Chapter 10: Protecting the Shortcomings
There was only one ox cart in the whole village, and the driver was an old bachelor, known as Third Uncle or Third Master.
On market days, villagers who wanted to go to town would wait at the entrance of the village to take the bus. Each person had to pay two cents for a round trip. Although this price was not high, it was enough for an average family to eat a pound of cornmeal. Therefore, many people in the village would rather walk to town than pay these two cents.
Unless they are carrying heavy goods to the town to sell and need to go to the early market and want to sell the goods quickly, they would rather save this unnecessary expense.
Li Taohua has never been a person who puts herself at risk. When she had money to spend, she never knew how to save. Now that she has no money, she should save some money, but in her opinion, a few more cents won't make her rich, and a few less cents won't make her starve. In this case, why should she put her legs at risk?
Li Taohua took Qin Huiyin and Tang Luwu onto the ox cart.
She was still dressed up beautifully, and when she sat there, she held her head high and chest out, and did not avoid the strange looks that were cast at her.
Qin Huiyin and Tang Luwu are of similar age. The two little girls sit next to her, one like a bud about to bloom, and the other like a green leaf next to the bud.
The mother and daughter appeared on the oxcart. The aunts and sisters-in-law who had not planned to ride the oxcart stopped beside the oxcart, hesitating whether to ride the oxcart. They were very curious about what Li Taohua was going to do in the town. The mother and daughter all brought backpacks, which were covered with weeds, and it was unknown whether there was anything inside.
Someone gritted his teeth and got on the bus.
With the first person getting on the cart, more and more people were interested, and the empty oxcart was soon filled with people.
It has been a long time since Mr. Tang San had such good business. After this trip today, he had a place to pay for rice and flour this month, and he immediately liked Li Taohua.
"Mother Huiyin, what's in your basket?" Zhang asked with a smile. She reached out to lift the weeds, but was held down by Li Taohua.
Li Taohua pushed Zhang's wrist away and said with a smile, "What else can we do? We can't afford to eat, so we have to find a way to survive, right? I looked through everything in the house, and only a few of my clothes can be sold for a good price. So I took out the extra clothes and sold them, and exchanged them for some food."
Everyone felt happy to hear her say this.
No other woman in the village puts on makeup like she does.
Whether she married Song Yi or Tang Dafu, she had new clothes every month and dressed up all day long, making all the men in the village itch. We are all women, why can she live so well, while other women are reluctant to eat and wear, and give all the good things to the men and sons at home.
Now seeing that she has fallen into poverty and has sold all her favorite clothes, and can only wear patched clothes from now on, I feel relieved.
Given their current situation, they might not even have food to eat in the future. Without food, clothes, or makeup, how can she still be so vain?
Once she becomes like other women in the village, the men will no longer be concerned about her.
Qin Huiyin hugged Li Taohua's arm and said coquettishly, "Mom, I'm so sleepy."
"Sleep a little longer." Li Taohua said gently.
The other women couldn't stand it anymore.
"Mrs. Dafu, you are spoiling your child too much. Look at Luwu, she works hard every day from dawn to dusk and can do any job. She will definitely be able to find a good husband."
"Oh, so if you do your job well you can find a good in-law? After all this time, it turns out that women get married just to find a job! Then Tang Luwu doesn't need to get married. All the work in our house is left for her to do, and she can work as long as she wants." Li Taohua said sarcastically.
Tang Luwu's face turned red.
"No matter what, you married Luwu's father, and you are also Luwu's mother. Luwu works all day long, so it doesn't make sense for your daughter to be a young lady and do nothing all day long, right?"
Li Taohua looked at the nervous Tang Luwu and said, "Luwu girl, look at how many people are standing up for you! Why don't you thank these aunts quickly?"
Tang Luwu grabbed the corner of her clothes and said, "Aunts, I want to do this myself. It has nothing to do with Aunt Li. I also worked like this before Aunt Li married me. Besides, Sister Yin doesn't do nothing. She can sew clothes for me, sweep the yard, and light the fire and cook."
"Did you hear that? My daughter doesn't do nothing." Li Taohua snorted. "Besides, even if she does nothing, Tang Dafu and I haven't said anything. What right do you have to say anything about her? If the man she wants to find in the future is someone who asks her to work all day, then don't come to my house to ask for marriage. My daughter can't bear this hardship."
Tang Luwu looked at Qin Huiyin who was sleeping soundly, and then looked at Li Taohua who was like a hen protecting her chicks, her eyes full of envy.
It turns out that having someone protecting you is such a blessing.
If her mother were still alive, would she protect her like Li Taohua did?
No, it won't.
Although her memory was a little fuzzy, she still vaguely remembered her life when her mother was alive. Her mother, like other women in the village, favored boys over girls. She often talked to them about waiting for her to grow up and get a dowry, then marry her brother Tang Yichen off to a wife and buy a bigger house.
Everyone in the village said that Li Taohua was not a good woman. However, her kindness to Qin Huiyin made all the girls in the village envious.
When the women heard Li Taohua protecting Qin Huiyin like this, and then saw Qin Huiyin sleeping like a lazy pig, they started to make sour comments.
Perhaps to this woman, a woman like Li Taohua is an outlier. Because she is too outlier and too unsociable, everyone wants to drag her into the mud and make her sink.
"We're here." Uncle Tang parked the ox cart outside the town. "As usual, gather here in two hours. If you're not here yet, we won't wait for you!"
The women did not gain any advantage over Li Taohua, and they were unhappy because they lost the money for the ox cart ride, so they glared at Li Taohua.
"Oh, I have to buy more good things later." Li Taohua deliberately muttered loudly.
The women who had originally wanted to tell Uncle Tang that they didn't need to wait were tempted to know what she was going to buy later. Also, how much her clothes could be sold for.
After the women left, Li Taohua woke Qin Huiyin up and said, "Get off the bus."
Qin Huiyin looked up dazedly, looked around, yawned and said, "So fast?"
"From the village to the town, it only takes an hour to walk, and it only takes half an hour to take a bullock cart. How can it not be fast?"
After getting off the car, Li Taohua said to Uncle Tang: "Uncle, I helped you attract business, why don't you give us a discount?"
Uncle Tang: "...my small business..."
"Okay, then I won't ride your ox cart next time. The ox cart in the next village is more spacious. I'll ride there." Li Taohua fanned her cheeks with her hands and said dissatisfiedly.
"The two girls are young, so they are counted as one person, is that okay?" Uncle Tang San quickly compromised. "If you can attract more business for me, I will give you a preferential price."
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