Ugly girl only wants to farm

Chapter 330 The Calm Lake (70)

After hearing Xu Chaoyan's "maybe," Aunt Qi fell into deep thought. Although her son had been forcing himself to be cheerful these days...

He tried hard to put on a smile in front of himself, but it was still obvious that he wasn't happy inside.

From a young age, the mother and son relied on each other for survival and were often bullied. Yu'er has always been a strong-willed child, saying that he would definitely make something of himself and give her a better life. This calamity has dealt him a blow. In truth, he is also deeply saddened.

Fortunately, it was just a false alarm. Although Ya Ya's legs were a little weak from the diarrhea, her spirits had recovered considerably, unlike before when her face was deathly pale.

The old lady had sprained her ankle again because of the fright she had just experienced. Seeing that Ya Ya was finally getting better, she breathed a long sigh of relief. Then Yue Niang and the others came back and busied themselves buying ointment for the old lady and decocting medicine. It was only after a lot of work that things finally quieted down.

By the time the courtyard returned to calm, it was nearly dusk.

After taking the medicine, the little girl felt a bit better and started jumping and skipping around in the yard again. Now she was pestering Qi Yu to teach her to read.

Since it was summer and still early, Zhang Yueniang sat in the courtyard rubbing the clothes that Yaya had changed out of, discussing with Xu Chaoyan that the Dragon Boat Festival was just a few days away, and they should start preparing as soon as possible.

“It’s definitely time to get started. We’ve already paid the rent for the stall, so we need to make a profit first. Sister, how about we transfer the small shop these days and see if we can reduce some of the losses?”

Zhang Yueniang stopped what she was doing, looked around, and then said, "I was just about to talk to you about something today, but I was in such a hurry that I almost forgot."

Seeing her serious expression, Xu Chaoyan quickly moved closer: "Sister, what's the matter? Why are you being so mysterious?"

"Hey, it's just that I bumped into that Zhang family mother and daughter again on the street the other day. Zhang Qiao'er looked much worse, and she seemed listless and dispirited. The mother and daughter were whispering to each other, probably not saying anything nice. I didn't dare get too close, but I vaguely heard them mentioning you and your husband, so I thought you should pay more attention these next few days. Let's resolve these matters as soon as possible and leave this place, which is inherently a place of trouble."

Xu Chaoyan nodded in agreement: "That's right. After we finish dealing with the Dragon Boat Festival, let's move out of here. This shop belongs to Shen Siheng's sister-in-law's family. If we really can't transfer it, we'll terminate the lease. The money we've earned in the past six months should be enough for us to survive for a month or two. Let's go to the prefectural city to familiarize ourselves with the environment first, and then try our luck to see if we can get them into school."

When it was time to rest at night, Meng Jiuhe saw Xu Chaoyan holding a jar and starting to do the accounting.

He walked over with a pained expression and gently advised, "Wife, don't forget it. Be careful not to hurt your eyes at night."

Xu Chaoyan quickly flipped through the accounts and carefully planned out her remaining silver without looking up or saying a word.

"It'll be ready soon. If you're sleepy, go and rest."

Meng Jiuhe stood beside her without leaving. He looked up at the shadow on the wall, which seemed to be the two of them snuggling together. He moved closer and said with a slightly aggrieved tone, "Wife, you've been so busy these days that you've neglected me and don't care about me as much as you used to."

Ever since the Zhang Qiao'er incident, his wife has become increasingly cold towards him, responding with only "uh-huh" or "oh" whenever he says something. He's not used to these responses.

Xu Chaoyan completely ignored his words. Her current worry was how she would survive in the prefectural city; the money would only last for a month or two. She also needed to settle Jiang Xinyi in.

She was in a real bind. After listening to her older sister's words, she suddenly remembered that a few days ago she had felt a cold gaze staring at her from behind on the street, but when she turned around, she saw nothing.

The Zhang family is no pushover; what if they really retaliate against them one day?

Meng Jiuhe's future path will definitely be difficult. Zhang Qiao'er has been married into the family for many years and must know quite a few people, so it's best to be cautious. They should leave as soon as possible after the Dragon Boat Festival.

Aunt Qi saw a faint light coming from her son's room again. She couldn't help but sigh again, picked up the oil lamp, and went over to his window, gently knocking twice.

"Yu'er, it's getting late. You should go to bed early. Don't you have to teach tomorrow? Oh, and how about I get you some herbs to repel mosquitoes? That way you can sleep more soundly."

Qi Yu frantically covered the books on the table, taking two deep breaths to hide her panic.

"Mother, I still have some things to take care of. Those boys wrote some things, and I need to take a closer look. As a teacher, I should at least do my job properly. You should go back to sleep first. Although it's summer, it can get a bit chilly in the middle of the night, so remember to put on a blanket."

