Ugly girl only wants to farm

"Sister-in-law, this house looks pretty good. It looks quite nice after these past few days of tidying up."

Xu Chaoyan looked at the newly renovated house and nodded: "It's pretty good. There are a few plots of wasteland next to it. Why don't we move our chicks over here?"

Meng Jiuhe, sitting in his wheelchair, smiled and said, "I wonder if your chicks are thinking about you."

Xu Chaoyan cleared the weeds from the ground with a hoe, glanced up at him, and smiled slightly: "Of course I'm thinking about them. After all, I take care of them every day. Besides, they're all money. I don't feel at ease leaving them at home without me looking after them."

After these days of recuperation, Meng Jiuhe's complexion has improved a lot, and he is no longer as dejected and listless as before. He even occasionally chats with her.

These days, Xu Chaoyan tries to say nice things to him, and she's also been very busy renovating and repairing the house, so she hasn't had much time to spend with Meng Jiuhe.

She had already decided that there was no future in staying in the village, so she might as well stay in the town. That way, the Meng siblings wouldn't be reminded of each other by the sight of familiar things, and a change of environment would prevent them from being so gloomy every day.

Although they can afford to eat now, they still live a very frugal life. She is thinking of ways to support her family, and this house is a good place for them to stay. It is not too far from the main street, only a 15-minute walk away, and there are two plots of wasteland next to it that they can make use of.

Besides, the Zhang family's tofu shop is right next door. She can continue making dried tofu and start with a small business to at least support her family.

Meng Jiuhe's leg has healed, and she plans to send him back to school; his studies still need to be picked up. However, the town has just experienced a major earthquake and will require a period of repairs. The town isn't very big to begin with, and all the houses have been damaged to varying degrees.

A few days ago, the town mayor and the village heads from each village came with people to estimate the situation and report it to their superiors. Those whose families were slightly better off had already started repairing their houses.

Knowing that the brother and sister were easily embarrassed, Xu Chaoyan took out the little money she had and asked Zhang Xuyang to find someone to buy some tiles and daily necessities, so that they could stay in the house temporarily.

She repeatedly asked for rent, but Zhang Xuyang refused, saying that it was just as if they were helping to look after the house, and he was grateful that it brought a sense of warmth and life to the house.

Now that her father-in-law and the others have disappeared and she has lost her bamboo weaving job, she has no source of income. As the copper coins in her purse dwindle, Xu Chaoyan sighs with worry.

Meng Jiu takes medicine every two or three days, and the medicine cannot be stopped. Now that the medicine in the town's clinic is also starting to run out, she is thinking of getting a few more doses and leaving them there to help him get better first. Money is just an external thing; health is the most important thing.

When Meng Jiuhe's health improved, they went back to the village. The villagers weren't as enthusiastic as the people in the town. Everyone was still crammed into their dilapidated houses. Some had collapsed walls, and others had huge holes in their roofs. They were all waiting for the imperial court's disaster relief funds to come down.

Xu Chaoyan thought to herself that it has always been the same. The amount of money that ordinary people can get is only a few coins. It is impossible to rebuild a house with just a few coins. They have to rely on their own efforts.

She tidied up the fallen thatch and tiles in the yard, and left the collapsed wall there for the time being. She found some sturdy sticks to prop it up so it wouldn't collapse any further. The cart driver would come over and feed the chickens and rabbits.

After settling Meng Jiuhe in, Xu Chaoyan took a basket and planned to go to the vegetable garden outside to take a look and pick some grass, since there wouldn't be as much grass there when they went to town.

The second aunt of the Meng family was just sneaking around looking for something when she saw her and looked surprised: "Who is this? It's Jiuhe's wife. What have you been doing staying in the house all this time? Is Jiuhe dying? I saw him the other day and he was barely hanging on."

After saying that, she quickly slapped her own mouth twice, looking hypocritical: "Nine and wife, don't blame your second aunt for being nosy. This mouth of mine just never learns its lesson. Why should such a beautiful girl like you stay with a useless person? How about your second aunt introduces you to a husband's family from my family."

Before she could finish speaking, Xu Chaoyan interrupted her, her eyes clearly showing displeasure: "My husband is staying safely in the house, so there's no need for you to worry about him, Auntie. Everyone should just mind their own business and take care of their own affairs."

