Chapter 155: Chapter 156: Ancestral Grave Emitting Green Smoke
Xu Qigang’s house was only a village away from Sheng Ning’s old home, and it took about an hour to walk there. This was mainly because the rural roads were difficult to navigate.
Xu Qigang’s house was located at the eastern end of the village, where a road conveniently passed right by their doorstep, putting them in a favorable position.
The six large tiled houses in front were built with the money Xu Qigang had sent home after returning from the Southern Border Battlefield, a reward for his military achievements.
While others still lived in thatched houses, their family had been the first to move into a spacious and bright tiled house.
Nobody had expected that a good-for-nothing local thug would have such a successful son.
As the local saying goes, it was as if their ancestors’ graves were billowing with green smoke.
As noon approached, Xu Xianxiong came back from the fields carrying a hoe. While other families were still busy with farm work, his was about to finish.
Xu Xianxiong, who had been idle when he was young, had changed his ways, but he had never learned the skill of farming.
While other families could harvest eight hundred pounds of crops per acre, his family could only manage four hundred; half of it was taken by the weeds competing for nutrients.
“I’m back!” Xu Xianxiong dropped his hoe to the ground and called out loudly to the woman who was washing rice in the courtyard.
“Wash your face first!” Zhao Lanzi carried the washed rice into the kitchen and poured it into the pot to cook.
“No rush, no rush!” Xu Xianxiong said with a smile, “Our son sent a letter today, I brought it back first thing to show you.”
“You were supposed to be weeding the fields. How did you receive Qigang’s letter?” Zhao Lanzi was a gentle woman, unlike the typical rural woman. Her family had been well-known local landlords before liberation, rumored to distribute end-of-year profits in silver coins using winnowing baskets—your basket, my basket, over and over.
After liberation, when there was a campaign against landlords, her parents were persecuted to death. Eventually, she was left alone and married Xu Xianxiong, who couldn’t find a wife.
What happened later was well-known throughout the town. Not only had old ruffian Xu Xianxiong mended his ways, but he also behaved very submissively toward his wife.
Wherever he went, he always talked about his wife and hardly let her do any hard work during the busy farming seasons.
“Hehehe… An old friend called me out for a drink, so I went to the town.”
Zhao Lanzi rolled her eyes, yet it appeared quite fetching to Xu Xianxiong.
“My wife, you look so beautiful!”
Zhao Lanzi shuddered, “Scram, scram, scram… How old are we that you’re still spouting this nonsense? If you’re not embarrassed, you should at least consider Qigang’s reputation.”
Xu Xianxiong glared, “If he dares, what I say goes!”
“You dare!” Seeing him threaten her beloved son, Zhao Lanzi immediately dragged Xu Xianxiong by the ear out of the kitchen.
“Wife, I dare not anymore, I dare not! Don’t be angry, from now on, the mixed-up kid will be the dad, and I’ll be the son, alright?”
Zhao Lanzi was amused and let go of his ear, taking the letter to open it, and upon reading it, she almost fainted with joy.
“Fantastic, fantastic!”
Zhao Lanzi was educated in the classic texts and also skilled in brush calligraphy; the village always sought her out for writing couplets during the New Year. However, Xu Xianxiong was completely illiterate, recognizing no characters at all. He scratched his head in anxiety, asking, “What does it say? What makes you so happy?”
“What do you think could make me happy?” As she watched Qigang approaching thirty without taking a wife, she had been losing sleep at night.
“Getting married?” Xu Xianxiong had guessed it immediately.