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233: Zhao Xiaohua becomes the target

"If Xiaohua hadn't fallen off the float, it would have rained a long time ago!"

Just when everyone was rejoicing, someone said something with a complaint in his voice, which made those who were rejoicing start to complain as well.

The person who played the Rain Goddess fell off the float. This was not a good sign in itself. If it had rained, it would have been fine. But it was so dry that day, which made those anxious people take the matter even more seriously. They thought that it didn't rain because Zhao Xiaohua, who played the Rain Goddess, fell off the float and made her unhappy, so not a drop of rain fell.

Su Zhi listened to these people complaining and thought to herself that Zhao Xiaohua was really unlucky this time. It didn't rain around the Qingming Festival this year, which showed that the weather was different from previous years. She still insisted on being the Rain Lady, and ended up running into trouble. This was not her business, but it became her business. Let's see how proud she is this time!

Zhao Xiaohua hasn't been out much these days because many people look at her in a strange way.

Su Zhi thought that if this year was really a year of severe drought, Zhao Xiaohua might end up like the last Rain Lady who fell off the float. That Rain Lady seemed to have been hastily married off to a distant place. It seemed that no one around here dared to marry her, saying that she was an unlucky woman. If Zhao Xiaohua also fell into that situation, Zhao Xiaohua would be really unlucky. She wanted to marry a good family with all her heart, otherwise why would she fight to be that Rain Lady?

"Zi'an's wife, it was supposed to be Shen Zhu in your family who was the Rain Queen, but she suddenly fell ill. Is there really something going on here?"

Seeing Su Zhi sitting there without saying anything, Hua Pozi started to ask her. Hua Pozi likes to ask questions and think about things. Otherwise, how can she gossip with others? She had long felt that Shen Zhu's illness was very strange. Later, Sun said to others that Shen Zhu was cheated by someone. She always thought that it was Zhao Xiaohua's family who did it. But it was useless to spread this matter. There was no basis for it. Now that she saw Su Zhi, she remembered to ask again.

When the people around heard this, they all looked at Su Zhi. They were also curious about this matter. Everyone had different opinions on the fact that Shen Zhu suddenly fell ill and could not be the Rain Goddess. Some said that Shen Zhu was just unlucky. She fell ill before she was going to be famous. Some said that she was tricked by someone because someone else wanted to be the Rain Goddess. Some even said that Shen Zhu became the Rain Goddess because God and the Rain Goddess were not happy with her, which made her sick.

Of course, not many people said the following remarks later, because Shen Ziju was going to take the examination for the scholar, and Shen Zian's family was building a lot of projects. With these two brothers around, one rich and the other powerful, no one in the village wanted to offend Shen Zhu or the Shen family.

The Shen family also said that if Shen Zhu was really disliked by God and Rain Lady, she would have been sick long ago, not before she got on the float. The reason why she was chosen at that time was because it was the best time for others to attack her. The Shen family's statement also made sense.

Because of this statement, the villagers became more suspicious that the later Rain Queen was the one who cheated Shen Zhu, and more people looked down on Zhao Xiaohua.

Because it never rained, people kept talking about this incident, and the reputations of the Zhao and Shen families suffered a small loss, and the two girls became more famous. It's a pity that this reputation is half good and half bad.

Now that Hua Pozi asked Su Zhi, these people were of course interested, as if as long as Su Zhi said that Shen Zhu's illness was caused by someone, they would be sure that it was the Zhao family who was behind it.

"I really don't know. I was there that day, but even the doctor couldn't figure out what was wrong with Zhu'er, so I have no idea. I can only say that Zhu'er got those rashes at the wrong time."

Su Zhi said that although she hated the Zhao family, she also felt that it was a coincidence that Shen Zhu developed those rashes, and she also suspected the Zhao family, but she had no evidence and could only tell the truth that she knew.

When everyone heard Su Zhi's words, they were a little disappointed. They were all angry and wanted to vent their anger, but they always had to find someone to vent their anger on. The "Rain Lady" who failed to pray for rain and brought a drought to everyone was naturally the target of hatred. If Su Zhi could add more charges to Zhao Xiaohua, it would be easier for them to settle accounts with the Zhao family. But Su Zhi said she knew nothing.

