Yang Ming held his wife in his arms, indeed spending the whole night without sleep, and got up early the next day before his wife awoke.
When Xiaoxiao woke up, she heard sounds from the outer room and knew Yang Ming hadn’t left yet. She got up and put on her clothes, but as soon as she did, she felt a pain in her neck. She pressed it with her hand, quite puzzled. How on earth had she slept the night before that she had managed to give herself a stiff neck?
Looking at Yang Ming who entered the room, his eyes were bloodshot, as if he hadn’t slept at all. Nonetheless, he seemed to be in a good mood. He was probably eager to leave.
After holding his wife all night, how could Yang Ming be in a bad mood? After entering the room, he said, "Xiaoxiao, I helped you bring in the firewood and filled the water jar. When you’ve used them up, ask your fourth brother to help you; don’t do it by yourself."
He wanted to help out, so his wife could have less to do. By now, he had no doubts about his wife’s relationship with her fourth brother, and to avoid making her tired, he had also asked his brother-in-law for help.
Having settled everything, Yang Ming stood up, "Xiaoxiao, I’m leaving!"
"Mhm!" Xiaoxiao nodded.
"..." Her eyes were dark and shining, blinking, as if they were saying, hurry up and leave. He felt as if he understood, and he really hoped he hadn’t.
"I’ll be back on the first day of next month, wait for me."
And so, Yang Ming left the room under Xiaoxiao’s gaze, went to bid farewell to his parents, and finally left the yard. He really was gone.
As soon as Xiaoxiao saw he had truly left, she whooped for joy and started jumping around, "Oh my goodness, he’s finally gone!"
Xiaoxiao rolled around on the kang several times, unable to hide her happiness. At last, she had sent away the sticky pest; she no longer had to awkwardly stay in this room.
During the day, after being spread by her sister-in-law’s shouting, the news that Xiaoxiao was seeking an embroiderer had gotten around. There was no need for them to promote it any further.
"Have you heard? The Scholar’s wife is hiring female workers again?"
"Yes, I’ve heard. This time she’s hiring an embroiderer, and as long as the embroidery work is good, any age will do."
"I heard this time they’ll be paid by the piece!"
"That’s great, the more work you do, the more Silver you earn."
"They still have to test their embroidery skills, though!"
Everyone talked about how extraordinary the Scholar’s wife was. She had created work opportunities for them, and the young maids and wives in the village stopped going out. They all practiced their embroidery at home, hoping to pass the test and become embroiderers to help with family expenses.
"Sister-in-law, whenever I think about how those people betrayed us last time, I get angry. Is it possible not to hire them?"
"..." Hey, the sister-in-law still remembers the grudge from last time!
"Alright, we’ll do as you say."
Xiaoxiao readily agreed, though it was because of their family’s pickled cabbage that people were caught, betraying the sister-in-law for self-protection seemed dishonorable. This time, Xiaoxiao would comply with her sister-in-law and give those people a bit of punishment.
"I thought you wouldn’t agree."
She felt displeased inside and mentioned it casually, not expecting her sister-in-law to agree so readily.
"Mhm, who let them be so unrighteous to you, sister-in-law?" Since her sister-in-law had suffered such a grievance last time, she naturally had to be appeased this little bit. Anyway, it didn’t matter who was hired.
After being busy all day, Xiaoxiao returned to her room at night to start the fire, boil water, and tidy up. After everything was done, she climbed onto the kang. But once she lay down, she felt the room was eerily quiet. Why did she feel so unaccustomed to it?