The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure-Chapter 85 Slipping Up

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But all that is a story for another time. Let’s deal with the chaos at hand first.

Without wasting words, he pulled Jindou and Jinhoo behind him, uh, his towering stature completely shielded the two boys, perfect!

"Fourth Brother, don’t hit them. They’re not lying. They really found these at Qili Slope," Wang Yongzhu testified.

Wang Yongping certainly didn’t believe it. Did he look like a fool to them? If these things were so easy to find, why would they ever get a turn?

He reached out and yanked at Wang Yongzhu, "Little sister, don’t cover for these little scoundrels. Don’t I know them? Surely you’ve cajoled Auntie into helping you keep this a secret, haven’t you?"

With a tug, he made Wang Yongzhu stagger, her body leaning sideways, losing her balance and teetering toward the side.

Ouch, damn it! In her panic, Wang Yongzhu flailed her arms wildly in the air, finally latching onto something and holding on to it for dear life, barely managing to steady herself.

Regaining her composure, she realized that what she had grabbed seemed to be a sheep’s tail?

Looking up, she saw Song Chongjin expressionlessly pulling the sheep back.

Wang Yongzhu quickly let go, "Sorry, my hand slipped, hand slipped—"

Then she turned around and pulled a formidable catch and hold move, pinching the soft flesh on Wang Yongping’s waist and twisting it firmly, "Are you really my brother? Why did you have to push me so hard?"

Wang Yongping, utterly baffled with a pained grin, didn’t dare struggle free, "Little sister, haven’t I always pushed with this much strength? Anyway, I can’t budge you; how would I know you’d be susceptible to pushing today—"

"Pfft—" Laughter from the Li Family Brothers came from behind.

The Li Family Brothers had never known that this was what it was like between Wang Yongping and his treasured little sister on a daily basis.

They always heard that Wang Yongzhu was unruly, arrogant, selfish, lazy, and gluttonous.

But they hadn’t really interacted much with Wang Yongzhu, and since Wang Yongping had always been brainwashed by his mother into thinking whatever his little sister did was right and good, they took it all with a grain of salt.

Now it seemed the rumors might not entirely hold water. From their perspective, the siblings actually had quite an endearing relationship. The brother might be blunt and straightforward, but he was deeply sincere in his feelings for his sister; and though the sister appeared to always be bullying her brother, in reality, she was often irked to jumping by him.

If they ever dared to poke their sisters in the ribs like that at home for no reason, whether they’d live to see the next sunrise would be in question.

"Didn’t you see that I’ve lost weight?" Wang Yongzhu said through gritted teeth.

Upon hearing this, Wang Yongping scratched his head and scrutinized his sister carefully. After a long while, he furrowed his brow, "Little sister, have you been working too hard learning needlework lately? Look, you’ve gotten thin. Just in time, I caught a pheasant today, I’ll ask mom to make you a soup to nourish you. Tomorrow I’ll head to the mountains again, no matter what, I have to make up for the weight you lost. Don’t worry!"

I don’t worry about your sister!

Damn, she was the sister!

Wang Yongzhu was so angry she wanted to curse. It had not been easy for her to lose weight—did he really want to fatten her up again? Did he not know the meaning of death?

Meanwhile, Song Chongjin, hearing Wang Yongping’s words, subtly glanced at Wang Yongzhu.

He had felt something was off just now, and now, upon closer inspection, Wang Yongzhu indeed looked thinner.

Her cheeks revealed a hint of shape, and her figure didn’t look like a barrel from head to toe. Her hair wasn’t as dull and yellow as before, and it wasn’t in a messy bun. Instead, her hair was tightly combed back, tied into a neat braid, making her look clean and tidy.

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Her skin was no longer dark and oily; it seemed to have lightened and was fresh and clean. She didn’t plaster her face to look like a monkey’s butt, nor did she paint her lips to resemble a gaping bloody mouth.

Aside from the broad shoulders and a burly build, she didn’t look excessively obese as before.

Song Chongjin dared not look too long, only lowering his head to hide his complex gaze.

Over there, upon hearing that chicken soup would be simmered at night, the Little Beans cheered, as now in the Wang Family, when the Auntie spoke of dieting, many delicious foods would be shared, allowing everyone a taste.

With plenty of water added to the chicken soup that night, everyone was sure to get a bowl.

Several Little Beans swarmed around Wang Yongzhu, chattering away, "Auntie, will the chicken be simmered into soup tonight? Should we add the wood ear mushrooms we picked?"

"Do you even understand? I’ve heard that simmering chicken with yams is the most nourishing. It is said that only women in confinement can eat it. Auntie, let’s put in yams, shall we?"

"That’s not right; my mother said that simmering chicken with chestnuts is the most suitable for women..."

...

In the midst of the chaos, everyone tacitly avoided asking further about the pile of yams and wood ear mushrooms. Even though Wang Yongping was angry, he still took the backpacks from several nephews and carried them down the mountain with a dark face.

At the foot of the mountain, before going their separate ways, Wang Yongzhu called out to a few people and took out some yams from the backpacks, giving them to Wang Yongping to distribute to the Li Family Brothers and Song Chongjin: "You can take these home to stir-fry or make a soup; it’s also a good dish."

While speaking, she also gave the Li Family Brothers an extra handful of dried fruit: "This is for Zhu Ye to take back. Thanks for the gardenias she sent, which are now so fragrant they fill the entire yard."

The Li Family Brothers and Wang Yongping naturally didn’t hesitate and happily took their leave with the goods.

Song Chongjin, however, hesitated a bit. Should he take the yams or not? And if he did, should he return the favor?

Before he could finish deliberating, Wang Yongping kicked the yams into his arms and hurried the nephews, planning to go home and teach them a lesson.

By the time Song Chongjin came to his senses, the Wang Family people had already walked far away.

Song Chongjin gazed at the yams in his arms for a long time; a slight smile appeared at the corners of his mouth, and for once, a touch of warmth entered his eyes. Holding the yams and dragging the antelope, he slowly made his way home.

※※※

Back at the Wang Family, Old Granny Zhang had chased away all the busybodies, who were now sitting in the courtyard complaining.

"Pah! A bunch of poor losers, daring to aim for a swan—thinking they can marry our Zhuzhu, without even looking in the mirror to see if they match up. Day in, day out, they have no shame, always mooching off our house, they’ve even drank down two barrels of our well water, and not a single one has a decent face! If they come again tomorrow, I’ll sweep them out with a broom at Eldest Brother’s place; I won’t let them dirty the Wang Family’s ground!"

She also scolded, "You’re dead or what, Laosan’s House? Can’t you see the courtyard is dirty? Don’t you know to sweep it up?"

Old Granny Zhang had reluctantly shown Lady Jiang a few days of kindness, fearing she would not educate her daughter properly, but now knowing her daughter was gifted and Lady Jiang herself was more worried about her daughter not learning—eager to impart all her skills without holding back—Old Granny Zhang’s demeanor changed back, regaining her usual commanding presence.

Besides instructing Wang Yongzhu on her needlework, Lady Jiang was kept busy the rest of the time.

Apart from yielding to Wang Yongzhu’s request not to cut Lady Jiang’s food ration, Old Granny Zhang reverted to her usual attitude toward Lady Jiang.

Lady Jiang had long been used to Old Granny Zhang’s orders, and these past few days, the old woman’s forced smiles had scared her so much she couldn’t sleep at night, fearful of what else the mother-in-law might concoct because she couldn’t take it anymore.

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