"Yes, the rash appeared at a very inappropriate time. It would have been difficult to find a replacement if we wanted to replace him. How could Zhao Xiaohua just happen to be there? What a coincidence!"

But Mrs. Hua heard something from Su Zhi's words and said immediately that as soon as she said this, everyone started to talk about it again, and everyone thought that was the case. Someone also told people about the sneaky appearance of Mao Laoliu, which caused people to talk about Mao Laoliu again, and Su Zhi heard about the rumored things that happened between Mao Laoliu and Mrs. Li when they were young.

Su Zhi looked at these women who were talking with saliva flying all over the place, each of them looking very excited, and thought to herself that these women's mouths were really scary, and their saliva could drown people. Fortunately, she had been trying hard to get along with them. Otherwise, no matter how capable she was, it would not be pleasant to have people gossiping about her behind her back every day.

A daughter-in-law said: "It's not raining today, maybe it's because the Rain Goddess is unhappy that the person who was honored for her on earth was harmed by others, so Zhao Xiaohua fell off the float, and it still didn't rain."

"I suppose that's the case."

"That makes sense. I think that girl from the Zhao family is not qualified to be the Rain Goddess except for her looks. How can the Rain Goddess in heaven be happy to let someone of that kind dress up as her to show off? If not her, who else can do it?"

"That's right. The Zhao family is not a decent family and is too cruel to their daughters-in-law. Look at how much Liu Si Niang suffered when she was in their house. She became skinny less than four years after she got married. Then, for a woman from outside, they made Liu Si Niang, such a good daughter-in-law, a concubine, and finally divorced her. How could such a person without moral integrity give birth to a Rain Queen? It would be strange if the Rain Queen could be happy. Why did they let such a person be the Rain Queen in the first place?"

Women never stop talking, especially a group of women. One after another, this place soon became a criticism meeting of the Zhao family.

Su Zhi thought that the Zhao family's reputation had become even worse, and she was happy for Liu Si Niang.

"Fourth sister-in-law, you are here! I was just about to look for you. Don't you want to raise chickens? The chicks at home have hatched, go and pick one!"

Standing on the river bank, Li said to Su Zhi that Su Zhi had said some time ago that she wanted to raise chickens, and she asked her family to help her hatch some. Now that the chicks were hatched, she came to call Su Zhi, but she happened to see Su Zhi here, so she didn't have to run to the east side of the river.

"Hey. Here it comes!"

When Su Zhi heard that the chicks had hatched, she was very happy. She liked the newly hatched chicks very much. They were like little balls of fur and so cute.

"Sisters-in-law and aunts, I'm leaving now. You guys are busy. We can talk again when you are free!"

Su Zhi smiled and said to the group of women. After receiving their enthusiastic response, she happily walked up the slope and followed Li to the village.

"Fourth brother's wife, what were you talking about just now? It seemed quite lively. I seemed to hear them talking about the Zhao family and Lady Yu."

Li asked, the family has been in a mess these days because Shen Zhu did not treat her like the Rain Lady. A lot of money was spent on Shen Zhu's treatment. Shen Ziju went to the city to take the exam and took away a lot of money. My father-in-law was still frowning at home all day. When the family members go out, they have to face the strange eyes of the villagers. It is sunny outside every day, but the house feels gloomy. Li wanted to move out as soon as possible.

"My heart trembles when I hear people talking about the Rain Lady. If the drought continues, I don't know if it will affect our family."

Li said this worriedly. Her worry was not groundless. After all, Shen Zhu had been chosen to be the Rain Queen before, but she didn't become the queen in the end.

Su Zhi comforted her a few words and told her what those people had said just now, saying that most people now believe that Shen Zhu was harmed by Zhao Xiaohua, and if anyone is to blame, they will blame the Zhao family. Shen Zhu is also a victim, no one will blame her, and naturally will not implicate the Shen family.

