Having returned from the town, Ma Donghua ran into Su Xiaotao on the way back to the village.
"Xiaotao," Ma Donghua called out to her, "are you busy right now? Auntie has something she wants to ask you."
"Auntie," Su Xiaotao touched her two long braids, "I’m feeling a bit unwell and want to go to Shanghe Village to see Dr. Ye. What do you need?"
"These are head ornaments I bought for you," Donghua handed a pair of head ornaments to Su Xiaotao, gently pulling her aside, "Xiaotao, since you’re the closest to Xiaofeng, can you tell me if the child in Xiaofeng’s belly, is it Liu An’s?"
Su Xiaofeng’s eyes darted around, somewhat troubled, "Auntie, what kind of question is this, I..."
"I know you are close with Xiaofeng, but she doesn’t want to marry anyone now. How can this be right, isn’t it? We all want what’s best for her; she should be thankful to us in the future." Xiaofeng used to be Xiaotao’s shadow, always by her side.
"Auntie, I’m not sure of the specifics, but Liu An himself came over to admit that the child is his. There shouldn’t be any mistake about that," Xiaotao sighed, "Xiaofeng too, even though Liu An is lazy and gluttonous, he’s still better than some brainless people. I don’t know what she’s thinking."
It was said that last night He Ximei even had Dr. Ye and his family over for dinner. What is He Ximei thinking, she wouldn’t be targeting Dr. Ye, would she?
With Xiaofeng’s frail body, she still dreams of marrying Dr. Ye, really shameless.
"Exactly," Ma Donghua said with a face full of frustration, "so we need to help her with this matter. You’re her best friend, and I’m her aunt. If we don’t help her, can we expect her stepmother to step in?"
"Auntie," Su Xiaotao’s eyes kept whirling with excitement, unsure of what Ma Donghua intended to do, "Are you saying..."
"Xiaotao," Ma Donghua stepped forward and whispered a few words to her, then stuffed a red envelope into Su Xiaotao’s hand, "Only you can help Xiaofeng now; she will be thankful to you in the future."
Su Xiaotao didn’t care about the red envelope Ma Donghua gave her.
Her mind was focused on one thought: Xiaofeng said the child wasn’t Liu An’s, but if everyone saw Xiaofeng sleeping in Liu An’s bed, how would she explain that?
"Fat lady, where are you off to this early in the morning?" It was still dark when He Ximei made Su Peng take her to the county. At the village entrance, they ran into Hu Xiulan, who had just left the outhouse.
He Ximei casually replied, "Going to sell some chili peppers."
Hu Xiulan watched their retreating backs, curling her lip, "Really a pauper, those few chili peppers in your field, how much money could they possibly fetch?"
Su Xiaotao also got up and saw her mom coming in, "Mom, who were you just talking to?"
"Just that fat woman and her idiot son, said they’re going to sell chili peppers, it’s truly laughable," Hu Xiulan grabbed a hoe to go down to the fields, "Watch and see, their family might soon struggle even to have regular meals."
Su Xiaotao clearly had other concerns, "Fat woman and the fool aren’t home?"
Learning that He Ximei and Su Peng would not be home today, Su Xiaotao didn’t bother about breakfast and knocked on Ma Donghua’s door.
Ma Donghua was thrilled to hear that today only Xiaofeng and her older brother were at home. She truly believed that heaven was on their side.
She instructed Su Guisheng to bring the older brother over for breakfast later and casually mention the business about building a new house at the brother’s place, then hurried off toward the village entrance.