Upon hearing this, the second sister-in-law choked on her water and laughed so hard she couldn't stand up straight.
Amian was embarrassed by the laughter. Not understanding what it meant, she lowered her face and buried it.
When she was little, she asked her mother how she was born. Her mother was embroidering a handkerchief and said that she was picked up while picking cotton at the foot of the mountain.
Xiao Amian believed it to be true and the next day she went around telling everyone about her bizarre background. It turned out that she was a cotton spirit who came to this world to be a human!
Everyone laughed so hard they were doubled over.
She has always had a gentle and mild personality, like cotton, and never holds grudges. After a busy day, she would go to fetch water in the evening.
One of the reasons why people at this time had to get married when they reached a certain age was that there were many tiring and hard jobs in the countryside, and two people could share some of the burden and save a lot of energy.
Carrying water and chopping wood both require a heavy laborer, and Meng Chijian used to do these things at home.
The two wooden buckets were incredibly heavy when filled with water; not only women, but even short, thin, or elderly men could not lift them.
The villagers had to go upstream to fetch water, which was not only far away but also involved a steep slope. Ah Mian had to watch her step carefully, and each trip was only enough to carry back one bucket of water.
She made four or five trips before she could fill the large water tank only halfway. There are more people in the family now, so more people need to use the water.
Ah Mian could no longer afford to take a luxurious bath; her legs were as weak as two noodles, and she almost fell asleep as soon as she lay down on the bed.
When she woke up the next morning, she felt excruciating pain in her right shoulder, where she had carried water, and she couldn't even lift her arm.
Ah Mian gritted her teeth and trembled as she put on her clothes. Soon she found a way: she used her left hand to do chores during the day and her right hand to carry water, but she was very slow and it was considered lazy.
As she carried water, a few farmers saw her and couldn't help but look at each other, feeling a mix of emotions.
After all, nowadays, any decent family would never let their women come out to fetch water and do heavy work.
"Meng San is a real scoundrel."
"That's right. I used to think he was hardworking, and after all, he's a blacksmith, so he must be strong. I never expected him to treat his wife so badly. Luckily, I didn't introduce my sister to him."
"They look... kind of pitiful."
Upon hearing this, the three tanned men fell silent.
The youngest of them realized his words were inappropriate after speaking, saying, "I was just saying, I'm not going to do anything. Besides, who wants to mess with that evil god Meng San?"
Despite saying that, they were actually concerned about each other's reputations, and the group walked away chatting and laughing.
Ah Mian was covered in sweat, but she wasn't as pitiful as they said.
The blisters on her shoulders had burst, and over the next few days she felt her strength gradually increasing. She used to be able to carry only one bucket of water, but gradually she was able to carry one and a half buckets.
Not only that, she picked up treasures as she walked.
There are many small crabs around the river, only slightly larger than a human fingernail, crawling sideways everywhere.
There are also some small shrimp that you have to wait at the entrance of a hole for a while before you can catch a few with a sudden scoop.
She also found several pretty colored stones. She had sold all the ones from last time, so she picked up fewer this time and planned to keep them for herself.
Hearing the word "pear" again on the road, Lu Amian's eyes lit up, and she quickly went closer to listen.
It turns out that there is a grove of wild pear trees not far from the foot of the mountain behind the village, and it is currently the season for them to bear fruit, so many children from the village have gone to pick them.
However, we didn't pick many, and some of the pears were still quite sour.
Lu Amian was very tempted by what she heard.
She thought that once she got back, she would get to work quickly and couldn't let her arms dawdle like this anymore.
Ah Mian used her left hand to scold her right hand, pinching it twice. "It doesn't hurt that much! You're always faking illness to slack off!"
Then he told me to hit my left hand with my right, saying, "And you're the one blaming me! It's all because you're so clumsy, you can't even do a simple task properly!"
She then picked up the water and headed back to the Meng family's house, trying to mediate the argument as she went, saying, "Alright, alright, I'll pick some pears for you to eat tonight..."
However, as soon as she arrived at her doorstep, she keenly sensed that something was amiss inside.
Upon entering, it was discovered that Meng Chijian, who had originally said he would be away for ten days, had returned after only eight days for some unknown reason.
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