A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

Gu Xixi snatched up such a great deal.

Not only the women who bought men at the same time as her, but also the other women in the village were envious.

Looking at her less-than-ideal husband, a wave of bitterness welled up inside her.

Gu Laosan's eldest son, Gu Tiezhu, sipped his millet soup and said dismissively, "What's so special about this!"

"It's just killing a mad bull, why make such a big fuss about it?"

Gu Qingye said, "I'm not bragging, I saw it with my own eyes. Brother Chen only hit it once, and the ox fell down."

“Isn’t this amazing?”

Out of consideration for her pride, she did not mention being slapped by Gu Xixi when she got home.

Aside from her shame, anger, and resentment towards Gu Xixi, the image that flashed through her mind the most was actually Mu Nanzhao's face.

His heroic and handsome demeanor, his cold expression, even his disdain for her...

These were things Gu Qingye had never seen in other young men.

Gu Tiezhu scoffed, "Silly sister, that was a sick ox to begin with. He just happened to be lucky!"

"You women are all bewitched by his good looks."

“Your brother is right!” Liu echoed, glaring at her daughter. “Stop calling him Brother Chen all the time.”

"How many times have I told you, when choosing a man, he should be rich and capable!"

"What's the use of being pretty? If you dare to imitate that Gu Xixi, I'll break your legs!"

Gu Qingye felt a little unconvinced. She stirred the food in her bowl a few times with her chopsticks before muttering under her breath:

"How is it useless? Don't people all envy Sister Xixi now?"

"What did you say?!" Liu suddenly raised her voice.

"Could it be that you've fallen for that male vixen's tricks too?"

Knowing she couldn't argue with him, Gu Qingye silently ate her rice without saying a word.

Liu persisted, wanting to say a few more words.

Old Master Gu slammed his chopsticks down. "Have you said enough?!"

"Even if Chen Fang had three heads and six arms, could he be more important than our few acres of wheat right now!"

After a moment, Liu asked cautiously, "Father, have you already figured out how to deal with that brat?"

With a stern face, Gu Laosan said, "Tomorrow morning I will call both my eldest and second uncles' families together to discuss this matter."

The Gu family is considered a large household in Huachidu Village.

Grandpa Gu and Grandpa Gu are both the brothers of Grandpa Gu Xixi.

Liu immediately understood her husband's thoughts and smiled broadly, "That's right, a married daughter is like water spilled out of a bowl."

"We shouldn't let the good stuff go to outsiders. I don't believe they'd be willing to give up all that land and then change their surname to Chen!"

Huachidu Village is always peaceful in the early morning.

But this morning, not long after the smoke from the breakfast kitchen began to rise, the streets became noisy.

"Come on, come on! Gu Bapi's daughter has recruited more than a dozen men to have a farming competition!"

"Compare farming? How can you compare? That's ridiculous!"

That being said, the onlookers were all quick to get there, and if you arrived late, you wouldn't be able to get the best spot!

Gu Xixi squatted on the ridge of the field, taking big bites of cornbread.

The sorghum flour was coarse, and Aunt Zhang saw that she was choking, so she handed her a bowl of water at just the right moment.

"Eat slowly. Why are you rushing like this? You can't even wait for a hot meal."

Gu Xixi gulped down half a bowl of water in one go and breathed a sigh of relief as if she had received a refreshing rain.

"At most eight days. The time for plowing and sowing cannot be wasted even a fraction of a second. We have to hurry."

Aunt Zhang nodded silently.

She felt sorry for Xixi, who had never done any work before and was now suddenly working so hard.

But then I thought, the girl has grown up and become sensible, I should be happy, so I smiled and said:

"Once Chen Fang recovers, with his help in managing these people, you'll have an easier time."

Gu Xixi looked up in surprise. "Why would I need help from others when it's my own land?"

Others? Aunt Zhang was taken aback and couldn't help but wonder if Xixi was still clueless and didn't understand the matter of marriage between men and women.

Just as she was about to speak tentatively, Gu Xixi looked up at the position of the sun and immediately stood up.

"The time has come, Auntie, please draw lots."

Before me lay several acres of dry land, its terrain perfectly square.

Gu Xixi arrived at dawn this morning and, taking advantage of the dim light, used talcum powder to draw white grid lines in the field.

The assessment criteria for each worker were exactly one-quarter of an acre, marked with lines from one to fifteen.

None of the fifteen men were late.

They took out wooden strips from Aunt Zhang's hand one by one; the strips still had lines drawn on them for counting.

Even illiterate people can easily find the plot of land they drew.

The trial work officially began after one hour.

Gu Xixi glanced at the growing crowd of onlookers and unexpectedly spotted Gu Qingye.

"Sister Xixi!" Gu Qingye waved from afar, still as pretty and lively as ever, unsurprisingly attracting countless infatuated gazes.

Gu Xixi smiled back, but inwardly she was puzzled.

Yesterday, she first caused such a scene at Gu Laosan's house, and then slapped Gu Qingye.

Gu Qingye actually came looking for her?

It's definitely not a good thing.

Gu Xihao waited patiently for Gu Qingye to approach.

Gu Qingye seemed to have completely forgotten the previous unpleasantness, and said affectionately, "I've come to invite Sister Xixi to my home."

Gu Xixi countered, "Have Third Uncle and Third Aunt prepared the rent?"

Gu Qingye's expression stiffened slightly, then she smiled brightly again, "Maybe."

“My father forbids me from getting involved in adult matters. Sister Xixi will find out when she goes there.”

"Something's fishy," Gu Xixi thought to herself, but said calmly, "Okay, let's go now."

Anyway, she didn't need to keep an eye on things here. She had planned to go back first and check the results again in about an hour.

"Wait!" Aunt Zhang grabbed Xixi and pulled her aside, whispering.

"Something's not right. Why would Gu Laosan and that guy surnamed Liu be so willing to hand over the money?"

Gu Xixi whispered, "I know they have no good intentions."

Aunt Zhang was surprised, "Then you..."

Gu Xixi patted her reassuringly, "How will we know what kind of bad ideas they're up to if we don't go and see?"

After saying that, she called Gu Qingye and left.

Aunt Zhang stood there for a while, still feeling uneasy, then stamped her foot and ran home.

"Chen Fang! Little Chen!"

Hearing Aunt Zhang's shout, Mu Nanzhao gritted his teeth, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and slowly got up, supporting himself on the edge of the bed.

Taking action yesterday was ultimately a bit too much of a gamble.

With such a frail body, it's uncertain how long it can last. Those things that absolutely need to be done should be done quickly.

Aunt Zhang ran to the west room and was about to knock on the door when it opened.

Mu Nanzhao walked out with steady steps.

The sunlight shone on his face, revealing a pale, translucent complexion.

Aunt Zhang couldn't help but worry, "Why do you look so pale? Are you feeling unwell?"

Mu Nanzhao said, "I just didn't sleep well last night. Is there something you need?"

Aunt Zhang said anxiously, "Xixi went to her third uncle's house alone. Go with her and make sure she doesn't get hurt!"

And so, Aunt Zhang pushed and dragged Mu Nanzhao out the door.

"I'll go keep an eye on things in the fields; I'm leaving Xixi in your care." Aunt Zhang hurried off.

Mu Nanzhao stared at the locked door.

Well, since we can't go back, let's go take a look.