Ugly girl only wants to farm

Chapter 266 The Calm Lake (6)

Liu and he argued about hiring a carriage. Liu thought, "Can't I walk back myself? It's a waste of unnecessary money." The two almost came to blows.

When Grandmother Meng saw that her son was ignoring her with a dark expression, she felt a little timid. She had indeed gone too far these days. Who could blame her? She was very thin and rarely ate anything substantial. She was satisfied with a few meals a day, but slowly she also wanted to try some oily food. Liu was no pushover either, saying one thing in front of others and another behind their backs.

“Second son, look, your mother has only been back for a few days, so I have to go and see her, right? It’s quite cold these days. How about I stay with you for a while? Xiuzhi has been busy these past few days.”

She was ruthlessly interrupted by her son before she could finish speaking.

"You've found so many fathers for me, who are you planning to find this time?"

Grandmother Meng blushed and scolded, "What's wrong with you, child? What nonsense are you talking about? Of course I'm looking at Old Meng!"

The driver chuckled and pretended to scold him, saying, "Second Brother Meng, you can't talk nonsense. Your mother raised you and your siblings all those years with great difficulty."

Uncle Meng, rubbing his rumbling stomach and looking exhausted, said, "Mother, you're getting on in years. Can you please stop making things difficult for your son? We've finally had a few days of peace at home. Why did you come back after leaving? Your son-in-law's family is doing so well, aren't they? They're living the high life while we've been struggling lately. Please don't come back and cause trouble. Have pity on your son."

Liu chimed in, "Yes, don't worry about Mother's grave sweeping. You've never been this enthusiastic in previous years. Have you been cursed this year? Niu Suizui, why are you driving so slowly? You're just lounging around all day. The other day I saw your wife chatting and laughing with the old bachelor from the east end of the village. Mind your own business first."

The oxcart suddenly lurched, and Liu's mouth smacked, drawing blood. She winced in pain and mumbled incoherent curses.

"What kind of epilepsy is this old geezer having? Ouch! It hurts so much! Get me to the clinic right away!"

Grandmother Meng did not send her back along the way, and the oxcart ended up in the ditch. Liu's crying was deafening.

Uncle Meng was so angry he wanted to slap her a few times. They were almost at the fork in the road when this shrew started fighting with the driver. Now the cart was broken, and everyone was covered in mud and looked utterly pathetic. Seeing everyone covered in mud, he initially planned to walk back, but after a few steps, he couldn't contain his anger and turned back to vent his frustration on Liu. The two of them started fighting.

Grandmother Meng huddled to the side chanting, "Heavens, my child, watch your face! This woman has gone so far as to piss on your head, and you've already put up with this shrew and decided to divorce her."

Liu grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it at them: "You old hag, you're stirring up trouble here. If you hadn't slunk back like that, our family wouldn't be in this mess. It's all your fault, you old witch, that we're in this situation. And you're still stirring up trouble here. I'll break your legs right now and make you come back."

Grandmother Meng already harbored resentment towards Liu, and now she deliberately wanted her son to teach Liu a lesson. However, after suffering a setback, the two women started fighting again. The coachman, seeing the family in such a brawl, didn't know how to intervene. He could only watch from the sidelines, pouting, before finally speaking up in desperation.

"Hey Meng Lao Er, why don't you hurry up and pull your mother and wife apart? It's not good if people see you like this on the street. Your daughter isn't married yet, and your son isn't married either. Don't you want to have a bad reputation?"

In the end, the driver took the family back. Coincidentally, they passed by Meng Jiuhe again.

Grandmother Meng thought to herself that she couldn't go back and see her son-in-law's face before she could find out the news. When no one was paying attention, she picked up a stone and lightly tapped her forehead twice.

The driver went up to him with a look of anticipation: "You went too lightly. Do you want me to help you? This injury is too minor. Your wife will probably send you away in two or three days."

