It was already evening; in another hour, it would be completely dark.
Jiang Bai was in a hurry to get home and didn't expect to be stopped. She calmly sized up the person who came and asked, "Is there something you need?"
"Young lady, are you selling medicinal herbs?" The middle-aged man rubbed his hands together. "How about this, I'll take them all."
"You want them all?" Jiang Bai looked at him suspiciously.
"Yes." The middle-aged man nodded.
Seeing that his clothes were made of silk, Jiang Bai didn't think he was a poor man, so he softened his tone and asked a sharp question: "Do you know who I am? Have you seen the medicinal herbs? Have you asked about the price? You want to buy them all without asking any questions. Please forgive me for not daring to sell them to you."
The middle-aged man stammered and couldn't answer a single question.
Seeing his expression, Jiang Bai pursed his lips, suspecting that this was a joke made by rich people.
She was a frail woman, and in these people's eyes, she was probably someone they could easily ridicule.
She was too lazy to get angry with the person in front of her, so she just left quickly. If she didn't turn back soon, she would have to travel through the night.
-
Jiang Cheng, who had been turned away all day while trying to borrow money, wandered over to Wang Da Niang's house.
He was depressed, constantly blaming his fiancée Rou Rou, his own mother, and Jiang Bai. In his view, these people were the ones who had driven him to this point.
He was living a good life on his own, and things were fine at first after he got together with Rou Rou, but everything changed after Rou Rou got pregnant.
He didn't understand why people had to get married. Rou Rou was pressuring him, and his mother was pressuring her too. He had been walking all day and had only managed to get a hundred coins from his grandmother. He had stopped at a restaurant on the way and ordered two dishes at random. Now he only had seven or eight coins left.
If I take this little bit of money home, I can't explain it to my mother.
As he was thinking, Zhao Xile ran out of Aunt Wang's yard, laughing as she bumped into Jiang Cheng's leg.
Zhao Ping'an immediately chased after him. He recognized Jiang Cheng, pulled Zhao Xile behind him to protect her, and stared at him warily.
Jiang Cheng was stunned for a moment. He looked at Aunt Zhao's house and then at Jiang Bai's house next door, thinking that he had remembered it wrong.
He frowned and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Receiving no answer, he pressed on, "Where is your mother?"
Zhao Ping'an grabbed Zhao Xile's hand, threw down the words "It's none of your business," and turned back to Aunt Wang's house.
Jiang Cheng waited a while longer, but still didn't see Jiang Bai, so he realized that Jiang Bai wasn't home.
He devised a plan and quietly entered Aunt Wang's house. As soon as he entered the courtyard, Aunt Wang heard the noise and came out of the kitchen.
She wiped her hands, frowned, and asked, "What do you want to do?"
"It's nothing, it's nothing," Jiang Cheng stammered, feeling timid upon seeing Granny Wang. "I came to find my sister... Jiang Bai. I saw two little children here and thought she was here too..."
"You're looking for Jiang Bai? Then I'll go get her." Aunt Wang didn't mention that Jiang Bai wasn't there.
"No need!" Jiang Cheng refused as expected.
He quickly said, "Actually, there's nothing to say. It's nothing, no need to trouble you. I'll talk to her next time I see her. I have some things to do, so I'll be going now."
Aunt Wang watched his figure disappear at the end of the road before turning back to continue cooking.
Jiang Bai missed the oxcart back to the village, and by the time he got home, it was already past midnight. Zhao Ping'an and Zhao Xile were already asleep at Aunt Wang's house.
Aunt Wang brought out the dinner she had saved for her. Seeing that the bundle she had carried that morning was now full, she just sighed and didn't say anything discouraging.
Seeing the person in front of me wolfing down their food, I said, "After you finish eating, leave the bowl here and don't wash it. Go and rest quickly; you must be very tired after a long day. Ping An and Xiao Le can sleep here; don't make a fuss."
Jiang Bai nodded, and after finishing his meal, he quietly washed the dishes before going home.
At the same time, weak howls came from Diao Yijia's house.
Diao Yi rolled around on the bed, his skin scratched raw, and he was itching terribly.
At first, he rolled around and cursed Jiang Bai with the most vicious language. Now, after itching for a whole day and night, he had used up all his strength and could only moan softly.
Li Chunhua invited many doctors, and the money was spent like water, but Diao Yi's illness did not improve at all.
Li Chunhua was extremely worried and stayed by Diao Yi's side, not sleeping for a day and a night. Fortunately, she didn't sleep, otherwise, if she had been lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) and gotten the medicine powder that Diao Yi had dropped on her, the couple would have been in trouble.
They didn't know that the only thing that could end this "illness" was a simple shower.
The doctors were also taken aback; after all, the symptoms were so strange, who would dare to ask such a patient to take a bath?
Looking at Diao Yi's miserable state, Li Chunhua grew angrier and angrier, furious that Jiang Bai had ruined her man.
Diao Yi was the pillar of the family. Although he was lazy, ignorant of farming, and indulged in drinking, gambling, and even beating and scolding his children, what woman hasn't gone through that? After marriage, it's necessary for women to yield to their husbands; a woman can't live without a man.
Without men, it's like crops without the sun, fish without water; life loses all hope.
Now that Diao Yi is in trouble, Li Chunhua believes that Jiang Bai is trying to ruin her life.
Li Chunhua was looking at her husband with heartache when Diao Yi's good brother came to visit him.
This man was ignorant and incompetent, and he angered his own mother to death. He never got married and lived a life of cheating and swindling, so everyone in the village called him Erlaizi (Second Scoundrel).
Erlaizi and Diaoyi didn't have that deep a relationship. He came over late at night, saying he was afraid that others would see him going in and out of the Diao family and ruin Diaoyi's reputation. But if you think about it for a second, you'll realize that he wanted to take advantage of Diaoyi's serious illness to see if there was anything he could do to benefit him.
Li Chunhua disliked Er Laizi. Every time he came to her house, he would look at her with lecherous eyes. If Diao Yi wasn't there, he would also make suggestive remarks.
Erlaizi walked to Diaoyi's bedside, pretended to cry a few times, and said, "Brother, who did this to you? I will definitely avenge you."
Upon hearing this, Li Chunhua's heart stirred.
She leaned closer and sighed softly, "Neither your brother nor I expected that Jiang Bai, such a pretty young woman, would use such vicious methods."
She straightened Diao Yi's collar, not looking at Er Laizi, and calmly recounted: "Before, this person was very flirtatious, and tried to seduce your older brother many times. Your older brother is upright and honest, and never does such nonsense. He turned around and told me about it, and I didn't hold it against Jiang Bai."
“When the land was being distributed a few days ago, your older brother saw that she had cheated to get a good piece of land, and he spoke out without thinking. Unexpectedly, many men in the village had affairs with Jiang Bai, and they all spoke up for her. Even the village chief was seduced by her, so the matter ended without a trace.”
“Your older brother originally planned to go to her house the night before last to have a good talk with her and persuade her to admit her mistakes, but he never expected that she would cause him such harm.”
After saying this, Li Chunhua sobbed a few times and wiped away non-existent tears with her sleeve.
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