Chapter 56
Days passed one after another, and time steadily moved into July. The weather suddenly became hot and dry. During the day, cicadas chirped incessantly, and at night, frogs croaked incessantly, one after another, in a continuous chorus, making a headache.
Counting the days, Xun Ai will be giving birth in half a month. It is said that childbirth is like passing through the gates of hell for women. Xun Yi has been somewhat restless lately, and listening to the cicadas chirping all day long only makes him more irritable.
If there's any time of peace during the day, it's only during the early morning.
He still went to check on Shu Wanxiu's two acres of land every day. He would make sure there were no weeds on the first day, and then pull them out early the next morning before everyone else in the village got up.
When he first started doing this kind of work, he had no experience and pulled up all the weeds on the ridges and in the fields.
Less than half a month later, some aunts in the village were chatting and wondering why no grass was growing on the two acres of land belonging to the Shu family.
Later, he became more restrained, mainly pulling up barnyard grass in the fields, leaving only one or two plants in the ground. He also pulled up some weeds on the field ridges, but not completely.
After this cover-up, he secretly listened to his aunts gossiping a few more times, and finally stopped hearing anyone say things like "weeds don't grow in the Shu family's fields."
In summer, the sun is long, and it gets bright as early as the hour of Mao (5-7 AM).
Xun Yi cherished the rare quiet time each morning, so he moved his wake-up time forward and still rushed to the Shu family's fields before dawn.
Lately, I've been restless, and it's easy for me to get distracted when weeding.
For example, today he was mentally calculating whether he, as the bride's family, had prepared everything after Xun Ai gave birth.
The baby's clothes, blankets, bathtub, stroller, diapers... there were many odds and ends, but everything was prepared except for the eggs.
The main reason is that eggs don't keep well in hot weather; otherwise, he would be willing to buy them in advance.
As an uncle, he has done his best, even exceeding the scope of what he should have done.
As Xun Ai's only blood relative so far, Xun Yi still felt indebted.
According to custom, when a woman is in postpartum confinement, her mother from her maternal home is expected to take care of her.
Their mother died early, and as a man, it was inconvenient for him to take care of his sister during her postpartum period.
Although he decided to hire an aunt to take care of Xun Ai for a month, Xun Yi was unsure whether she would be willing to do so.
Xun Yi was preoccupied with his concern for Xun Ai.
He didn't notice that while he was thinking about these things, his weeding speed slowed down, nor did he notice that it was already past dawn and most people in the village had gotten up.
This—far exceeds the time he usually spends weeding in the fields.
...
There's nothing new in this small village. Everyone knows who's pregnant, whose son is getting married, or who's turning eighty. The women in the village keep track of everything.
When the day arrives, your family reminds me, and my family reminds you, to give gifts and help out.
Xun Yi had hinted the day before that he wanted to hire someone to take care of Xun Ai during her postpartum period.
This caused quite a stir in Wupai Village.
A few months ago, everyone was lamenting that Xun Ai had no family to take care of her during her postpartum period. Who would have thought that Xun Yi would be so good to his sister and would once again be so generous?
Now, all the women in the village, from elderly women in their sixties to middle-aged women in their forties, had the idea to take on this job.
There's no other reason than that everyone in the village knows how generous Xun Yi is to his own sister.
When Xun Ai got married, he hired a lot of people to help her. They sewed quilts, made clothes and furniture, and paid them quite a lot.
Serving Xun Ai during her postpartum confinement period, which lasts a full month, must be quite lucrative.
Lin Xinghua, she's a money-grubber.
Everyone in the village knew about it, and people often made fun of her, saying that although her husband's name was Wang Jincai, and everyone called him "Jincai, Jincai" all day long, in the end he was not as greedy as Xinghua.
One of them loosened his grip, while the other tightened it.
They went in completely the opposite direction when doing things.
When news of Xun Yi hiring people spread, Wang Jincai said: "It's not like she's my own daughter. What kind of behavior is it to collect money to take care of her during her postpartum period?"
When Lin Xinghua heard about this way of making money, her mind started to wander.
Last night, she stayed up until midnight, constantly speculating in bed about what price Xun Yi was planning to offer for hiring people this time.
After much deliberation, I decided to come and investigate the truth today.
Lin Xinghua got up before dawn.
Normally, she would do the laundry and cooking at home, while Wang Jincai would do the sweeping and feeding the chickens. But today, she had no interest in doing these useless things. After getting up and washing up, she dusted herself off, left everything to Wang Jincai, and went out by herself.
On the way, she kept thinking about how to talk to Xun Yi to get the job.
After all, she knew that there were many people in the village with similar ideas, and she had to act quickly and come up with something different in order to get this opportunity.
When Lin Xinghua arrived at the Xun family's door, she realized she had arrived too early.
Look—
The Xun family gates are still closed, and it's unknown when Xun Yi will get up.
Her eyes darted around as she hid in the nearby woods.
She really wanted Xun Yi's job, but she didn't want people to see how eager she was, so that she would be looked down upon or have her price reduced.
Besides, what if other people in the village had the same idea as her and came looking for Xun Yi early in the morning?
In short, Lin Xinghua spent almost half an hour exploring the grove.
From before dawn until daybreak, there was no sign of the Xun family's rooms being opened, nor any sound of activity.
