Chapter 29, at the village chief's house...
At the village chief's home,
Today, my youngest son, who happened to be off work, excitedly held up a box of pastries in both hands and said, "Dad, Mom, where did you get the spare money to buy such expensive pastries!"
The village chief's wife sensed something was wrong and asked first, "What? Is this snack expensive?"
The youngest son exclaimed, "This isn't expensive? Even our clerk wouldn't dare buy this. Just this box of peach shortbread weighs two pounds and costs at least a hundred coins. I heard the box costs extra. Anyway, I can't afford it."
"This..." The village chief and his wife were stunned upon hearing this. Although their family had some power in the village, they were still just farmers who made their living by farming. How could they know the intricacies of these city pastries?
The village chief's youngest son picked up a piece of peach shortbread and was about to put it in his mouth when his father snatched it away and put it back in the box: "Don't eat it yet, explain yourself clearly, is this thing really that valuable?"
“Hey, I knew you wouldn’t be willing to buy this. Someone must have asked Dad for a favor and sent it over.” The village chief’s youngest son laughed. “I’m not lying, it really is that valuable. Only the wealthy families in the county can afford to buy it. Most of us ordinary people go to Mantangzhai to buy it. I’ve eaten Mantangzhai’s peach shortbread twice, and it’s so fragrant. I just don’t know how Jufangzhai’s tastes.”
"By the way, Dad, who bought this? They really spared no expense."
The village chief sighed, his hands behind his back, "It was delivered by the Xie family boy."
"The Xie family? Impossible!" He didn't come back to the county often, so he didn't know much about the people and things in the village. He only vaguely remembered that the Xie family seemed to be very poor.
The village chief snorted coldly: "What's the big deal? That kid came to our door himself, how could I not recognize him?"
"Second Uncle, it was sent by the Xie family, we all saw it." A childish voice rang out. It was the eldest child of the eldest son's family, who was smacking his lips as he spoke.
"Was the candy in your mouths given to you by that Xie family brat?"
The child nodded and then shook his head: "Brother Xie said that Brother Zhu treated us to this meal."
"Who is Brother Zhu?" He didn't remember anyone in the village with the surname Zhu.
Seeing that he was going on and on with his questions, the village chief interrupted, "Why are you asking him? What could a child know?"
"It's just curiosity!" the younger son said, scratching his head.
"Alright." Seeing that he was really curious, the village chief figured that even if he didn't tell him, the boy would probably still spend time finding out in secret, so he took the initiative to tell him: "You weren't home for a while, so you probably don't know that Xie Hong married a wife, this one surnamed Zhu." He then got a headache, "You don't know, because of this person, those people in the village came to our house and made a huge scene."
"Why?" The younger son, intrigued, urged his father to continue.
The village chief rolled his eyes at him without getting angry. "It's quite a coincidence. I watched Xie Hong grow up. Although he was a troublemaker, he was strong. He died of illness not long after marrying this woman surnamed Zhu. The villagers were terrified. They said he married a jinx and asked me to get rid of him."
"Pshaw, do you really think our house is a government office? You're not an official, you have no right to do this. Dad, don't let yourself be used as a pawn."
"Hmph, do you think your dad is that stupid? I won't do anything that harms others without benefiting myself."
The village chief touched the pattern on the pastry box, gave each of his grandsons a piece of peach shortbread, and muttered, "Now it seems uncertain whether this Zhu fellow is a jinx!"
In just a few months after Xie Hong's death, the Xie family not only began to buy land, but their lives were also much more prosperous than before.
And these high-end pastries delivered to his door—he didn't believe Xie Pei was doing it on his own initiative. Given Xie Pei's taciturn nature, this visit was most likely orchestrated by someone behind the scenes.
Once he accepts it, he'll have to pay more attention to the Xie family's land purchases in the future.
In short, this guy surnamed Zhu is no ordinary person!
There had been no movement regarding the farmland, but half a month later, someone in the village actually wanted to transfer their vegetable plots.
That evening, the Xie family's door was knocked on for the first time since Xie Hong's death.
Zhu Mingyue was adding fuel to the fire to cook, while Xie Pei had gone up the back mountain in the afternoon and had not yet returned.
Hearing the noise, he immediately put some firewood in the stove and got up to open the door.
"Who are you?" Zhu Mingyue smiled, subtly sizing up the person in front of her.
The man appeared to be in his early twenties, with dark skin and an ordinary appearance. His square face, however, gave him a simple and unpretentious air, which made him quite likable.
The man accepted his scrutiny with a simple, honest smile, and introduced himself, saying, "I am the eldest son of the Li family, named Li Zhengyang."
The Li family? Zhu Mingyue didn't usually interact with the villagers and didn't know anything about the Li or Wang families, but he did remember that the village chief of Gouhe Village seemed to be surnamed Li. "Is your father the village chief?" he asked hesitantly.
"Yes! My dad told me to come." The man scratched his head, thinking to himself that the boy surnamed Zhu that his dad had mentioned was actually so handsome and spoke in a refined manner like a city person.
Could it be that the matter of the land has been settled?
Zhu Mingyue raised an eyebrow, her smile widening, and hurriedly invited the other party into her home for a chat.
Li Zhengyang blushed with embarrassment and refused to go in. He stammered, "I won't go in. My father asked me to tell you that someone in the village wants to sell their vegetable plots and asked you to... to come to my house when you have some free time."
