Although it was easy enough to support another little girl at home, it was illegitimate and unacceptable. Yang Ruxin was not the type to be an anonymous benefactor.
Sanni and Zhou Xiao ran to the village to inquire about the situation.
What they found out was that only Yang Anshi and Daya were left at the old house, with the rest of the family in town. As they walked around the front and back of the old house, they heard Yang Anshi’s endless cursing and, occasionally, Daya’s crying. Clearly, when the old lady was not satisfied with just cursing, she would drag her granddaughter over and beat her.
Yang Ruxin glanced at Erya, who was playing with Sini and Zhou Ying, and let out a slight sigh. She decided to keep her for now but knew she needed to look for the Dong Family.
Of course, there was another reason she was going to town. She expected that the paperwork for the two courtyards she had bought should be settled by now, and it was time to inquire about it. She had already told Wang Zhenggang that once everything was sorted, it could be left here, and she would come over when she had the time; there was no need for Huzi to make another trip.
If the paperwork was all done, it was time to start cleaning up the place. Even if she didn’t move in immediately, she could rent them out instead of letting them sit idle.
However, before she could leave, visitors arrived at her door. It was Aunt Hehua and the others, who had come in a group to visit Xun Hui.
"The three of us had agreed to come together, but then we ran into Dafeng at the entrance of the village, so we all came together," Wang Hehua said cheerfully. "We heard your mother has woken up, and we’re all so happy about it."
"Aunties, please come in and have a seat," Yang Ruxin ushered them into the house.
Xun Hui also heard the voices and came out from the inner room. Seeing so many people, she was slightly embarrassed. She used to be quite inconspicuous in the village, too timid to talk to anyone.
Because she was beautiful, at first, everyone liked to chat with her. But if she greeted men, Yang Anshi would accuse her of being indecent, trying to seduce others with her fox-spirit face, as if she wanted to put a green hat on her Scholar son, and she could scold Xun Hui all day long. If Xun Hui spoke with women, Yang Anshi would accuse her of being lazy and slippery...
In short, whatever Xun Hui did was wrong.
The end result was that besides working, she stopped talking to anyone, and she would keep her head down even when leaving the house, at best just nodding in response to greetings.
So, all these years, she felt somewhat unsure how to communicate with outsiders.
Thankfully, the Feng Family had been talking and chatting with her all these years, advising her and greatly improving her mental state, but she was still reserved.
Erni quickly poured water for everyone, placed melon seeds and snacks, and then went back inside to do needlework.
"Hey, this is your home, where you should be the one making decisions," Zhao Xinghua drew Xun Hui to a seat. "Look at how well you’ve arranged everything in the house; the place looks so tidy. This table really catches the eye. Next time Boss gets married, I will definitely have Ruxin make one for me. Xun Hui, if I were you, I might be waking up laughing from my dreams..."
"You’re more likely to snore in your dreams," Liu Cuiyun teased with a laugh. "If you really woke up laughing, you might scare your husband away."
"You narrow-minded ghost, how do you know I snore? Did you leave your man in bed at night to go eavesdrop by my house?" Zhao Xinghua gave Liu Cuiyun a sideways glance. "Your husband must be suffering, huh?"
"Listen to her, I say one thing, and she comes back with so much more, picking on me because I can’t talk as well..." Liu Cuiyun pointed at Zhao Xinghua, laughing uncontrollably. "And she keeps going further and further off-topic..."