The old woman across the street cursed for a while but couldn't find the person. She glanced suspiciously at Zhou Ying several times, but seeing Zhou Ying working tirelessly without a moment's rest, her suspicions lessened.
Unable to find anyone, the old woman cursed a few times and then let it go, but Zhou Ying dared not move again, focusing on finishing the work in front of her.
When Huang Yuan returned, he looked with satisfaction at the work Zhou Ying had just finished.
That's right, if the two of them aren't on the same page, they're doomed sooner or later.
After finishing work at noon, Qin Xiaoxiao followed Aunt Song home. When they reached the fork in the road, Aunt Song glanced at Qin Xiaoxiao who was still following her and said, "Xiaoxiao, isn't your house over there? This isn't the way back to the Qin family. Are you... coming home with me?"
Qin Xiaoxiao smiled and took Aunt Song's arm. "Aunt Song, I've never been to your house before. I heard that you have several sons, all of whom are successful, and your daughters-in-law are also filial. Everyone in the village envies you."
Being fawned over, Aunt Song completely lost all suspicion—no, she instantly forgot why Qin Xiaoxiao was following her—and started talking about her sons with a smile.
"My sons are all quite good. I'm not bragging, but I have a lot of experience raising children."
My eldest son will be responsible for taking care of us in our old age, so I taught him to be filial to his parents and loving to his brothers from a young age. However, I did not force him to help me take care of the younger children. Instead, I let him discipline them and be a little teacher.
And you know what? I actually did the right thing. My eldest son is very responsible, and the younger children are willing to talk to him about anything, sometimes even asking him for advice.
Our boss can be said to be worthy of the Song family's reputation.
"My second son was mischievous from a young age, so I sent him to the army. Now he's serving with your third son. I heard he was recently promoted to officer, and your third brother was promoted too. I heard your third brother is even more impressive; he's already a deputy company commander."
Qin Xiaoxiao shook her head. "I haven't heard of that. Maybe the letter hasn't arrived yet?"
In fact, Qin Sheng's letter had already arrived from the Qin family's side, and Qin Feng had just retrieved it and handed it to Qin Aiguo.
Aunt Song nodded with a smile, "I received it last night too; my fourth son brought it back."
By the way, my fourth child works in the city, earning 22.8 yuan a month. The work is quite tiring, but in my opinion, it's better than farming in the village.
Qin Xiaoxiao nodded in agreement, "That's right. The world is different in the city. People see less and meet fewer people in the village. It's different outside. Aunt Song was right."
Aunt Song laughed loudly, "What foresight? I just stumbled upon this by accident. I was unwilling for my child to end up like my husband and me, stuck in the village forever and unable to leave."
Qin Xiaoxiao didn't say anything more, because this was a difficult question to answer. Should she say the village was bad? The leaders all said they wanted to go to the countryside; how could she dare say it was bad? What if Zhou Ying or someone who disliked her heard her? How would she survive?
"You promised? Aunt Song is so eager for her son to go to the city. Isn't this a slap in the face? How can she go with her now?"
Aunt Song didn't mind and started talking about her third son, "My third son teaches at the village primary school. He is introverted and doesn't talk much, but he loves to study. He is the most studious among all my sons. If he hadn't been barred from going to university, he would definitely have gone to university."
Qin Xiaoxiao remembered it. When the college entrance examination is reinstated, she can help him get some study materials to fulfill his wish, as a way of repaying Aunt Song for her help all this time.
“My fifth son is the most troublesome. He’s just as mischievous as his second brother. For example, when they were recruiting soldiers a few days ago, this brat was afraid we wouldn’t agree, so he signed up behind our backs. He’ll be leaving in the fall.”
Aunt Song looked somewhat sad, perhaps because she had been hurt by her fifth son.
That's true. If you want to join the army, just say so. Aunt Song is open-minded and wouldn't refuse. Running away to sign up behind your parents' backs has put them in a bad situation. It's just that the village has a good atmosphere and not many crooked thoughts. Even if there are some minor filth, they don't intend to kill people. If this happened in the city, this matter would probably not be over.
As they walked, the two arrived at Aunt Song's house. Aunt Song warmly invited Qin Xiaoxiao to have dinner at her house, but Qin Xiaoxiao quickly waved her hand.
"I'll go eat at my grandma's. The food at home is all ready by now, so I won't bother Aunt Song."
Aunt Song held onto Qin Xiaoxiao tightly, saying, "Why go home? Just eat here at Aunt Song's. I'll have Lao Wu go to your house later and tell your grandma."
Qin Xiaoxiao stepped back, forcefully pulling her arm out, being careful not to drop Aunt Song. "No way, my grandma will scold me again. Every family has a hard time. We don't even have enough food for our own family, let alone enough to entertain outsiders."
"Aunt Song, I just happened to be passing by and stopped by to take a look. I didn't mean anything by it."
As she spoke, Qin Xiaoxiao winked at Aunt Song.
Aunt Song didn't understand and looked at Qin Xiaoxiao with a blank expression.
Qin Xiaoxiao grew anxious and leaned closer to Aunt Song, lowering her voice to say, "It's true that I came back with you to get acquainted with the family, but I also want to see where Mai Sui lives."
Aunt Song understood immediately after Qin Xiaoxiao said that.
So they mainly came to see the wheat ears!
Aunt Song smoothed her hair, glanced to the left front, and gestured for Qin Xiaoxiao to look in the same direction.
Qin Xiaoxiao received the signal, glanced to the side, and caught sight of a front door.
This must be Mai Jia, right?
Aunt Song nodded almost imperceptibly, then said, "Alright, since you put it that way, I won't keep you any longer. Tell your grandma another day that you can come over to my house for lunch."
"It's just grain. My family has plenty of men; do you think we need your food? With your tiny appetite, you don't even eat as much as my eldest grandson."
Aunt Song spoke with a look of disgust, but her gaze kept gesturing for Qin Xiaoxiao to look in the direction of the Mai family.
Qin Xiaoxiao looked over again in confusion, and saw a little girl of about six or seven years old carrying a bamboo basket walking out of the Mai family's gate. She didn't look in their direction, but instead walked up the mountain with her back to them.
Aunt Song leaned closer to Qin Xiaoxiao and whispered, "This is Mai Sui, the youngest daughter of the Mai family, whose personality has changed drastically."
Qin Xiaoxiao narrowed her eyes, looking in the direction Mai Sui had left. "Wasn't it said that Mai Sui was around ten years old? Why does she look like she's six or seven?"
Aunt Song curled her lips and said, "Mai Laoda is a scoundrel. He abuses several children. Look at Mai Sui, she looks like she's six or seven years old. Her older sister, Mai Zi, is already fifteen, but she looks like an eleven or twelve-year-old. If you didn't know, you wouldn't know she could get married next year."
Qin Xiaoxiao frowned, "Getting married at sixteen? Isn't that a bit too early? Aren't you supposed to get a marriage certificate at eighteen?"
She thought getting married at eighteen was a bit early, sixteen? That's way too early!
Aunt Song then sneered, "Isn't it just that the Mai family wants to get some dowry money to buy meat for the twins in Mai Lao Er's family?"
Honestly, selling his sister to buy meat for his brother—only Mai Jia would do something like that.
Aunt Song glared disdainfully at the Mai family's gate, her expression filled with indescribable sadness.
I think I have an allergic reaction. I don't know what I ate, but my body is very itchy and I have a lot of bumps. The sentences may be a little awkward, so please bear with me for now. I will read it again tomorrow when I feel better. The main content will not change, but there may be some minor changes in the middle. You don't need to read it again.
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