After visiting their son, Xu Genbao and his wife went back into the mountains. It was already October, and the weather was neither too hot nor too cold, which was the perfect time to make money.
This time, he didn't bring any money with him, only the cotton thread he needed.
Liu was no longer worried. Although she was unfamiliar with the place and had to endure hardship in the mountains, she was not bullied because Zhang Juntou's men led her there.
Xu Genbao left all the money from selling chickens with his elder brother, and asked Xu Genyou to help him buy bricks, stones, and timber.
He also wanted to help everyone repair the house.
There was never enough farm work to do. As time went by, after the rice harvest, it was time to cut sweet potato vines, dry pig feed, soak pig feed, dig sweet potatoes, and plant winter wheat.
The villagers' discussions about Tao'er's mother's narrow escape from death gradually faded away.
Because nobody knows what happened.
Even Qin, who eavesdropped every day, didn't know that Tian Gui was brewing medicine and said he would never have children again.
Qin scoffed: How can you eat chicken if you don't have children!
She was craving chicken, and Lianhua got caught up in it again, with Lianhua nagging her every day: "You have food and drink every day and you're never hungry, so why don't you have children?"
My daughter-in-law is in postpartum confinement, so I have a reason to eat chicken with her.
Chickens in farmhouses are like money pots; you can't just eat them whenever you want. Not only are you reluctant to part with them, but if the neighbors find out, they'll say, "You're so greedy you don't even keep the eggs; you don't even spare the laying hens."
When her mother-in-law said again that she wouldn't have children, Lianhua finally couldn't take it anymore and retorted: "You've had children too, how could you not know that I don't have children? If I have even the slightest contact with Genqing, you get up and knock on the door to pee, how am I supposed to have children!"
Qin was furious: "Why can't you have children? You can't have children and you're blaming me? I know exactly how many times you slept with Genqing."
I had sex with him once back then. Genqing's father slept in a separate bed from me and still had a child.
You two sleep together every day, and you still want to touch each other every day? Aren't you ashamed?
Lotus blushed with embarrassment and ran out the door crying.
Qin stamped her foot and cursed, "Shameless hussy, touching men every day."
Lianhua ran crying all the way to the edge of the cliff, where her family's sweet potato field was located.
Xu Genqing was cutting sweet potato vines in the field at that moment.
Nearby, the two little yellow calves that were raised by the family were eating vines with their heads down, their bellies already bulging from eating the fresh vine leaves.
The remaining rattan needs to be collected and dried, and can be used to feed pigs and cattle in winter.
Xu Genqing was busy when he saw his wife running towards him crying.
"What's wrong? Why are you crying again?"
He carried the sweet potato vines over, and gathered all the surrounding sweet potato vines together, preparing to carry them back using the backpack placed next to him.
Lotus plopped down on the support frame, wiping away tears as she sobbed, "It's all your mother's fault! She kept saying I couldn't have children, and that I was shameless, always clinging to men!"
Xu Genqing frowned: "Let her say what she wants. Just bear with it. Once the sweet potatoes are harvested, we'll work with Uncle Tian and the others to repair the house and partition it up..."
Lianhua grabbed him and said, "I don't want to wait. Why should I have to endure it every day? It's not your mother who has to endure it! This isn't my problem. It's your mother who won't let us have this child."
Xu Genqing was also helpless: "That's just my mother's temper, what can I do? I've tried to talk to her, but she won't listen. You can't expect me to beat her up like Aunt Jiang did."
When Lianhua heard this again, she got so angry that she grabbed a sweet potato vine and threw it at him: "You only know how to bully me! I want to go back to my parents' home!"
She knew that Xu Genqing simply couldn't handle his mother-in-law. In the past, when her mother-in-law and sister-in-law argued, other uncles and aunts could offer some advice.
Now that there's no one at home to manage him, his mother keeps nagging him every day, leaving Xu Genqing feeling helpless.
Unless Aunt Jiang takes action.
