The men were honest too; their faces were flushed, perhaps from the sun or the heat, and they said weakly:
"This...this amount is too much."
"Brothers, I originally thought I'd only be working for a whole day, but you finished in half a day! We're all from the same village, and you've worked so hard, I can't let you down. I won't cover lunch, but I'll give you five extra copper coins as a token of my appreciation. Thank you both for helping me pick the herbs under the scorching sun and even delivering them to my door. You deserve it. If I need any more work next time, I'll ask Uncle Village Chief to help me find you!"
Jiang Yue politely handed over the wages to the two of them, showing utmost sincerity.
The two men hesitated for a moment, then shamelessly accepted the copper coin, leaving behind a parting remark:
"Qingshan's mother, if you ever need help with any heavy work at home, just call us anytime. We brothers will definitely do our best to help!"
"Oh, thank you both. You should go home and eat now. I won't keep you for dinner."
Jiang Yue nodded and thanked the two for their kindness. Perhaps in a few months, her father-in-law's few acres of land would need these two people to harvest medicinal herbs!
After watching the two leave, Jiang Yue was about to close the door when a woman suddenly ran over, her face full of flattery:
"Hey, Jiang, you're back! Aren't those the Wu brothers from the village? Why did you get them to help you with the chores?"
Hearing the woman's meaningful look, Jiang Yue felt displeased and, too lazy to pay attention to her, turned to close the door.
"Hey~ I'm talking to you, are you ignoring me because you feel guilty~"
Guihua's mother complained unhappily, explaining that the two had originally been friends, but after the other party was injured, she feared being accused, and thus had hidden away for a long time...
Regardless, now that Jiang has power, she'll do anything to curry favor with him!
When Old Zhou heard that her third son's wife had led people to dig for medicinal herbs in the clan's land today, she figured that her third son's wife probably wouldn't have time to cook, so she steamed some buns and stir-fried some pickled vegetables at home and brought them over.
Upon seeing Guihua's mother, Zhang, harassing her daughter-in-law, she immediately reprimanded her:
"Zhang, what are you doing?"
"Aunt Zhou, I... I was just catching up with Sister Jiang, I didn't do anything."
Seeing the sharp-eyed old woman, Zhang felt a little guilty.
Seeing Jiang's impatient look, she gritted her teeth and slunk away...
"Mother, what brings you here?"
When Jiang Yue saw her mother-in-law arrive, a smile appeared on her face. She then helped the elderly woman into the house and closed the door behind her.
Old Zhou followed her third son's wife to the main hall, sat down, and lifted the basket, saying:
"I thought you'd been busy all morning, and maybe you didn't have a fire at home, so I made some food and brought it over."
"Oh, thank you for making the trip in this sweltering heat. It saves me the trouble of cooking."
Jiang Yue was extremely grateful upon seeing this, and said that she had to make sure to treat Yin to something delicious.
"How's the herb harvest going? Are you going to the fields again this afternoon?"
Old Mrs. Zhou asked if her third son's wife would need to go to the fields in the afternoon, and she would stay to help prepare dinner.
"Mom, don't worry, all the medicinal herbs have been collected. Uncle Yongfa's two hired laborers are amazing; they collected over 620 catties of medicinal herbs in just one morning!"
Jiang Yue answered with a smile, and then set out all the bowls and plates from the vegetable basket. She then called Yao Yao and You Yin over and told them to eat first.
"Wow, over 600 jin (300 kg), that's quite a lot."
Old Mrs. Zhou patted her granddaughter's head and exclaimed in surprise after hearing what her third son's wife said.
"Yes, but after processing, it will lose about a hundred pounds of water. It will be ready to sell in about seven or eight days, which will bring in some extra income for the family."
Jiang Yue gave each child a steamed bun and pushed the side dishes in front of them, gently gesturing for them to eat first.
"Great news, that's wonderful!"
When Old Zhou heard about the harvest, she thought of the few acres of land her husband had insisted on cultivating, and the thought of the autumn harvest made her even more confident.
Working with the third son's wife will definitely not be bad!
After the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law talked for a while, Old Zhou went home first.
After seeing the person off, Jiang Yue returned, grabbed a steamed bun to eat, and said apologetically to Youyin:
"Oh, I've broken my promise. I'll have to treat you to something nice another day."
"Auntie, don't say that. White flour steamed buns are very precious. I don't get to eat them often."
Yin said in a panic that he could only eat fine noodles every few days when he ate at home with his grandparents, and only when his parents came home could he eat meat and vegetables.
Everyone sees that his grandfather is the village chief and his father is a shopkeeper in town, but in reality, his family isn't as rich as people think.
My eldest brother is taking the imperial examinations, and the writing materials are very expensive. My parents are scrimping and saving; they have elderly parents to support and young children to raise, so life is very tight...
"Youyin, you're a good boy. You can come to Auntie's house to play with Yaoyao more often in the future."
Jiang Yue saw that Youyin was a sensible child and thought that the village chief's family had raised him well.
My daughter doesn't have many friends in the village, so to avoid her being bullied, she needs to socialize more.
Xiaoxue, the youngest daughter of my in-laws, and Youyin, the daughter of the village chief, are both quite nice friends...
"Okay, Auntie~"
Yin nodded; he really liked Cao'er, oh no, Yao Yao!
“Mother, not long after you left today, Aunt Guihua came looking for you, but I didn’t open the door because she sounded fierce.”
Qingyao took a bite of the steamed bun and suddenly remembered this matter, so she hurriedly told her mother.
"She even kicked the door and spoke ill of you, Auntie! I saw it!"
Youyin chimed in, having witnessed Aunt Guihua angrily kicking down Aunt Jiang's door and berating her for being arrogant just because she had money...
"Oh, I see. Auntie has remembered. Yao Yao did the right thing; it was right not to open the door."
Jiang Yue made a mental note of this. No wonder she found footprints on the door when she came back!
After returning home, Zhang became increasingly angry; she had given Jiang a hard time!
Before, Chiang Kai-shek was stupid and whatever she said went. Now, she's suddenly become very sensible.
A gaunt old woman came out and shouted in an unpleasant tone:
"Elder sister, I asked you to cook, where have you been slacking off off to?!"
"Mom, I've already cooked lunch, can't I go out for a walk?"
Zhang argued back, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, who disliked each other, started hurling insults at each other.
The family, young and old, all kept their distance; no one wanted to intervene in the fight for fear of getting caught in the crossfire.
In the kitchen, a pretty young woman hid away in disgust, not wanting to get involved in the conflict between her wet nurse and mother.
Just bear with it a little longer. Brother Chunsheng said he'll be coming to propose marriage soon, and then she can leave this family!
Amidst the hustle and bustle, a young girl in the kitchen, lost in thought, rests her chin on her hand, contemplating her sweetheart...
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