Editor: Atlas Studios
"Li Dahai! Li Dahai!"
Li Zhaodi looked at the departing figure with hatred. "Li Dahai, to think that you are capable of this!"
Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but feel a little aggrieved. She had been waiting for him at the village entrance since six days ago. After waiting for him day and night, she never would have thought of him coming back with another person.
It turned out that Li Dahai had arrived in Yonghai County for some time. However, he did not return home. Instead, he went to a brothel and used the fifty taels of silver that the military had given him to buy a prostitute’s freedom. He even brought her back with him. He was prepared to marry her. But what did that make of Li Zhaodi? She had been looking forward happily to Li Dahai’s return, but this was how he treated her!
Li Zhaodi was filled with hatred!
"Li Dahai! How can you let me down!"
When she heard the villagers chattering outside, she got angry.
With bloodshot eyes, she got up without another word and splashed a basin of swill out of her door.
At first, no one knew what she was going to do. When they saw her carrying the basin, they thought that she was using new tactics for the fight. Hence, everyone continued looking into the courtyard to get a view of the commotion.
Only Mrs. Yang could tell that something was wrong. Li Zhaodi didn’t look like she was going to settle scores with the two people in the house. Instead, she looked like she was going to settle scores with the people outside her door.
With this thought in mind, Mrs. Yang made her move and tried to squeeze through the crowd. When she finally walked out of the crowd, the people who were still crowding around the house suddenly fled in all directions and started cursing.
At that moment, Xiaoguo managed to grab hold of Mrs. Yang in time. Otherwise, she would have been trampled by the crowd.
Mrs. Yang stood at a safe spot and patted her chest. She looked at the people who were running around and cursing like headless flies. She was glad that Xiaoguo managed to grab her.
The two of them moved in the same direction as the crowd and walked towards their home together. However, only the two of them were clean. Xiaoguo pulled Mrs. Yang further away from the others in case they accidentally bumped into them.
The onlookers had been splashed with swill and feces by Li Zhaodi. Fortunately, both of them had dodged in time. Otherwise, they would have ended up wet and smelly like everyone else.
Along the way, Mrs. Yang told Xiaoguo about the situation inside. Xiaoguo felt a little sorry for Li Zhaodi. She was really unlucky to have met such a man.
"Sigh, you can’t pity her. You reap what you sow."
When Mrs. Yang saw Xiaoguo’s expression of pity, she quickly reminded her.
Xiaoguo was speechless. She wasn’t that much of a saint actually. Then, she pretended to roll her eyes at Mrs. Yang. "Don’t worry. I’m not stupid."
Mrs. Yang patted Xiaoguo’s arm in amusement.
The two of them parted ways and went home separately. Just before going off, Xiaoguo saw Mrs. Yang’s expression and guessed that she would be sharing the gossip with her family.
Xiaoguo laughed. Mrs. Yang was really a gossip.
When she got home, Zhuang Zhuang had already woken up and was getting dressed. When he saw Xiaoguo, he quickly said aggrievedly, "Mother, where have you been...?"
Looking at Zhuang Zhuang’s pouting mouth, it seemed long enough for her to hang some sausages. "Mother went to look for Mrs. Yang for a walk."
Xiaoguo sat on the bed and helped Zhuang Zhuang get dressed.
Zhuang Zhuang obediently raised his arms so that Xiaoguo could dress him. He enjoyed his mother’s show of affection towards him.
"I didn’t see you when I opened my eyes..."
Zhuang Zhuang was actually okay, he was just seeking her affections.
Xiaoguo kissed him softly. "I’m sorry, baby. I won’t do it again..."
Zhuang Zhuang accepted Xiaoguo’s kiss happily. He was rather speechless at Xiaoguo’s assurances, because she was always saying next time. The last time she had said next time, and this time round, she also said next time.
Xiaoguo kept grinning at Zhuang Zhuang in an attempt to please him. Only then did he magnanimously "forgive" her.
"Let’s go and cook."
"Yes!"
Zhuang Zhuang nodded happily and got out of bed to put on his shoes. He held Xiaoguo’s hand and wandered to the kitchen.
At noon, Xiaoguo finally managed to coax Zhuang Zhuang to take his nap. She had read an article before that children need sleep to grow. In order for Zhuang Zhuang to grow taller, Xiaoguo always tried to make him take a nap.
Just as she covered Zhuang Zhuang with a blanket, there was a knock on the door.
Xiaoguo hurried out, afraid that the puppy’s barking would wake Zhuang Zhuang up.
"Who is it?"
Xiaoguo asked as she opened the door.
"Xiaoguo, me."
Mrs. Yang? Xiaoguo recognized the voice.
"Sister-in-law? What’s the matter?"
"Xiaoguo, didn’t you say something about building a bathroom at home?"
Mrs. Yang thought about what Xiaoguo had told her some time ago. She was thinking about building a bathroom in the courtyard. At first, she didn’t know what it was. After listening to Xiaoguo’s explanation, she realized that it was a wooden hut where one could take a bath.
"That’s right!"
Xiaoguo said happily. Some time ago, she had asked Mrs. Yang to help her find someone who knew how to build houses. It would save her the trouble of looking for someone in the county. If the builders were from the county, she would have to take care of their food and accommodation. Moreover she was a widow living alone, others would gossip if they saw any strangers living in her house. Therefore, she should just look for someone in the village. That way, she could just pay for the labor and the workers can settle their own food and lodging. Wouldn’t that be perfect?
"Well, my brother-in-law could do it. What do you think?"
Mrs. Yang was actually a little embarrassed. She felt like she was volunteering her own services.
"Your brother-in-law?"
Xiaoguo was puzzled. Yang Jia?
"Yes!" Mrs. Yang was a little awkward at first, but as she spoke, she felt more comfortable about it. There was no need to beat around the bush. She wasn’t lying—Yang Jia was an expert at setting up tents in the military camp.
"That’s great!"
When Xiaoguo heard Mrs. Yang’s explanation, she was overjoyed. This was great. She was still worried about working with strangers. Yang Jia was from Mrs. Yang’s family, so at least it was someone familiar. This would save her the trouble of interacting with people she didn’t know.
"Alright! I’ll talk to Yang Jia now!"
When Mrs. Yang heard this, she ran home anxiously to inform him of the good news.
When she got home, she saw Yang Jia holding a book. Mrs. Yang quickly told him about it.
"That’s wonderful!"
Yang Jia put down the book and spoke excitedly.
Now that the men from the village had returned—although they had some compensation money in their hands—they could not just sit around and do nothing all day. They still had to think of ways to make money.
Some of them had already returned to their old jobs which they did before joining the army. There were some others who had no jobs, and Yang Jia was one of them.
He was only 17 years old this year. Before he was enlisted, he was still preparing for his exams to enter the academy. In the blink of an eye, more than three years had passed. He did not expect to be able to return home safely. This was already a great blessing. He could not let his mother, brother, and sister-in-law support him. But apart from studying, he didn’t know much about anything else.
Previously, when he heard his sister-in-law mention something about building a small hut, he did not even think about it and wanted to take on the job. If he could help to share the burden of the family, he would. Moreover, he believed in his own skills. He was so familiar with setting up tents in the military camp that he could do it with his eyes closed, let alone a simple wooden hut.