Ugly girl only wants to farm

Chapter 126 A great harvest

Xu Chaoyan, however, looked delighted as if she had discovered something strange and unusual: "Look, this is water bamboo. I haven't eaten this in a long time. I'm so hungry."

Meng Jiuxia walked directly to the water's edge, snapped one off with a "snap," peeled off the skin, and handed it to her: "Here, you can eat it if you want. It's sweet and delicious. When we were little, we often broke it off and ate it by the river."

Seeing her sister-in-law bring it to her mouth, she asked somewhat uncertainly, "Is it really okay to eat this raw like this?"

Her eyes darted around, looking at Meng Jiu and hoping he would help her out of the predicament.

Meng Jiuhe nodded: "Little sister is right. When we were little, there wasn't much to eat. We would pick some fish to eat when we went to play by the river. You probably never went to the river to catch fish, so you've never seen these."

Xu Chaoyan took a small bite with some skepticism. It was indeed as sweet as they said, but she gave up after just one bite.

“I want to move all of these back home. It’s good that we can have a change of pace these days.”

It was the height of summer, and their foreheads were already covered in sweat. Meng Jiuxia was a little reluctant. She muttered, "Sister-in-law, if you want to eat some, there's a small stream in the village. I'll take you to pick them. It's so hot right now, we're practically dripping with oil. Let's go first."

Xu Chaoyan took out the palm-leaf fan she always carried and stood in front of her, fanning her with a solicitous expression: "Little sister-in-law, please help me put these back. Tonight I'll treat you to a different dish."

The cool breeze calmed her already agitated heart a bit. Since she felt obligated to accept the gift, she had no choice but to agree. As she walked, she muttered to herself, "I wonder what's so delicious about this thing. Can you conjure up a flower or something?"

Xu Chaoyan smiled mysteriously: "You'll find out tonight. Right now, hurry up and put all these things back in your pockets, as many as you can fit. Anyway, the sun is blazing right now, and we've been getting quite hot on the way here, so let's just take a break here."

After saying that, she took off her shoes and socks, rolled up her trousers, and went into the ditch.

Meng Jiuhe wanted to stop him, but she didn't have time. She wanted to tell him to be careful, as she didn't know how deep the river was, and what if he fell?

He quickly put down the palm-leaf fan in his hand and also planned to take off his shoes and go into the water.

Xu Chaoyan turned around and tossed one to him: "Husband, you don't need to come down. Just stand there. When my sister-in-law and I are arguing, you can catch us."

It was the height of summer, but when Xu Chaoyan stepped into the cool river water, the refreshing feeling instantly washed over her, and she began to play in the water.

She saw Meng Jiuxia cautiously approaching, a cunning glint flashing in her eyes. Suddenly seized by a playful impulse, she stopped beating around the bush and, having just been concerned about getting her dress wet, didn't hold back anymore. She simply tied a knot, let go, scooped up a handful of water, and splashed it directly at Meng Jiuxia.

"Sister-in-law, how is it? Isn't the water refreshing?"

Meng Jiuxia wiped the water off her face, glared at her, and howled fiercely in her childish voice: "Sister-in-law, you can't play like this. Since you're not going to show any mercy, don't blame me for not going easy on you."

After saying that, he splashed water on her.

Meng Jiuhe stood on the shore and watched the two playing in the water. He heard their silvery laughter and their pleas for mercy. He laughed along with them and reminded them, "You two stand further away and don't play in the water for too long. Be careful not to catch a heatstroke. Why don't you pick some bamboo shoots and go cool off under that tree?"

Finally, Xu Chaoyan and the others had picked all the bamboo shoots from the field. Their pockets were almost full, and they could still see a dense field of bamboo shoots in the distance. She was very tempted and looked like she wanted more.

When she was about to go over, Meng Jiuhe grabbed her hand and stopped her: "This is enough for us to eat for a long time. We can come back next time you want to pick some. Besides, there are plenty of these things along the ditches in the village. We can't eat all of them if we pick so many at once."

Looking at what was in her pocket, Xu Chaoyan had no choice but to give up on the area in front of her.

