Ugly girl only wants to farm

After wiping the sweat from her forehead, Xu Chaoyan looked up at the birds not far away and was also puzzled: "Why are these birds running around like this at this time of year? They're probably out looking for food. We humans don't have much to eat, so these birds probably aren't much better off. Look how thin they are."

Meng Jiuxia walked over with a hoe in her hand: "These birds are so annoying, they poop everywhere. Look, I've stepped on them several times and they're still everywhere. Tell my brother to be careful later."

As soon as Meng Jiuxia finished speaking, he suddenly noticed that a small clump of droppings had been left on Xu Chaoyan's shoulder by a bird on its head.

She chuckled, "I was just telling you to be careful, and look how quickly it's hit you. Luckily it didn't hit your head. The weather wasn't very good today, and my hair didn't dry very easily after washing it."

Xu Chaoyan frowned, her expression displeased. What kind of trouble had she gotten herself into? Even the birds were against her; the smell of their droppings was making her grimace.

Seeing Meng Jiuxia still gloating, she pretended to move closer, her tone laced with threat: "Little sister-in-law, you have two choices now. Either come over and help me clean up, or I'll take advantage of you and we'll share the good times and the bad."

Finally, Meng Jiuxia picked up a bamboo stick, pinched his nose, and disgustedly cleaned the bird droppings off for her.

Meng Jiuhe watched the two quietly from the side, a faint smile on his face.

Li San Niang had just returned from outside with a load of wild grass when she heard the two talking about this, and her brows furrowed into a deep line.

As she scattered the grass, she muttered to herself, "The weather this year is really strange. It's almost summer, but it's not hot at all. Yan'er, why don't you go change your clothes? I have to take you to do something, otherwise this bird poop on you will be unlucky for a while."

Xu Chaoyan took the damp cloth, wiped it vigorously, and then smelled it closely. Fortunately, the smell wasn't too strong.

“Mother, is there anything I need to go with you? Why don’t we go now? We don’t need to change these clothes; they’re what I wear when I’m working at home anyway.”

Li San Niang went to the kitchen and took out a cloth bag, shaking it vigorously a few times: "That bird just pooped on you. Now I'm going to take you to seven households and ask each household for a small handful of rice to cook into porridge for you. That way, you can drive away bad luck."

Xu Chaoyan looked puzzled: "Mother, why would anyone say that? It's just a bird dropping, it's not that serious. I think we should just let it go. Everyone is struggling to make ends meet, and getting seven handfuls of rice might be a bit difficult. Besides, the villagers can't stand to see us doing well, and if we get into this mess, we'll just be ridiculed behind our backs."

Li Sanniang shook some more dust off the cloth bag: "This won't do. This is related to your luck. This matter must be done. Even if I have to kneel and kowtow to everyone, I have to get this rice back. It doesn't matter if it's coarse rice, millet, broken rice, or any kind of grain. All of these can be made into porridge. It will be more sincere if I take you with me."

After saying that, he instructed Meng Jiuxia to guard the house well and clean up all the bird droppings in the yard.

"Mother, let me go with you," Meng Jiu's gentle voice came from the other side.

Both of them turned around at the same time, looking quite surprised: "You're coming with us?"

Meng Jiuhe nodded: "Yes."

Li San Niang realized what was happening and said, "That won't do. You should stay at home. You know how much gossip there is in the village. When you were unconscious, people said you were so badly injured that you barely had a breath left. When you woke up and couldn't walk, people said you were paralyzed in bed and only your eyes could move. I'm afraid the rumors in the village will hurt you."

With her younger sister's help, Meng Jiu walked shakily toward them and said, "Mother, I can't stay in this little courtyard of our house forever. Let them talk if they want. Besides, you're tired from your trip up the mountain. Why don't you let him and my sister push me there? I used to write so many Spring Festival couplets for them and they would ask for a handful of grains. I don't believe they would be stingy with that."

