Nan Feng initially thought it was Ye Ge, so he didn’t make a sound, instead he took a peek at the other side through the crack between the green bean racks.
It turns out it wasn’t Ye Ge, but Wang from Uncle Zhou’s family, who is Dongdong’s mother.
Seeing no one around, Wang first stole two cabbages from Uncle Zhou’s vegetable field, and after pilfering the cabbages, she looked around again. Seeing still no one coming, she carried the water bucket to the public pool to fetch water.
When Nan Feng and Ye Ge led everyone to build the faucet, the elder brothers of the Zhou family didn’t participate at all. They even said they would rather die than use anything made by Ye Ge and Nan Feng.
Earlier in the year everyone went to dig the reservoir, apart from Dongdong helping to deliver food for a day, these same people never showed up afterward.
However, the reservoir water has to go through every field, hence giving the Zhou brothers an advantage.
But the water in the vegetable field pool is different, every household has to fetch water from the pool. If the Zhou brothers don’t use it, they can’t come here to fetch water.
Now they’re sneaking in to fetch water. Where’s their pride from before?
Nan Feng remembered that some time ago Aunt Lan mentioned that the Zhou women often sneak in to steal water. Aunt Lan, being an outsider, didn’t say anything and pretended not to notice, and as result, the Zhou family became more and more brazen, obviously thinking that Ye Ge was easy to bully.
Stealing water is one thing, now they’re even stealing vegetables.
After a couple of “coughs”, Nan Feng stepped out.
The sound of the cough startled Wang. When she turned to look and saw Nan Feng, her face turned awkward.
She had experienced Nan Feng’s sharp tongue before.
“Aunt Wang, are you stealing water?” Nan Feng asked. “Didn’t you say before that you would never use the water me and Ye Ge brought here? Now early in the morning, you’re taking it, did you ask us? Who gave you permission to fetch water?”
At first, Wang seemed awkward, but she’s used to being thick-skinned, so very quickly her face hardened again: “Who’s using your water? I just came to wash this bucket.”
Wang swung the bucket several times, then poured the water back into the pool: “See, I didn’t use your water, did I?”
Nan Feng continued: “But how come I heard that you often sneak in to fetch water? People have seen you doing it several times.”
Wang got angry: “Who said that? Let her come and confront me in person, I want to have a word with her, is it right to malign others like that? Furthermore, even if I did take it, what then? This water is from the river, it’s not like you gave birth to it.”
This Wang is such a relentless woman, just like Nan Meng’s wife who also has the surname Wang. They must be real sisters.
“Don’t start talking about birth, didn’t your man come from Uncle Zhou too? And now aren’t they estranged? I only know that the water I bring in, you can’t use!” Nan Feng calmly said.
“If you say don’t use, then don’t! Who cares!” Wang lifted up the water bucket, cursing all the while.
Afterwards, Wang went back into the vegetable field looking around, all the while saying: “Strange? Where did it go? It was just here a moment ago.”
Nan Feng held up the cabbage behind him: “Are you looking for this?”
Wang immediately gave a murderous look: “What are you doing with my cabbage?”
“Who said it’s yours? Does your family have cabbages in their field?”
Indeed, apart from lettuce and hollow-vegetable seedlings, what else does Wang’s family have in terms of cabbage?
Her face all red, Wang stared at Nan Feng: “It’s my brother-in-law’s, can’t it be?”
Nan Feng said: “Your brother-in-law’s field is over there, yours is here. Moreover, your brother-in-law doesn’t grow cabbages either.”
Wang became enraged: “That’s right, I picked it from that old bastard’s vegetable field, what are you going to do about it? You haven’t even married in and you’re meddling in the old bastard’s affairs? Don’t you feel ashamed?”