Chapter 75 Village Chief Wu Proposes Marriage
Wang Dani stomped her foot in anger, turned around and ran back to the village. Damn it, she, a woman, couldn't even out-argue a man. It was so shameful!
Bai Zilin drove the oxcart back home, unloaded the firewood in the backyard, drove the oxcart into the cowshed, fed the cows some licorice, and then went back inside.
Liu Ye was sitting on the kang sewing scraps of cloth. She had already told Minglu about the bundle of cloth scraps: "Brother Bai, we have enough firewood. You don't need to chop any more. You're leaving the day after tomorrow, so rest at home tomorrow."
Bai Zilin thought for a moment and decided he still had to remind Liu Ye: "Liu Ye, after I leave, be careful of Wang Dani and Zhang Fang. I'm afraid they might harm you because of me. Wang Dani just stopped me and I gave her a good scolding, which made her furious. I'm afraid she'll take revenge on you if she sees I'm not home."
His words immediately piqued Liu Ye's curiosity. She put down her needlework and asked curiously, "Wang Dani intercepted you. Why did she intercept you?"
Bai Zilin said with a look of disdain, "What can she do? She wants me to marry her, but she tells me she's good at managing a household, that she can have two children in three years and three in five years, hahaha."
Bai Zilin couldn't help but laugh as he said this: "Hahaha, Liu Ye, you didn't see it. Wang Dani dressed herself up like a paper doll from a paper craft shop. Her face was frighteningly white, and her lips were as red as if she had eaten a dead child. She would suddenly jump out and startle me. Hahaha, it's so funny. I even suspect that her mother raised the placenta and threw the baby into the fur room. Otherwise, how could Wang Dani be so fierce? Hahaha, hahaha."
As soon as Bai Zilin mentioned it, Liu Ye understood. She guessed that Wang Dani thought she looked beautiful because of the way she painted herself, and she wanted to seduce Bai Zilin. But she failed and even got a scolding. She deserved it. Did she think her boyfriend was so easy to steal?
"I understand. I'll try not to go out after you leave. Zhang Fang hasn't come for several days since she left last time, and Wang Dani got scolded by you, so she probably won't be able to come over for a while."
"By the way, your mother hasn't come for quite a while. I guess her leg hasn't healed yet. I reckon she'll come again once her leg is better."
Bai Zilin said helplessly, "When she comes, don't open the door for her. Let her do whatever she wants at the door. I'll teach you a trick: if she's yelling and cursing at the door, just throw water outside. The cold water will freeze her away."
Liu Ye smiled and nodded. This trick really works. She'll try it when Bai Wangshi arrives.
"As the old saying goes, it takes 100 days to recover from a broken bone. I reckon she might not come even when you get back, so that's for the best. Brother Bai, what would you like to eat? I'll cook for you tonight."
Bai Zilin said without hesitation, "I want to eat your braised noodles, with roe deer meat."
Liu Ye immediately put on her shoes and got out of bed: "Okay, you can rest inside, I'll go cook."
Liu Ye went to the kitchen, quickly kneaded some dough, and started chopping meat and making gravy. The day before yesterday, Brother Bai had caught a deer. He kept one leg for the family and took the rest to town to sell. Even though the deer had lost a leg, it still sold for ten taels of silver. Food was really valuable at this time of year.
According to Brother Bai, in previous years a roe deer could sell for at most three taels of silver, a pheasant for only twenty or thirty coins, and a wild rabbit for a bit more, selling for fifty or sixty coins. But these days, a pheasant sells for one tael of silver, and a large one for two taels. Even so, when Brother Bai brings his game to town, wealthy people are eager to buy it, especially Young Master Zhao, who buys almost all of Brother Bai's game.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door. Liu Ye came out of the kitchen carrying a kitchen knife. Who could it be at this hour? Bai Zilin, who came out of the house, waved to her and went to open the door.
Liu Ye carried the kitchen knife back to the kitchen and secretly stood at the kitchen door to see who it was.
Bai Zilin opened the door and saw that it was Village Chief Wu: "It's Village Chief Wu, please come in. Is there something you need?"
Seeing that it was Village Chief Wu, Liu Ye turned around and went back to the kitchen to continue cooking. Even if she had no idea, she knew that the old man's visit was never for anything good. Humph, he wouldn't come to the temple without a reason.
Village Chief Wu entered the courtyard with a smile, his eyes looking around: "Well, nothing's wrong. I heard you finished building your house, so I came to take a look. Oh my, look at your five big houses, how well they've been built! Oh my, even the passageway is paved with blue bricks, it looks so clean! Oh my, your wall is built quite high, it looks very sturdy..."
As Village Chief Wu looked around, he talked, and was eventually invited into the house by Bai Zilin. Of course, Bai Zilin couldn't invite Village Chief Wu to Liu Ye's room, but instead invited him to his west room: "Village Chief Wu, please sit down. My house has just been built, and I haven't had time to buy the furniture yet, so I'm sorry to trouble you to sit on the kang."
Village Chief Wu sat down on the kang with a smile: "Hehehe, I sit on the kang at home too. I think I just saw Liu Ye. Did he move to your house?"
Bai Zilin said with a faint smile, "Yes, the house over there in Liuye also needs to be rebuilt, but it's getting cold, so the wall-building won't be done until after the New Year or the Spring Festival. The bricklayers, Liu and his team, will stop working on it after they finish the foundation."
Village Chief Wu nodded with an awkward smile: "Hehehe, that's right. Even though Xiancheng is close to the south, it gets terribly cold in winter. When it gets cold, it's not good to go hunting in the mountains. You all need to prepare enough food. Yesterday, Uncle Wu went to town to buy grain, but alas, grain is expensive again. Those unscrupulous grain dealers only rip off us poor folks. Rich people can afford to buy grain no matter how expensive it is, but it's us poor people who suffer!"
Bai Zilin nodded in agreement: "That's right..."
Village Chief Wu touched his nose and decided to get straight to the point: "Well, Bai Zilin, I see you're not young anymore, and it's time for you to settle down. So, I won't treat you like an outsider and will just tell you the truth. My sister fell in love with you after just one meeting, and now she's begging me to propose marriage to you. You see, sigh, daughters really are hard to keep at home once they grow up..."
Bai Zilin had no idea that Village Chief Wu had come to propose marriage to him. This was utter nonsense, like a blind man rambling on. Just as he was about to refuse, Village Chief Wu hurriedly said, "Zilin, you probably haven't met my daughter. My daughter's name is Wu Xincao. She's beautiful, the village beauty. Everyone who sees her praises her looks. She's also filial and virtuous. You'll definitely like her when you meet her."
Bai Zilin thought to himself, "What does it matter to me whether your daughter is pretty or not? I definitely can't agree to the marriage." But before he could speak, Village Chief Wu interrupted him again: "Zilin, there are rumors in the village that Liu Ye is your fiancée. I've heard about it too. I'm not one to gossip behind people's backs, but I don't think Liu Ye is the kind of person who can settle down. She may be pretty, but that can't put food on the table. A woman should marry a virtuous woman, and she should also find someone with family support."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com