"Okay, let's rest under the tree for a while. Let's peel off this outer layer of shell and take the rest back with us. We can't eat it all at once if we don't peel it all off."

After they had finally rested enough under the tree, they slowly walked towards the village. By the time they reached the village entrance, the sun was already setting.

As Meng Jiuxia walked, she complained, "Sister-in-law, it's all your fault. Look, you have nothing to do, so you've picked up so many things that can't fit in this wheelchair. I also have such a big bag on me. What do you need so many for?"

Xu Chaoyan quickly reassured her, "Don't worry, I mean what I say, I'll definitely cook you something delicious tonight."

When they were not far from their own courtyard gate, they met Liu, who was carrying a basket on her back, coming down from the back mountain. She looked shocked when she saw them.

"I was wondering why the birds in the tree were making so much noise today. Turns out it's because the eldest son's family is back. Where have you been hiding all this time? Didn't I hear that the two mountains near my sister-in-law's family's place are right next to each other? How did you get down from those mountains? Do you have some kind of supernatural ability?"

The village was already isolated from news, and it was even more difficult for messages to be sent from the other side of the mountain. As a result, the Liu family still did not know about the Meng family elders.

Xu Chaoyan also planned to keep it a secret. After all, they were young and their experience was definitely not comparable to that of Liu and the others. What if these people had bad intentions and tried to take advantage of her family?

Putting aside everything else, the Meng family's tiled house and several acres of barren land made them quite conspicuous in the village. They had always had an uncle helping them out, and the imperial court had also allocated disaster relief funds, but it was said that their village only received a few dozen or even a few coins.

Fortunately, Xu Chaoyan didn't intend to argue with these people. A few coins were fine, as their courtyard was still habitable enough. They could come back and repair the wall when they had more money in the future.

Meng Jiuhe was a little tired from walking, so Xu Chaoyan helped him sit in a wheelchair. A bag full of bamboo shoots was hanging from the armrest of the wheelchair, made from an outer garment.

Liu silently scanned Meng Jiu and her entire body, her eyes gleaming with schadenfreude, as if no one else could see it.

Seeing that Meng Jiuhe's expression was not good, Xu Chaoyan quickly spoke up: "Second Aunt, where are we going? How is the repair of your house going? We don't have the ability to travel to the heavens and the earth. There is a winding path not far down the mountain. We came from that side."

Liu looked suspicious: "There are winding paths on the other side of the mountain, how come I didn't know? I grew up in this area."

Xu Chaoyan pushed the wheelchair from behind, intending to leave. She didn't want to say much to her, afraid that saying too much would reveal something. She only replied vaguely, "Second Aunt has been married into this village for a long time. How do you know about the outside world? Besides, last time the earth dragon turned upside down, it blasted a path. The world is vast and full of wonders, don't you think?"

Liu was speechless after being rebuked by her words. She snorted heavily a few times while carrying her basket: "An ugly hag, but she has a sharp tongue. She's no different from a gossip. She doesn't know how to show any respect to her elders. I don't know what's in her bundle. She doesn't even bring it over to show her respect to her elders."

She was muttering so loudly, how could Xu Chaoyan and the others not hear her? They secretly cursed her, thinking, "You're so shameless, you want to have your hands on everything."

After the three returned to the courtyard, they rested for a while and then picked up brooms to clean the inside and outside of the yard.

When it was time for dinner, Meng Jiuxia looked at the plate of bamboo shoots stir-fried with fatty pork, and her mouth watered. She had smelled the aroma earlier and had been eyeing it for a while.

"Sister-in-law, this can also be stir-fried."

Xu Chaoyan handed her a pair of bamboo chopsticks, saying, "This can definitely be stir-fried. How did you guys eat it before?"

Meng Jiuxia thought for a moment: "We either pick them and eat them, or we boil them in water. But this stir-fried meat is quite sweet."

Xu Chaoyan put several chopsticks on her plate: "Eat more if you like. Take me to meet those craftsmen tomorrow."

"Hmm," Meng Jiuxia mumbled.