She was somewhat annoyed.
The woods were teeming with mosquitoes. The longer she stayed, the more they would bite her. Now she was covered in welts, and if they kept biting her, they would suck all her blood!
Xun Yi used to seem diligent, so why is he sleeping so late and still not getting up?
Lin Xinghua couldn't resist coming out of the woods, only to discover something astonishing—except for the main room and the kitchen, all the rooms in the Xun family's house were locked from the outside!
Lin Xinghua, right? She loves money and gossip.
She knew a lot about what was going on in the village.
I've never heard of Xun Yi being a frivolous fellow, but he really wasn't home this early in the morning.
So, where did they go?
Lin Xinghua was dumbfounded, wondering if he had left before dawn or hadn't returned home at night... and had stayed out all night?!
A surge of excitement rose within her, and Lin Xinghua took light steps, looking around as she headed towards the village.
...
The ground was wet mud, and the sky was filled with the glow of dawn.
Xun Yi, caught in the middle, was jolted out of his thoughts after being pricked by a snail and sensed something even hotter than the glow of the sunset.
That was a gaze.
He stiffened and slowly raised his head, meeting Lin Xinghua's smiling eyes.
"You're out in the fields so early?"
"Helping Wanxiu weed?"
It's hard to say.
It's impossible to explain at all.
The cold sweat on Xun Yi's forehead fell straight into the field, splashing up a small puddle.
As Lin Xinghua's smile grew ever brighter, Xun Yi got a clear look at his surroundings.
There was no third person besides them.
His body was still tense, but his mind had relaxed somewhat.
"Auntie, why don't we find somewhere else to talk?"
Lin Xinghua smiled and nodded, appearing completely compliant.
The most suitable place to talk was naturally Xun Yi's home.
He's a single old man, his house isn't next to anyone else's, and he runs a blacksmith shop. He can just open the door and talk at home. If he runs into someone else, he can simply say he's there to buy ironware from him.
After washing his legs and feet clean by the stream, Xun Yi led Lin Xinghua to the main room to sit down.
"No water has been boiled yet today."
After explaining, Xun Yi picked up the kettle and poured a bowl of boiled water from yesterday for Lin Xinghua.
"It's nothing. Auntie just got up early to check on the fields. She didn't go far and isn't thirsty."
Lin Xinghua's smile never faded the whole way, and she was still all smiles as she pushed the water toward Xun Yi.
"You've been busy all morning, you must be tired, have a drink."
Xun Yi broke out in a sweat, but after pulling weeds for a short while, he wasn't really that tired.
He was even angrier at his own carelessness, and in an attempt to calm himself down, he actually picked up the bowl and drank two large bowls of wine.
Seeing that he had drunk his fill of water, Lin Xinghua stopped beating around the bush and asked directly with a smile, "When did you and Shu start dating?"
The word 'begin' didn't sound very friendly, so Xun Yi shook his head repeatedly and hurriedly denied it: "We haven't begun."
"Haha, you're embarrassed to talk to your aunt?"
Just tell the truth!
Xun Yi looked dejected. Now he understood that there was no point in arguing.
But Lin Xinghua's expression and words clearly indicated that she had misunderstood that the two of them were having an affair.
The barber was all in the thick of it; pulling weeds was his own idea, and Shu Wanxiu was completely unaware of it from beginning to end. How could she be stigmatized for it?
It must be explained clearly; we absolutely cannot tarnish Shu Wanxiu's reputation.
Xun Yi lowered his head and explained that he had gone to pull weeds because of a nightmare.
"I couldn't sleep during that period. After pulling weeds once, I slept well, so I often sneaked out to the field to pull weeds. Maybe I was born to like pulling weeds."
"Hahaha..." Lin Xinghua laughed so hard she was almost trembling, gasping for breath.
"Shu... Shu girl appeared in your dream, and you call that a nightmare?"
Xun Yi briefly listed one or two dreams.
Those who had been through it all immediately understood what Xun Yi was all about.
She glanced at Xun Yi subtly, her eyes lingering on one spot for a couple of seconds. "Every time you wake up from a nightmare, don't you notice anything amiss?"
this……
Xun Yi's face flushed red in an instant.
He clearly understood Lin Xinghua's meaning.
He wanted to argue.
But how could he possibly refute such a subtle and private fact?
"Hahahaha..."
Lin Xinghua laughed even more wildly and unrestrainedly.
"Young Xun, you're completely clueless!"
How could a greenhorn compare to an experienced aunt?
While Xun Yi was blushing, Lin Xinghua used a few tricks to get the details of how he met Shu Wanxiu.
"Ouch, ouch!"
"You've done quite a lot, giving away pots and farm tools."
She slapped her thigh. "That's right! I remember during the grain robbery, you saved Shu Wanxiu and the others, and even escorted them to see a doctor in the middle of the night, right?"
Lin Xinghua's eyes were filled with excitement; she was proud of her ability to connect everything.
After being happy for a while, she exclaimed "Oh!" again, this time as a sigh.
"How come there are so many confused people?"
She shook her head and said it shouldn't be like that. "You're on good terms with Village Chief Pang, and Shu'er is also on good terms with the Pang family. Didn't those two ever think of pairing you two up?"
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