The old ox was pulling a round stone mill around on the wheat stalks in the yard. Xu Cuifen was urging the ox along when she heard the sound of a motorcycle and poked her head out, saying:
"Honey, how are you? Did the doctor say anything?"
Wen Jiaojiao, carrying the medicine, stepped off the motorcycle:
"It's nothing serious, it won't affect anything. Just let them go to places they've been before."
Seeing the sadness and melancholy in Wen Zhaoye's eyes, and his tense and gloomy face, Xu Cuifen, considering their strained relationship and frequent arguments, didn't take it to heart and asked with concern:
"Mom will take you to see the sorceress this afternoon. She'll cure you in no time."
"You've got to be serious." I don't even know where to put this medicine I prescribed. Wen Jiaojiao finished speaking and started walking home, brushing lightly past Wen Zhaoye's shoulder.
He paused, slightly raising his eyes, his gaze dull and lifeless as he stared at her slender back, his thin, red lips slightly pursed.
Let's stop here.
At noon, Xu Cuifen made fried cicadas. Since she didn't have the ingredients to make grilled frog meat, she changed it to braised frog meat according to Wen Jiaojiao's request, and even put all the lard left in the small bowl into it.
After finishing her meal, Wen Jiaojiao couldn't hold out any longer and was forcibly dragged to Xiaocai Village by Xu Cuifen.
Fortunately, the two villages are right next to each other and not far apart; it only took about twenty minutes to walk there.
Large red characters for "family planning" clung to the wall, weathered by years of wind and rain. Xu Cuifen, carrying a cloth bag, pushed open the door and called out:
"Tycophant, are you home? Please take a look at my daughter quickly."
A faint scent of sandalwood wafted out, the room was dimly lit, and the old woman with bound feet wore a black headband.
Wearing a loose-fitting blue floral print long-sleeved shirt and trousers, she slowly got out of bed, coughed once, and said:
"Coming!"
Her voice was weak and drawn-out, and combined with the surrounding environment, it was filled with a sense of terror.
Wen Jiaojiao stood at the door, a sudden chill running through her heart. She inadvertently caught sight of the hunched-over old woman.
Her neck was covered in cold sweat, and she swallowed hard, trembling.
"Mom, I'm not watching anymore, I'm going home." This isn't a fortune teller, she's more like Meng Po (the goddess of forgetfulness in Chinese mythology).
Xu Cuifen reached out and grabbed her slender arm, stopping her from walking back:
"What nonsense are you talking about? The fortune teller just happens to be free today. Next time, you might have to wait in line."
Wen Jiaojiao was forced to go to the main room. After Xu Cuifen and the sorceress chatted for a while, she lit incense for Guanyin as requested and then put a dollar behind it.
Suddenly, the sorceress hiccuped, closed her eyes, and began to sing.
As Wen Jiaojiao listened to the opera-like song, her heart skipped a beat, and she almost turned and ran away: "..."
It's absolutely terrifying! There isn't a single normal person in the nearby villages.
The sorceress chanted for the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, then slowly opened her eyes, scooped up some incense ash, collected it in a piece of yellow paper, and handed it to Xu Cuifen, saying:
"I'll brew it for her to drink at 8 p.m.
Wen Jiaojiao's pupils widened as she watched Xu Cuifen gratefully accept the gift with both hands, and a chill ran down her spine.
The old man who takes pulses is just trying to scam money; you're trying to kill me!
Wu Xiu was carrying a nine-pronged rake, raking the scattered wheat in the roadside field, when she happened to see the mother and daughter walking out of the house. Remembering what Wu Ying had told her earlier that day, she said sarcastically:
"You've come to the sorceress to find out where your grandson is?"
grandson?
Xu Cuifen's face darkened slightly, and she burst into a tirade:
"I think you're just trying to get away with this. If you dare to ruin my daughter's reputation again, I'll kill your whole family."
Wu Xiu, standing across a ditch, pointed at him with her hands on her hips and cursed:
"You old geezer, it seems you don't know your daughter gave birth to a bastard, do you? You shameless thing."
Xu Cuifen's head exploded with a "buzz," and she looked at the girl beside her with trembling lips, saying:
"Jiaojiao, what does she mean by that? I don't understand."
Wen Jiaojiao noticed that many passersby were staring at her. Her face burned with embarrassment, and she wished she could dig a hole and bury herself in it. She whispered:
"Mom, let's go home first, and then we can talk about it slowly."
Xu Cuifen felt a mix of pain and resentment, not knowing how she had been dragged home.
She sat listlessly on a stool in the main room, but when she saw the man winnowing wheat with a shovel in the courtyard, she instantly perked up:
It seems my daughter is really having trouble finding a husband. In that case, I'll have to let that brat marry my daughter, and then I'll find the child and let him raise him.
Wen Jiaojiao saw through her gaze fixed on Wen Zhaoye at a glance, and said nonchalantly while munching on a cracked nectarine:
"Mom, don't even think about it. He knows."
Xu Cuifen, filled with disappointment and frustration, asked in a gentle voice, her breath unsteady:
What's wrong with that child now?
As soon as she finished speaking, Wen Zhaoye paused in his wheat-threshing motion, his dark eyes casually glancing at Wen Jiaojiao.
When she noticed his gaze was directed at her, he casually looked away and raised the wheat again.
Wen Jiaojiao wasn't going to let Wen Zhaoye get away with tricking her, so she told him the truth:
“My brother took me to the street to let an old man feel my pulse. Then the old man said I had given birth. How was I supposed to know? I must have selective amnesia. Then Wu Ying started shouting on the street.”
Xu Cuifen also felt that Wen Zhaoye had deliberately framed Wen Jiaojiao, and she secretly rolled her eyes at him.
"Mom will go find a midwife to check you out. She's been delivering babies for decades. She can tell whether you've given birth or not just by touching you. If you haven't, I'll chop up that pulse taker."
Wen Jiaojiao also felt that she should clear her name as much as possible. She touched her flushed ears and said in an unnatural voice:
"Where do midwives touch...?"
Xu Cuifen, lacking the shyness typical of young girls, suddenly raised her voice upon seeing that the girl didn't even understand this:
"Silly girl, where else can you touch besides that?"
Wen Jiaojiao glanced at Wen Zhaoye subconsciously, only to meet his gaze. Her face flushed, and she quickly looked away, saying in a low voice:
"No way. People are saying I've given birth, so just pretend I have. I'm already ashamed anyway, so what's a little more humiliation? I'll just give up." On the contrary, if they found out I was a virgin, I'd be dead meat.
The glimmer of hope that had rekindled in Wen Zhaoye's heart was extinguished once again. He suppressed the decadent aura emanating from him and stopped paying attention. He gripped the shovel with both hands, his long arms bulging into a strong and smooth shape, and with a burst of strength, he raised it towards the sky.
The setting sun paints the world red, and the chaff that rises in the wind drifts gently, mixing into the mud and turning into dust.
Outside the courtyard, Xu Cuifen took the cooling casserole of Chinese medicine from the fire, poured it into a bowl, and called into the house:
"Daughter, the medicine is ready, come and drink it quickly."
The plump aunt next door had already heard that Wen Jiaojiao had given birth, and she poked her head in to ask:
"Is there something wrong with Jiaojiao's health? Why is she taking Chinese medicine?"
Since the last time she tipped off Wen Zhaoye, Xu Cuifen felt that she could be trained as an informant to help keep an eye on him, and her attitude softened considerably.
"It's nothing serious, it's just that my Jiaojiao fell on the back hill and can't remember some things, so I got some medicine."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
