Packing up belongings
Seeing that the matter was finally resolved, the village chief told the onlookers to disperse. Then he heard Liu Xiangmei say, "I will keep an eye on Liu Ailing. She can't be late with her apology. Even if I'm not in the village, I will find someone to keep an eye on her."
"I said a month, and I meant a month, don't worry," the village chief said, then invited Li Jin and Old Man Li to his house for a visit. The Li family politely declined and then dispersed.
This farce ended in a complete defeat for Wang Tianhua and his wife, but it will remain a topic of conversation among the villagers for the next month, or even longer.
But Wang Tianhua still has a battle to fight when he gets home.
"What? Has that bitch Liu Xiangmei gone too far? She even dares to ask you for money?" Liu Lan suddenly erupted when she heard Liu Ailing's embellished account of what had just happened.
Liu Xiangmei corrected: "Mom, it's not her, it's that brat Wang Yao."
Upon hearing Wang Yao's name, Liu Lan immediately fell silent. Why? Because she was genuinely a little intimidated by Wang Yao, feeling that the girl had a somewhat sinister air about her.
She saw everything from the chase and the commotion from the window, but she didn't dare go out, afraid that Wang Yao would be glaring at her with the kitchen knife in her hand again.
Thinking this, Liu Lan stood up, lit another incense stick for the Bodhisattva, and prayed for the Bodhisattva's blessing.
Liu Xiangmei watched Liu Lan's actions, curled her lip, and cursed Wang Yao with foul language, saying that she planned to wait for Wang Yao to come to her door to collect the money, and then humiliate her properly.
Liu Lan disagreed, saying, "You should take it to her right away, or if she causes any more trouble later, it won't be something that can be solved with just a hundred yuan!"
Although it hurt to say this, she figured she'd just consider it money to avoid trouble. She was genuinely afraid that brat would come knocking on her door with a kitchen knife again.
…
After saying goodbye to the Li family grandfather and grandson, Liu Xiangmei took Wang Yao home.
After entering the room, she slumped onto the stool, feeling utterly exhausted.
She hadn't realized it before, but ever since she had the idea of going to the county town, she didn't want to stay in this place for even a second longer; there was just too much trouble.
I've only been back for a few hours today, and I've already caused such a big commotion with the neighbors. It's exhausting.
"Pack your things and we'll leave this afternoon."
She had originally planned to leave tomorrow, but thought she could find an opportunity today to discuss with Old Man Li whether the Li family grandfather and grandson could move into their house and help them look after it. After all, the Li family's house was badly damaged by falling rocks, so it would be safer for them to move into their house.
I didn't expect that Old Man Li and his family were also moving to the county. Since that's the case, let's just leave it at that and look for Sister-in-law Zhao.
"You pack your things first, I'm going to the Zhao family."
The Zhao family's house was separated from theirs by a bamboo grove; they could reach it by going down the steps through the bamboo grove.
Is your sister-in-law home?
Zhao's wife, wearing an apron, came out wiping her hands with it as she said, "I'm here, come in quickly!"
"My sister-in-law is busy. I came here because I need to trouble you with something."
"What's wrong? Tell me." Zhao's wife poured Liu Xiangmei a glass of water and placed it on the table.
Liu Xiangmei then mentioned that her family was going to the county town and wanted to ask Sister-in-law Zhao if it would be convenient for her to take over the livestock they were raising.
The day the mother and daughter went to the county, they asked Sister-in-law Zhao to help take care of them. Now that they are moving out of the county, they will naturally have to sell the livestock they raise.
Seeing that Sister-in-law Zhao was interested, Liu Xiangmei said that she currently had fifteen chickens and two pigs at home, with chickens priced at 2.5 yuan per jin and pigs at 1.5 yuan per jin.
After some consideration, Sister-in-law Zhao realized that this was basically the lowest price available, and she felt she had gotten a great deal. She wanted Liu Xiangmei to add some money.
Liu Xiangmei said with a smile, "This is the first time I've seen someone complain that something is too cheap. So I won't raise the price, but I have something I'd like to ask you, sister-in-law."
When Zhao's sister-in-law heard that it was just about asking her to go up and check on the house every few days, she immediately agreed, as it was not a difficult thing.
The two agreed, and Zhao's wife went out to find her husband to come back and weigh him.
When Liu Xiangmei took the Zhao couple back, they ran into Liu Ailing. Liu Ailing had just given away a hundred yuan and was still feeling the pinch, so she snorted and left.
