Having cooked dinner, Ms. Wang came out to call everyone to eat. When she entered the room, she saw her daughter and Ye Zi’an talking with their heads close together. She thought the children had poor manners, getting too close. But then she thought, they’re both just kids, and everyone around was family anyway, so it didn’t really matter. Plus, seeing how well these two children got along made her very happy.
From the door, Ms. Wang shouted into the room, "Brother An, Xiaxia, wash your hands and come eat! Save your talking for after dinner."
"Aye, Mother is coming."
"Alright, Auntie is coming too."
Yang Chuxia agreed and put the puppy aside.
"Brother An, come and wash up. You’ve been busy in the restaurant all day." Ms. Wang had prepared water for washing when An came out.
"Why are you being so polite with your Aunt?" Seeing the children had come out, Ms. Wang went to get the bowls and chopsticks.
During dinner, Yang Chuxia mentioned that she would go to the town the next day, as Yang Dachuan had to measure the land, and nobody else could go buy the fresh shrimp and crab.
At first, both Yang Dachuan and Ye Zi’an disagreed with the idea of Yang Chuxia going to town, as the group of kidnappers had not been caught yet, so her trip to the town would be risky.
However, since Yang Chuxia insisted, they eventually agreed, although Ye Zi’an also insisted on accompanying her.
On the next day, Yang Dachuan still was not comfortable with the two children going to town, so he went to find Land Officer Yang and told him he would measure the land in the afternoon, and accompany the children to town in the morning.
When they arrived at the town, Yang Chuxia bought several large baskets of different-sized crabs and shrimp, as well as various other items.
Actually, she didn’t really need to go to town, but she had been thinking about how she hadn’t engaged with Constable Hong since their last visit. As relationships between people take time to develop, and if they didn’t interact for a long time, the relationship would gradually fade. So after doing her shopping, she went to North Street and brought a small jar of shrimp sauce and drunken shrimp as a gift for Constable Hong.
However, Constable Hong was not at home, and his wife received the gift.
Seeing only his wife at home, Yang Chuxia didn’t want to stay long, as both Yang Dachuan and Ye Zi’an were with her, and it wasn’t proper for a woman to entertain male guests.
So, Yang Chuxia didn’t enter the Hong Family’s house. She handed the gift to Constable Hong’s wife at the door and excused herself.
This action made Constable Hong’s wife think that the family was polite and it increased her goodwill towards them.
After bidding farewell to the Hong family, Yang Chuxia and the others drove the ox-cart back to the village. As they approached the village entrance, they saw a crowd of people far away, and cries could be heard constantly.
As the ox-cart got closer, the cries grew louder.
Yang Dachuan parked the ox-cart to one side, Yang Chuxia and Ye Zi’an got off and pushed through the crowd to see what was happening. They saw that it was Aunt Caixia from the village.
Yang Chuxia knew Aunt Caixia, whose maiden name was also Yang. However, she was distantly related to Yang Chuxia and was the wife of Yang Jinshui. This family was often ridiculed by the villagers because they didn’t have any sons and only had four daughters. As a result, they were low-key in the village, not keen on making friends or engaging in idle gossip with others. However, Aunt Caixia got along well with Ms. Wang, and even brought a gift when they moved last time.
But what had happened now? Why was she crying as if she was about to die?