"If you want to fight, go outside and fight!"
Aunt Liu was kicked to the ground and started scratching wildly with her arms outstretched, during which a black shoe flew out.
The matchmaker's connections were renowned in the village. She shouted a few words, then grabbed Aunt Liu, and the two of them tumbled all the way to the dirt road in front of the door.
Amian peeked out and said, "They're both in very good health."
The matchmaker was a plump old woman, but she was very agile; Aunt Liu was a thin old woman, but she was very strong.
The two were evenly matched, but at this moment, all the single men and women in the village were attracted by the commotion and rushed forward to take sides.
Aunt Liu was restrained, and the matchmaker took the opportunity to slap her several times. Finally venting her anger, the matchmaker straightened up, hastily straightened her clothes, and clearly recounted the whole story to the villagers: "You, you can't stand seeing others do well when you're not doing well yourself. Grandma Meng's eyesight is poor, so she hired a helper to take care of her pregnant daughter-in-law, and what happened? You went and stirred up trouble for them, and now that you're in trouble, you've even thrown mud into my fish soup!"
Wasting food is indeed a serious crime in the countryside, and the villagers whispered among themselves, "How can there be such a bad person?"
Ah Mian wants to say that not only did they waste our family's food, but they also wasted our family's firewood.
However, she wasn't one to kick someone when they're down, and besides, there was no point in saying anything more.
Aunt Liu was bruised and swollen, missing a shoe, and the two deep wrinkles at the corners of her mouth looked as if they had been carved with a knife. Despite losing the argument, she refused to back down, muttering a lot of foul language as she limped towards the village entrance.
"I'll tear your mouth apart!" The matchmaker lunged at her menacingly, and the villagers blocked Liu Da Niang's path.
Aunt Liu was so angry that she trembled all over, her whole body twitching strangely.
The villagers, thinking they were about to be driven mad or that something terrible had happened, quickly backed away, saying, "We didn't do anything to you, don't try to pin this on us..."
After convulsing for a while, Aunt Liu suddenly turned around and ran away, escaping in a sorry state!
The matchmaker threw a lump of mud at her, then took a breath and said, "Let's all go home. If she dares to come back, beat her to death."
"Looks like we'll have to find someone else." Meng Chijian calmly went back to the kitchen to clean up the mess. He scooped out the blackened fish and shrimp, ladled out the muddy crucian carp soup, mashed it up, and fed it to the chickens at home.
Finally, wash all the iron pots thoroughly.
Meng Jing discovered that only A Mian could make him furious.
Otherwise, no matter how big the problem is, he will still do what he always has.
Knock knock.
There was a knock at the door, and Aunt Wang appeared carrying a wooden tray. "I didn't know if you still wanted it, but I've already made it all, so please come and try it."
"It's alright, I was just hungry." A-Mian looked around and saw a tofu pie, a bowl of egg drop soup, and a bowl of stir-fried snails.
Aunt Wang said, "The snails are a bit spicy, A-Mian, you should just eat light dishes. You can't eat such spicy food during your postpartum period. I thought we shouldn't waste them, so I stir-fried them together."
Amian tried the tofu pie and egg drop soup. The taste was that of decent home-style cooking, light and refreshing with the natural flavors of the ingredients. "It's quite delicious."
Meng's mother smiled and said, "Aunt Wang, our A-Mian loves your cooking. I'm so sorry to have asked you to bring eggs and tofu. Take this stir-fried snail home with your rice. Doesn't our uncle like that?"
After some consideration, Meng Chijian concluded that Aunt Wang was indeed a suitable person. She had previously given birth to five children—two sons and three daughters—four of whom were now married. Her grandchildren were already seven or eight years old, so Aunt Wang no longer needed to worry about them.
They're neighbors, so it's convenient and I trust them.
A-Mian tasted it and thought it was pretty good, so Meng's mother pulled Aunt Wang into the house and arranged for her to come and take care of A-Mian in two months.
The monthly wage of six hundred coins was paid by Mencius' mother.
She said that when Meng Er's family had their first child, Hu Zi, she could still see faintly, and she was the one who took care of him. Now that it was A Mian's turn, she couldn't take care of him, but she always wanted to be fair to the children on the surface, so she had to pay for it.
However, Meng Er's family, whom she had taken care of for half a year, only received six months' wages from A Mian.
Meng Chijian said once that he had the money, which he had prepared beforehand, but seeing that his mother insisted, he didn't say anything more.
Seeing that there was nothing more for her to do, A-Mian took A-Dou to play at the foot of the back mountain after finishing her meal.
Soon after, Xiao Jing arrived as well, having been ordered to keep the child company (and look after him).
On a spring day, a gentle breeze caresses the face on the grass, making it a very pleasant experience.
Amian let Adou eat grass by himself, took out a large oilcloth from the bamboo basket and put it on the grass, sat down and picked up nearby stones and threw them into the stream. "Xiaojing, there are ferns here that we can dig."
Meng Jing skipped over and took a closer look. "This one's too old, it definitely won't taste good. The ones across the river are alright though..."
Ah Mian was very skilled at skipping stones; the small stone skipped four or five times on the river surface before sinking into the water.
As she played, she rubbed her eyes.
etc……
A bamboo basket floated swaying on the river.
Amian got up to get a closer look, but Xiaojing quickly grabbed a thick branch, hooked it precisely onto the handle of the bamboo basket, and lifted it onto the shore in a few swift movements.
"You're amazing! Where did you find such a long branch?" A-Mian thought it was a serendipitous encounter. "Quick, open it and see what's inside!"
Meng Jing opened the bamboo basket, which contained dozens of bamboo shoots and a wild pheasant with its feet tied up.
"What good luck!" A-Mian stroked her chin and leaned closer to Xiao-Jing. "How could you be so lucky? Don't you want to explain?"
Xiao Jing tried to remain calm, "How would I know? Maybe it was meant for someone else, and we just happened to find it."
Amian was skeptical.
“Then I’ll put the bamboo basket back into the water. It’s definitely for the people downstream.” Meng Jing pretended to throw the bamboo basket back.
Amian quickly said, "These are unclaimed items; if we found them, they're ours."
Meng Jing was secretly pleased with herself, thinking that it was fortunate that A Mian was with her; otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy to fool her.
Looking into the distance, she could see figures moving among the trees on the sloping mountain, which made her feel even better. Xiao Jing saw A Mian engrossed in counting the bamboo shoots, looking incredibly cute, and couldn't resist giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.
Amian said, "There are sixteen bamboo shoots. They'll taste delicious when stir-fried."
The Meng family always liked to steal from their relatives; she was used to it.
As the two were chatting and laughing, a soft sobbing sound was heard.
"I don't want to live anymore. How did my life turn out like this..."
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