The little boy, covered in sweat, ran in and entered Xiaoyue's room, which had no door yet. He saw Xiaoyue standing on the bed, with hemp stalks interspersed along the south wall.
The little boy wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked up at Xiaoyue, and said with bright eyes, "Mom was worried about you, so she sent me to check on you."
Xiaoyue smiled and said to the little boy, "Aunt Xiaoyue, it's alright. I'm building a new house. After it's finished, I'll bring your mother and we'll live together."
"Great!" The little boy clapped his hands and jumped up.
Xiaoyue remembered that she needed a container to hold water, and she couldn't always go to the river to drink water, so she said to Xiaodouding, "Go and bring the water gourd from your mother's room to your second aunt."
The little one exclaimed "Hey!" and skipped off.
Xiaoyue finished using the jute stalks, tidied up the open-air house, and took out the remaining jute bark, intending to use it to bind the walking sticks, and then tie another layer of jute bark across the middle of the sticks.
It was already afternoon when Xiaoyue finished clamping the other sides of the stick.
After clamping the staff, Xiaoyue fixed a line in the middle. By the time she finished, the sun was almost setting.
Just then, Xiaodouding came over with a water gourd in his hands. Xiaoyue saw that the child had filled the gourd with water before coming over, so she quickly stepped forward and took the gourd from Xiaodouding's hands.
Xiaoyue was really thirsty. She hadn't eaten or drunk anything all day. She opened the gourd and drank most of it.
The little boy caught his breath and said, "Aunt Xiaoyue, Grandma wants you to go home."
...
Xiaoyue first returned the borrowed items to the Gao family before entering the Ge family's courtyard. Before she even stepped inside, she heard Old Madam Ge say with dissatisfaction, "Then you just watch your sister-in-law be sad and upset."
In her heart, Madam Sun thought, "So what if she's sad? What does it have to do with me?" But she couldn't say that, so she smiled and said to Old Madam Ge, "If you ask me, we should find a marriage for my sister-in-law. If the matchmaker doesn't come, we'll find one ourselves."
Grandma Ge hesitated for a moment and said, "Matchmakers' words are unreliable. We have to start with acquaintances. Oh, Da Lingzi saw me yesterday and even went out of her way to talk to me. She was so enthusiastic."
Little Sun's mind raced, and her eyes lit up as she said, "Why don't we ask my sister-in-law to go back to her parents' home and ask someone in the know to act as matchmaker? They know each other well, and it would be good for my sister-in-law too." When Old Madam Ge heard this, she thought that since her sister-in-law's family was well-off, the family that arranged the marriage there must be quite good as well. So she quickly nodded.
"Once Erping recovers, have her go with your sister-in-law so they can meet and see what kind of man he is. Erping isn't bad-looking either," Grandma Ge said proudly to her second daughter-in-law.
Not wanting to spoil her mother-in-law's mood, Xiao Sun said tactfully, "Let your sister-in-law go. They think we're rushing to help. We can send her when things are looking promising." Xiao Sun thought to herself, "Only you think your daughter isn't ugly. She looks exactly like her mother-in-law, just a size bigger. Triangular eyes, dark skin—she's alright when she's quiet, but once she opens her mouth, she never says anything nice."
Xiaoyue listened to the conversation between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law before entering the house. "Aunt Ge, you were looking for me?"
As soon as Grandma Ge heard Xiaoyue come in, her eyes hardened and she immediately went into battle mode: "Pay for the meals you've had for the past few days, as well as the food for the kitchen fire and the broken dishes."
Xiaoyue glanced at Old Madam Ge and sneered, "Alright, but things have to be out in the open. We'll talk to the village chief tomorrow morning and change Sanlin's contract, changing one hundred taels to fifty taels, and then I'll give it to you."
"Brother Sanlin wants a hundred taels of silver to return my indenture. If you give it to me, I'll give you fifty taels." Old Madam Ge was a money-grubber; she certainly wouldn't part with a hundred taels.
When Grandma Ge heard that the village chief knew about Xiaoyue giving Sanlin money to sign the contract, her face turned pale instantly. Sanlin hadn't told him anything, but he had told her to be nice to Xiaoyue.
"Also, you made me do all that work. And the time the kitchen burned down wasn't my fault. I don't know how to cook. I even paid for my meal when I visited your house, and you still made me cook. Where's the justice in that? I'll ask the village chief tomorrow if this is how it is in Niukou Village."
Grandma Ge was speechless after being rebuked. She looked at her second daughter-in-law, and Xiao Sun quickly chimed in, "Our mother was just asking if you'd had dinner tonight because you have nothing."
Xiaoyue seized the opportunity, saying, "No way! They haven't eaten from me even for a day. How could the money I gave the Ge family be enough to live on for a lifetime?"
Xiaoyue glanced at Old Mrs. Ge's face, which was turning pale with anger, and walked towards the kitchen. Sure enough, there were still leftovers. The Ge family usually set aside food for breakfast in the evening, and in the morning, when they were in a hurry to get to work, they would just reheat it.
Xiaoyue brought the food into the west wing. Lu Xiaomei hadn't eaten yet. She asked if the medicine had been brewed, and Lu Xiaomei nodded.
"I heard they're looking for a husband for my sister-in-law. My sister-in-law told me this morning," Lu Xiaomei said softly.
Xiaoyue, Lu Xiaomei, and Xiaodouding each had a bowl of rice, and even though it was just pickled vegetables, they ate it with relish, even though Xiaoyue hadn't eaten anything all day.
After finishing her meal, Xiaoyue returned to her newly built little house.
Ge Erping's illness was completely cured on the day he went to town with Yun Xingfei. He hadn't fully recovered from the two lashes he received from his father, but he just kept getting close to Yun Xingfei, and his condition worsened again after just one day. In addition, the two of them had a fight.
My second sister-in-law, Xiao Sun, found a doctor named Hu, and she recovered in just one day after taking oral medication and applying topical ointments.
Sure enough, when Xiaoyue woke up in the morning, she saw Grandma Ge making arrangements for her eldest daughter-in-law to go back to her parents' home, and even preparing two old hens for her. The eldest daughter-in-law, Li, lives in Lijia Village in Lijiabao Town, and it's a round trip through Hejia Town. If she were to go back to her parents' home, she would have to get up early and work late.
Grandma Ge asked her eldest daughter-in-law to help her sister-in-law find a husband, and in return, she allowed her eldest daughter-in-law to stay at her parents' home for a few more days.
Ge Dalin drove an oxcart carrying his sister-in-law, Li, and his two daughters, Ge Liuye and Ge Liuzhi. Just as they were about to leave, Ge Erping pulled Xiaoyue along, insisting on going to Hejia Town, saying he had made plans with his friends.
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