Even though Xu Genqing felt his mother was wrong, he wouldn't let anyone beat Qin Shi.
Going back to one's parents' home is even more difficult; one can't even bring oneself to say it when going home, and will likely get scolded.
Lotus was furious and sat on the ground, crying loudly.
Xu Genqing panicked. Although his land was near the foot of the mountain and far from other people's land, with Aunt Jiang's large sweet potato field in between, there was no one else around.
But Lianhua cried so loudly that if people heard it and spread the word, they would definitely say that she was beating her wife.
Aunt Jiang said that there was chaos and war everywhere, and you never knew when you would die.
If you're going to live each day, you should live it to the fullest.
If you really can't stand it, then don't stay. If anyone beats or scolds his wife, she'll whip them with a yellow thorn stick: see if it hurts when the stick hits her own flesh.
With the Qin family and Xu Genbao already serving as examples, everyone knows that if the village chief says he'll hit someone, he really will. Xu Genqing doesn't want to be punished as well.
He quickly sat down next to Lianhua and coaxed her gently, "Don't cry, don't cry. I'll tell Mother not to worry about it when I get back."
Lianhua felt aggrieved when she recalled Qin's words of scolding her for being "shameless".
Knowing that even if Xu Genqing went back and told his mother not to interfere, it would be useless. Instead, she would think that he was stirring up trouble and causing the mother and son to quarrel, so she cried even harder.
Xu Genqing also felt exhausted. He plopped down next to the lotus flower and sighed, "What can I do? I'm my mother's only son."
Lianhua sobbed, "You all said that Aunt Jiang used to love to throw tantrums and curse people, but after Xiaotian left, she stopped cursing people so easily."
“My sister-in-law used to argue with my mother-in-law when they were together, but now that she’s gone, why does my mother-in-law seem to be swearing at her even more?”
Xu Genqing couldn't explain what was wrong with his mother either, but although Aunt Jiang still hit and scolded people, she was much better than his mother.
After exchanging a few words, Lianhua gradually stopped crying. Her mother-in-law was like this, and she could only wait for more rooms to be built so that she could live further away.
Xu Genqing saw the sugar candies growing on the hillside next to him, which were already turning golden, and he immediately perked up. These were the snacks for the children in the mountains, although it was still too early for them to eat them.
Golden cherry, also known as sugar pot
He hurriedly ran over and picked a few fruits, then rubbed the thorns off on a stone, and peeled off the seeds inside before handing them to Lotus: "Eat this, it's sweet! If it's delicious, I'll peel some more for you."
Lotus, being a mountain child herself, had naturally tasted candy before. So, while still hiccuping and crying, she ate the candy: "...Uh! It's not frosted...Uh! It's a bit sour!"
Xu Genqing glanced at the piles of corn stalks still stacked by the field, then at his wife whose face was streaked with tears, and suddenly felt a pang of longing in his heart.
Lianhua was scolded by her mother-in-law every day. He was only twenty years old and had never had a proper night's sleep with his wife in his arms in the two years since they got married.
Then I suddenly realized how stupid I was, making my wife and myself feel wronged. This place was a desolate wilderness with no one else around.
So, Lianhua watched as Xu Genqing spread out the sweet potato vines and gathered corn stalks to build a small shed.
Her face instantly turned bright red, and Xu Genqing pulled her inside...
...Time slowly passed, and the well-fed little yellow calf had nothing to do.
With its owner no longer in sight, and ignoring the rustling haystacks nearby, it began to stroll leisurely, gradually making its way into the village...
Until someone shouted, "The cow ran away! The cow ran away! The cow was eating vegetables, whose turn is to raise the cow today?"
Xu Gensheng ran over and grabbed the little yellow calf that had already eaten a lot of green vegetables, and started asking each household which family was raising cattle today.
If the cow is lost, the family must pay for it. Make them work as oxen to plow the fields and work themselves to death every day. They deserve it!
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