Xiaoyue took apart the quilt and mattress that Lu Xiaomei had been using, and put the sheets and blankets into her basket. She herself didn't have many clothes, just that one set. Then she packed the leftover food from breakfast and a bundle of rope.
Sister-in-law Li returned quickly, carrying some old clothes. She went into the house and greeted Lu Xiaomei. Lu Xiaomei was already sitting at the kang table, able to get up and move around briefly.
The older sister-in-law lifted up the old clothes and found two pieces of fabric underneath. One was blue with white flowers, and the other was plain white. She said to Xiaoyue, "I'll give you and Xiaodouding each a new outfit."
In my past life, I was foolish enough to give everything for the Ge family. My sister-in-law would throw a steamed bun or a rice ball into the cowshed when no one was looking.
Now I'm not as foolish as I was in my previous life. My purpose in being reborn is to take revenge on the Ge family, except for the eldest son's family, of course.
Xiaoyue stuffed the things her sister-in-law had brought into the cupboard. She needed to hurry and turn the ruler into clothes. Xiaodouding stayed home with Lu Xiaomei. Xiaoyue told Lu Xiaomei that she was going up the mountain to cut pig feed. Seeing Lu Xiaomei nod, Xiaoyue closed the door.
The eldest sister-in-law, Li, was also quiet. She walked dejectedly for two and a half miles until she reached the hillside, below which flowed the river. She pointed to the gray grass and plantain trails between the hillside and the river:
"These are the two kinds of vegetables that pigs like to eat." As she spoke, the woman took out two vegetable dumplings from her pocket, along with a gourd-shaped water jug she was carrying. "Xiaoyue, here you go."
Xiaoyue took the gourd-shaped water jug. "Sister-in-law, I brought food, but I forgot to bring water." Xiaoyue smiled abruptly, a little embarrassed.
"It's alright. When I eat at my grandparents' house with willow leaves and branches, I often don't get enough to eat. When I get back to the east room, I need two more vegetable dumplings, so I always keep some on hand. Here, take these." The older sister-in-law stuffed the vegetable dumplings into Xiaoyue's hand.
"Thank you, sister-in-law," Xiaoyue smiled shyly and said to her sister-in-law, "Sister-in-law, you should go back soon, or Mother will scold you if you get back late."
The eldest sister-in-law, Li, sighed, looked at the hillside again, and left.
Xiaoyue came to the water's edge, put down her basket, took out a rope, and stretched a clothesline between two trees. She stretched three clotheslines in a row.
Xiaoyue rubbed the bed sheet, but no matter how she washed it, it wouldn't get clean. Xiaoyue remembered that there were soapberry trees on the mountain in her previous life, so she decided to go and pick some soapberries to wash the clothes.
Xiaoyue slung her basket over her shoulder and went up the mountain to find soapberries.
When we were almost halfway up the mountain, we saw a tall soapberry tree ahead. We put the things in the basket on the ground, then turned the basket upside down and stepped on top of it.
Holding a stick to hold down the nearest branch, once you can reach it, pull the branch tight, stick the stick into the basket on your back, and then use your hand to pull down a handful of soapberries from where you can reach them, throwing them on the ground.
Then release the branch, pick up the root, and while still holding the branch, use your hand to pull down the root from where you can reach, and you'll get another handful of soap pods. Once you've collected enough soap pods...
They gathered up the clothes on the ground, along with the soapberries they had picked, and put them all into their baskets.
Just as I finished tidying up and was about to head back, I heard a voice from the tree: "Stop! Your branch is hitting me."
Xiaoyue looked up, squinting, and stared for a while, confirming that she didn't recognize this person. In her previous life, there was no such thing as washing clothes or collecting soapberries. It seemed that her attitude and way of doing things had changed since her rebirth.
Everything had changed, and Xiaoyue hurriedly apologized to him: "I'm sorry, I didn't know there were people in the tree."
The person stood up with the backlight behind them, so Xiaoyue couldn't see their face clearly. She only felt that the person was very tall standing on the tree branch and was pointing at Xiaoyue aggressively, saying something that Xiaoyue couldn't hear at all.
Xiaoyue simply ignored her and went straight down the mountain. She hadn't gone far when she heard a "thump" behind her.
Xiaoyue ignored her and went straight to the riverbank, put down her basket, and started washing the sheets.
With soapberries, washing bed sheets became much simpler and cleaner. After washing them, Xiaoyue hung them on the line to dry, then moved on to the next sheet. By the time she finished washing them all, it was already noon. Xiaoyue found some dry twigs...
I sat down, took out my breakfast and water jug, and the two vegetable dumplings my sister-in-law had given me.
Xiaoyue ate her cold rice with relish. She had finished all her chores and felt extremely happy.
Happiness was fleeting. A young man came down the mountain leaning on a stick. Xiaoyue recognized the stick; she had broken it before coming up the mountain. She hadn't thought about the stick at all when she came down and hadn't remembered it at all.
The man stood tall and elegant, dressed in a blue robe. His face was as cold as water, his eyebrows were slightly raised, and his bright peach blossom eyes seemed to be able to speak. Xiaoyue couldn't help but glance at him. In Niukou Village, it was rare to see a man wearing a long robe.
The man stood before Xiaoyue with a gloomy face. His blue robes bore the marks of tree branches. Holding a branch, he leaned forward towards Xiaoyue, creating a powerful sense of oppression for her.
Xiaoyuexin stood up and took a step back, but suddenly realized she couldn't show weakness, so she glared at the man in front of her with an arrogant look.
The man pointed to his left leg with the stick, then curled his lip, revealing two dimples, and said coldly, "I hurt my leg."
Xiaoyue took two steps back, turned around and saw the tree stump, so she stood on it. This time she was at eye level with the man, and said insincerely, "That must have hurt a lot."
Suppressing his anger, the man took another step forward, leaning on his stick, and roared, "I hurt my leg, and it was your fault!"
"I caused this, I didn't push you, I didn't pull you, and I was far away from you, so why do you say I hurt you?" Xiaoyue, quick-witted as ever, leaned towards the man and retorted fiercely.
"First, you hit my leg with a branch. Second, my injured leg couldn't provide any leverage, which is why I lost my footing and fell from the tree," the man said angrily.
Xiaoyue thought to herself, "Serves you right for being up in that big tree," but she couldn't say it like that, so she replied nonchalantly, "Oh."
The man's face turned red with anger. He pointed at Xiaoyue and said, "Oh, that's it. You have to call a doctor for me, and you also have to cover my medical expenses and food and lodging."
Xiaoyue chuckled and jumped down from the tree stump. Seeing that the sheets and blankets were dry, she put them away. Then she picked a few broad leaves and wrapped the washed clothes in them. She also tidied up the bowls and water jugs after finishing her meal.
"Hey, say something! You can't just ignore me!" The man watched Xiaoyue pack her things and followed behind her with a limp.
After Xiaoyue finished tidying up, she picked up a sickle and started cutting grass. With the sickle close to the ground, she cut down the whole plantain and lamb's quarters in one stroke. Then she shook off the mud clinging to the vegetables and threw them into her basket.
Xiaoyue had done this job for fifteen years in her previous life. She did it very quickly, and her basket was full in less than an hour.
Seeing that the man was still sitting on the wooden stake, Xiaoyue reminded him, "It's getting dark. If you don't leave soon, there might be snake spirits or fox spirits in these mountains who will take you home to be their husband."
After saying that, Xiaoyue laughed loudly and walked away.
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