she had seen her savior. She covered her face and cried and quickly ran behind them. She didn't know that this was a trap set by her family to catch Dou Yicang.
Dou Yicang said in panic, "Mrs. Chen, I just wanted to say a few words to the Second Miss. I didn't mean anything else."
"Pooh!"
Chen Sanfang spat at him. She was so angry that she wanted to curse him out in the yard, but she was doing it in broad daylight and was afraid that the villagers would hear her and the truth would be distorted, so she suppressed her anger.
"I caught you for real, and you're still trying to argue. Just wait, my eldest brother Sanlang will come over and show you around!"
In the afternoon, Kang He and Fan Jing came back and heard that Dou Yicang had been caught in the act. After hearing the whole story and seeing Zhen'er crying with red eyes, Fan Jing kicked Dou Yicang hard, making him roll on the ground.
If it was just a few flirtatious words, it would be fine and might not make people so angry, but this person had a sinister mind and actually wanted to coax Zhen'er out.
Kang He let Fan Jing vent his anger, and then he brought the man in front of him for interrogation.
"I already know the whole story. There's no need for you to argue. I just want to ask you, since you came into the Fan family, has the family ever treated you unfairly?"
Since the day Dou Yicang came to the Fan family, the two people he feared the most were Kang He and Fan Jing.
At first, he didn't know that Kang He was the one in charge at home. He just felt that Kang He was not easy to fool and was a very shrewd person. In his heart, he was more afraid of Fan Jing, who was taciturn and had a cold face.
After living under the same roof for a long time, I realized that the Fan family was able to get to where they are today from being a poor family because both husband and wife were not people who were easy to mess with.
He usually respects it, but it's nothing special.
He had evil thoughts and was caught red-handed. He was already at a loss for words, so how could he not be afraid?
Seeing Kang He questioning him, he replied in a low voice, "No. My master treats me very kindly."
Hearing this, Kang He angrily slammed his palm on the table: "Since you feel that your family has never treated you unfairly, why are you repaying kindness with evil and harboring evil intentions towards them?"
Dou Yicang was frightened when he saw Kang He's expression change, and said, "I, I really like the Second Miss!"
"Sincerity, you're still treating me like a fool! Is your sincerity just to trick a girl into meeting you outside in the middle of the night?"
Kang He scolded, "You think I don't know what you're thinking. You just want to seduce her away. Then you can control her and then control the Fan family!"
Kang He revealed Dou Yicang's thoughts. His face flushed with fear and shame. He knew that he could no longer hide it, so he began to plead:
"I didn't mean to do it. The Second Young Lady is kind to me, and I wanted to marry her, but I was afraid the main family wouldn't agree. I had no other choice, so I did this. It's also my mother's fault. She told me that I should first win the girl's favor, and then talk to my family about the marriage so that it would be easier to succeed."
"Please forgive me this time, considering this is my first time committing the crime."
Kang He angrily scolded: "Don't use your infatuation to cover up your dirty thoughts. People treat you well, but you plot against them. Who in the world would dare to be kind to you?"
"You're still not being honest. Let me tell you, your family already knew about your first offense. Since you've been here for six months and done a good job, they wanted to give you a chance to correct your mistakes. But you took their tolerance as indulgence!"
"There's no way we can keep someone like you at home these days. Just pack up your things and go back to where you came from. If we get entangled again, it won't be as simple as it was today."
Kang He said coldly, "You haven't experienced my methods yet. If you want to give it a try, I'm willing to put in the effort."
Dou Yicang was so frightened by Kang He's words that he could not speak. He packed up his things and went home that night.
Fortunately, Kang He had been careful before and only paid half a year's rent without paying it off in full, otherwise there would have been more disputes.
When Dou Yicang went home, his mother thought that he had been given leave to visit her again, but this time he did not bring back any food or daily necessities, so she wondered what was wrong with him.
Dou Yicang cried, "You were still thinking about food and money, but the Fan family kicked you out."
Dou's mother's heart skipped a beat. "My son, how could they chase you away? I saw how much they loved you before."
"I just listened to you and told me to seduce the second young lady, but she refused, so the plan didn't work out, and Madam Chen caught me red-handed. Brother Fan beat me up, and now I can't go back to work for the Fan family anymore!"
Dou Yicang complained to his mother a lot.
When Dou's mother heard her son had been beaten, she felt a pang of pain in her heart: "How could they be so rude and even hit you? We will go to the county government to sue them!"
"Sue, how? Not to mention that if the county government also knew that I went to seduce the young lady of the master's family, would our family still have any dignity?
"Kansaburo is such a powerful figure, and we have no acquaintances and no connections, so how can we possibly get past him?"
Dou's mother also understood these principles, but she said those foolish words in a fit of anger.
In fact, she was still resentful that the thing did not work out and she lost such a good job.
It was a pity for the mother and son.
On the Fan family's side, the family comforted Zhen'er and gave the two girls some careful instructions, and the matter was finally over.
At night, Kanghe carried Dafu around the house for a while.
The little guy has grown a little heavier in just over two months. He has lost the dark and wrinkled appearance when he was just born and has gradually become whiter and tenderer.
The bad things happening at home made me feel unhappy, but I felt a little better after holding the child for a while.
Seeing that Fan Jing looked unhappy, Kang He knew that he was still unhappy about what happened during the day, so he hugged Dafu.
"This isn't Zhen'er's fault. As a grown-up girl, it's inevitable that people will keep an eye on her. Furthermore, Zhen'er has such a good temper. Although she's always praised, she also suffers the most. If she were as capable as Qiao'er, it would be better."
Fan Jing said, "My mother passed away early, and since then I have been in the mountains a lot, so I have neglected her too much."
Kang He knew that Fan Jing felt guilty towards his sister.
Although Chen Sanfang was a stepmother, she was kind to the two girls. To be fair, it was not an exaggeration to treat them as her own children.
Even if they are biological children, they are often not treated equally, and the youngest one always gets more love.
Zhen'er is a weak person by nature, and being born in such a family, it is inevitable that she will be more sensitive.
Fan Jing felt that he had not paid enough attention to and taken care of his sister, which was why she became so petty.
But this was not Fan Jing's fault. The family was so poor at that time that the most important thing was to fill their stomachs. There was no need to worry about other things. It was a great blessing that he did not let his family become so poor that they had to sell their children.
Kang He comforted Fan Jing: "Don't think too much and always take everything on yourself. Life is full of ups and downs. Fortunately, this matter was a close call. We will just pay more attention to it in the future."
Fan Jing didn't say anything, so he could only make up for it as Kang He said.
He lowered his eyes to glance at Dafu, who was kicking his feet in his arms, and suddenly remembered something: "After Dou Yicang was driven away, only Dad was busy with farm work at home."
Kang He sighed: "That's right."
Even if the family is short of people, Dou Yicang will definitely be kicked out. If he doesn't do anything wrong, the family will be happy to use him, but who can blame him for being dishonest?
"The most frustrating thing about employing people is when you're trying to use them well, but something goes wrong halfway through.
I think that if someone is constantly in and out of the house, it's still not reliable to use a farmhand. It's more reliable to buy one like that. After all, they have a physical bond, so people are wary of them."
Fan Jing didn't know what the buying price was, but it was definitely more expensive than renting a long-term worker.
But given the current situation at home, we definitely can't get by without help, even if it costs more money.
Kang He said, "I'll go ask Brother Bao San tomorrow to see if he has any clues."
Fan Jing responded.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
