The two of them removed the weeds cleanly and the roots were all dug out. They were sun dried and then would be buried later on.
Ms. Xu was worried that Qiao Xuan would call them lazy, so she explained to her that the reason why the weeds were not thoroughly cleaned was because the job was very difficult to do, and that they were not lazy.
Qiao Xuan never thought of her in this way, so she did not understand why Ms. Xu would explain this to her. When she understood what Ms. Xu intended to tell her, she consoled her instead.
That was when Ms. Xu became assured.
During dinner, Qiao Xuan cooked again. She planned to use Hericium erinaceus and porcini.The menu included stewed chicken, fried rabbit with spices, braised rabbit pork belly, sweet bamboo shoots with clear soup, as well as some seasonal vegetables.
She had not eaten rabbit for a while and she was greedy for it.
When it was time to cook, Qiao Xuan suddenly saw someone passing by the yard. It was Ms. Fang, who was playing with her granddaughter. She exchanged a few words with the neighbor who went away soon after.
Excited, Ms. Fang handed her granddaughter to Ms. Xu. “Something is going on. I will go and check it out!”
Then she headed away.
Yang Xiaoni loved gossip too, so she wanted to follow along, so did Qiao Xuan, who asked Shao Xiaoqi and Shao Taotao to join them as well.
They lived in a very small village, and they should care about each other. If something was happening, they would definitely go and watch it.
Ms. Fang was excited as she ran ahead. She looked so obvious that she was looking forward to watching a big show.
Qiao Xuan understood the whole story. Fifth Grandma Ding and Fifth Grandpa Ding had problems with their in-laws, and they heard that their granddaughter Ding Xiang of the second section of the family was making a big fuss. Hence, they suddenly got very interested.
At this moment, Fifth Grandpa Ding was already surrounded by numerous villagers, who were all whispering to each other.
A young girl was seated on the ground, as she said furiously, “…we are all grandchildren, how can we be treated so differently? You favor the other sections of the family so much, and you call me immoral? You deserve to be punished!”
Fifth Grandma Ding got so angry that she leaned backwards, shouting at Ding Xiang. “How dare you accuse me! I am your grandma! I will beat you to death, no need to keep you alive, bitch!”
Ding Xiang snapped and sneered with her head raised. “I am your grandchild. How noble are you, when you call me a bitch? We, from the second section of the family, work all the time, and we are never fed well. My mom is too sick to get up right now but you still think that she is lazy. You give food to my cousins but you never give me and my brother anything. How can you be treated as the senior members of the family? You can be a senior member to anyone who wants you. How dare you lecture me? What right do you have?”
The villagers all burst into laughter.
Some also felt sorry for them.
“Fifth Sister-in-law Ding is too prejudiced. Ding Erzhu and his wife are just way too obedient!”
“True, every family has its problems. Parents can’t always balance the relationship, but they can’t be too biased as well!”
“Ding Xiang used to look so obedient and silent, but look at her right now!”
“She has been bullied and can’t stand it any more!”
“Honestly, they could all sit down and talk about this. It is not proper to speak with senior members in this way!”
“Yea, she has no rules! No one would stand this kind of arguing.”