Ugly girl only wants to farm

After her mother left, she felt a little bored.

Life in this village is nothing like in the town. By the time everyone eats, it's already pitch black, and candles and oil lamps are very precious to them.

The Meng family always saved these for their two children who were studying, and they were reluctant to use them on ordinary days.

Xu Chaoyan saw the large basket full of green grass at the window, which weighed down Meng Jiuxia so much that she could hardly straighten her back. She still felt sorry for the girl, even though she was a bit sharp-tongued.

It's a little hard to bear to see her sharing household chores with her mother at such a young age; in modern society, she's just a little kid who's only in middle school.

Meng Jiuxia raised her sleeve and wiped the sweat from her forehead, just in time to see Xu Chaoyan under the window.

She had been staring at the woman, and was caught red-handed. But instead of acting like she'd been caught, she greeted her gracefully, "Hi, sister-in-law."

Meng Jiuxia put down the sickle beside her and glared at her fiercely: "Morning Flower, are you trying to make a fool of me? You'll come with me tomorrow, but don't get too cocky."

Xu Chaoyan muttered to herself, "What did I do to deserve this? I was just greeting her in a friendly way, and I was even going to ask her if she wanted some pastries. My good intentions have backfired."

By the time they ate, the moon was high in the sky, and the whole family sat around the large square table, eating by the moonlight.

Perhaps because she had eaten a lot of meat in the past few days, Grandmother Meng was becoming increasingly impatient with the bland food.

She poked around in the bowl with her chopsticks, looking disgusted: "Third Sister, everyone's been working hard all day. Can't we eat something to fill our stomachs at night? This bland soup is making my stomach rumble."

Xu Chaoyan muttered to herself, "If you want to eat, just say so. Don't drag everyone into this. Besides Meng Jiuxia who went out to cut a basket of grass, who else in the family is still working?"

Li San Niang replied somewhat awkwardly, "Mother, we don't have much surplus food at home these days."

Grandmother Meng was displeased upon hearing this and slammed her chopsticks down.

“You can’t just give him this watery soup. You see, Jiudong is growing up right now. And his father, as the saying goes, it takes a hundred days to recover from a bone injury. You need to get him some bones, leg meat or something to help him recover.”

Seeing her mother-in-law being scolded, Xu Chaoyan couldn't bear to watch any longer. What kind of situation was the Meng family? Anyone with eyes could see that Meng Jiuhe's tuition at school was all saved up by everyone through frugality.

Her father-in-law injured his leg again, and this old hag Meng still wanted to seek medical treatment, clearly hoping that she would spend some money to supplement the family income. Her beady eyes were practically staring holes in her.

She pretended not to see and picked up the bowl to take a sip.

Seeing that Xu Chaoyan remained silent, Grandmother Meng slammed the bowl down again: "Jiuhe, my dear wife, did you hear that? Your younger brother needs to grow, and your father-in-law needs to take care of his health. Can't you contribute some money to help with household expenses? You're one of us now that you've married into our family. Why are you making such a fuss about 'yours' and 'mine'? If Jiuhe becomes successful in the future, your good fortune will be even greater."

Xu Chaoyan was still thinking to herself that this old hag would probably ask her for money more tactfully, but she just asked so bluntly, leaving her speechless. Damn it, what's going on?

Li San Niang quickly interjected, "Mother, what are you saying? This daughter-in-law's dowry is naturally her own. No matter how difficult things are for our family, we can't take anything from her dowry."

"Third Sister, what are you doing outside? Has something happened?"

At that moment, a weak voice came from the inner room.

"Jiudong, go check on your father, does he need some water?"

Xu Chaoyan then remembered that her father-in-law had not shown up for several days since she married into the family.

Seeing Xu Chaoyan holding the bowl and eating with relish without responding to her words, Grandmother Meng felt as if she had punched cotton. Now that she had just married into the family, she had to keep this person under control, otherwise it would be much harder to control her in the future.

Back when Li San Niang first married into the family, she also held onto her meager dowry tightly. Fortunately, she was obedient and never disobeyed her husband, so she has lived peacefully for the past ten years or so.

Who knew that this woman with a face full of pustules would be so ungrateful after marrying into her family, eating more than anyone else? She even brought a servant with her after marrying in, as if she thought she was a rich young lady from a wealthy family. If she hadn't seen that she hadn't brought the servant back today, she would have thrown another tantrum.

"My son, my son, are your legs hurting, or are you starving? It's all because of your wife's stinginess with your food. Look at you, you're as thin as a little dog. It breaks my heart to see you like this."

Her acting skills are comparable to those of today's popular young actresses, and far superior. With a little more effort, she could even be a contender for an Oscar.

Xu Chaoyan remained silent, as if that old monster Meng was treating her like an easy target.

She casually remarked, "Mother, did a thief break into our house? I've lost several pieces of clothing."

Meng Jiuxia was displeased upon hearing this: "What do you mean by 'trumpet flower'? Are you implying that we coveted your things, or that we stole them? Just name names directly, why beat around the bush?"

"Xia'er, don't be unreasonable. Let your sister-in-law finish speaking." After being scolded, Li San Niang didn't say anything more. She was also a little unhappy. It was one thing to scold her on ordinary days, but today she didn't give her any face in front of her daughter-in-law. She was a mother-in-law now.

As always, her mother-in-law still gave her some face.

Xu Chaoyan continued, "Alas, it doesn't really matter if I steal a few pieces of clothing, but it's not good to steal some of them."

Meng Jiuxia rolled her eyes: "If your clothes aren't good enough, then what are we wearing?"

Xu Chaoyan lowered her head: "It's just that my intentions are not good."

Meng Jiuxia: "Don't beat around the bush."

"That was because my dad used to think I was about to... you know, so he specially made a few outfits for me. I guess Xu's mother just mistakenly put one back on."

Grandmother Meng had almost stepped into her son's room when she heard Xu Chaoyan's words and took a step back, perking up her ears to listen.

Meng Jiuxia was a little unhappy when she said something halfway through: "Morning Flower, can't you just be straightforward? Can't you just pour everything out like beans?"

Xu Chaoyan looked embarrassed: "What's so glorious about this book? You all know that before I married my husband, I fell into the water, right? The wandering Taoist priest told me to prepare for my funeral. My father, because I usually like brightly colored clothes, prepared several sets for me to try on to see if they fit. Several widows even tried them on, and even terminally ill people wore them."