Yao Shiling was stunned.
"What is the eldest sister doing?" Wen Peng couldn't help but ask himself.
The neighbors on the left and right showed varying degrees of surprise.
"Wen Qing, is she cooking?"
"Steamed wild vegetable buns?"
"So it wasn't a fire after all..."
"I was so scared, I even brought my cow feeder."
"Ha, at least it's not on fire."
"..."
These soft voices reached Wen Qing's ears, and she felt ashamed of her past self. She had simply made lunch, and everyone thought she was setting a fire. What terrible things had she done in her past life?
Wen Qing forced a smile and said, "Uncle and Aunt, I'm so sorry to have caused you misunderstanding, and I'm also sorry to have troubled you to come all this way. Have you all eaten? I steamed some wild vegetable buns, please have a taste."
After Wen Qing said this, there was complete silence.
Wen Qing had never been so polite and courteous before. Even her own family looked at Wen Qing with suspicion. Wen Qing knew that she was quite different from before, so she remained silent.
"No need, no need, we have everything we need at home. Sister-in-law Wen, since there's nothing else, let's all go back and eat." The older woman said, "Wen Qing has suddenly become sensible." As she said this, she stole a glance at Wen Qing, afraid that her words might offend her.
"Have something to eat here," Yao Shiling invited.
"No, no, everything's ready at home."
"Yes, yes, everything is ready at home."
"You eat, you eat. We're leaving."
"..."
No one wanted to stay and try the wild vegetable buns. Firstly, everyone knew the Wen family was poor. Secondly, who would dare eat Wen Qing's food? If Wen Qing got angry, she might come at them with a cleaver, and what would they do then?
The neighbors turned and left, and once outside the fenced yard, they began to whisper and murmur among themselves.
"What's wrong with Wen Qing? Why did she suddenly lose her temper?"
"Yeah, they actually steamed wild vegetable buns. Tsk tsk, who would have thought?"
"Is it possession by a ghost or what?"
"I'd rather believe she burned down the house than believe she cooked."
"You don't know yet, do you? She had a big fight with Yao Shiling this morning. My husband and I were in the yard and we heard it all clearly."
These words immediately piqued the interest of the neighbors: "Why? Why? Why are they arguing?"
"Yao Shiling won't let Wen Qing marry into the county town."
"Is that so? What was Yao Shiling thinking?"
The group chattered away, explaining clearly what had happened that morning when Wen Qing was beaten, and even figuring out Yao Shiling's thoughts.
"Wen Qing should have been beaten long ago. She's been hanging out with her bachelor uncle all day long, she's too wild!"
"That's right. Her bachelor second uncle had been to jail. Yao Shiling is also very carefree. She actually let Wen Qing follow her second uncle around every day. As a result, Wen Qing has become wild and bad."
"Wen Qing probably learned his lesson after being beaten this time."
"Looks like you still have to discipline kids with spanking!"
"I just don't know how long this attack on Wen Qing will last."
"Wen Qing is so wild, he won't last more than a few days. You wait and see. Tomorrow, or at most the day after tomorrow, Wen Qing will definitely be the same as before, not doing any work and just running to the county town."
"..."
Before it was mealtime, several neighbors gathered together and embellished Wen Qing's misdeeds once again.
However, Wen Qing didn't care about this; she was placing a basket of wild vegetable buns on the wooden table.
Wen Peng was so hungry that he immediately reached out to grab a wild vegetable bun.
"Go wash your hands," Yao Shiling said.
"Okay." Wen Peng immediately withdrew his hand and ran to wash his hands.
Yao Shiling and Wen Liang also went to wash their hands.
Wen Qing then ladled out four bowls of wild vegetable soup and placed them on the wooden table.
When Yao Shiling and Wen Liang returned after washing their hands, Wen Qing had already set out the bowls and chopsticks. In the middle of the table was a piece of soybean paste, which looked like it had been stir-fried again and was much brighter in color.
Wen Peng picked up a wild vegetable bun and started eating it, saying, "Mom, my older sister's wild vegetable buns are delicious."
Wen Liang rolled his eyes at Wen Peng, thinking, "What a spineless coward!"
Yao Shiling said, "Wen Qing, Wen Liang, you should eat too."
"Okay." Wen Qing picked up a wild vegetable bun, took a bite, and found that the coarse flour was a bit hard and stiff in the cold parts. It was far inferior to the texture of the fine white flour bun, but Wen Peng said it was delicious.
