Hearing this, Aunt Liu, who was wiping the table, trembled in fright and dropped the rag. Jiang Yuwei noticed Aunt Liu's unusual behavior, so she put down the basin of water, went over to help her up, and whispered:
"Aunt Liu, we've already signed the documents, there's no going back now."
Upon hearing this, Aunt Liu nodded, completely bewildered.
Soon the woman outside rushed into the house, grabbed Liu Da Niang's arm, glared at her fiercely, and said:
"Tell me, what happened?"
Jiang Yuwei then saw that the person who came was a woman who was fat on top and thin on the bottom. Her face was covered with a dense layer of pockmarks, and her fierce expression would make anyone feel scared.
All that could be heard was Aunt Liu whispering:
"Huanghua, stop fooling around. There are guests in this house."
Huang Hua glanced at Jiang Yuwei disdainfully and said:
"What do you mean by 'guests'? They're just a bunch of poor tenants. This is the first time I've ever seen someone rent a house that only has a few rooms!"
Jiang Yuwei was surprised that Huanghua knew everything as soon as she entered the door. She guessed that Cuiya must have overheard her conversation with Aunt Liu in the courtyard that afternoon and then told this woman named Huanghua.
Thinking this through, Jiang Yuwei looked at Aunt Liu and asked:
"Aunt Liu, who is this woman?"
Aunt Liu glanced timidly at the yellow flowers and whispered:
"This is my youngest daughter-in-law."
Jiang Yuwei immediately understood. Birds of a feather flock together. No wonder Huang Hua and Cui Ya got along so well; neither of them were exactly kind.
Jiang Yuwei didn't want to put Aunt Liu in a difficult position, so she walked directly to Huanghua and said:
“Since you are Aunt Liu’s daughter-in-law, we won’t hide it from you. We rented these three rooms from Aunt Liu, paying five copper coins per room. We’ll stay for half a month, and we’ll pay Aunt Liu when we leave. I’ve already signed the documents, so you can’t kick us out now. If you insist on being unreasonable, then let’s go to the county government to settle this!”
Upon hearing Jiang Yuwei's words, Huang Hua's expression changed several times. She looked at Aunt Liu and said:
"I heard from Cuiya that a room rents for twenty copper coins, how come it's now only five copper coins?"
Aunt Liu glanced at Jiang Yuwei, and was about to speak when Jiang Yuwei spoke first:
"Cuiya, Cuiya, you keep talking about Cuiya all the time. You believe everything she says? Cuiya is your mother!"
Upon hearing Jiang Yuwei's words, Huang Hua's face flushed red with anger. Just as she was about to explode, Jiang Yuwei cheerfully grabbed her arm and said:
"Oh dear, what I said may be rough, but it makes sense. I'm just worried about you, Huanghua. Haven't you figured this out yet?"
Huang Hua was a little confused by Jiang Yuwei's actions and looked at her suspiciously, saying:
What do you want me to understand?
Seeing this, Jiang Yuwei sighed and said:
“Oh dear, you’re too kind! How can someone as good as you get along with that Cuiya? She’s obviously doing it on purpose. Aunt Liu clearly only charged five copper coins for a room, but Cuiya turns around and tells you that Aunt Liu charged twenty copper coins.”
Jiang Yuwei looked deeply at the yellow flower and leaned closer to whisper:
"Isn't she deliberately trying to incite you two to fight? If she spreads this around, you'll definitely get the title of the wicked daughter-in-law of Zhu Lane."
As she spoke, Jiang Yuwei straightened up again, gently patted Huang Hua's shoulder, and sighed:
"Hey, that's why I say you're kind-hearted. Even after being schemed against, you didn't think of going after her. If it were me, who would dare to ruin my reputation like that? I'd rush to her house and beat her until she was covered in shit and piss!"
Upon hearing Jiang Yuwei's words, Huang Hua lost her temper and turned to leave, muttering curses under her breath.
"You damned Cuiya, I treated you like a confidante, telling you everything, and this is how you treat me! I, Huanghua, am not someone to be bullied! I'll tear your mouth apart today!"
Aunt Liu watched Huang Hua's departing figure, breathed a deep sigh of relief, and looked at Jiang Yuwei, saying:
"Yuwei, thank you so much for today."
Jiang Yuwei patted Aunt Liu's hand and smiled:
"Auntie, you'd better hide the money for rent well. No matter what Huanghua asks you, don't tell her the truth. After we leave, give her ten copper coins to send her away."
Aunt Liu looked at Jiang Yuwei gratefully and nodded repeatedly.
By this time, Ning Wu and the others had already cut down the bamboo and brought it back. Gou Dan had cleaned up the yard so that they could make a bed right there.
Jiang Yuwei also came to the yard to help them. Uncle Cai was in charge of splitting bamboo, Ning Wu was in charge of cutting the bamboo into strips of the same length, Gou Dan was in charge of carrying them back and forth, and Tie Zhu and Jiang Yuwei each made a bed.
Tie Zhu looked at Jiang Yuwei and said:
“Sister Yuwei, I’ll make the bed for Ningwu and the others in the east wing. I’ll make it a little bigger for them so that it won’t be too crowded for the two of them. You can make the bed for me in the west wing. It doesn’t need to be too big. A single bed would be easier.”
Jiang Yuwei glared at Tie Zhu after hearing this and laughed:
"You silly Tiezhu, I really made you a single bed. In a few days, when Daya marries over, you'll be sleeping on the floor!"
Upon hearing this, Tie Zhu blushed to the roots of his neck and lowered his head, whispering:
"Sister Yuwei, I... I didn't think that much about it."
Jiang Yuwei spoke as she nailed the bed:
"I already told Daya that once her injury has healed in a few days, I'll discuss your marriage with Aunt Zhou. What, now you're saying you haven't thought that far ahead? It seems you don't want to marry our Daya anymore?"
Upon hearing this, Tie Zhu frantically dropped the hammer in his hand, waving his hands repeatedly and saying:
"No, no, I'm sure, I'm definitely going to marry Daya. And Yuwei, could you please make a big bed for my room too?"
Jiang Yuwei smiled and glanced at the shy Tie Zhu before speaking:
"I understand. Hurry up and finish, or we won't be able to finish before dark!"
As they spoke, everyone sped up their work. The entire courtyard was busy all afternoon before they had tidied up all three rooms and made the beds.
Jiang Yuwei used the remaining bamboo scraps to make many small stools. Since Aunt Liu used to live alone in this courtyard, she had almost nothing of these things. Jiang Yuwei also had Tiezhu make two small bedside tables for each of the east and west wing rooms before speaking to Aunt Zhou:
“Aunt Zhou, it’s too late today. You don’t need to cook for yourselves. Come next door with me and make something to eat. Let’s treat it as moving into a new house and have some fun together.”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com