Shen Yu had no choice but to tell her: Stay at home, don't go out, and don't go up the mountain.

Meng Tao readily agreed and reminded him to drive carefully.

After Shen Yu and Jinniu left, Bao Dongmei came with a backpack. Meng Tao really found an excuse not to go and told Bao Dongmei not to go either, and not to go up the mountain alone without a companion.

Bao Dongmei talked to her for a while and then went back home to get busy. There was a lot of work to do during the busy farming season, and even if she didn't go up the mountain she couldn't sit idle.

Meng Tao cleaned up the house inside and out, and seeing that the sun was shining brightly, she moved the quilt out to dry in the sun. Shen Yu also took out the sheets, quilt covers and clothes that he had washed and hung out to dry in the space and hung them on the bamboo poles in the yard to dry - he had been home for two or three days, and he couldn't not wash and dry something, anyone would feel uneasy.

After finishing my own room, I wanted to go and help Brother Taurus dry his clothes, but when I pushed the door, it didn't move and was locked.

Well, this guy has grown up and has a sense of territory and knows how to defend it. That's good. Congratulations to him for losing an opportunity to get free door-to-door service as an hourly worker.

Of course, Jinniu didn't lock his door to protect his family members. He was equipped with a door lock before, but he didn't take it seriously. All the young people would go to his room and come and go freely. He was also easy to talk to, and he would never refuse anyone who wanted to borrow the books and picture magazines that he carefully protected. Sometimes when he was not around, people would just take them without saying a word. Only one or two out of ten of the books he could return were broken, which made him feel distressed and he started to use the door lock.

Since there were no chickens, ducks or pigs raised, there was not much work to do in the house. Meng Tao closed the gate, filled the water tank in the yard with spring water, put on a straw hat, took a hoe, and went to the backyard vegetable garden to pull weeds and loosen the soil.

The vegetable garden is planted with leeks, water spinach, Shanghai greens, cucumbers, green beans, edamame, peppers, cherry tomatoes, purple eggplants, as well as onions, ginger, celery, perilla, mint and other coriander.

Meng Tao often went out, and these were planted by Jinniu and the educated youth. When she came back, she would add some water and water the vegetables, adding only two drops of pine needle dew to each bucket of water. These vegetables also grew vigorously. Except for the purple eggplants, peppers and tomatoes that were planted later and had just borne fruit but were not yet ripe, the others could be eaten.

Meng Tao thought of the small plantation in her own space. The soil didn't look very fertile. Shen Yu obviously didn't know anything about farming, but he insisted that it was special soil and it would be a waste to use it to grow vegetables, so it should be saved for growing medicinal herbs.

Finally, the two agreed to plant vegetables only in the corners, and reserve the rest of the soil for planting precious medicinal herbs.

Meng Tao couldn't find anywhere to buy vegetable seeds outside, so now was the perfect time to transplant a few of each vegetable from her own garden.

The educated youth took good care of the vegetable garden and there were basically no weeds. Meng Tao didn't need to pull out the weeds, but just loosened the soil symbolically with a hoe. After playing enough in the vegetable garden, he picked some water spinach and beans to eat for lunch. These were not planted in the space, so he picked some for a change of taste.

It was May and the weather was getting hotter. Meng Tao took out sugar and mung beans and boiled a big pot of mung bean soup. It had just cooled down by the time they got off work at noon. The educated youth came back and each drank a bowl of it, feeling so comfortable that they closed their eyes.

Meng Tao and Shen Yu registered their marriage. The educated youth, especially Jiang Xiaodong and Xu Guoliang, were very tactful and did not come into this yard for two days. Meng Tao called them to eat mung bean soup before they came over, and they quickly returned to the new yard after eating. Today was Jiang Xiaodong and Sun Yutang's turn to cook, so the three female educated youth stayed in the old yard and chatted with Meng Tao.

Jiang Limei was still listless and taciturn. Qian Xiaoyun looked at the yard full of quilts, sheets, quilt covers and clothes, and was amazed at how capable Meng Tao was. He said that he would also dry his bed tomorrow so as not to waste such good sunshine.

He Huijuan asked Meng Tao if she had been studying outside recently. She said that Zhao Minglin had reminded them before he left that they should continue to urge Taohua to study. Even if she got married, especially to a man as outstanding as Shen Yu, she should not slack off or give up studying. She should constantly enrich and improve herself while she was young. It would be good for her in the future.

When Jiang Limei heard He Huijuan mention Zhao Ming, she turned and looked at her.