After saying that, she picked up the basket and left. After turning the corner, she stole another glance at Liu Shi, wondering what she was up to.

That Liu woman is really something, what's she doing staring at her house all day? She just got back and counted all the chickens again.

This Liu woman has some shady dealings; don't sneak into their yard while they're away these few days. It would be a losing proposition if you ended up touching a few things.

The uncle who drove the cart would only go to their house to feed the chickens and rabbits after it got dark, so the courtyard gate was always closed and no one knew they weren't inside. A kind aunt even helped them cover for each other.

Xu Chaoyan looked at the seeds she had sown in the vegetable garden. The tender green seedlings had already sprouted. It seemed like there had been a rain in the past few days, and the seedlings had grown wildly.

She looked at the vegetables with some reluctance; she had dug them up herself, one hoe at a time. Now that she was going to town, she was afraid that Liu, who loved to take advantage of small things, would take advantage of the darkness and pluck them all off.

There are some basic necessities in the house in town; she only needs to bring some bedding and clothes.

The town is busy building houses right now, and she plans to find a job to see if she can earn some money. She always feels very anxious and insecure when she doesn't have any money.

When Xu Chaoyan returned with a full basket of grass on her back, she saw Meng Jiuhe sitting there in a daze, staring blankly at the opposite mountain.

She knew that this was another instance of her seeing something that reminded her of someone. It had been a while since this person had calmed down, but after only a few days back, he was already looking worried again, and he couldn't hide it no matter what.

She put down her basket, walked up to him, and gently called out, "Husband, see if there are any books in the study that you would like to take with you. I'll help you pack them in a bit. Let's stay in town for the time being until you've recovered. I'm also planning to find a job in town to support our family."

Meng Jiuhe suddenly reached out and wiped the dirt off her forehead. Xu Chaoyan, who was already half-squatting, almost fell to the ground.

She looked at him with surprise, trying to read something from his eyes.

Meng Jiuhe reached out and looked at her, speaking gently, "Get up quickly, look at all the dirt on your face, let me wipe it off for you." After saying that, he lifted his sleeve and gently wiped her clean.

This was the first time she had met Meng Jiuhe who was so easy to talk to, and she was a little unsure of what to do. In the end, she hesitantly reached out her hand.

Meng Jiuhe's fingers were long and slender with distinct knuckles, and his hands were very beautiful. At this moment, his hands were slightly cool.

Xu Chao knew he was upset, so she deliberately changed the subject: "Husband, I'm so happy that you're concerned about me."

Meng Jiu's ears turned red, and she didn't say anything, just letting her stare at her.

Meng Jiuxia came out of the house carrying a bundle: "Brother, I've almost finished packing my sister-in-law's things. It's getting late, so let's head to town soon. We can also help Auntie grind the beans."

She knew that her older brother had been worrying about their parents these past few days. When they returned to the village, her sister-in-law specifically told her not to show it in front of her older brother.

In truth, Meng Jiuhe was also feeling bad, but she hid it from them. Xu Chaoyan woke up several nights and heard that faint sigh and the sound of her tossing and turning, but she just pretended not to know.

Meng Jiuhe's health has improved somewhat these days, but he is still a little weak in the legs due to lack of nutrition. Xu Chaoyan is pushing him. When they passed through the village, the villagers saw them carrying large and small bags and became curious, so they started to inquire about them intentionally or unintentionally.

"Xia girl, where are you planning to go? Have you found a good place to stay at your house? Are you alright?"

Xu Chaoyan replied with a smile on behalf of her sister-in-law: "Thank you for your concern, Aunt. My yard is fine, just some tiles fell off and two walls collapsed. How is your house? Is anyone hurt? We're going to visit my uncle's house to lend a hand. We received news a few days ago that part of my uncle's house collapsed. We'll go see what we can do."

The woman looked unconvinced but blurted out, "Didn't those two mountains collide? Your uncle is really lucky to have lived so long." Her words were sarcastic.

Xu Chaoyan secretly rolled her eyes. These gossipy women in the village couldn't stand seeing others do well, but they were happy when others suffered.