The general kneels on the washboard again

The days passed in an orderly manner, and the spring became more and more intense.

The weeds on the original two acres of thin land were as tall as adults, so Yue Niang had to give up.

Looking at the busy villagers, Yue Niang couldn't help but panic.

After comparing several pieces of wasteland, I finally decided to reclaim the land behind the house and grow some vegetables.

I have my own little arms and legs, but I am capable enough. I still need Erya's help with this.

He was planning to wait until Erya's house was empty, but unexpectedly, one day Yue Niang was seen by Li An while picking up stones and weeding on that land.

"Sister Yue'er, what are you doing?"

Yue Niang lifted her muddy face from the ground and said in a harmless tone, "I'm clearing the land, Brother Li An."

This harmless person sounded like a joke to Li An: "Are you alone?"

Yue Niang heard the joking in his words and said, "Of course I won't be alone. Sister Erya will come to help me in two days."

Yue Niang's mention of Erya obviously increased her credibility.

Li An unconsciously came over and said, "Then let me help you."

The sun lazily set behind the mountain, and Erya came over with a lantern: "Yue'er, why are you still here?" She happened to run into Li An.

When Li An saw Erya coming, he became anxious and asked hurriedly: "Why are you hiding from me?"

Erya evaded the question, "Mr. Li really shouldn't get too involved with me, lest Zhang Lan'er be unhappy."

After saying that, he turned around and left.

Li An was relentless, "Erya, you understand my feelings best. I will definitely make things clear with his family."

Erya was also anxious: "Explain clearly? How can I explain clearly? You are a scholar, how can they be willing to let you go? They gave away your chickens and ducks, and even the only piglet in the family."

After saying that, he ran away without looking back.

Li An was also distraught and walked into the night alone. Yue Niang obviously understood the situation.

I thought I would ask more about it someday. As far as I can remember, Li An was always alone from the time he became the top scholar to the time he was exiled.

In the next few days, Li An came to help Yue Niang every day. In less than half a month, an acre of land was opened up behind the house.

They started planting crops in a hurry.

After clearing the weeds and debris, the yard looked much bigger. I also cleared a separate area and planted some onions, ginger and garlic.

Yue Niang also found out that Li An's fiancée was Zhang Lan'er, the daughter of Aunt Zhang who falsely accused Yue Niang of stealing a chicken.

Zhang Lan'er prides herself on her beauty and looks down on everyone in the village.

Li An's family was relatively wealthy in his early years, and he was a child prodigy. He passed the imperial examination and became a scholar at an early age, which gave him the opportunity to marry her.

But now Li An's family is extremely poor. If they marry a slippery girl, they will probably have to pay money out of their pockets. Now they are worried.

Yue Niang wanted to talk to Erya, but after she returned that night, Erya fell ill.

Yue Niang brought a few eggs to see her.

Looking at Erya, who looked haggard on the bed, Yue Niang couldn't help teasing her.

"Sister, you and I were fishing in the freezing river a few days ago and didn't catch a cold. How come you caught a cold when the weather got warmer?"

Erya looked at Yue Niang wearily: "Yue'er, you are still young and don't understand."

Yue Niang did not shy away from asking, "Sister, what happened to you?"

Erya buried her face in her knees. "A few days ago, Aunt Zhang came to see my mother and said a lot of unpleasant things. She said I was hooking up with her future son-in-law. My mother was so angry that she felt dizzy."

Yue Niang looked at Aunt Zhao who was washing dishes in the outer room and could only comfort Er Ya: "But it's useless for you to lie in bed crying every day. You are so gentle and beautiful, why would you be afraid of not finding a good husband?"

"Forget it, I'm really confused right now."

Yue Niang casually picked up the mirror on the table and said, "Sister, look."

The person in the mirror looked unkempt, with red and swollen eyes and a few strands of hair falling on his forehead.

"Ah——" Erya couldn't accept herself like this, so she got out of bed immediately and started washing and dressing.

Aunt Zhao looked at her daughter in disbelief, but her concern turned into: "What are you doing crazy again?"