Wen Qing looked up at Wen Peng, who was happily munching on a wild vegetable bun, dipping it in soybean paste, and drinking wild vegetable soup. Wen Qing felt a pang of sadness and secretly resolved to make sure her family ate well, lived well, and didn't suffer so much, especially that her two younger brothers could eat their fill at every meal.
“Mom.” Wen Liang’s solemn voice interrupted Wen Qing’s thoughts, and Wen Qing looked at Wen Liang.
Wen Liang held the soup bowl: "This morning, the homeroom teacher urged us to pay the tuition for this semester again. The semester is about to end, and I'm the only one in the class who hasn't paid the tuition yet." Wen Liang's voice grew softer as he spoke, and later he simply lowered his head and stared at the wild vegetable soup.
“Okay, I understand. Tell your homeroom teacher that it will be submitted in a couple of days,” Yao Shiling said.
"How much?" Wen Qing interjected.
Yao Shiling glanced at Wen Qing and finally answered, "Four yuan."
Wen Qing remained silent after hearing this.
Lunch passed quickly, and Wen Qing rushed to wash the dishes and pots before returning to her room to rest.
That's how it is these days. During the busy farming season, everyone is busy day and night. After that, each household gets three meals a day, or two. No one goes out to work, and no one does business. This is especially true in Shuiwan Village.
Wen Qing was supposed to take a nap, but she couldn't fall asleep at all. All she could think about was the four yuan, Wen Liang's school tuition.
She suddenly sat up in bed, took a cloth bag off the wall, put the floral cotton dress from the bed into it, took out a pair of cloth sandals from the last drawer of the old dresser, stuffed them into the bag, straightened her clothes, combed her hair again, and when she opened the door, Wen Peng was lying in the yard doing his homework.
"Pengpeng, where's Mom?" Wen Qing asked.
"I don't know," Wen Peng replied.
“When Mom comes back, tell her I’m going to the county town and will be back this afternoon,” Wen Qing said.
Wen Peng stood up abruptly: "Why are you going to the county town again?"
"Something came up." Wen Qing didn't explain much to Wen Peng, and left with the cloth bag.
As they were walking along the main road in the village, the neighbors who were sleeping under the shade of a tree with straw mats saw them.
Once Wen Qing had walked a little further away, they started talking amongst themselves.
"See? See? They said they'd go to the county town tomorrow or the day after, but they're going this afternoon."
"That's right."
“A young girl like her shouldn’t stay at home; she’s always running around outside. I bet the Ji family in the county town will break off the engagement in a few days.”
"Exactly, what decent family would want to marry someone like Wen Qing? Wen Qing's second uncle has been to prison."
"Otherwise, why would Wen Qing be so arrogant?"
"..."
These words reached Wen Qing's ears faintly, and Wen Qing immediately stopped and turned around.
The women who were gossiping quickly shut up and pretended to be asleep.
Wen Qing turned around and continued walking towards the county town.
Wen Qing walked quickly, but it still took her half an hour to reach the county town. When she arrived, she felt a little dazed. The streets were familiar yet unfamiliar, and many memories came flooding back.
However, she didn't dwell on her memories. Instead, she went straight to the only tailor shop in the county town—Aunt Xiao's Tailor Shop. Wen Qing couldn't quite remember the owner's real name, but everyone called her Aunt Xiao. The floral cotton dress in Wen Qing's bag was made using her Butterfly brand sewing machine.
The Butterfly brand sewing machine was what Wen Qing wanted most, but it was too expensive—180 yuan a piece of thread, which even her second uncle couldn't afford.
The day the dress was finished, Aunt Xiao took a liking to Wen Qing's craftsmanship and also to the floral cotton dress she was wearing, and offered twelve yuan to buy it.
Wen Qing wasn't selling it at the time; she made the dress specifically to wear for Ji Yanjun. Then Aunt Xiao asked Wen Qing if she would like to help make clothes for others at Aunt Xiao's tailor shop. Wen Qing immediately refused, saying that she was going to marry into the Ji family, a wealthy family in the county town, and doing such a thing would be beneath her dignity.
So she refused to do any of them.
Just then, she came over again, holding up her skirt.
"Isn't this Wen Qing?" Aunt Xiao had already spotted Wen Qing before she even entered the shop. Wen Qing had a talent for sewing; she had once helped Aunt Xiao with the sewing machine, making three outfits in quick succession. The customers found them beautiful and comfortable, praising them highly and specifically requesting Wen Qing to make two more for them. Wen Qing herself would also occasionally come over to borrow Aunt Xiao's sewing machine.