Actually, before leaving home, his father specifically told Xie Pei to only visit his house once, saying that Zhu Mingyue was in an awkward situation in the village and that if he went to his house and was seen by others, it would inevitably give people something to talk about.
But the words wouldn't come out. This Zhu Mingyue seemed so nice! She was so much better than those teenage hooligans in their village! He thought the villagers were just bored; a perfectly healthy person wouldn't be so easily killed. Anyway, he wasn't afraid at all.
Zhu Mingyue had no idea what the big, dumb guy standing in front of him was thinking. Right now, he was overjoyed! He couldn't wait to go to the village chief's house and buy the land, just in case.
But after his mind was overwhelmed with joy, he calmed down and thought that he was still being called a "jinx" and that people would be wary of him. So he decided it was better not to go to people's homes. He said, "Xie Pei hasn't returned yet. When he does, I'll have him visit you as soon as possible."
Li Zhengyang waved his hand, saying, "What's with all this talk about visiting? It's too formal. When they visit someone's home, they just call it a casual visit." Li Zhengyang waved goodbye, saying, "Then I'll be going."
Zhu Mingyue walked him a few steps, when suddenly he smelled the aroma of meat wafting over. "Brother Li, wait a minute," he called out to him and quickly walked into the kitchen.
A moment later, he ran out, carrying a small bowl of braised pork. He walked up to Li Zhengyang, panting slightly, and said, "I made some braised pork. Take some back with you and your family."
Li Zhengyang had actually smelled it before even entering the area; his nose was very sensitive, especially to the aroma of meat. He consciously didn't mention it, but in just a few words, the smell made him secretly swallow his saliva several times.
"No, I can't accept it." The eight-foot-tall burly man put his hands behind his back and retreated repeatedly, looking like a virtuous woman being harassed.
Zhu Mingyue chuckled, grabbed his hand, and shoved the bowl into his hand.
Li Zhengyang held the bowl in one hand, afraid of dropping it, so he carefully held it with both hands. "What... what should I do?" He was completely at a loss.
"Brother Li, just take it!" Zhu Mingyue kindly advised him, "There's not much meat, just consider it a taste. We can get this bowl when Xie Pei comes over."
"Oh no, I forgot to put out the fire! I have to talk to you now!" He smelled the burnt rice and remembered that he had another pot of rice steaming over a high flame. He hurriedly ran back to the kitchen.
Li Zhengyang walked along the road, holding half a bowl of oily meat, still seemingly lost in a dream. As he walked, he thought blankly, "That Zhu guy is so nice! He speaks so softly, like a kitten, and even gave me meat to eat."
This meat smells amazing, so much better than what he makes at home! I wonder how many pieces he'll get for dinner...
"La la la~ la la la~ I'm a pro at selling newspapers, I don't wait until dawn to go get the papers delivered, I walk and shout, today's news is really good!"
When Xie Pei returned home, this was the scene he saw: Zhu Mingyue, swaying her small waist, carried a basin and walked briskly between the dining table and the stove, humming a strange and unfamiliar song.
Seeing him return, Zhu Mingyue seemed even happier and told him that someone in the village wanted to sell their land.
"If we don't have farmland, a vegetable garden is fine too!" That's what Zhu Mingyue thought. He had even already decided which vegetables to plant this year.
Xie Pei was in a good mood, which had little to do with the vegetable garden. His good mood mainly stemmed from the braised pork on the table. He had only eaten it once before, and ever since then he had been longing for it. Although he didn't say it, he was really looking forward to Zhu Mingyue making it again.
The portion of braised pork was a bit small today. Xie Pei buried his head in his food, thinking to himself that there was probably not much frozen pork left at home. He was unlucky today and only managed to catch a rabbit. He would definitely spend more time catching a pig when the weather got warmer.
Zhu Mingyue took a bite of rice and felt a slight itch in her nose. She turned her head and sneezed, feeling much better. She noticed that Xie Pei had poured most of the meat gravy into the bowl and deliberately left a few good-looking pieces of meat for her.
He burped, stuffed all the meat into Xie Pei's bowl, and said with a hint of tea, "You eat it. When Brother Li from the village chief's family came, the smell of meat wafted out and was noticeable. I felt embarrassed, so I picked up half a bowl and let someone take it away. You don't mind, do you?"
He always served a fixed amount of braised pork, and if half a bowl was suddenly taken away, Xie Pei definitely wouldn't have enough to eat. He would get tired of braised pork after eating two pieces, but Xie Pei loved it and could never get enough, so he simply gave him the rest.
Xie Pei didn't understand why he had to ask him specifically when he delivered a bowl of meat to someone, but he still answered truthfully, "I don't mind." After saying that, he gave Zhu Mingyue a deep look, "From now on, you can do whatever you want with the money and things in the house. You don't need to ask me."
No one could trust Zhu Mingyue more than him, because this family was originally destitute, and all the changes were brought about by Zhu Mingyue herself.
A warm feeling washed over him, and he smiled brightly at Xie Pei, "Okay!"
The two ate their dinner quietly, like a brother-in-law and sister-in-law with a deep affection for each other, and neither of them mentioned the incident from two months ago.
At that time, Xie Pei only said he would take Zhu Mingyue in to get through the winter, and Zhu Mingyue was only thinking about leaving Gouhe Village after winter to find her own way. Looking back now, it wasn't so bad to have someone to keep her company during those tough days.
There seemed to be an invisible barrier between the two, which gradually crumbled as they spent more and more time together...
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