Liu Xiangmei ignored her and focused on greeting the Zhao couple. Wang Yao also came out of the house to help.
While they were working busily, Wang Sheng returned from the fields and, seeing this scene, understood Liu Xiangmei's plan.
He sighed, "Xiang Mei, Tian Miao is gone. It will be more convenient for you to live with us. We can help each other out. After all, we are still family."
Liu Xiangmei didn't want to see his hypocritical act. "First, Wang Tianmiao is not your biological daughter. My daughter and I have no blood relation to you. Second, your old woman is going to sell Yaoyao for money, so our two families are no longer on good terms. So remember to avoid us in the future, or I might not be able to resist hitting you. Get out of here."
Wang Sheng's face changed like a palette of colors; he hadn't expected Liu Xiangmei to reveal all this directly.
Although many people already know about what happened at their house a few days ago, after all, it caused quite a stir, and many people in the village and even the town who know their family are talking behind their backs.
However, no one in their family admitted it. As long as they didn't admit it, those things could only be rumors. Neither the village chief nor Old Man Li were the type to gossip, so they certainly wouldn't spread rumors.
Now that Liu Xiangmei has said it so openly, isn't that tantamount to admitting it?
Look at the Zhao couple; they both have an "I knew it" look on their faces.
Wang Sheng felt a burning sensation on his face. He opened his mouth but couldn't say anything. He turned and left.
The Zhao couple didn't know what to say, so they could only keep their heads down and weigh the chickens.
After the transaction was completed, the Zhao couple herded the pigs and chickens home. Before leaving, Zhao Xi sighed and said to Liu Xiangmei:
“The Wang family is no good. Don’t get angry with them. It’s not easy for you to live in the county with your child all by yourself. If you need anything, call the village branch and ask me for help. Tianmiao and I have been good brothers for so many years. I will definitely lend a hand if I can.”
Liu Xiangmei nodded, her voice choked with emotion. "Okay, when you and your sister-in-law leave the county, remember to come find us. We live near the back gate of the county's No. 1 Middle School."
Sister-in-law Zhao patted Liu Xiangmei on the back, "I'll keep an eye on things for you in the village. Liu Ailing's apology can't be missed even for a day, don't worry."
Liu Xiangmei nodded and said, "Thank you for your trouble, sister-in-law."
After seeing the two off, Liu Xiangmei turned back into the house and saw that Wang Yao had packed up everything usable in the kitchen, and had also packed up several piles of usable bedding, clothes and other items and placed them in the living room.
This time it's really time for her to leave, to leave the place where she has lived for more than ten years.
"Come on, we still have some time, let's go see your dad!"
Wang Yao nodded, and the two went to the cemetery, leaving Sun Min in Wang Yao's room to look for study notes she wanted.
They had visited Wang Tianmiao a few days ago. This time, the two of them simply offered incense, burned some paper money, and told Wang Tianmiao about recent events at home, as well as her decision to go to the county.
On my way home from the cemetery, I ran into Li Jin.
Li Jin learned that they were moving today and offered to help them.
Liu Xiangmei naturally refused, but when she heard that Li Jin was also going to the county to look for a house, and that helping him move was just a side thing, and that Liu Xiangmei would need to help take care of Old Man Li and Li Cheng in the future, she stopped saying anything.
When Li Jin went home to say hello to Old Man Li and arrived at the Wang family's house, Liu Xiangmei and the others were already ready.
The three of them carried a shoulder pole, but Sun Min didn't know how to carry a shoulder pole, so she used a basket to carry things.
Although it was a downhill path, everyone had a lot of responsibilities, and everyone except Li Jin gritted their teeth and persevered.
When the group arrived in town, there were still twenty minutes before the last bus departed at 5 o'clock.
The group tied their belongings to the roof of the bus before finally boarding, panting heavily.
Wang Yao ran to the convenience store to buy popsicles. She felt that if she didn't eat a popsicle to calm herself down, she would definitely collapse from exhaustion.
Who knew that there were many people chatting in front of the store, some of whom were from the same village as Wang Yao. When they saw that Wang Yao was alone, they stopped her and asked her if the rumors circulating in the village were true.
They were asking about what happened at Old Wang's house that day.
Wang Yao is such an honest child. She admitted it right away and even explained the whole story again so that no one would be unclear about anything.
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