Therefore, Aunt Xiao was extremely familiar with Wen Qing.
"Aunt Xiao," Wen Qing called out with a smile.
This laugh and shout made Aunt Xiao feel that Wen Qing seemed to have matured a lot: "Wen Qing, what's wrong? Are you here to use my sewing machine again?"
Wen Qing smiled, somewhat hesitant to speak, but still mustered her courage and said, "Aunt Xiao, didn't you take a liking to this floral cotton dress of mine last time?" As she spoke, Wen Qing pulled out the cotton dress: "I only tried this dress on once; I've never worn it before. I just wanted to ask, do you still want this dress?"
Aunt Xiao looked Wen Qing up and down upon hearing this: "What's wrong? Did you suddenly have a change of heart? Will you come and help out at my shop?"
“I have something urgent to attend to and I need money. I need to think about whether I should come to your shop,” Wen Qing said.
Aunt Xiao, however, liked Wen Qing's craftsmanship and also liked the dress. When the dress was first displayed in her shop, two wealthy girls came to inquire about it and offered fifteen yuan each. However, the price was definitely different between her actively purchasing it and Wen Qing offering it to her.
“Aunt Xiao, how about this? I tried this dress on once, and I asked you to buy it for me. You gave me twelve yuan last time, so I'll lower the price by two yuan this time, making it ten yuan. You know I spent eleven yuan on the fabric and the workmanship. I also have a pair of sandals that match this dress, which I'll give you as well. In addition, I'll come over tomorrow and help you operate the sewing machine for half a day to make two sets of clothes, so you can relax a bit,” Wen Qing said.
Sandals too? Aunt Xiao felt she had made a great deal this time. When she heard that Wen Qing was going to make her two sets of clothes, she was overjoyed. She had originally wanted to play hard to get and bargain down the price of the skirts, otherwise she wouldn't buy them. But seeing how sincere Wen Qing was, she immediately said, "You said it yourself, don't try to fool me. Also, consider working for me, and I'll pay you wages."
Hearing Aunt Xiao agree so readily, Wen Qing was overjoyed; she knew Aunt Xiao would agree. Smiling, she said, "Thank you, thank you, Aunt Xiao."
Aunt Xiao was a straightforward person. She took the cloth bag and handed two five-yuan bills to Wen Qing.
Five yuan in this era was still a yellow paper bill with the portrait of his ethnic group printed on it. Wen Qing took the money, feeling a little excited, and left without lingering.
Aunt Xiao called from behind, "Little girl, don't forget what you promised me."
"Okay, I understand. I'll definitely come tomorrow."
Aunt Xiao touched the floral cotton dress, which was turned up to reveal a wide, flat elastic band at the waist to cinch it in. The stitching was fine and ingenious, and the style was novel yet not excessive. Aunt Xiao touched it with delight and muttered to herself, "This girl has such skillful hands."
Meanwhile, Wen Qing, clutching ten yuan, didn't go straight back to Shuiwan Village. Instead, she ran to the county town, bought three jin of oil, broke five yuan in half, and put four yuan of it in her pocket. Then she bought five jin of flour, two jin of pork, and two jin of rice. She wanted to buy something else, but found she couldn't carry it all.
They packed everything into small burlap sacks and carried them on their shoulders.
She had only taken two steps when she suddenly felt a familiar figure flash past her eyes. For some reason, she felt a pang of pain in her heart. She quickly turned her head and looked around, but found nothing. She thought to herself that it was probably because Ji Yanjun lived in this county that she had this illusion.
Wen Qing shook his head, clearing his mind of distractions, and quickly headed straight for Shuiwan Village.
Upon arriving at Shuiwan Village, I encountered many neighbors, who greeted me warmly.
"Wen Qing, what are you carrying? Look how tired you are, your face is all red."
"Wen Qing, let me help you."
"Wen Qing, what's in this sack? It's bulging. Did they send it from the county town?"
"..."
If Wen Qing had heard these words before, she would definitely have retorted. However, she is not the same person she was in her past life. She smiled throughout and said, "It's nothing."
"No need for help, I can carry it myself."
"It wasn't given by the county town."
"..."
When they arrived at the courtyard, Wen Qing threw down the sack with a "thud," put her hands on her hips, and panted heavily.
At that moment, Yao Shiling was washing clothes.
Wen Liang sat in the courtyard, head down, thinking about tuition fees.
Wen Peng was waiting for Wen Liang to go to school together.
After catching his breath, Wen Qing took out four yuan from his pocket and said, "Liangliang, here's your tuition. Go to school."
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