Meng Tao expressed her gratitude to Zhao Ming and several educated youth teachers for their concern: "You are doing this for my own good, I understand, don't worry, I haven't given up studying. In fact, I had planned that when Teacher He and Teacher Jiang were transferred to the commune middle school, I would go there with you to study for two years, work harder than others, and get both junior high school and high school diplomas.

But plans can't keep up with changes. I didn't expect to get married so soon. I may live in the city often in the future, so I have to make other plans. I'm already 20 years old, and it's embarrassing to join the class with those teenagers. I will register at the school and hire a tutor outside the school. I will go back when it's time for exams, so I can have more freedom in my time. "

He Huijuan nodded: "That's fine. If the school can make an exception, that would be the best."

After talking for a while, Xu Guoliang came over and called for dinner, asking Meng Tao to join them. Meng Tao wanted to wait for Shen Yu and Jin Niu, and she would have to make lunch when they came back, so she didn't go.

Shen Yu and Jin Niu haven't come back yet, but Zhou Cuiling has arrived.

Zhou Cuiling came home after get off work and had lunch, then ran over to meet Meng Tao because she had to go to work in the afternoon.

Meng Tao scooped a bowl of mung bean soup for her to drink as an after-meal dessert. Zhou Cuiling drank it slowly, mouthful by mouthful, while talking to Meng Tao.

"Taohua, now that you and Shen Yu are married, it will be difficult for us to meet in the future." Zhou Cuiling sighed.

Meng Tao was picking vegetables and said with a smile, "We have just registered, and you are in such a hurry to get me out?"

"You're going to live in the provincial capital anyway."

"Not so fast. There's a rumor that everyone will be able to go to college in a few years. I believe it. I want to be a college student. But it's hard to go to a big city to study. I thought, I should get a high school diploma in my area first. It will take two or three years, right?"

It is not difficult to transfer to a class, but the problem is that schools in big cities have strict requirements and you have to sit in the classroom and listen to the lessons step by step. Meng Tao had studied in high school and college in her previous life, and she could have been a teacher to teach those students. Why should she sit there and waste time? She didn't want to do that. She just wanted to have a name in the school, but she didn't go to school. But this operation was probably only feasible in small counties or rural areas.

Zhou Cuiling's eyes sparkled: "Of course it would be great if it were like this. We can still meet each other often. I really can't bear to leave you."

"Don't worry, even if you leave, you can still come back. I can't bear to leave you."

"Yeah, you should have gone home and discussed it with your parents before making a decision."

"Guoqing's mother felt sorry for her niece and cried so hard that she wanted to kneel down to me. I couldn't bear it at that time, so I agreed. My mother has been blaming me for this, but my father didn't say much, but I know he felt sorry for me in his heart."

"Of course your mother will complain: How rare is it to get such a spot? Your future mother-in-law has a niece in her family, doesn't your mother have nephews and nieces in her family? You haven't even married yet, and your future mother-in-law is asking you for it as a matter of course, and you just obey her. How can your mother feel comfortable?"

"I was wrong. I will never do such stupid things again. What's the old saying? Once there is a second time, you don't know. Recently, there was a rumor in their family that after I marry Guoqing, I can immediately follow him as his family member and I can't work at the grain station. Now, every day, some cousins ​​come to me and ask me to give my job to them. Don't you think it's annoying?"

Meng Tao was also speechless and asked, "Where did this news come from? You can ask Zhang Guoqing if he told his family about it."

"I just couldn't find Zhang Guoqing recently. He didn't call me, and he didn't reply to my letters. I was confused. Fortunately, you came back and told me that. I understood. I think that if Guoqing didn't tell me that I would be his family member, he would definitely not tell his family. They just spread it on their own."

"Just ignore them."

"Of course. I've been stupid once, can I be stupid a second time?"

After Zhou Cuiling finished drinking the mung bean soup, she sighed and said to Meng Tao:

"It's like being possessed by evil spirits lately, with one bad thing after another. I can ignore it, but my parents are furious with our Zhou family relatives: Didn't Zhou Cuilian elope with Liang Tiezhu? Tian Xianglan went crazy looking for them but couldn't find them. The two of them are good at hiding, living in the neighboring county. I don't know how they can live a stable life. Zhou Cuilian is pregnant and is about to give birth - this is what Zhou Cuilian's father Zhou Shibao said himself.

Zhou Cuilian is shameless, and Zhou Shibao is also a good-for-nothing. They actually brought Liang Tiezhu to find my dad and asked my dad for help to let Liang Tiezhu divorce Tian Xianglan and then marry Zhou Cuilian.

My dad definitely couldn't do this. No matter how hateful Tian Xianglan was, he couldn't cheat. Seeing that my dad couldn't be persuaded, Zhou Shibao started to make a scene in the commune, scolding my dad for being cold-hearted and having no brotherly love. He said that having a job was great, and that he was ungrateful and looked down on his poor brothers. He was a person who didn't know the truth, pointing fingers at him, saying that my dad really lost face and it had a bad influence.

