Chapter 39 After the flooded fields were drained...
After the flooded fields were drained and left to dry in the heat for a few days, the village chief called on everyone to help replant. Although this incident affected this year's harvest, at least the matter was resolved.
As for the feud between Huang Zhongyi and Li Zhuer, it seems there's no way to resolve it. After being kicked several times, Li Zhuer's already lame leg became even more crippled. In a fit of anger, he went to the yamen to appeal, but they thought it was too trivial and didn't care at all.
Unable to swallow their anger, the family of three would go to Huang Zhongyi's field every night to pull up rice seedlings, replanting them each time. Huang Zhongyi wouldn't back down either; his whole family would stay up all night waiting for Li Zhuer's family to come and beat them with sticks, inevitably leading to another chaotic fight between the two families.
The person was beaten, but the rice seedlings growing well in the field were torn to shreds, and the Huang family was heartbroken.
Unable to eat or sleep properly during the day, Huang Zhongyi's mother finally collapsed after a week of this ordeal. She was quite a formidable woman; she had her son and daughter-in-law carry her to the Li family's doorstep, where she wailed and cried, claiming the Li family wanted to kill her and that she'd rather die right there in front of their house.
Li Zhu'er's mother was also extremely skilled at this. She was in good health and didn't need anyone to carry her to the Huang family's door. She lay down on the ground and said the same things as the other party.
The two sides traded blows, going back and forth, and it was impossible to determine a winner. On the contrary, the other side's seedlings were visibly growing strong, while their fields looked completely barren.
Huang Zhongyi panicked completely. This couldn't go on. Although his family had a little surplus grain, they had a large family. If their more than ten acres of land yielded nothing, they would be starving within three months.
Seeing his mother so worried that she couldn't sleep all night and was losing clumps of hair, he finally lowered his proud head.
But he couldn't bring himself to beg for peace with that coward Li Zhuer, so he had his wife send over two hundred coins, saying it was compensation for beating Li Zhuer.
There's no reason not to accept money that's offered to you, but Li Zhu'er's mother insisted that she absolutely couldn't do it.
Two hundred coins isn't much, but it's equivalent to nearly ten days' wages for someone outside. Besides, Li Zhu'er can't earn this kind of money even if he wants to, because he's used to being lazy and shirking his duties, and no one wants him to do any work.
But she knew perfectly well what accepting the money meant.
The meaning is simply: I've offered you a way out; it's up to you to decide what to do with it.
To be honest, if the two families continue to drag this out, the Li family will not gain any advantage either.
His family is so poor that they have to sell land to get him married; how could they afford to go through this ordeal?
Unlike the Huang family, whose family still had some surplus grain, his family always lived a frugal life, always worrying about the next meal after finishing one. If they continued fighting like this, they would only be able to starve to death in the end.
Even if I'm filled with anger, I can only swallow my pride and accept Huang Zhongyi's obviously insincere attempt to reconcile.
...
"Try my chilled glutinous rice balls." Zhu Mingyue handed the drink she had just made to Li Zhengyang.
Li Zhengyang quickly took it with both hands, letting out a comfortable sigh the moment his skin touched the bowl.
"You're really something, managing to get ice." He exclaimed, taking a sip. "Refreshing!"
Zhu Mingyue smiled without saying a word, prepared a bowl for herself, and sipped it slowly, calming her restless mind that had been bothered by the hot weather.
The dog days of summer are the hottest time of the year, and a few days ago, Zhu Mingyue had already lost her appetite due to the weather.
At first, Xie Pei would gather some fruit for him, put it in the well water to chill for a few quarters of an hour, and then take it out for him to eat.
These were all fruits he didn't recognize, quite large but not very tasty. He knew these fruits weren't cheap, and ordinary families wouldn't be able to afford them, but after eating them for a few days, he couldn't eat anymore.
The reason is simple: ask anyone who lived in an era with a wide variety of fruits, each with a unique flavor and sweetness, who could get used to this sour and astringent stuff, where the fibers between your teeth could be woven into cloth after just a few bites.
His mind was filled with lychees, grapes, bayberries, and his favorite chilled watermelon!
But he searched through all the stalls in town and couldn't find them anywhere. The more he couldn't get them, the more he longed for them.
Especially on nights without air conditioning or electric fans, he felt so wronged that he almost cried several times.
He could endure the heat, but he couldn't stand the lack of appetite; the weight he had worked so hard to gain was almost gone from his body due to hunger.
At this moment, the person he admired the most was Xie Pei. In such hot weather, this man could finish several bowls of rice without changing his expression, even when he was drenched in sweat after finishing his work. He also ate greasy pork at every meal.
Zhu Mingyue could only be envious.
Even today, Xie Pei took the freshly hunted roe deer to exchange for money, but when he returned to the shop, he brought back a bucket of ice.
Zhu Mingyue immediately brought her face close to the ice, feeling the coolness of the air rushing towards her, and was so excited that she almost fainted.
Xie Peidao said that the ice was traded for deer, and only a few pieces of ice could be exchanged for one deer, which shows how precious it was.
Holding onto the ice bucket tightly, Zhu Mingyue didn't even want to continue her business, so she immediately decided to close up shop early and go home.
This ice is so precious, Zhu Mingyue wouldn't be foolish enough to just use it as an air conditioner to cool down. He's quick-witted and immediately thought of making some iced drinks.
