Chapter 49
The lock on the door was still firmly on, untouched, but someone was sweeping the yard.
Who could it be?
It was obviously unwise to delve into this matter so late at night, so Xun Yi opened the door, went inside, and went to sleep hastily.
The next morning, however, he still remembered the incident.
He opened all the doors to let in fresh air, and then went to the flat ground in front of the house.
Without a keen eye, one cannot be a good hunter. Xun Yi wandered around for a while and quickly found a pile of ashes that had not been completely burned.
This place is about 10 or 20 zhang away from his house, near the stream, and the surrounding area is open.
Most importantly, there was a shoe print not far from the pile of ash.
She was very petite, and the marks were not deep, so she was probably... a slender woman?
A name surfaced in Xun Yi's mind, followed by the memory of his last meeting with her.
Xun Yi promised yesterday that he would go to see Chen Sanhe today, and he will not go back on his word.
After a simple breakfast, he sorted through the two sacks of things he had brought back from the prefectural city and found the portion for Chen Sanhe.
"He's gotten tanned and more muscular!"
"But he's still just as energetic."
Last night it was pitch black, so Chen Sanhe couldn't see anything. But when he saw Xun Yi today, he looked him up and down and then gave this assessment.
Xun Yi never paid attention to his appearance or physique, and he remained noncommittal when Chen Sanhe made his comments.
This was a familiar sight to Chen Sanhe. She smiled, her eyes crinkling, and pushed open the door to the main room with both hands. "Come in and sit down!"
Xun Yi nodded, lowered his head slightly, and stepped through the door.
The Pang family's house was a large brick and tile house. Although the door frame was of ordinary height, the space inside each room was quite large.
Especially in the main room, a dozen or so people can sit without feeling crowded.
After Xun Yi took his seat, he first asked about the health of Chen Sanhe and Pang Zhishan, and whether they had been in good health recently.
After receiving a positive response, they inquired about the situation in the village.
"Nothing major has happened in the village, everyone is fine."
After listening to Chen Sanhe's story, Xun Yi paused for a moment and asked about the outcome of the grain robbery case.
"Oh! This matter..."
After all, it was a major event that the whole village had personally experienced, so Chen Sanhe recounted the aftermath in great detail.
Hearing that Shu Wanxiu had returned home after the verdict was handed down, Xun Yi nodded slightly.
After regaining her senses, she piled the gifts she had brought for Chen Sanhe onto the table as if to cover it up.
Chen Sanhe immediately became unhappy.
“I told you last night, just come over and talk to your aunt. Take everything back exactly as you brought it,” she said, not even glancing at what Xun Yi had brought. “Take whatever you can exchange for money and save it so you can find a wife soon.”
Chen Sanhe watched the two Xun siblings grow up. Last year, Xun Ai got married, and Chen Sanhe began to worry about Xun Yi's marriage.
No one else in the village could interfere with this matter, except for Chen Sanhe, who urged Xun Yi as if he were concerned about his own junior.
Xun Yi had asked his master about marriage during his trip to the prefectural city, but he had no intention of getting married at all.
However, he had already experienced once in the prefectural city how such bluntness could anger these elders to the point of cursing. He wasn't stupid, so naturally he wouldn't say that again this time, lest he invite another scolding upon himself.
He avoided the topic, instead opening the items on the table and placing them one by one in front of Chen Sanhe with a wooden yet persistent demeanor.
"comb."
"Headband".
"Medicine, for headaches."
Chen Sanhe listened to Xun Yi announce the first two items without glancing at him, but when the third item was mentioned, his eyelids suddenly widened and he glanced sideways at the table.
Two stacks of medicine wrapped in oil paper were neatly arranged on the table. She looked up and met Xun Yi's sincere eyes.
Chen Sanhe gave birth to two sons and two daughters. When she gave birth to her last daughter, she did not take proper care of herself during her postpartum period and developed postpartum illness—headache.
When not having an attack, he is full of energy and feels great; once an attack occurs, he can hardly get out of bed for two or three days.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
Xun Yi lowered his eyes considerately and slowly and gently explained the origin and function of these three items.
The comb was made of ox horn. Hearing that Xun Ai was pregnant, before returning home, his master's wife took him to stroll around the city and bought some things for Xun Ai.
While browsing through a shop, he happened to overhear the shop assistant introducing a yellow ox horn comb to someone else.
Xun Yi didn't pay attention to the other benefits, but when he heard that using this comb to comb his hair regularly could relieve headaches, he immediately bought it.
When his teacher's wife learned that Xun Yi bought this because his aunt, who had taken good care of him since childhood, had a headache, she suggested that he could also buy a headband or some medicine for headaches from a pharmacy.
He noted down both suggestions and bought them all.
To say something that others might laugh at, none of his four children have lived up to Xun Yi's standards.
Chen Sanhe's eyes grew increasingly hot, and his throat felt as if something was blocking it, preventing him from making a sound.
Xun Yi then continued to recount some interesting observations that he hadn't finished telling yesterday.
...
The two didn't chat for long, since Chen Sanhe had to help look after the wheat at the threshing ground and cook for the whole family.
"Stay for dinner."
Xun Yi insisted on leaving, and even though he had already reached the door, Chen Sanhe was still trying to persuade him to stay.
"The house is still waiting to be cleaned up; the shop can't open until it's properly tidied."
No amount of words can compare to the effectiveness of simply saying "Opening a shop is the most important thing."
"Yes, we should hurry back and get things ready. Tell me how much business you've missed these past few days? So many people came specifically to buy farm tools from you, only to find they hadn't come back."
Chen Sanhe's words were not unfounded. During this year's wheat harvest, two families in the village whose grandsons had grown up had mentioned several times that it was a pity Xun Yi was not here, otherwise they would have bought sickles.
Xun Yi suddenly had a thought and asked, "Has the Shu family divided up the land?"
The sun shines brightly, and the plants are thriving.
With Chen Sanhe's answer in mind, Xun Yi walked slower and slower as he approached his own house.
"It's been divided, two mu of land. One mu is next to your house, and the other is in the middle of the village fields." Chen Sanhe's words still echoed in his ears. He also told himself that Shu Wanxiu might be working on the one in the middle of the village fields, or she might not be plowing the field at all today.
He knew there were various possibilities, but he still couldn't help feeling a little nervous.
He attributed this to the fact that he hadn't figured out how to face Shu Wanxiu yet.
After all, her suggestion that time—to regard them as her second parents—was truly astonishing.
Even if we dawdle, the village is only so big, and it will eventually come to an end.
After reaching the stream, Xun Yi quickened his pace, walking straight ahead without looking to the side. However, when he could see his own house in front of him, he couldn't help but turn his head to the side.
He didn't know that his current mood should be described as uneasy, and he didn't know that while he outwardly wanted to avoid her, he actually wanted to see Shu Wanxiu.
In any case, when he turned his head to look in that direction, he did see Shu Wanxiu.
Can……
His burning passion cooled down in less than two breaths after seeing Shu Wanxiu.
Xun Yi stared at that spot for a long time, and confirmed with certainty that Shu Wanxiu was turning over the ground with a hoe.
On the ridge closest to Shu Wanxiu, Shu Shouyi did nothing but squat there blankly and boredly, his gaze rising and falling with the swinging and falling of Shu Wanxiu's hoe.
Xun Yi paused for a moment, then turned around and went back.
He wanted to ask if the villagers had isolated the Shu family, otherwise how could they have been reduced to tilling the land with hoes?
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