Tao Xiaoxi stayed home for nearly a week before finally feeling better. During this time, her sister-in-law Zhou Lan came to see her, but she refused to let her in, fearing she might pass on her cold.
No one had come to her this week asking for medicine, Tao Xiaoxi thought, perhaps there must be some new rumor about her out there. Sure enough, Beibei came back and repeated what she'd heard, saying the uncles, aunts, and other relatives had said she couldn't even cure her own illness and must be a liar. Beibei only half-assed it. Meanwhile, her eldest sister-in-law, Zhou Lan, had also been accused of being an accomplice, earning her a barrage of ridicule from Yang Rongzhi, the second wife's wife. Even Mrs. Li seemed to be blaming her. If the pregnancy hadn't been real, she would have been scolded.
Tao Xiaoxi frowned. It could be said that the reputation that she had worked so hard to build up was back to square one as if she had caught a cold.
But there is no need to rush. Tao Xiaoxi looked at the gradually thawing wilderness and the gradually brightening sky. The spring breeze is about to blow and the earth is about to come back to life. Just wait and see.
But waiting for the wind to come was tough for Tao Xiaoxi, who had to go back to chopping wood and raising chickens. Farming was out of the question, she would never do it in her lifetime.
When Cun Lizi met Liang Hengsheng again, he took the initiative to avoid suspicion and stayed away from him before Tao Xiaoxi even opened her mouth, for his own sake and for Tao Xiaoxi's sake.
Tao Xiaoxi shrugged her shoulders. It didn't matter. This man had always been timid and cautious, indecisive and indecisive. It could be said that his shortcomings were as obvious as his strengths. But fortunately, he was not Li Nanshan. If Li Nanshan was also like this, she would be very angry and would kick him a few times.
This farce never came to an end and was gradually forgotten by everyone. The villagers were gossipy but also forgetful. However, if it was mentioned again one day or there was new development, it would spread like wildfire.
Zhou Lan suffered a lot while pregnant with this baby. She was three months old and still had morning sickness. She ate a lot, but her belly didn't get bigger and she had lost weight visibly. Her mother-in-law saw her sighing and frowning all day long, which gave the second sister's family a reason to criticize her. They made fun of her and ridiculed her every day, which made the face that the eldest sister-in-law had earned because of her pregnancy almost gone. She had to start living her life again.
That day, she couldn't help it, so she secretly came to find Tao Xiaoxi, and complained bitterly with tears in her eyes. She cried and retched at the same time, and she almost vomited out the little food Tao Xiaoxi had eaten at noon.
"You are not that young lady in her early twenties, so naturally you won't have an easy pregnancy as others. Pregnancy varies depending on individual physical conditions. I think you are just thinking too much. You should adjust your mentality. Nothing is more important than giving birth to a child safely." Tao Xiaoxi comforted him while chopping wood with an axe in a clumsy manner.
"I'm just worried that the baby won't be well in my belly." The sister-in-law expressed her concerns.
"Didn't I just check your pulse? It's stable and normal. The child is fine."
"Really?" The eldest sister-in-law was still worried. "I heard that Chinese medicine pulse diagnosis is a scam nowadays. You have to go to the hospital for an ultrasound to get an accurate diagnosis."
Tao Xiaoxi glanced at her and said, "Sister, I'm a Chinese medicine practitioner. Are you talking to me about ultrasound? Is that polite?"
"Why should we be polite to each other? Do you think what they said is true?"
Tao Xiaoxi really wanted to strangle her, or strangle herself. She had never seen a woman with such low emotional intelligence. No wonder people say that there must be something hateful about pitiful people. It's absolutely true.
"Why don't you go to the hospital for an ultrasound?" Tao Xiaoxi didn't want to continue chatting.
"No money." said the sister-in-law with a bitter face.
"So you're treating me like free labor, and you're afraid I'll cut corners and produce substandard quality?" Tao Xiaoxi slammed the axe in his hand down on the wooden block, killing it.
The sister-in-law was startled and finally realized that she seemed to have said something wrong. She shut up and secretly glanced at Tao Xiaoxi.
"Don't overthink things. It's also important to stay cheerful. Also, you must stay away from those gossipy women who hate to see others succeed. It's best to ignore them and not care about them. That way, you can ensure the health and safety of your baby."
"What about the fact that I feel nauseous and want to vomit?" The sister-in-law was still upset.
"I'll get you some medicine. Go back and try it. Maybe it will help."
"Okay!" A smile finally appeared on the sister-in-law's face.
But Tao Xiaoxi repeatedly warned me not to take medicine randomly!!!
The sister-in-law went back happily with the medicine. Tao Xiaoxi looked at her face which turned from gloomy to bright and suddenly felt some emotion. People like the sister-in-law are easily hurt and easy to comfort. So, does she live a relatively easy life or does she move forward with a heavy burden?
She couldn't explain it for sure, but she felt that a heart that was hurt too easily would be fragile, and happiness that was obtained too easily would not last long.
When the first thunder of spring sounded over Mantou Village and the first drop of spring rain fell on the fields of Mantou Village, Mantou Village finally announced the end of a winter of silence and leisure and plunged into the production work of the new year.
All the men, women, young and old in the village who could walk were busy. Even if they were not busy, they had to pretend to be very busy, otherwise they would easily be considered idle and doing nothing.
Tao Xiaoxi was also busy hatching chicks, but the only old hen left in the house was obviously not a model worker. She would often leave the roost to wander around and cause trouble. For this reason, Tao Xiaoxi had no choice but to guard the door of the chicken coop and force the hen to be a good wife and mother.
Raising chickens was previously forbidden, but now it's allowed, and every household's women are working hard to raise them, secretly competing with each other to show off their virtue. However, raising chickens requires food, and while the village women hope for their chickens to grow up quickly and lay eggs, they also want to save as much food as possible. So they've come up with various methods, such as digging for earthworms and driving the chickens out to the fields to let them forage on their own. During the busy farming season, no one feeds their chickens with grain, except Tao Xiaoxi, who eats the same food as humans, and is very willing to spend money on this aspect.
So the old hen in the house is strong and has shiny feathers. She always looks for other hens to fight with, and sometimes even provokes the rooster. As a result, she looks down on others and does not do her job properly.
Tao Xiaoxi thought that after it hatched this nest of chicks, she would no longer spoil it. She would let it experience the hardships of life and understand the preciousness of the daily necessities of life.
But before the chicks could hatch, the hen disappeared.
That day, Tao Xiaoxi went out to do laundry, and when she returned, she found the chicken coop empty. She searched everywhere but couldn't find it. Tao Xiaoxi had a bad feeling that she might not be able to find it this time.
Sure enough, the hen did not come back at night, and her loud and clear clucking sound was no longer heard.
Looking at the nest of eggs still lying quietly in the chicken coop, Tao Xiaoxi was at a loss for the first time. What else could hatch these eggs besides a hen?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
