Watching Xiao Jing's absent-minded figure, Jiang Moli's mood strangely improved.
But when I got home and saw the dilapidated courtyard and the low mud houses, my mood soured again.
Huang Yan was squatting in front of the well, washing dishes and bowls. The bowls used for the banquet were borrowed from the neighbors and had to be washed clean and returned.
Huang Yan had been scrolling for over ten minutes and was exhausted when she saw Jiang Moli return from outside. She asked in an annoyed tone, "The house is so busy, why aren't you helping out? Where have you been?"
A sinister glint flashed in Jiang Moli's eyes, but she said softly, "Mom, don't be angry. I just went out to familiarize myself with the way."
"What's so hard about recognizing the road? You'll recognize it after a while." Huang Yan called out to her, "Come and wash the dishes."
The dishes served at the banquet were oily, and washing them directly with water wouldn't clean them. Since there was no dish soap available, people used wheat straw dipped in wood ash to scrub the oily bowls, which quickly made a mess everywhere, leaving them filthy and disgusting.
Jiang Moli glanced at her grimy hands with a hint of disgust and subtly took a step back.
"Mom, my stomach hurts a little today, probably because I'm tired. I'll go inside and rest for a while. You go ahead and wash up. I'll come out and help you when I'm ready."
After saying that, she turned and went into the east wing.
Huang Yan, standing behind her, couldn't help but mutter to herself, "You don't feel pain when I don't make you work, but you start to feel pain when I do. Is this real pain or just faking it? Are you trying to fool me?"
Even if Jiang Moli was deliberately trying to deceive her, Huang Yan had no way to stop her.
She valued the child in Jiang Moli's belly highly, believing it must be her eldest grandson; otherwise, she wouldn't have reluctantly married Jiang Moli.
She was determined to compete with Fang Qiao, looked down on Fang Qiao, and thought that Fang Qiao's womb was useless, spending so much money only to give birth to a girl, which was really shameful.
Huang Yan was just waiting for Jiang Moli to give birth to a big, fat son and bring him to Fang Qiao so she could finally hold her head high!
So after she finished muttering to herself, she went back to washing her dishes.
Jiang Moli entered the room and found Cheng Yajun sleeping on the bed. The room was filled with a strong smell of smoke and alcohol, which was extremely pungent.
She frowned and rubbed her nose, her eyes filled with disgust as she looked at Cheng Yajun, but her tone remained as gentle as ever: "Yajun, get up and wash your face before you go to sleep, the whole room smells of alcohol."
No one paid any attention to her; Cheng Yajun was fast asleep with her eyes closed, seemingly in a deep sleep.
You can never wake someone who's pretending to be asleep. Jiang Moli called out a few times, but when no one responded, she stopped calling.
She lowered her eyes and secretly clenched her fingers.
Starting from the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, Cheng Yajun's family, except for Jiang Moli, all went to work at the brick factory.
Jiang Moli lived alone at home and would wander around whenever she had nothing to do. She always had a smile on her face, a sweet tongue, and knew how to get along with people. In just a few days, she became familiar with everyone in the village.
Even her third aunt praised her several times in front of Fang Qiao.
Fang Qiao has recently noticed that she has been running into Jiang Moli far too often.
As soon as she goes out, within ten minutes, you will inevitably "bump into" her at some alleyway.
Too many coincidences are no longer coincidences.
Even though Fang Qiao was too lazy to pay attention to her every time, it was still annoying to have a fly buzzing around her ear.
That day, the two met again at the door of Auntie's house.
As soon as Fang Qiao entered her third aunt's house, she heard Jiang Moli's haunting voice behind her.
"What a coincidence, sister-in-law! You're here to see Xiaojing at Third Aunt's too?"
Fang Qiao was speechless: "You really are persistent."
"Sister-in-law, what are you saying? I don't understand," Jiang Moli asked innocently.
Fang Qiao: "You did this on purpose, didn't you?"
"No way," Jiang Moli denied. "Sister-in-law, I didn't do it on purpose. It's just a coincidence. Maybe it's fate that brought us together."
"Whether it was intentional or not, you know best in your heart." Fang Qiao's expression was calm. She gave her a deep look and then walked into her third aunt's house.
Jiang Moli followed her inside with a normal expression.
A few days ago, Xiaojing made a rabbit hat for An'an, but it was too big and always covered An'an's eyes when she wore it. So Xiaojing took it home to modify it. Fang Qiao came over to pick up the modified hat.
"Xiaojing, I've come to get An'an's bunny hat."
Fang Qiao entered the house as she spoke.
"Here."
Xiao Jing responded and came out of the inner room with her hat in her hand. She had a faint smile on her face, but the smile vanished the moment she saw Jiang Moli.
Her body tensed up visibly, and she clenched her fingers in fear.
"Second, Second Sister-in-law is here too." She called out, her voice trembling slightly.
Jiang Moli smiled warmly and stepped forward to take the rabbit hat from Xiao Jing's hand: "Xiao Jing, did you make this yourself? You're so skillful."
Xiao Jing hummed in response and took a step back in a somewhat resistant manner.
Fang Qiao took all of this into account.
After Jiang Moli spoke again, she said, "It's so beautiful. When I have children in the future, I'll ask you to make little hats for me."
Fang Qiao snatched the bunny hat from her hand and said bluntly, "It's too early to say that. Let's talk about it after you have children."
Fang Qiao took the initiative to help Xiao Jing out of the predicament, saying, "Alright, Xiao Jing is shy, let's not bother her here, let's go together."
Xiao Jing looked at Fang Qiao with gratitude, and Fang Qiao patted her shoulder reassuringly.
This was the first time Jiang Moli had received an invitation from Fang Qiao, and she immediately forgot about Xiao Jing and rushed to get close to Fang Qiao.
"Alright, since that's the case, then I'll go now." Jiang Moli said goodbye to Xiao Jing: "Xiao Jing, I'll come visit you again next time."
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