Beautiful Peasant Girl: The Young Marquis's Beloved

It was already the end of the Si hour (about 10:30 in the morning), and the sun was shining freely on the earth, bringing a little scorching heat. A breeze blew gently, and the green grass swayed gently in the wind, making a slight rustling sound.

Liu Xu walked back with difficulty, carrying a basket full of grass. Sweat dripped down her forehead and soaked her clothes. Her frail figure looked so small in the vast field. Finally she got home, and Liu Xu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

As soon as I stepped into the yard, I saw my cousin Liu Juan sitting leisurely in the shade eating melon seeds.

The old jujube tree in the yard cast a mottled shadow under the scorching sun, and Liu Juan sat in the shadow. When she saw Liu Xu, a malicious smile immediately appeared on her face. She rolled her eyes, then pointed to a pile of clothes in the corner and said arrogantly: "Liu Xu, go wash these clothes."

Liu Xu frowned when she heard this, and she was irritated by the heat. She was furious: What? I have been busy all morning and I haven't even had a drink of water. I still have to wash clothes. Damn it. If a tiger doesn't show its might, you think I am a cat. And this dress is obviously Liu Juan's. Haha, we are all granddaughters of the Liu family. Who is higher than whom? Do you really think you are the eldest lady?

Thinking of this, Liu Xu rolled her eyes and walked past her to the utility room. She usually put the cut grass there, and she also had to hide the chicken mushrooms in it, so she had no time to pay attention to her.

This really pissed off the spoiled Liu Juan. She stood up and shrilly asked, "Are you deaf or dumb? Can't you hear me?"

Liu Xu rolled her eyes again. In her opinion, Liu Juan was just idle. She had been busy all morning and was tired, hungry, and thirsty. Instead of nagging her, she might as well let herself rest more. This little girl was very weak. She was out of breath just walking back from the foot of the mountain. And her mother was pregnant. She had to find a way to nourish them.

Seeing that she still ignored her, Liu Juan couldn't stand it anymore. She walked towards Liu Xu angrily, raising her hand to slap Liu Xu. In her eyes, Liu Xu and her daughter were just servants of their family. This servant was driven by the master's temper, and she was not getting beaten enough.

The imagined slapping sound did not come, and when she raised her hand, Liu Xu dodged. There was no way, she also wanted to greet him handsomely and let him know why the flowers were so red. But the conditions did not allow it. With her small body, not to mention that she was hungry and full now, even if her father was at home, her three-inch height could not beat Liu Juan, a half-grown man.

But her dodging didn't mean she wouldn't resist. Liu Xu touched a stick in the utility room, straightened her back, glared at Liu Juan, and retorted loudly: "I just came back from mowing the lawn, I'm exhausted, can't you see? And why should I wash your own clothes?"

Seeing that Liu Xu, who usually obeyed her, dared to resist him, Liu Juan became even angrier. She put her hands on her hips, glared at Liu Xu fiercely, and screamed: "How dare you disobey me? You damn girl, do you want to rebel?"

As she said that, she quickly rushed to Liu Xu and tried to hit her again. Liu Xu raised her hand and hit her hand with a stick.

"Ahh...you little bitch, you dare to hit me, I'm going to fight you!"

As he said that, he rushed towards Liu Xu. Liu Xu was not stupid, he just ran away, humph, if I can't beat him, can I still run away?

As she ran, she retorted: "Who are you talking about, little bitch?"

"Little bitch, I'm talking to you!"

"Hahahaha, lululu"

"Well, you little bitch, how dare you plot against me!"

Liu Juan was almost mad with anger and tried to rush forward and grab Liu Xu's hair.

Liu Xu took advantage of her small stature to dodge to the side and went behind Liu Juan, still yelling:

"Liu Juan, don't go too far! I'm not your maid!"

"Stop right there, little bitch!"

Their quarrel attracted Zhang and Chen Shuman. Seeing Chen Juan chasing Liu Xu all over the yard without caring about her image, Zhang shouted sharply: "What are you doing? Stop it!"

"Juan'er, what's going on? Didn't your mother tell you that you are a lady and shouldn't fool around with some country girls? Look at what you look like now!" Chen glared at Liu Xu fiercely, and then pretended to scold her daughter.

When Liu Juan saw her grandmother and her mother coming, she immediately looked very proud. Humph, she must catch this little bitch today and teach her a lesson. So she ran while shouting, "Grandma, mother, help me catch this little bitch, I must teach her a lesson today!"

"Shut up! Stand still. Who can tell me what's going on with all the noise?"

Seeing Zhang's gloomy face, Liu Juan couldn't help but shudder in her heart and quickly stopped as she was told.

She stopped, and Liu Xu naturally stopped running. He supported himself with the stick in his hand, breathing heavily. He thought to himself that he should strengthen his body, otherwise with his small body, he would have trouble escaping, not to mention resisting.

Chen walked to her daughter, with her back to Zhang, blocking Liu Juan's view. Then she patted Liu Juan's back and said meaningfully, "Juan'er, tell your grandma what happened. Mother knows that you are not a child who gets angry easily."