"Pah! You old hag, laughing at me like this. No wonder you've always been so shabby. Stop grinning with those yellow teeth and you're disgusting. Hurry up and help me up." The driver turned his back and cursed her several more times.

When the Meng siblings went up the mountain to sweep the tombs, they met a cart driver and chatted for a while. The driver told them about the recent situation in the village, including the return of the Meng family's grandmother.

Finally, he still looked regretful: "Young Master Meng, I'm not trying to discourage you, but there's really no news from your parents yet. But don't worry, I'll definitely keep an eye out for you. Your studies are the most important thing. I don't think that Liu is someone to be trifled with. Her courtyard has been noisy these past few days, and she went out again early this morning in her oxcart. You'd better leave quickly, or your grandmother will come back and give you a piece of her mind."

Meng Jiu bought some wine and pastries in town and gave them to the uncle's family. He knew that the uncle would not accept money, so he bought some food to thank him for helping him find information and for watching over the yard.

Speaking of guarding the yard, the uncle said with a guilty look, "I'm really sorry, your second aunt is too shrewish. I did go to your yard once or twice before, but when I went to look around again, she said I had ulterior motives and was trying to steal your property. She's just a woman, and I didn't want to argue with her, so I went less often after that. I feel bad that your yard is overgrown with weeds."

Meng Jiuhe had also glanced around casually. Although the area was overgrown with weeds, there were some vegetable seeds scattered near his second aunt's yard. These were minor matters, and he couldn't be bothered to argue with him as long as he wasn't causing trouble in his own yard.

Before they left, the uncle took them to town and packed them a basket full of ferns and bamboo shoots.

"These are just some cheap little things from the mountains, but I'm giving them to you to try. Please don't be put off by them."

Before leaving, Meng Jiuhe put a small package on the oxcart and stuffed some copper coins inside, saying it was for the children and that they shouldn't mind the old books.

When Meng Jiu and her brother and sister arrived at the Zhang family's courtyard, they happened to see the old woman talking to a woman with high cheekbones. The old woman's expression was not good, and the woman seemed to want to pull her aside and say something. The old woman looked like she could no longer bear it.

He winked at his younger sister, who called out sweetly, "Auntie, we're back! Is dinner ready? I'm starving. We brought back some bamboo shoots and bracken; that'll be enough for tonight."

"My dear cousin-in-law, I'm very busy with guests here. Let's talk about this later. I rarely come back, and I have a lot of things to take care of."

The woman wanted to say something more, but the old woman ruthlessly slammed the courtyard gate shut.

Meng Jiuhe glanced at the swaying courtyard gate: "Is the old lady alright? That woman isn't here to cause trouble, is she? To avoid any unforeseen complications, let's set off tomorrow."

The old woman sighed, "It's not that we're looking for trouble. Ever since we moved to the county and started a small business, my cousin's wife found out. That's why she came to our door to borrow money, saying she needs a few dozen taels of silver to get married and wants us to lend her some to tide her over. You know how little we earn, and she asks for a few dozen taels as if we're easy targets. How much tofu has she taken from my house before? How many times has she borrowed money? She's never paid it back. Well, we've almost finished with the tomb sweeping today. We'll have dinner with her second uncle's family tonight and set off first thing tomorrow morning."

Meng Jiuhe: "When you're poor, no one cares even in the bustling city; when you're rich, distant relatives come calling even in the deep mountains."

"What do you mean, brother?"

"It means to read more books and learn more from my brother in the future."

Meng Jiuxia scratched his head, looking half-believing and half-doubting: "Big brother, are you just asking me a question? It seems like it has a few more words than reading more books, right?"

县里

Looking at the packed hall, Yue Niang couldn't suppress her smile: "Sister, look how many guests we have, it's wonderful."

Xu Chaoyan picked up her earthenware pot and shook it near Yue Niang's ear: "Sister, listen to what that sound is."

"Isn't it just the sound of copper coins?"

Xu Chaoyan shook her index finger with a delighted look on her face: "This is a beautiful and melodious tune."