The guy didn't want Meng Tao to spend money and refused to take the bus. The 80 cents fare was more important to him than anything else. Meng Tao directly gave the money to the conductor to buy a ticket, so he had to take the bus even if he didn't want to.

The bus only passed by the market of Naliang Commune. Meng Laosan would get off the bus and then walk for half an hour on the village-level farming road to get back to their Liuzhuang, saving half a day.

Meng Tao watched the bus go away, then turned and went to the supply and marketing cooperative. The ox cart from the village that she had specially invited came out today. She still had some cloth coupons and industrial coupons given by Sun Hong, so she wanted to buy two or three quilts and some cotton and cotton cloth, as well as two washbasins, towels and the like, and have the ox cart pull them back.

December was the winter month of the lunar calendar. There was no farm work in the production team for a long time. The men could still sign up to work at the reservoir or road and bridge construction sites, but the women did not have to work at all. They just sewed and did some housework every day. Meng Tao thought about what Liu Jianxin said, that Grandpa Liu would definitely come, so she had to prepare in advance. She had to sew two sets of bedding to avoid being at a loss when he came, just like when Meng Laosan suddenly came that night and asked the educated youth to collect bedding.

Meng Tao moved the newly bought quilt to the place where the ox cart was parked in the village. Together with the cart driver, Grandpa Liang, they secured the things with straw ropes to prevent them from falling off due to the bumps on the road. They waited for a while, but no villagers came to take the ride. Thinking that no one else would come out today except them, they drove the ox back directly.

Meng Tao sat by the shaft of the cart and handed a dollar, two meat buns, and half a pound of candy to Grandpa Liang. Grandpa Liang declined for a moment, then took it with a smile. The ox cart belonged to the production team. Usually, they didn't charge for it, but they had to pay for it when they called for it privately. Grandpa Liang worked hard to drive the cart and take care of the ox, so it was reasonable for him to charge some money.

It suddenly started to rain halfway through the journey. Fortunately, Meng Tao bought a piece of film cloth. She had originally intended to use it to build a canopy to block the dust from the mosquito net on the bed, but now it was just the right amount to cover the new quilt.

Uncle Liang asked Meng Tao to hide under the film as well. He had a bamboo hat and a straw raincoat with him, so he was not afraid of getting wet.

The ox cart was stopped in front of a small earthen slope. Meng Tao heard a sharp voice talking to Grandpa Liang, which sounded familiar. She crawled out from under the film and took a look. Wow, there was a festively dressed bride standing in the rain!

Tian Yalan wore a bright red woolen coat, a pink scarf tied around her neck, and her trouser legs were ironed straight, which was obviously new. She wore black mid-heeled leather shoes and carried a leather bag. She looked very presentable. If you didn't know her, you would think she was a female educated youth from the town. If you knew her, your first reaction would be: she just got married not long ago, and she is still a bride, so it's not strange that she is dressed so festively! But now this bride is a little embarrassed. She got caught in the rain, her hair was wet and stuck to her forehead and face, her bright red woolen coat, pants and leather shoes were all covered with mud, and her face and hands were also covered with muddy water.

Meng Tao heard Tian Yalan instructing Uncle Liang: "Go, help me carry the bicycle out of the ditch, and I'll give you 20 cents!"

Oh, so it fell into the ditch, no wonder.

Uncle Liang: "I am too old to do this. Please find someone else."

"There's no one around here. I've been waiting for a while but no one has come."

"There's nothing I can do about it. Get out of the way. I need to hurry!"

"Old Liang! I'll give you another twenty cents, enough for you to buy a few bowls of rice noodles!"

Uncle Liang had a wooden face and said nothing. He shook the whip and the big buffalo moved forward. If it were someone else, he might get off the car to take a look and help, but he really didn't want to bother with the Tian family in Linshui Village.

Tian Yalan was about to cry. She turned around and saw Meng Tao holding the film. Her eyes widened immediately: "You! Meng Taohua!"

