Chapter 143 (1/2)

Chapter 143: 143

When the group of people arrived at Dongshan Village, the fiery sun was gradually approaching the West Mountain, which wreathed the top of the mountain in a glittering, golden halo . The vast majority of villagers had just finished eating dinner, and many elderly men and women were congregated under the old elm tree at the mouth of the village . Some were playing chess while others were chatting genially .

Among them was a fat and plump woman, who was garrulously talking to other people while drops of spittle emitted from her mouth . This person was Xiaocao’s eldest paternal aunt, Li Guihua . She had a bunch of roasted melon seeds in her pocket, and her lips flapped swiftly as the husks from the melon seeds flew away . Her beady eyes, which resembled a thief’s, furiously roved around . No one knew who she was planning to slander next .

Next to her was Madam Xiong, who used an elbow to poke at her . She pouted towards the entrance of the village and said, “Guihua, look over there! Isn’t that your younger brother-in-law and his precious little daughter? I heard that the day before yesterday they went with Hunter Zhao and his son to the prefectural city! Tsk tsk, I’ve been living for a long time and I’ve never been to the prefectural city . Your younger brother-in-law takes that silly girl Xiaocao as a treasure, ah, and takes her around everywhere!”

“Psh, what kind of treasure are you talking about?! In the end, isn’t she just something you’ll lose money on?” Ever since Li Guihua went on her latest, fruitless trip to the old Yu residence and was rewarded with nightmares for several nights, she never had the guts to go there again to cause trouble . She even spread rumors that the old residence had demons haunting it and that Yu Hai’s family was so and so . . . however, most of the villagers knew her personality, and very few of them took her blabberings seriously .

Madam Xiong’s eyes flickered, and she laughed until the fleshy parts of her body trembled . She then said, “Do you think your younger brother-in-law is trying to marry one of his children to the Zhao Family because he thinks their circ.u.mstances are good? Tsk tsk, even if he wants to, he shouldn’t pick that chit Xiaocao ah . She’s a sickly one and no one knows when she’ll have her next spell!”

“Who knows! Second Brother-in-law is a sworn brother with Hunter Zhao . Maybe they had something to do in the prefectural city and Xiaocao begged them to go along . Second Brother-in-law definitely wouldn’t be able to refuse her, especially since he loves to spoil her! As for thinking about marriage, whether or not they could get an agreement is not certain!” Madam Li continued to crack the melon seeds in her mouth noisily and was oblivious to the fact that there were many elders around her . She didn’t have any manners and was preoccupied with eating her snacks selfishly .

Madam Xiong curled her lip and sn.i.g.g.e.red nastily, “Your younger brother-in-law is playing a good game . That Zhao Family has to be one of the richest families in our village . Last time your younger brother-in-law managed to kill a bear in the mountains . I heard, ah, that they sold it for three hundred taels . Your younger brother-in-law had such a serious injury, and he has a very good relations.h.i.+p with Hunter Zhao . He must have gotten a big portion of the money!”

When Madam Li heard that the bear was sold for that much money and that her second brother-in-law probably got a slice of that pie, her expression immediately changed . She repeatedly said, “I’ll say ah! Second Brother-in-law split from the family with a lame lag and there’s no one in his family who can do proper work . Yet they’re becoming more and more prosperous with every pa.s.sing day! Now I know that he collected quite a lot of money behind Mother and Father’s back! No wonder he could fix the house, re-fence the courtyards, and even buy so much cloth to make new clothes . . . That’s not okay, I need to tell Mother! When Hunter Zhao sold the bear, we hadn’t split the family then! They need to compensate a bit ah!”

Madam Li stuffed all of the melon seeds that she had into Madam Xiong’s hands and impatiently headed home . However, she had just mentioned the money from the bear when Madam Zhang’s face twisted and the older woman started hollering at her . In addition, she even got a lot of work a.s.signed to her . There was absolutely no way she could find the time to sneak out to laze about for the next several days!

At this moment, at the entrance of the village, the villagers all saw Hunter Zhao and Yu Hai with a few large men wearing silks and satins that had a soldierly air about them . The villagers whispered quietly among themselves . All of the items that Yu Xiaocao bought were hanging on Zhao Han’s and Fang Zizhen’s a.s.sistant’s horses . On one hand, it was because the donkey was too small and couldn’t carry all of it . On the other hand, she was afraid that people would become envious of her due to all of the stuff she bought .

Fang Zizhen was in a rush to see his respected teacher, who he hadn’t seen for over thirty years . He directly followed behind Zhao Bufan to go to the Zhao Residence . Zhao Han was behind, bringing along Li Li and the other subordinate, and went to Xiaocao’s home to deliver her things .

When Madam Liu found out that the Zhao Family was welcoming guests, she warmly picked a little bit of each type of vegetable growing in the fields and gave them to Zhao Han to bring back home . Although Zhao Han’s family also had some areas to plant vegetables in, no one in his family knew how to farm, so they never had a great yield from their garden . Furthermore, none of their vegetables were as vivid and lush as the Yu Family’s produce .

Ever since Yu Hai’s branch split from the main family, they became even closer to the Zhao Family . Every few days or so, Zhao Han would deliver some game to them and even help them harvest vegetables . He also never slacked off when he helped them . Thus, from time to time, the Yu Family would also send some of their vegetables over .

After the members of the Zhao Family ate the Yu Family’s vegetables, they disliked their own green vegetables even more . Even the old man, Zhao Zimo, complimented the Yu Family’s vegetables many times . The vegetables they grew were lush and extremely tasty . It was easy to eat a couple extra bowls of rice when you had their vegetables to eat! He felt like his own body was getting stronger and stronger with every pa.s.sing day . Even his old internal injuries, left by his previous military campaigns, seemed to have gotten better by a lot!

Zhao Han took the vegetables without any quibbles and even gave the bright red tomatoes to Li Li and the other guy . Li Li had gone with the general to visit other residences in the capital and had seen tomatoes before . However, all of those people kept the tomatoes in pots and used them as decorative plants only .

Li Li only found out that tomatoes could be eaten like a fruit after he had a taste of the sweet and sour tomato! That night, he also got to eat tomatoes used like a vegetable in cooked dishes . He suddenly realized then——tomatoes actually weren’t considered a fruit but a vegetable! [1]

After they saw Zhao Han and the other two people off, Madam Liu started to put away the things Xiaocao bought while inquiring Yu Hai and her daughter about what they ate in the prefectural city, their living conditions, etc . As for Xiaocao’s extravagant spending, Madam Liu had already gotten used to it . Luckily, Xiaocao was also very good at making money, so Madam Liu didn’t bother saying anything anymore .

Xiaocao had bought Madam Liu a bolt of simple yet elegant cotton cloth . Madam Liu liked it so much that she almost couldn’t bear to use it . However, Xiaolian and Xiaocao pestered her to try it, so she wrapped it around her body to take a look . Surely enough, the cloth suited her completely as it really showed off her gentle and sweet-tempered nature . Even Yu Hai repeatedly praised Xiaocao for having a good eye!