Erya tried her best to force a smile: "Mom, my daughter is fine."

Then he took Yue Niang's hand and went out.

Accompanying Yue Niang up the hill, as we walked, Yue Niang said something surprising: "Sister, how much does it cost to buy this hilltop?"

Erya's mind was filled with black lines: "Uh, this, for a whole mountain, it would be about four or five taels." Is this girl planning to buy a mountain?

After struggling for a while, he finally spoke out his true feelings: "Yue'er, don't be impulsive. Why buy a mountain? If you have this spare money, you might as well buy two acres of land."

"Don't worry, sister. I don't have any money at the moment." He laughed dryly twice.

Suddenly, a tall tree in front of her caught Yue Niang's attention.

I saw that the tree was about 1.7 meters tall, with oval leaves. It turned out to be a large tea tree.

Yue Niang was like she had found a treasure, so she picked a lot of leaves and put them in the small bag she carried with her.

Erya looked puzzled and asked, "Sister, why are you picking these leaves?"

Yue Niang was also a little confused: "Sister, don't you know what this is?"

"I just think it looks familiar, what is it?"

"Sister, this is tea."

“Is this tea?”

As Yue Niang walked along, she saw about thirty or forty similar tea trees.

The people of Nanshan Village do not have the habit of drinking tea, mainly because the price of tea is too expensive and they do not understand the tea-making process.

This further strengthened Yue Niang's determination to buy the hill and not let it go to waste.

Spices and tea, these are big businesses.

Yue Niang introduced everything on the mountain to Erya one by one, and left a word of caution at the end.

"Sister, before I buy this hill, only you and I know about this."

Arya nodded solemnly, and the two of them swam slowly back home.

In the evening, every household is filled with the scent of fireworks.

Under the big locust tree at the foot of the mountain, several women were sitting and chatting, led by that annoying Aunt Zhang.

From a distance, I could hear her boasting, "My daughter Lan'er is going to marry a scholar, and she'll even fight for an imperial decree from me in the future. How can any of you village girls compare to her?"

One of the women, a woman with a large mole on the corner of her mouth, retorted, "Aunt Zhang, Li An was raising money in the village to bury his father a while ago. How come no one from your family helped? Or was it that little girl from the Fu family who gave the lion's share? This is something you, the future in-law, should do."

The woman holding her arm also chimed in, "Yes, and besides, Li An is only your son-in-law. I'm afraid he can't fight for something like an imperial decree on your behalf."

Aunt Zhang was furious: "You are a bunch of ignorant village women. You are just jealous that I found such a good son-in-law."

The woman with a large mole at the corner of her mouth spat, "Bah, jealous of you? If you have time, take good care of your Zhang Lan'er's shoe soles. Okay, I'm going home to cook."

After the woman left, the others also dispersed.

Zhang Lan'er's mother had no place to vent her anger, so she kicked the old locust tree hard, but the tree was too hard and her foot was lame.

Yue Niang and the other person walked out from behind the tree, and the gloom that had just dissipated from Erya's brows returned.

Yue Niang caught the clue in the woman's words and asked Er Ya hurriedly, "Sister, what are the soles of shoes that auntie was talking about?"

Erya glanced at Yue Niang. Now she also needed a tree hole to talk.

He poured out everything he had seen and felt. "If Zhang Lan'er had been decent, I wouldn't be so angry. But Zhang Lan'er is not a good person. She even did something deviant. But Li An was forced to keep his promise, and the Zhang family was shameless. They emptied Li An's property and still refused to let go. How can I accept losing to such a person?"

Yue Niang understood the whole situation and said, "Sister, why don't we help Brother Li An? If we can expose her in front of everyone and then ask the elders of both clans to come forward and annul this marriage, wouldn't that preserve our trust?"

Erya looked at Yue Niang like a ghost.

"Yue'er, sometimes I feel that you are definitely older than nine years old. I should call you sister."

"Sister, please stop teasing me. If you think this is feasible, let's discuss it with Brother Li An."