That’s not all. Zhou Shibao went back to the village and found other cousins, saying that my father didn’t help Zhou Cuilian because he wanted to delay the younger generations, because only if Zhou Cuilian got married properly, the younger generations would be able to have smooth marriages in the future! What kind of perverse logic is this?

But those women just believed this. Several aunts and uncles supported Zhou Cuilian's mother and came to my house all day and night crying and making a fuss, as if our family had done something terrible. My mother was furious and picked up a carrying pole to drive them out, but she was so angry that she couldn't eat or sleep well for several days and was almost sick from anger. "

Meng Tao said, "It's not worth getting angry over such a person. You can tell Tian Xianglan about this and have her go to Zhou Shibao's house. I guarantee that Zhou Shibao and his wife won't have time to make trouble at your house anymore. After they're done fighting, tell Tian Xianglan where Zhou Cuilian and Liang Tiezhu live. That will make things even more lively."

Zhou Cuiling: "...I heard from them that Tian Xianglan seems to be really crazy now. She often talks to herself and curses. If she meets a girl named Zhou, she will be very angry and want to bite her to death. My last name is also Zhou, but I don't dare to fight her. The main reason is that the woman is fat and thick, and I can't beat her."

"We definitely can't confront her head-on. We can think of a way, such as through her children, or simply write a note and post it directly on the door of the Tian family. Tian Xianglan's eldest daughter is in the fourth grade of elementary school. She may not be interested in other words, but she will see the name Liang Tiezhu."

"Yes, just write a note and ask my brother and others to post it. Why didn't I think of that? Haha!"

Zhou Cuiling was going to work, so Meng Tao scooped a lunch box of mung bean soup, put it in a bamboo basket, and asked her to take it back for Aunt Yang to drink to cool down.

After seeing Zhou Cuiling off, Shen Yu and Jin Niu returned.

When Meng Tao saw Jinniu's look, she was stunned for a moment.

Jinniu's light blue shirt was open, all the buttons were torn off, the sleeves were torn into several strips, his eyes were bruised, his face was covered with overlapping red marks, and there was blood on his ears... She could probably guess what had happened. Sure enough, Jinniu should not have gone to Liuzhuang.

Meng Tao filled two basins of water and asked them to wash their faces, change clothes, and then drink some mung bean soup. She then cooked some noodles and fried two dishes for lunch.

After dinner, they sat down to rest for a while. Jinniu was too embarrassed to say it himself, so Shen Yu briefly told Meng Tao what happened.

In fact, it was just as Meng Tao had expected. When Jinniu went back to Liuzhuang to visit Wang Ergou, Geng Liuju found out and was furious: she had worked so hard to raise Jinniu, but he didn't even come to see his biological grandmother. When Jinniu's biological second uncle was injured, he didn't come to visit him either, but instead went to visit Wang Ergou!

What the hell is Wang Ergou? A short-lived ghost!

But Wang Ergou had a large family, and his grandmother and mother were also very strong and never lost a quarrel. Geng Liuju knew that she would not gain any advantage, so she did not go directly to Wang Ergou's house. Instead, she brought a group of people to wait at the road that must be passed at the entrance of the village. That group of people were of course her children, grandchildren, daughters-in-law, granddaughters, granddaughters-in-law, and two women from the Geng family, at least a dozen people.

When Jinniu came over with a crutch, he was stopped by Geng Liuju and others and told to go back to the old Geng's house. Jinniu refused to go and was firm in his attitude, which angered Geng Liuju, who called on several women to fight. During the struggle, Jinniu's crutch slipped out of his hand and he fell to the ground. Geng Liuju beat him with the sole of her shoe without thinking, cursing at him and pinching his eyes and ears with her hands. Jinniu struggled desperately, and several men from the Meng family stood by and watched, indifferent.

Shen Yu had just sent Jinniu into the village, and then he drove around the area. When he came back, he saw Jinniu lying on the ground and being torn apart by several women. He quickly stopped the car and rushed over to pull him out, but he had already become like this.

Meng Tao looked at Jinniu and asked, "Are you okay?"

Jin Niu smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Geng Caiyue was there too. She lay on top of me and blocked a lot for me... The grandmother scolded me for being heartless and planned to take me back and marry Geng Caiyue that day. I would never agree to it even if I was beaten to death. Fortunately, Shen Yu rescued me. However, from the tone of their voices, they will come to Linshui Village in the next two days and force me to marry Geng Caiyue."

(End of this chapter)