Farmhouse life after traveling back to ancient times

Qiao Er pretended to be displeased and said, "How can you not tell? Our Haisheng has a good appearance. From now on, the girls who like Haisheng will line up at the city gate."

Du Wenxiu laughed loudly and heard a commotion outside. The pretty maid following Qiao'er went out to take a look and came back to say:

"Replying to Grandma, Aunt Grandma, it was our uncle who met Uncle Lu, and the two of them started fighting outside."

Qiao Er laughed and spat, "I knew they wouldn't have anything to do when they were together. Just let them go and they'll be here by themselves in a while."

Du Wenxiu looked at the maid and found that she spoke clearly and liked her very much.

"Is this the maid that the Fan family gave you? She looks very cheerful and helpful. She must be a good one."

Qiao Er smiled and said, "She is the daughter of my mother-in-law's maid, Madam Zhao. She originally came to Dongxing County. Madam Zhao stayed at home to look after the house. When we came back, she gave her to me."

"So that's how it is. My dear, what's your name? How old are you?" Du Wenxiu felt that Qiao'er's words seemed to have some deeper meaning, but she didn't say anything and didn't delve into it, so she just asked.

"To answer your question, my name is He Ye and I am fourteen years old this year." He Ye answered obediently.

"Look at this rich family. They are different from ours. I'll have to trouble you to take Qiuyue and Qiuyun with you to teach them well later."

Du Wenxiu said with a smile, and He Ye said repeatedly that she didn't dare.

Du Wenxiu coaxed her a few more words and then asked her to go out and tell Qiuyue to call Du Wenchan back.

"It turned out that my mother-in-law had been away from home for a long time, and the lotus leaf was returned to the family. Later, when we returned, my mother-in-law got angry and returned it to us. That's how we made a scene."

Qiao'er lowered her voice and said to Du Wenxiu, who was surprised: "My daughter-in-law's private property can be turned over to the public. Your in-laws...are really shameless in doing things."

"Who said it wasn't? The more infuriating thing is yet to come. A few days after I came back, the second master of the fourth room came to look for my father-in-law. He took a long time to explain his purpose."

Qiao Er curled her lips, quite disdainfully: "He has set his eyes on He Ye. If we had returned half a month later, he would have held a banquet and moved in."

"Ah?" Du Wenxiu couldn't help but cover her mouth in surprise and said, "That's someone else's maid!"

"That's right, you are so shameless. My mother-in-law specially called He Ye over and asked her if she was willing to follow the second master. She cried and begged my mother-in-law to save her."

Speaking of this, Qiao'er was furious: "My family can't even afford the dowry for my daughter, but he still indulges his lustful heart and takes advantage of other people's girls."

"Second Aunt even sat in front of my mother-in-law and wiped her tears for a long time. My mother-in-law had no choice but to say that she had given He Ye to Cheng Yi right after she came back. Let's see if he can lose face and snatch her from his nephew."

"Ah? Did Chengyi agree?" Du Wenxiu was really overwhelmed by the explosive news that came one after another.

"I agreed at first, and later I hid from people and wiped my tears. It was my mother-in-law who brought He Ye to me and said that she didn't want to be a mistress and wanted to marry a good family and be the wife."

"We are just a couple who bear the name for her and protect her from disasters." Qiao'er said, sighing faintly, "It's hard for women in this world."

Only then did Du Wenxiu feel relieved.

If Qiao'er had just given birth to a daughter, her in-laws would have forced someone into her room, and I'm afraid she would have come to their house to have a good talk.

"In that case, you should just stay at home and live well. Even if you go back for festivals, you don't have to bring He Ye with you. By then, she will have escaped the disaster and you will have peace and quiet."

Du Wenxiu put his hand on Qiao'er's arm, leaned close to her and whispered, and Qiao'er nodded in agreement.

Du Wenxiu then took her to meet Qi Sanniang and A'luo. She had known A'luo before, but had only seen him seldom.

This was the first time Qiao'er had seen Qi Sanniang. Upon hearing that she was Du Wenxiu's biological mother, she couldn't help but take a closer look at her. She felt that the mother and daughter looked somewhat similar, but not very similar.

"Xiuniang and Chan'er both look like their father, they have good looks."

Qi Sanniang spoke softly, and Qiao'er nodded repeatedly, but didn't say much to her.

This time when she returned home, although she moved to a new house, the person in front of her still protected her as before, and Qiaoer felt at ease.

After teasing Haisheng for a while, Qiaoer couldn't help but miss her own child.

Although I don't have to worry because my mother-in-law is taking care of the child, this is the first time I've been away from her for such a long time since the child was born, and I always feel a little uncomfortable.

Haisheng wanted to sleep, so Du Wenxiu took the child back to the inner room so that Qi Sanniang could free up her hands to do other things. Qiaoer followed her in to talk.

Both of them were lying on the bed, chatting idly, and Du Wenxiu became more and more aware of the difficult situation of Fan Zhao's family in the old Fan family house.

Fan Zhaozi was the second son of the fifth branch of the Fan family. He had an older brother, Fan Ming. After passing the imperial examination, he stayed at home unemployed and had no work for many years. He lived entirely on his wife's dowry.

Although Fan Zhao was not at home, the house and servants were there, and he asked his sister-in-law to look after the house and send some gifts back during the holidays.

Although he couldn't bring out any rare treasures, it was enough to maintain the house and keep some servants.

This time when he goes back, everyone will know that he has returned home on sick leave. Given his age and qualifications, I am afraid it will be difficult for him to be reinstated in the future.

He didn't save much money while in office, and the daughter-in-law he married didn't bring much dowry like her mother-in-law, so he couldn't help but look down on her.

With people coming and going, it is inevitable that there will be some dirty talk in their conversations. Just Mrs. Fan got angry several times when she came to visit.

Later, I simply used the excuse of looking after the children at home and refused to go out no matter who invited me.

Even so, you still have to meet the people you should meet and give the gifts you should give.

When the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had nothing to do, they would take their maid to do some needlework at home to supplement the family income, and they would also save some as gifts for meeting new friends.

——Well, the Fan family’s most humble gift.

Even people as good-tempered as Qiao'er and her mother-in-law got angry several times because of the Fan family's affairs.

But when people are poor and have low aspirations, what’s the point of just getting angry?

When Fan Chengyi returned from the capital, he learned about his family's plight, but even though he wanted to help, he was powerless.

Money can't be earned easily, it's just a waste of time worrying about it.

Qiao'er advised him to focus on the task at hand and pass the news about Lu Fanghai back to Du Wenxiu first.

He then came to Dongxing County, and was persuaded by Du Wenxiu's words to go back and bring Qiao'er over.

When Du Wenchan heard the news, she came back and became affectionate with Qiao'er again. She started to kill a watermelon for her to eat.

"Chengyi brought back two watermelons, which really made our family proud in the clan."

"Although not every household received it, each elder got a small piece. Those who are knowledgeable will naturally look up to our family. I think my parents-in-law can take care of the children there and breathe a sigh of relief." Qiao'er said with a smile while eating melon.

This made Du Wenchan laugh: "Look at what you said, the old house of the Fan family seems like a den of dragons and tigers."