He made some small glutinous rice balls, cooked them, and let them cool. Then, he carefully took a block of ice and used a knife to scrape along the ice wall, filling four bowls with shaved ice. He also had some rock candy at home, which he crushed into small pieces and mixed with the shaved ice to make a bowl of brown sugar shaved ice. He added the small glutinous rice balls in, and it was done.
Zhu Mingyue was happily thinking that he would eat two bowls and Xie Pei would eat two bowls, but then Li Zhengyang arrived.
This was the only friend he could talk to in the village, and his ability to find out gossip was even better than that of his brother-in-law Xie Pei. After all, Xie Pei wouldn't be so bored as to chat with him about whose pig had kicked its calves or whose chicken had been stolen.
Zhu Mingyue hesitated for only a few seconds before giving her share to Li Zhengyang.
After finishing his own portion, Li Zhengyang glanced at Xie Pei's portion.
Zhu Mingyue blocked his view with her body and said coldly, "No, this is for Xie Pei."
Li Zhengyang could only lick his lips and give up in disappointment.
"If you want some, I'll call you next time I get some ice," Zhu Mingyue reassured him, though he didn't know when that next time would be.
Thinking of this, he slowed down his chewing of the shaved ice and began to cherish it even more.
After eating the shaved ice, Zhu Mingyue felt much better, and her appetite returned after a long time. That evening, she ate a large bowl of rice, along with a few pieces of meat.
After dinner, he finally couldn't resist the temptation and secretly scooped up another bowl of shaved ice. Not satisfied, he ate another bowl. There were no toppings, just the simple shaved ice made him feel incredibly comfortable.
As expected, I got food poisoning.
In the middle of the night, Zhu Mingyue suffered unbearable abdominal cramps and rolled around in bed, her forehead covered in cold sweat from the pain.
Thump thump thump—
He had tried his best to suppress his groans, but it seemed Xie Pei had still been awakened. Zhu Mingyue barely managed to rouse herself from the intense abdominal pain: "I'm fine, you should go to sleep!"
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a soft sound of footsteps outside, followed by silence.
It seemed Xie Pei had gone back to his room. Zhu Mingyue breathed a sigh of relief without showing any emotion and continued to focus on fighting her abdominal pain.
The pain came in waves, giving him no chance to catch his breath. The half-ice placed by the bed had melted into water and could not cool him down at all. Zhu Mingyue was so hot that he was soaked in sweat, and his clothes could be wrung out with water.
In his hazy state of consciousness, he seemed to hear the sound of the door being opened.
A cool hand touched his forehead.
"Xie Pei," Zhu Mingyue murmured softly, her voice filled with endless helplessness and grievance.
"Um."
"Xie Pei," Zhu Mingyue continued calling his name, seemingly in such distress that her mind had lost control, and she could only mechanically repeat it.
“Hmm,” Xie Peilian replied in a cool tone, patiently answering him, “I’m here.”
The cloth, soaked in cool water, gently wiped Zhu Mingyue's cheeks and neck, extending all the way to the neckline of his undergarment before stopping, and then moved to his arm.
My abdomen was being gently massaged by a hand, and the pain gradually subsided.
Zhu Mingyue felt a refreshing sensation in her body, and her tightly furrowed brows finally began to relax.
Exhausted from the ordeal, the body and mind finally drifted into a deep sleep under Xie Pei's comforting words.
Zhu Mingyue didn't know how long she slept. When she woke up, Xie Pei had already left. There was only a basin of water and a cloth by the bed, indicating that Xie Pei had indeed come last night and it was not just his imagination.
As she regained consciousness, Zhu Mingyue felt unbearably ashamed.
He, a person about to enter adulthood, actually brought himself to this state because of his gluttony.
Zhu Mingyue, Zhu Mingyue, do you really think of yourself as a child?
He cursed himself a few times, then couldn't help but recall the scene of Xie Pei taking care of him last night.
The warmth of her palm still seemed to linger on her abdomen. Zhu Mingyue seemed to be thinking of something, and a blush crept up her ears.
"Zhu Mingyue, you are not a proper husband! It is against human ethics to be alone in a room with your brother-in-law in the middle of the night. What kind of behavior is this!"
"Hey! You old fogey, get out of here! Get out of here! What's wrong with me, a citizen of the new era, sharing a room with someone? Xie Pei and I didn't do anything, we're innocent!"
"Pah! You say you're innocent, so why are you blushing?"
"Your heart sees everything as dirty! I was simply moved by the revolutionary friendship between Xie Pei and me, where we helped each other!"
"Bah! You're not a proper husband!"
"Pah! You're filthy and rotten!"
Two little figures were waging a fierce battle in his mind.
Zhu Mingyue: ...
Ughhhhhh! What on earth is he thinking about all day long?!
It took Zhu Mingyue a lot of effort to get rid of the little person in her mind.
There was no sound from the house, so it seemed Xie Pei had gone out. Zhu Mingyue breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know why he was relieved; he was just worried about how to face Xie Pei. Last night had been so awkward, and he hadn't fully recovered yet.
After quickly washing up, he went to the kitchen, lifted the pot lid, and found that Xie Pei had actually left him some food.
He tasted it; the rice porridge was still warm, just right to eat. There was also an egg in the pot.
Zhu Mingyue peeled the egg, ate a bite of egg and two mouthfuls of porridge until she was satisfied before stopping.
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