Chapter 79: Harvesting Crops Part 1

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

Before leaving the house, Xiaoguo had purposely put a sickle on the donkey cart. There wasn’t much grass left at home, she could use it to cut some grass on the way back.

“Mother, I’ll go back first and bring Big Black and Little White out.”

Zhuang Zhuang saw that they were not far from home. Since his mother would not let him touch the sickle, he decided to go back and bring the cows out himself.

Xiaoguo agreed and allowed Zhuang Zhuang to go back. The place where she was cutting the grass was not too far from the house. It was fine for him to go bring the cows by himself.

Seeing that Zhuang Zhuang was walking home, Xiaoguo continued cutting the grass. Some people called out greetings to Xiaoguo when they passed her by. Xiaoguo could not remember everyone’s names—she could only recognize some of those whom she had interacted with before.

The previous owner didn’t go out much in the past, so she didn’t know many people. This was even more so with Xiaoguo. The only person she usually came into contact with was Mrs. Yang.

As long as someone greeted Xiaoguo, she would stop and respond.

“Xiaoguo!”

Xiaoguo, who was bending down to cut the grass, knew who it was without looking up.

“Sister-in-law!”

Mrs. Yang walked to Xiaoguo’s side and looked at the cart full of grass. She asked, “I went to your house to look for you today. But you weren’t at home?”

Xiaoguo nodded. “Exactly. I just got back.”

Xiaoguo didn’t say where they went, and Mrs. Yang didn’t ask further. She just told Xiaoguo about the meeting in the village.

“A meeting in the village?”

Xiaoguo asked Mrs. Yang curiously, “What’s the matter in the village?”

Xiaoguo then found out from Mrs. Yang that Peach Blossom Village was different from other villages. Other villages would have a small meeting every few days, but in Peach Blossom Village, there were hardly any meetings.

“Exactly. I was only informed this afternoon. I went to look for you, but I saw that you weren’t home, so I went on my own.”

As Mrs. Yang spoke, Zhuang Zhuang came over with the cows and he greeted her. Xiaoguo reminded him not to wander too far. After she was done cutting the grass, they would go back together.

Zhuang Zhuang responded to her and led the cows away.

“Your cows have grown a lot.”

Mrs. Yang stood at the side and watched as Zhuang Zhuang led the cows away.

“Indeed, they’re growing quite fast.”

Xiaoguo also admitted that the cows were growing pretty fast. They were eating and growing well. It was a good thing!

The two of them chatted for a while more before Xiaoguo remembered the issue they were talking about. She quickly stopped and asked about what had happened. “The meeting in the village. What meeting was it?”

When Mrs. Yang heard this, she continued, “They were talking about harvesting grains. Aren’t the crops in the fields ready for harvest? Our village is unique in the sense that most of the men are not around, and most households consist of only women. If anyone needs help, they can hire someone from other villages to do the harvesting. It’s chargeable at 10 copper coins per acre of land. The purpose of the meeting is to calculate the number of people who wish to hire help.”

Xiaoguo listened and nodded. She wouldn’t need the help. Her plot was so small, she could take her time harvesting the crops.

“Hey, Sister-in-law, is your family hiring anyone?”

When Mrs. Yang heard Xiaoguo’s question, she shook her head and said, “No, we are not. We have a lot of land, but we don’t plant a lot of crops. With Xiaohu, Xiaohua, and my mother-in-law, the four of us can easily do the job.”

Xiaoguo thought about it and felt that it made sense. Each family would usually plant enough for themselves. Those with more members in the house could harvest the crops themselves, who would still spend money to hire help?

Each family had at least four to five acres of land, which would add up to dozens of copper coins. To the people in the city, this was not a lot of money. However, for the poorer villagers in Peach Blossom Village, money was barely enough. How could they afford to spend dozens of copper coins to hire help?

“Then no one is actually hiring, right?”

Xiaoguo guessed that no one had signed up. Unexpectedly, Mrs. Yang’s mouth twitched and she pointed in a direction.

“Yes, there is. There’s only one such person.”

Xiaoguo looked in that direction and saw Li Zhaodi, who was surrounded by a group of people.

