For lunch, I made stir-fried cabbage, stir-fried pork with chili peppers, and a tomato and egg soup.
The cabbage, peppers, and tomatoes were picked from my private plot on the riverbank. Last time, when I was planting sweet potato vines, I also set aside a vegetable garden to grow various vegetables.
The vegetable seedlings were all brought back from Luo Hao's house. Before long, the vegetables grew well and were even better than those from Luo Hao's house.
"That's really strange. Isn't it said that everything you plant on this riverbank dies?" Luo Hao exclaimed in surprise.
"That's because you're stingy with fertilizer! My wife..."
Before Lin Ye could finish speaking, Luo Hao covered his ears and left. Damn it, he couldn't stop talking about his wife and didn't care about his feelings as a bachelor. Their friendship was over!
While cooking, Lin Ye casually mentioned why he hadn't sent him mung bean soup.
Lu Wanqing then mentioned to him that Zhou Ling had come.
Lin Ye was furious after hearing this. So it was she who was preventing him from seeing his wife!
He threw down the spatula, ready to confront Zhou Ling, but Lu Wanqing grabbed him from behind.
"Ah Ye, I'm fine. Xiao Cui has already taught him a lesson." Besides, he fell into an ant nest, and his whole body is itchy, so he probably won't be able to get out for days.
A soft little hand slipped under the hem of his vest and placed on his firm abdominal muscles, instantly relaxing his tense nerves.
Lin Ye, now relaxed, felt her warmth, turned around, took her small hand, and walked behind the locust tree.
Just as she looked on with a puzzled expression, he pressed her against the locust tree, leaned down and kissed her. After more than ten minutes, satisfied, he whispered in her ear, "Hmm, if anyone bothers you again, I will definitely not let them get away with it!"
When they returned to the stove, the firebox was cold, and there was still half-cooked food in the pot. Snowball squatted on the stove, like a searchlight, vigilantly guarding the food.
Lin Ye: "..." Why does its guarding of its food look so familiar?
......
Although Lu Wanqing said she wouldn't pursue the matter, Lin Ye still found Xu Erlai that night and warned him to keep his wife in check and not to cause trouble everywhere, or he would get beaten up.
Xu Erlai felt uncomfortable after being warned by Lin Ye with his muscular physique. He went home to ask Zhou Ling what was wrong. Zhou Ling was suffering from unbearable itching and was looking everywhere for ointment!
When Xu Erlai saw her lift her clothes and see the dense red bumps all over her body, he almost felt nauseous and wanted to vomit. He found her extremely disgusting.
While preparing lunch and picking vegetables, she kept scratching herself, which He Shujuan noticed and found disgusting.
"Alright, stop picking vegetables and go start the fire."
Unexpectedly, she benefited from this misfortune; from then on, she only needed to tend the fire, while Li Miaolian took over the cooking. She no longer had to serve Xu Erlai at night, which made things much easier for her.
However, when she got itchy, she couldn't even sleep well. Whenever this happened, she would think about how to make Lu Wanqing experience the same thing.
......
In the dead of night, the sound of Lin Jianguo's thunderous snoring echoed from the east room.
Lin Xiaocui, who lived alone in the woodshed, secretly took out the box of face cream that Lu Wanqing had given her and applied it to her face.
The rich scent of camellias intoxicated her, so she scooped out some more and applied it to her neck and arms.
Applying the snow cream makes all the difference; my skin is smooth and bouncy, and I feel like my whole demeanor is different.
She longed to be like her sister-in-law, applying face cream and wearing a dress every day, living like a fairy!
She had heard from her teacher that if a student had excellent grades when graduating from high school, factories in the county would come to the school to recruit workers, and the teacher would recommend them for positions.
This year, several graduates were recommended by the school to work in soap factories in the county town.
She has one more year of high school left. As long as she maintains her grades, there shouldn't be any major problems.
Just as she was feeling quite pleased with herself, a dark figure suddenly appeared at the head of her bed.
"Mom, why didn't you make a sound when you came in?" Lin Xiaocui suddenly sat up in bed.
Only a small window on the north side let in a little light; there wasn't even a kerosene lamp. Yet, she still recognized her own mother by her aura.
Wang Xiuqin said nothing, sniffing at Lin Xiaocui like a police dog.
Finally, she snapped, "What's that smell on you? It smells like face cream! Who gave it to you?"
The barrage of interrogations left Lin Xiaocui trembling, somewhat caught off guard.
She only applied it a few minutes ago, how did they find out!
"Quickly—speak—" Wang Xiuqin's voice drowned out Lin Jianguo's snoring, startling the birds that were resting on the branches behind the house into taking flight.
Lin Xiaocui had no choice but to tell Zhou Ling and Lu Wanqing about how they had skimped on the delivery of face cream.
"After all, my sister-in-law is from the Lin family, so it's only right that I teach Zhou Ling a lesson..."
"Slap!" Wang Xueqin was too lazy to listen to her say any more and gave her a hard slap across the face.
"You've betrayed us, do you know that? Don't you know that I'm now at odds with that woman? Ever since that woman married into our family, how many misfortunes have we suffered? Your brother's leg is broken, all because of that woman, she's a scourge!" Wang Xiuqin rattled off a string of curses, her spittle almost spraying in her face.
She covered her face, staring in horror at Wang Xiuqin's contorted face, silently clenching her teeth.
It's okay. It's okay to hit her or scold her. She's been hit and scolded a lot since she was little, and she's used to it. As long as she can still go to school, that's fine!
But the next second, Wang Xiuqin took a deep breath and said coldly, "Don't go to school next semester. What's the point of a girl like you going to school so much? You'll only end up with bad habits and a corrupt mind! You should use that time to work in the fields, earn more work points, and then find a husband to marry into in a couple of years!"
Lin Xiaocui was stunned. Not letting her go to school was no different from taking her life!
She quickly grabbed Wang Xiuqin's clothes and knelt down, pleading, "Mom, I know I was wrong. I'll give you the face cream, please let me go to school, okay? My older brother wrote back last time and told me to study hard and find a job in the future."
Wang Xiuqin, however, was determined. "If you want to go to school, fine. I won't pay a penny of tuition. You can eat and drink my food and drink my drinks, and you'll only have to pay 3 yuan a month."
Lin Xiaocui sat slumped on the ground, staring blankly at her mother's departing figure, unable to shed a single tear.
Snowball, who had been listening to the opera while perched on the doorstep, saw that the performance was over and wiggled his short legs back to the west room, where he lay back on the bed.
Wang Xiuqin's shout just now woke it up.
It then went to watch the spectacle with great curiosity.
The poor little girl is not allowed to go to school and her mother even beats her!
When Lu Wanqing found out, she felt a little guilty. She had only given her the face cream out of kindness to thank her, but she hadn't expected it to backfire.
She decided to try to salvage the situation and give Lin Xiaocui a chance to earn money.
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