"Aunt Qiao, are you saying that the village chief deliberately wanted to embarrass me?"
Xia Manni spoke in a low voice. She had just asked Erwa to take Potato to guard the door. After all, Aunt Qiao came to tell her for her own good, and she couldn't let Aunt Qiao be discovered by others.
Aunt Qiao nodded, then shook her head.
Although she knew that the village chief was not a kind person, she had no evidence after all.
So she said, "This is just my guess, but the village chief has done this before. If anyone in the village disobeys him or goes beyond his control, he always finds a way to deal with them."
"Aunt Qiao, thank you for telling me so much." Only then did Xia Manni truly trust Aunt Qiao. It was not her fault that she could not trust anyone in her current situation.
Moreover, she came to Shizai Village later, and the situation in the village was complicated. If Aunt Qiao came to trick her today, she would really offend the village chief.
Although she has some skills and brains, these can only guarantee the safety of her family and cannot be taken seriously.
"Sister Mannier, please don't be polite with me. Since you came to the village ten years ago, you have really given us women a lot of ambition. Being with you has made me feel much better. You don't call me aunt for nothing. You can't be careless about this matter."
"I understand, Aunt Qiao. I will keep a low profile from now on. But if someone comes to bully us, I will also fight them directly."
Aunt Qiao looked at Xia Manni who suddenly became serious and actually laughed.
"Yes, that's right. Just remember to try not to kill anyone. After all, you're fine, but the main thing is that the four children are still young and need to find a way out in the future."
Xia Manni couldn't agree more. If she could completely ignore the lives of her four children when she first came here, it would be impossible for her to only care about herself now.
"Auntie, I won't be burning charcoal tomorrow. Everyone knows I'm burning charcoal now, and the village chief has expressly forbidden me from going up the mountain. If your firewood reserves are insufficient, you can just burn it for a day and save it."
Xia Manni didn't say anything else. She believed Aunt Qiao would understand. This matter couldn't be made too much of a fuss. Now that the preparations were almost done, they could just keep a low profile for the winter.
Sure enough, Aunt Qiao understood what Xia Manni meant. She patted her hands and said, "It's because of this incident. You had good intentions, but you ended up in this situation today."
Xia Manni shook her head. "If someone wants to frame me, it will happen today or tomorrow, if not this incident, then the next one."
Aunt Qiao didn't expect Xia Manni to be so insightful and open-minded. When she heard her say that, she felt that her worries might be unnecessary.
"Okay, that's all you need to know. I won't stay here any longer. Remember, you can come to me if you have any problems in the future. Although you call me aunt, you are almost the same age as my sister from my mother's family. It will be hard for you."
Xia Manni took Aunt Qiao's hand and said softly, "Don't worry, Aunt Qiao, I have a machete, you forgot. I'll go and take you there."
She saw that the moon had already set outside, so she guessed that tomorrow wouldn't be a good day. Aunt Qiao's house wasn't very close to theirs, and after all, she had come to care for her, so she should send her back.
"Oh, no need. Your uncle brought me here and is waiting outside the door. He's a coward and is naturally afraid of dogs. Haha..."
Aunt Qiao's words caused everyone to laugh.
"Alright, just send it here. Go back quickly. I'm not saying that if the opportunity is right, you, Mannie, can find a man..."
Aunt Qiao left after she finished speaking, without giving Xia Manni any chance to speak.
"Don't worry, I won't look for it. I can be used as a man. I have a machete." Xia Manni explained to the little kids while holding a machete. If she hadn't explained, the kids would have looked like they were about to cry.
Si Nier hugged Xia Manni, and Xia Manni took Si Nier and San Wa in her arms. Da Wa and Er Wa held onto Xia Manni's clothes, and the family of five closed the gate and went into the house.
But none of them noticed that a man left not far from the yard.
After Xia Manni returned to the house, she sent the children to bed. Since they didn't have to go up the mountain tomorrow, they didn't have to get up too early, so it wouldn't matter if they stayed up late tonight.
She lay in bed thinking about what happened today. It's not that she was scared. But she thought of a possibility. She remembered that when she went to settle the score with Cui Yanzi, Cui Yanzi mentioned a "him".
Xia Manni was not sure whether this 'he' was a man or a woman.
But this person must be someone who wants to plot against Xia Manni. However, this person must be afraid of her, otherwise why would he do such a sneaky thing to her?
What role does the village chief play here?
Either she was being used by others, or she really did offend the village chief.
If the village chief wanted to make fun of her, he would come to her later.
It seems that she is still not strong enough. If she were strong enough, no one would dare to plot against her in secret.
As she was thinking, Xia Manni fell asleep.
In the following days, Xia Manni took her four children to the house to practice martial arts, calligraphy, or use an abacus. In short, they had as much free time as they could have.
This incident quickly spread throughout the entire Shizai Village.
"Hey, have you heard? Xia Manni doesn't go out anymore. She teaches their kids at home every day."
"Hey, you still need to be obedient, that noise is a bit too loud."
"So, do you think we should still go chop firewood?"
"Yes, have you heard that people from the neighboring villages are coming to the mountain to cut down trees?"
"Yeah, it's getting colder now. Let's go and light some charcoal."
…
As for why the villagers of Shizai Village heard it so clearly, it was because Xia Manni asked Dawa to open the courtyard gate every day.
The sound of their farts can be heard outside.
That day, after the Xia family finished breakfast, Xia Manni took the children for a few laps in the yard. Now, they not only run in the yard, but also take them for a couple of laps in the fields.
After the run, Xia Manni asked the children to rest on the side. She looked at the sky which was getting increasingly darker. It was really getting colder these days.
The elderly people no longer go out, and if the young children come out, they are wearing cotton clothes.
"Oh my, what kind of weather is this? It's not even the twelfth lunar month yet and I'm wearing a thick cotton coat."
"Yes, it looks like the wind is going to pick up."
Is it windy?
Xia Manni also felt that the wind seemed to be getting stronger. She looked at the mountain not far away. There was still smoke on the mountain. It seemed that it was too cold these days and many people were burning charcoal.
"Let's go home." The wind was a little strange, and Xia Manni urged the children to go home.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she reached the door of her house, Xia Manni heard bursts of screams: "Fire, fire!"
She looked up at the distant mountain. The fire on the mountain was burning rapidly due to the wind.
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