Because Xiao Changyi married into An Jing’s family, the Xiao clan despised him to the bone and isolated him and An Jing even more. As for the other people in Jiuping Village, they were quite pleased.
"Let’s see how the Xiao clan can hold their heads high after this!"
As for Mrs. Xiao Chen, after fainting twice out of anger, she fell ill and has been bedridden ever since.
As for Xiao Changyi and An Jing, they paid no attention to these things, living their simple, happy life.
One day, not wanting An Jing to stay alone at home, Xiao Changyi carried her on his back to the hillside to clear some new land.
The Xiyun Kingdom had a clear law stating that whoever cleared land on the mountain it belonged to, and after registering it with the County Government, the government would issue a land title for that plot.
Once Xiao Changyi carried An Jing to the side of the plot he was preparing to clear, he set her down, asking her to sit and watch, and if she got bored, she could talk to him.
Before meeting An Jing, Xiao Changyi had already cleared a small piece of land, and his plan was to clear two mu of land.
An Jing knew that Xiao Changyi only had one mu of mediocre paddy field and no dry land. Clearing new land was an effort to have more land to grow crops, as that one mu of paddy field was not enough to support the two of them.
Clearing mountain land was particularly difficult, time-consuming, and labor-intensive, which is why the people of Jiuping Village were unwilling to do it, preferring to rent land from landlords instead.
An Jing wholeheartedly supported Xiao Changyi’s decision to clear land himself rather than renting from a landlord.
Once the land was cleared, it would be theirs, but rented land would never truly belong to them.
An Jing would rather work hard to clear land herself than to rent it. Renting land not only required paying rent but also enduring hardships, as landlords were difficult to deal with. You couldn’t offend them in the slightest, or they would take back the land and not rent it to you.
And she, An Jing, was never one to be pushed around.
Clearing was made difficult by the fact that besides weeds, the mountain terrain was also covered with small trees with well-established root systems, which were extremely tough to dig out.
Watching Xiao Changyi first clear a large area of weeds and cut down small trees, and then digging out the roots with his hoe stroke by stroke, An Jing felt terrible. Her man was now sweating profusely.
Feeling pained for her man, An Jing said nothing, letting Xiao Changyi continue to dig out the tree roots.
As for herself, she no longer sat and watched but looked around, found a sturdy branch, and then hopped on one leg into the field to be cleared, sitting directly on the ground without minding the dirt.
Then, she began using the branch to dig out the tree roots in the ground.
Digging out even a little bit was better than just sitting and watching; that’s what she thought.
Seeing this, Xiao Changyi was very concerned about An Jing’s injured foot and wanted to stop her from digging, but he opened his mouth and, in the end, didn’t say anything.
He didn’t speak up, but An Jing, without raising her head, did, "Husband, have some water."
"Hmm," Xiao Changyi responded, walking over to the water jar, pouring a bowl of water. He didn’t drink it himself but offered it to An Jing first.
An Jing paused her digging, not taking the bowl but naturally drinking from its edge, then shook her head, "You drink."
Xiao Changyi drank all the remaining water in the bowl in one go.
After putting the bowl back, Xiao Changyi picked up the hoe to continue digging out the tree roots in the ground.
An Jing continued to dig with the branch.
Although both were digging out tree roots, they kept a careful eye on each other. Sometimes, when their gazes met, they would share a smile, warm and sweet.