Meng Tao: "What do you want me to do, bride? Do you want me to congratulate you?"

"I'm not the bride!"

"Who says that the one wearing red is the bride? If you keep talking nonsense, I'll tear your mouth apart!"

"The day you and Shi Datou held your wedding banquet, the whole Linshui Village saw it. What did I say at the beginning? I told you to look at each other carefully, look at each other carefully, isn't this what happened?"

Tian Yalan was soaked in the rain. Her face was originally pale, but now it turned red. She shouted angrily: "Meng Taohua, you are the one who harmed me. Go to hell!"

As she spoke, she bent down and picked up a stone. She chased after Meng Tao with one foot high and one foot low and threw it hard at her face. Meng Tao dodged and the stone hit the quilt and landed on the frame. Meng Tao picked up the stone and threw it back without hesitation. Tian Yalan also dodged, but she didn't avoid it. The stone hit her shoulder. Meng Tao's strength was not something she could bear. Tian Yalan fell to the mud and cried out sharply after a while:

"Meng Taohua killed someone! Help! Meng Taohua killed someone..."

Meng Tao said to Uncle Liang who was driving the car in front: "Uncle, Tian Yalan suddenly fell down. Should we go over to see her?"

Uncle Liang said without even turning his head: "What are you looking at? Wang Shuifeng is a crazy woman, and her daughter is just like that. She fell into the ditch while riding her bike. Don't turn around and say that we were responsible for her death. When we get to the village, I can just shout at her door and ask her family to come pick her up."

"You are so kind, sir."

"Who made us unlucky enough to run into them? Taohua, you're lucky you left that house. Don't get close to them in the future. Just pretend you don't know them and don't even talk to them!"

"Oh, I see."

Meng Tao had no time to deal with the Tian family, but the Tian family came to cause trouble for her.

Grandpa Liang shouted twice at the door of the Tian family. Wang Shuifeng hurriedly asked Tian Zhiyuan to go to the road to pick up Wang Yalan. Tian Zhiyuan didn't want to go, but the bicycle was there. If Wang Yalan ran home by herself and left the bicycle behind, and someone picked it up, it would be inconvenient for him to go to the commune or go out without a bicycle.

Tian Yalan returned home dripping wet, and burst into tears as soon as she saw Wang Shuifeng. Tian Baoshan, Tian Zhiyuan and their wives were really annoyed with Tian Yalan recently. She would cry and shout at the slightest thing, like a lunatic, which was very noisy and disgusting. So they all went into their rooms and closed the doors, too lazy to listen to her crying.

When Wang Shuifeng learned that her daughter was harmed by Meng Taohua, she immediately cursed her as a bitch and wished she could beat Meng Taohua to death.

But she didn't have the confidence to run to the Meng family. These days, when she walked around in the village, she kept her head down carefully, for fear of being caught by the gossipy and aggressive women in the village and being scolded. That damn girl Taohua had the support of the team leader and had killed a wild boar recently, so she was in power in the village. If she went directly to Meng Taohua's house to make a scene, not to mention that there were so many educated youths in the yard, even if the women from the neighbors came over, she would definitely suffer.

Although Wang Shuifeng and Tian Yalan hated each other, they still endured it until two days later when Shi Datou came to give Tian Yalan a pheasant to replenish her body. Wang Shuifeng asked Tian Yalan to lie on the bed and pretend to be seriously injured. After adding fuel to the fire, Shi Datou became furious. He grabbed a hatchet and rushed to the Meng family yard, shouting that he would chop Meng Taohua to death.

Thank you for the enthusiastic support from the fairies! Thank you for the tips from Yi Zi Fairy, Wei Xun Key Fairy, I Dance I Watch Fairy, Deng Huo Jian Ren Jia Fairy, Book City Jin Yi Wei. Su Yan Ran Fairy... Thank you! 　　 　 (End of this chapter)