Aunt Qi didn't press the matter further. She saw that her son had hidden something but didn't expose him. She slowly walked back to her room with the oil lamp in her hand.

In the dim light, she took a small box out of a trunk. She gazed at its contents, lost in thought. A quarter of an hour later, she carefully wrapped it up and put it away.

Life went on as usual, and about three days passed.

In recent days, many people have come to inquire about the price of their shop for sale, but none of them have offered a price that satisfies Xu Chaoyan.

She didn't say she wanted to make more money, just break even. Those people were deliberately driving the prices down for some reason. Given the current profit level of their shop, she was somewhat dissatisfied.

Although Jiang Xinyi worked with them and they chatted and laughed together, they could still see the loneliness in her eyes.

Jiang Xinyi knew they were going to the prefectural city. Xu Chaoyan gave her the choice: she could go with them to work, or stay in the county town. She would also ask Zhang Rongrong to find her a job so she could save enough money to bring her daughter out. Jiang Xinyi was hesitant and unsure of what to do.

As soon as school ended at noon, Shen Siheng stormed over and plopped down, saying in a resentful tone, "Sister-in-law, you are really not kind. You didn't even tell me you were going to the prefectural city beforehand. I only found out from you."

Xu Chaoyan always thought that Zhang Xuyang and the others would tell him about this, but little did he know that he had been kept in the dark all along.

Seeing his angry expression, Meng Jiuhe tried to smooth things over: "Don't be angry. Don't you know your own fiery temper? I'm just afraid you'll go around telling everyone. Besides, whether we can even go is another matter. The prefectural school is definitely not as easy to get into as this one. If you go around yelling about it like a megaphone, won't we lose face?"

He drank the water that Xu Chaoyan handed him in one gulp.

"You guys are so unfair! You don't treat me like a friend at all. If you had told me sooner, I would have been able to make plans."

The group looked at each other, unsure of what Shen Siheng was up to now.

"Since you're all going to the prefectural city, how can you leave me here alone? Once you're gone, those bastards will probably isolate and bully me again."

Zhang Xuyang said as if he had heard something funny: "It's good enough that you don't bully others, but others bully you."

Shen Siheng felt a little guilty: "You can't say that. Although I haven't known you for very long, I think someone like me who follows you will definitely get a share of the profits in the future. Besides, didn't my father say that I should associate with you more? I'm just doing what he said. You should have informed me sooner so that my old man could open a restaurant in the prefectural city for me to enjoy. I'll open the restaurant not far from the prefectural school, and you can come and visit me often. Anyway, I'm not cut out for studying. I might as well open a restaurant as soon as possible to practice and carry on my father's business."

Zhang Xuyang tapped him on the head twice: "You opened a restaurant just for fun and to practice. What are your father and older brother working so hard for? But you just casually say, 'I opened a restaurant just for fun.' You treat money like it's nothing."

"Brother Meng, do you think he and I are just natural enemies? We're incompatible and we start fighting as soon as we meet."

Meng Jiuhe glanced at him: "That's where you're wrong. Do you know how hard it is to make money? You have no experience at all, yet you want to open a restaurant just for fun. You're just being ridiculous. Even if you're not cut out for studying, we don't expect you to become a top scholar or a successful candidate in the imperial examinations. That would be great too."

"Forget it. I don't even dare to dream of becoming a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations), let alone a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the county-level imperial examinations)." He was very self-aware.

Seeing that everyone disagreed with his approach, Shen Siheng looked at Xu Chaoyan and said, "Sister-in-law, don't you think so? I'll open a restaurant in the prefectural city, and you can all come and visit me then. Besides, I have a few distant relatives there, and they know a bit about the situation. My father goes there every month or two, so it won't be a loss."

Seeing his serious expression, Xu Chaoyan thought for a moment and then spoke.

"You'd better discuss this matter with your family. As my husband just said, we're not asking you to become the top scholar, but even if you just pass the provincial examination, your father will be happy for a long time."

Shen Siheng looked like he had a headache: "I get sleepy as soon as I see a book."

The day after tomorrow is the Dragon Boat Festival, and the county school and Mingyue Academy are going to have a dragon boat race. Fortunately, everyone signed up voluntarily. There was no requirement, and Meng Jiu and the others did not participate.

Shen Siheng had originally been clamoring to go and join in the fun. But when he saw that no one else was going, he gave up on the idea.

During the previous selection, Meng Jiu and the others were both eliminated because they weren't good swimmers. They were ridiculed for this for several days. It turns out, there were things they weren't good at.

The two old ladies, Aunt Qi and Aunt Da, haven't had a moment's rest these past two days. Even though Aunt Da sprained her ankle, the three old women insisted on going up the mountain to cut a lot of mugwort and calamus, saying they could earn a copper coin.