Some idle villagers gathered from all directions.
Mengjia Village is not a very large village. What happens at the village entrance will reach the other end of the village in no time.
The arrival of these vehicles and people at Cheng Qingyan's house had already attracted a group of villagers who wanted to watch the spectacle.
Now, there are even more people.
Some stood in twos and threes watching from a distance, while others came closer to examine the contents of the oxcart.
Of course, there were also those who whispered among themselves: "I don't know what kind of luck Cheng San had, but he has changed so much in such a short time."
"Are luck and effort really unrelated? I work hard, but I don't know when my luck will come. Fate is unpredictable!"
"Ah! Neither you nor I are as lucky as Cheng San. We're just stuck with these few acres of land, and who knows when it will ever end!"
"To be honest, you're better off. At least you have your sister-in-law at home, so you have someone who cares about you. Unlike me, I'm well past the age of marriage and I'm still all alone."
The man with a wife puffed out his chest when he heard someone mention her.
"If you ask me, Aji, you're at the age where you should be getting married. Haven't you thought about finding a wife?"
Then, with a smug look on his face, he stroked his chin and smiled mysteriously: "There are many things you'll only truly understand after marrying a wife."
Meng Aji was inspired by his words to have endless imagination.
They're no longer young enough to be tied up in their hair, and since the conversation has steered the discussion in those directions, it's natural not to easily imagine things in a simpler way.
But no matter what, Meng Aji was just an unmarried man.
Although he didn't want to understand immediately, his slightly flushed face betrayed him.
"Brother Sheng, stop teasing me. With my current status, no young lady would be interested in me. Even if I wanted to find a husband, no one would dare to marry into my family."
The person being called Brother Sheng is a member of the Chen family in Mengjia Village, and his name is Chen Sheng.
He put his arm around Meng Aji's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "You little brat, it's not that I look down on you. But you shouldn't even think about hitting on Cheng San's wife."
"If we were talking about Cheng San before this year, perhaps we could have worked harder and harder to win him over."
Chen Sheng casually pointed to Cheng Qingyan's newly built house and exclaimed, "Look at Cheng San now. Not only has he built a farm, but he also raises a lot of chickens, ducks, and fish. Putting everything else aside, just look at all these newly built houses. Even if you and I farmed the land our whole lives, we couldn't build a mansion like this!"
Meng Aji felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head. He thought no one knew, and he felt that he had been hiding it very well.
She awkwardly pushed Chen Sheng aside, increasing the distance between them.
"Brother Sheng, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not coveting anything that doesn't belong to me. Don't talk nonsense and ruin someone else's reputation."
Chen Sheng smiled, as if he already knew what was going on. "You know what's what, right? I'm not trying to discourage you. But look at your own situation now, it's completely different from Cheng San's."
Meng Aji glanced at Cheng Qingyan's new house and silently lowered his head.
It's definitely different now; Cheng San has changed.
He's no longer the scoundrel he used to be; he's become a reliable person and has even secured benefits for some villagers.
Now she's a well-known figure in the nearby villages, and when she works in town, some people even say they envy the villagers of Mengjia Village, who can actually work right at their doorstep.
Cheng San is indeed no longer in the same class as them, but he is still somewhat unwilling.
The burdens of life were already suffocating him; marriage seemed such a distant prospect!
But thinking about it carefully, there's nothing to be resentful about.
Besides, that person is living very well in the current Cheng family.
He can't beg someone to go home and suffer with him, can he? He's already suffered enough on his own.
The taste was really not good, so I won't bother others with it.
Chen Sheng glanced at Meng Aji beside him with a hint of speechlessness. Meng Aji was fine in every way, except that she carried a heavy burden.
He saw Meng Aji's eyes glancing at Hongyu, the maid in Cheng Qingyan's household, more than once. However, nowadays, even if Hongyu was a servant of the Cheng family, she was no longer someone that people like them could even dream of.
Moreover, according to his observation, Cheng Qingyan and Ye Lingyu did not treat Hongyu as a servant.
Enough of this nonsense. Worrying about these useless things will only cause more trouble. I'd rather go home and spend time with my wife.
Meng Aji stood not far away, and Chen Sheng told him to go back first, but he didn't notice.
Just as he was about to reply to Chen Sheng, Hongyu led Jiangjiang out of the Cheng family's old house.
He gazed longingly at Hongyu one last time, a pang of sorrow rising in his heart.
The surrounding noise made him realize that he shouldn't be staring at a woman so blatantly, so he turned to leave.
His elderly mother is seriously ill and needs medication every day. Over the years, he has spent almost all his time finding work, farming, and taking care of his mother.
He had traveled this road from the town to Mengjia Village countless times; one could say he could walk back from the town with his eyes closed.
Countless times, I traveled under the scorching sun and into the darkness on empty roads.
They are heading towards hope and anticipation.
He needs to find work in town so he can earn money for his mother's medical treatment and medicine.
His mother, lying on her sickbed, longed for his early return home.
He no longer had the energy to think about anything else.
The reason he didn't work at Cheng Qingyan's soap factory was that he was almost always busy and not in the village.
By the time he found out, the soap shop was no longer hiring.
I saw Hongyu several times, but only from a distance.
When he first met Hongyu, he didn't know what it meant to be moved; but in that instant, he felt as if the wind around him had stopped.
He saw her a few more times after that, and on two occasions he was in a hurry to go to work in town and only had a brief encounter with Hongyu.
To date, he has had no interaction with Hongyu.
They didn't even exchange a glance or say a word.
You shouldn't covet things that don't belong to you; it can easily drive you mad.
Among the onlookers, only Meng Aji turned away. He had a rare day off today, so he decided to go home and spend time with his mother.
Just as I was about to leave, I heard Cheng Qingyan's voice behind me.
"Excuse me, could you lend a hand? Could you help me carry some things?"
Someone asked Cheng Qingyan with a smile, "Cheng San, will you pay me for helping you?"
Someone else chimed in, "Exactly! If you have money, you can have it carried wherever you want!"
"Is there?"
Several villagers looked at Cheng Qingyan expectantly.
Cheng Qingyan looked at the group of people, smiled, and said nothing.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com