Liu Juan naturally understood what her mother meant, so her eyes turned, and she took light steps. She looked up at Old Lady Zhang with tears in her eyes: "Grandma, it's all my granddaughter's fault. I thought my brother would be resting soon, and he would need money to buy pens and ink. The family spent so much money yesterday, so I wanted to embroider more handkerchiefs overnight to supplement the family. Who would have thought that I was too anxious and hurt my fingers..." Liu Juan pretended to press the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, and did not forget to put eye drops on Old Lady Zhang.

"My hand hurt a lot today. Seeing that Sister Xu'er was fine, and thinking that we were all family, I asked her to help wash the clothes I changed yesterday. I didn't expect that she... not only didn't help, but also scolded me, saying that I only knew how to eat for free... I reached out to pull her and wanted to explain, but she hit me with a stick. It really hurt a lot, so I chased her because I was so angry! Grandma, look, it's all red and swollen, how can I embroider a handkerchief?"

As he said this, he showed his hand to Zhang pitifully, and when Zhang wasn't paying attention, he glanced at the catkins with pride.

Liu Xu was stunned by her actions and was stunned for a moment. She didn't react until Zhang rushed to her. Then, with a "slap", Zhang slapped her hard on the face, and Liu Xu's face became visibly red and swollen.

"You little bitch, you are so lawless! We are all family, what's wrong with Juan'er asking you to help wash clothes? You didn't help and you dared to hit her, are you trying to rebel?" Zhang glared at Liu Xu fiercely, her eyes looked like she wanted to eat her. It must be said that the brain circuits of the grandfather and grandson are quite consistent, and their methods of beating and scolding are exactly the same!

Chen naturally knew her daughter's character, but when she saw the stick in Liu Xu's hand, she couldn't help but frowned, and then said meaningfully:

"Xu'er, it's not that Auntie is saying anything bad about you. Juan'er is your sister, and she asked you for help because her hand was injured. It would be fine if you didn't help, but why did you hit her? Is this what your mother taught you?"

Seeing this mother and daughter who were confusing right and wrong, Liu Xu was so angry that her teeth ached. She looked up at Chen and asked sternly, "Aunt, according to you, I should stand and let Liu Juan hit me. I can't hide or resist, right?"

"I worked so hard to mow the grass and came back. I hadn't even had a sip of water yet, but Liu Juan ordered me to wash her clothes. I said I was too tired, and Liu Juan raised her hand to hit me. What? Am I her slave? We are all granddaughters of the Liu family. I worked so hard for the whole morning and didn't even have water to drink. How could she have time to sit there and eat sunflower seeds? Can't she wash her own clothes?"

Seeing her defiant look, Chen Shuman's expression became even uglier, and she turned to look at Zhang.

"Mom, listen to what this girl said... Is she blaming you for being partial and for making her do the work?"

When Mrs. Zhang heard this, she was so angry that her eyes were about to burst into flames. She pointed at Liu Xu's nose and cursed:

"You are such an ungrateful person! Juan'er is going to marry into a wealthy family in the future. How can you compare with her? Don't mention that her hand is injured. Even if it wasn't injured, it would be a blessing for you to wash her clothes!"

"Hurry up and wash it. If you don't finish it, don't even think about eating today! I don't want to support idle people!"

The sun was shining brightly, without a single cloud in the sky. The vines on the courtyard wall were left listless by the direct sunlight, and their leaves were slightly curled up, as if they were also enduring the unbearable heat and depressing atmosphere.

Liu Xu looked at the three people angrily, tears flashing in her eyes. Looking at the fierce expression of Mrs. Zhang, she knew that it was useless to argue. If she continued to insist, she might be beaten again.

She bit her lower lip tightly, her whole body clamoring for unconvinced. But the situation was pressing, and she, a little girl, was obviously no match for three adults. She could only take a deep breath, suppress her anger, turn around, pick up the pile of clothes, and walk out the door. One day, she would return everything they had given her.

There is a river to the west of Liujia Village, where people usually wash clothes, vegetables and water the plants. Liu Xu came to the river with clothes in her arms, threw them into the water to soak them, and then smeared them with soap and beat them to vent her anger. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

The weeping willows by the river swayed gently in the breeze, as if comforting the wounded heart of the catkins.

At the same time, Xu Ruolan was pulling weeds in the field with great difficulty, with a big belly. Sweat was streaming down her temples, and she raised her hand to wipe it with her sleeve. Seeing that she had finally finished pulling the weeds, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and pounded her aching lower back.

The Liu family had a lot of land, but since Liu Donglai left, apart from Xu Ruolan, only Liu Dashan could do the farm work. They could hire someone to do the farming and harvesting, but they had to rely on themselves to pull weeds.

Near noon, the villagers greeted each other and started to go back one after another. Because it was the height of summer, after finishing work, everyone had to wait until the evening when the sun was about to set before they could come out to work again. Otherwise, they would get heat stroke.

Liu Dashan looked up at the sun, then called Xu Ruolan and went home together.

He knew that he was a little partial to the eldest son. After all, both the eldest son and the eldest grandson were scholars. The younger son's family could only dig for food in the fields and rely on the eldest son's family for help. But he didn't think he was too harsh on the younger son's family. Although his wife Zhang sometimes treated Xu Ruolan and her daughter harshly, he didn't interfere too much in the affairs of the women and children in the family.

Wild flowers in the fields are blooming tenaciously under the scorching sun, and the wind brings a faint fragrance.