Li was slightly relieved after hearing this, but she was still worried and said, "If this is really a severe drought, people will get anxious and no matter who is right or wrong, anyone who has anything to do with Lady Rain will be targeted. You may not know that Lady Rain, who fell off the float last time, was married off far away, and her sisters didn't have a good ending either. Those who were married off had their status in their husband's family lowered, and those who were not married off couldn't say much about their husband's family either."

Su Zhi was surprised when she heard this, but she understood after a while that people are always angry, not only the Rain Goddess who fell off the float, but also her family members. She remembered that she had heard people in the village talking before, and some people said that Shen Zhu was sick at a bad time. If she hadn't been sick, she might have had a smooth journey as the Rain Goddess, and the rain would have fallen a long time ago. This kind of talk is ridiculous, but many people think it makes sense, and they are all anxious because it's not raining now.

If there is a severe drought this time, and if a catastrophe really occurs, people might really hate us just as Li imagined.

"It's okay. It will definitely rain today. We are just starting to see the rainy season. When it comes, the heavy rain may even make up for the previous rains."

Su Zhi comforted Li, but she also looked up at the sky, hoping it would rain soon.

The sky was blue and very beautiful. There was not a single cloud in the sky, only a blazing sun that made people feel hot. Everything with leaves on the roadside seemed to be wilting and not moving at all. It could be seen that there was no wind at all, and there was no sign of rain at all.

Su Zhi thought that it was useless to worry, so she decided to store more food, otherwise the food price would go up. She didn't have to worry about water at home, as she had the spiritual spring. As long as she had food, she would not be afraid of any severe drought.

Arriving at the Shen family, Su Zhi first went to see Shen Youfu and Shen Zhang. Although she disliked this hot-tempered father-in-law and scheming mother-in-law, it would be wrong for her to come here without just coming to greet them, and she didn't want to be caught.

Shen Youfu also disliked his daughter-in-law. No matter how capable she was, he couldn't control her and he didn't like her. So he nodded to Su Zhi and asked her to ask Shen Zian to come over often. They shouldn't live in the same village without seeing each other for many days. People who didn't know would think they had stopped communicating after the family split up.

Su Zhi just smiled and responded to the old man's words. As long as her father-in-law didn't do anything excessive, she would listen to what he said. It wouldn't hurt her.

Shen Zhang smiled and asked Su Zhi some questions, asking them if they had come into the town again. She said that she was concerned about Shen Ziju who was taking the exam outside and wanted to see if they had heard any rumors.

However, Su Zhi felt that Shen Zhang was only concerned about Shen Ziju, and that she also came to inquire about Qian Guang on behalf of Shen Zhu. So she said that she had not been to the town in recent days and there were no guests at home.

Shen Zhang was a little disappointed, but she still told them that if they went into the town again, they should inquire about the news in the provincial capital, as the Qian family must have gone to the provincial capital often, so they could go there to inquire.

Su Zhi still responded hypocritically. As long as the old couple did not go too far, she would adopt this peaceful attitude. She would not move unless the enemy moved, so as to avoid giving them a reason to accuse her and Shen Zian of being unfilial.

Seeing that Su Zhi was just there to deal with them, Shen Youfu and Shen Zhangshi had no choice but to let Su Zhi come out, but let Shen Zhu stay with her.

Shen Zhu was naturally accompanying Su Zhi and talking to her. After she experienced that sudden rash, she became much calmer. She was now more generous and polite when speaking to Su Zhi, calling her "fourth sister-in-law" all the time, and was so affectionate that outsiders would think they had a very good relationship.

Su Zhi felt that Shen Zhu's attitude was very strange. She instinctively didn't want to get too close to Shen Zhu. But Shen Zhu wanted to stick around, and this was in the Shen family, so she couldn't push her away. If she wanted to follow her, she could let her.

The chicks were placed in two large bamboo baskets, each of which was crowded together like little balls of fur. Most of them were yellow, some were black, and some were whitish. The most interesting thing was that there were two or three spotted chicks, all huddled together and squealing. Some of them were squeezed to the point of falling down, and then they rolled up. They had small black eyes and tender little pointed beaks, and they were so adorable.