A group of women were crowding around her and chattering non-stop. One could vaguely hear that they were praising her.

Mrs. Yang looked at Li Zhaodi with disdain. Xiaoguo was very curious. As far as she knew, there hadn’t been any conflicts between Li Zhaodi and Mrs. Yang.

Li Zhaodi proudly enjoyed the flattery of the people around her.

“Zhaodi, you’re so generous. You’re the only one in the village who signed up.”

“That’s right, that’s right. Our Zhaodi doesn’t lack money. 30 copper coins is nothing!”

“That’s right. Everyone knows that our Zhaodi is the wife of an official!”

When Li Zhaodi heard this, her eyebrows almost shot up to her hairline. She covered her mouth and laughed.

As the group walked over towards Xiaoguo and Mrs. Yang, Li Zhaodi glanced around and spotted Xiaoguo immediately. She wanted to tease her, but before she could speak, she saw the clothes that Xiaoguo was wearing. Her face darkened instantly, looking like ink could drip from it.

Damn Qin Xiaoguo. Why was she wearing new clothes? The design looked so interesting! How could a poor widow like her have the money to buy new clothes?

Seeing that Li Zhaodi had stopped talking, the others curiously followed her gaze and saw Qin Xiaoguo leaning on the donkey cart and looking at them.

In that instant they also saw her new clothes. The style was quite unique and beautiful.

“Those clothes look good.”

Someone uttered what they were all thinking. Everyone nodded silently in agreement.

Li Zhaodi widened her eyes and glared at the woman who had spoken. She would remember this!

No one dared to speak anymore. They didn’t even dare to look at Xiaoguo although they were dying to take a look at the design so that they could make one set for themselves. But looking at Li Zhaodi’s expression, it probably wasn’t worth it. It was more important to curry favor with her!

The group of people quickly came to their senses. With one person taking the lead, the bustling atmosphere instantly returned.

However, as Li Zhaodi listened to the commotion, she felt even more uncomfortable. These voices seemed to be mocking her.

Xiaoguo looked at Li Zhaodi, whose facial expression was changing with each passing second. She was amused, but at the same time, she was no longer interested in looking at her. She pulled Mrs. Yang along and started chatting with her again. She didn’t seem affected by Li Zhaodi’s voice at all.

Li Zhaodi left with a sulk on her face. The people behind her followed her and left. The narrow path instantly became wide and unblocked.

Mrs. Yang glanced sideways at the people leaving. Xiaoguo was amused and smiled. She wondered how Li Zhaodi had provoked her. Mrs. Yang was usually cheerful and rarely rolled her eyes at others.

“Alright, alright, stop laughing!”

Mrs. Yang nudged Xiaoguo and looked at her in exasperation.

“How did she provoke you?”

Xiaoguo was done laughing. She looked at Mrs. Yang and asked seriously.

“Nothing much. It’s just this afternoon…”

During the meeting this afternoon, Li Zhaodi had made up stories about Xiaoguo, who was not present at the meeting. Mrs. Yang could not endure her behavior and stood up for Xiaoguo. In the end, the group left with Li Zhaodi after receiving a dressing down from Mrs. Yang.

Xiaoguo was very touched when she heard what had happened. Mrs. Yang had actually told off Li Zhaodi for her sake.

“Thank you, Sister-in-law.”

Xiaoguo knew that this true love was beyond words.

“Sigh! You’re treating me like an outsider again!”

Mrs. Yang wasn’t telling Xiaoguo this to get her gratitude. She was just angry at Li Zhaodi.

Xiaoguo smiled sweetly. No matter what, she had to thank her!

“Sister-in-law, don’t bother with her in the future. Li Zhaodi is that kind of person. When I was still at Qin Manor, she had always been at odds with me. In the future, just pretend that she doesn’t exist when you see her. In any case, she only has a sharp tongue and has no guts to do anything.”

Xiaoguo comforted the irate Mrs. Yang. Li Zhaodi was really such a person. Based on what Xiaoguo could remember, she really only knew how to talk. She had not dared to do anything out of line, so Xiaoguo had never taken her seriously.

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