Xu Chaoyan also offered a few words of advice: "Why don't you just forget about it? My mother and I can handle this."

Finally, at Meng Jiuhe's insistence, the two pushed him out of the Meng family's courtyard.

Meng Jiuhe rarely appears in the village except when he goes to town.

Xu Chaoyan winked frantically at her sister-in-law, signaling her to keep a close eye on her older brother and to quicken her pace if she encountered any gossiping women.

Meng Jiuxia nodded, indicating her understanding.

The two pushed him forward. Fortunately, the first house was his second uncle's house. Today, his whole family was not at home, their gates were closed. Otherwise, given Liu's personality, who knows how many sarcastic remarks she would have made.

The two pushed the wheelchair for about fifteen minutes, and then a low house appeared in front of them. The low wall could not hide what was inside the house. A woman was sitting there holding a needle and thread, and it was unclear what she was doing.

Xu Chaoyan walked to the door and gently knocked on the courtyard gate: "Aunt Li, it's me, Xia Yatou. May I come in?"

After explaining the reason to Aunt Li, she insisted on grabbing a few more handfuls, saying that this year's harvest was alright, and that they shouldn't bother going to other people's places.

Meng Jiuxia shook her head and refused: "Auntie, this won't work. It's not enough for just you to grab a few handfuls. My mother said it has to be different families."

Aunt Li then patted her head and said, "I was confused. You should go quickly. It's rare for Jiuhe to come out for a stroll. Try to visit the village more often when you have time. My youngest son said the other day that he has memorized all the characters you taught him. He hasn't seen you in a long time."

Meng Jiuhe nodded: "Thank you for your concern, Auntie. Just tell Tiezhu to come to my house whenever he has time."

The three of them had a smooth journey and got rice from six different households, with only the last one left to collect from.

Looking at the last house not far away, Meng Jiuxia was a little worried. Hesitantly, she asked, "Mother, did she say it has to be a house next to each other? Can any house do?"

Xu Chaoyan shook her head: "I don't know either. My mother didn't tell me either. She just said seven handfuls of rice. Why don't we just ask any family for some? We're almost there. I'll go knock on their door and ask them to just take some from the corner of their cupboard."

Meng Jiuxia quickly stopped her: "This isn't about being stingy or not. You've forgotten this is the He family from before."

Xu Chaoyan was momentarily stunned: "Which He family? I don't remember them."

Meng Jiuxia sighed: "It's that woman who came to our house and made a scene before, saying that I should marry into her son's family. She has a very fierce personality."

Xu Chaoyan quickly stopped walking, pushed the wheelchair around, and prepared to go back: "Then let's not go. This woman is too gossipy. We can just find a place to get us a few grains of rice."

Before the three of them could return, the He family pushed open the courtyard gate, looked over from afar, and glanced in their direction a few times.

“I was saying that crows were circling overhead today, cawing incessantly, so something dirty must have been passing by. These filthy things are disgusting to look at. I should go back and get some salt to sprinkle on the road so that it doesn’t get contaminated by unclean things.”

Meng Jiuxia's face turned pale, and she gripped the wheelchair handles tightly.

Seeing her like that, Xu Chaoyan patted her on the shoulder: "Relax and don't be nervous."

She then deliberately took a few steps forward and sniffed around: "I knew it, sister-in-law, we didn't check the almanac before we went out today. Where did this stinky stuff come from? It's so smelly, I'm about to rub my nose raw. Quickly grab a handkerchief and stuff your nose."

"This stinky thing stinks even more than the shit in the latrine. It's really bad luck. If things don't go well when I go out, I'll have to cut out a little effigy and put it under my feet, and beat it hard several times."

After saying that, he slapped himself hard a few times.

"Let's go, my husband, we're going home now. I won't take you for a stroll in the village today. I'll take you out for a walk tomorrow, so as not to pick up any bad luck."

The woman, her face flushed with anger, retorted, "Who are you insulting?"

Xu Chaoyan: "Whoever responds is the one who gets to speak."