Ugly girl only wants to farm

Xu Chaoyan and the others had saved up some copper coins over the past month. Seeing that Meng Jiuhe's skin had become a bit tanned, she felt a little embarrassed. This guy was supposed to be a writer, but now he was doing manual labor with them, and she couldn't stand the sight of him.

She had originally planned to send him back to school once he recovered.

That evening, because of a rainstorm, they had no choice but to stop work early. Meng Jiuxia wrung out the water from her clothes as she walked, saying, "This damn weather just starts raining without warning, there's no time to react at all."

Meng Jiuhe walked behind without making a sound. Summer is a rainy season, and the family they met this time was relatively good. After the rain became too heavy, they were allowed to finish work half an hour earlier, and their wages remained the same. This was much better than the people they had seen along the way.

Xu Chaoyan thought of helping Meng Jiuxia. The water was flowing down her clothes, and the girl was already a bit thin; she didn't want her to get sick.

As she walked forward, Meng Jiu followed closely behind, blocking her view. Summer clothes are usually thinner, and they wore even simpler clothes for convenience while working, but after being soaked by the rain, their outlines became more defined, clinging directly to their bodies.

Meng Jiuhe frowned and followed closely behind, blocking her way, and tilted the oil-paper umbrella in his hand more towards her.

Xu Chaoyan turned around and pointed to his clothes: "You should cover yourself with the umbrella more properly. You're all wet. We can go back and change."

She and her sister-in-law got caught in the rain outside, while Meng Jiuhe happened to be inside the house and took shelter from the rain.

Xu Chaoyan was worried that he would catch a cold. Anyway, the rain wasn't too heavy, so it didn't make much difference whether she covered him or not.

Meng Jiu remained silent with a sullen face, showing no intention of putting the umbrella away.

Sigh, forget it, it's no use talking for so long. Once this person gets stubborn, not even ten oxen could pull him back.

On the way back, Meng Jiuhe walked behind. There was a height difference between the two, so from a distance, it looked like she was nestled in his arms.

Meng Jiuxia turned around and scolded, "Brother, you're so worried about your wife now. Didn't you see your own sister getting soaked in the rain? The aunties in the village were right. You've forgotten your sister now that you have a wife."

After saying that, he pretended to be angry.

Meng Jiuhe: "You little brat, you don't learn anything good all day, but instead you learn to gossip. Do you want to become a long-tongued woman?"

Meng Jiuxia walked over, took Xu Chaoyan's hand, and began to complain, "Sister-in-law, look at my brother."

Seeing the siblings bickering, Xu Chaoyan's mood suddenly improved. Since they came to town, both of them had been feeling very depressed. It was understandable that the younger sister-in-law, being young, would show her feelings on her face.

Meng Jiuhe was different; he showed no emotion whatsoever. It was unclear whether he was hiding it well or deliberately forgetting those things. In fact, Xu Chaoyan knew that he was very sad and had been living a very repressed life, but he was trying his best to maintain the status quo so as not to worry them.

Actually, her desire to settle down in town was also a way to help the two of them move on from their grief and find a new environment. Living in the village would be much more convenient than here, with the firewood and fields on the mountain also being readily available.

Although this place is not far from the town, it is not so easy for them to be self-sufficient now. They don't even have a plot of land to grow vegetables, so they can only clear out a small piece of land in the yard.

There was a bamboo forest not far from where they were staying, and beyond that there was a mountain. It was easy to gather some firewood, but Zhang Xuyang's family had helped them a lot.

The Zhang family has several acres of paddy fields and several acres of mountain land, mostly planted with soybeans. The old lady suggested that they cultivate their own paddy fields, but they are too old and don't have the energy to do so. Their son also needs to go to school, so they are overwhelmed.

Xu Chaoyan had been considering this issue for a while. She planned to plant some after the autumn harvest, which was better than letting the land lie fallow and grow weeds.

After the three returned to the courtyard, Meng Jiuhe put down his oil-paper umbrella and went straight to the kitchen to boil water. Before leaving, he gave Xu Chaoyan a handkerchief.

"Quickly dry it off."

Meng Jiuxia chuckled to herself, and only spoke after everyone had left: "Sister-in-law, look how much my brother cares about you. He didn't even see his little sister standing here. Sigh, what a miserable life!"

Xu Chaoyan picked up a handkerchief and ruffled her hair: "Come on, your sister-in-law cares about you, okay?"

The laughter of the two reached Meng Jiuhe's side, and he also managed to suppress a slight smile.

Meng Jiu boiled a large pot of water and carried it over to them so they could take a hot bath. He also boiled a large pot of strong ginger soup.

Xu Chaoyan smelled the strong ginger aroma and frowned as she looked at him: "Can I not drink it? My body is fine now, it's just a small thing."

Meng Jiuxia also put on a pained expression and tried to act cute, tugging at his sleeve with a pitiful look: "Big brother, can I not drink it too? This ginger soup tastes terrible, and besides, I'm fine."

Seeing the pleading looks in their eyes, Meng Jiuhe said coldly, "You two must drink this big bowl today."

Then, his eyes darted away, and he looked directly to the other side: "Our family doesn't have that much money to treat you two, so drink it."

He then picked up a bowl and drank it down in large gulps, leaving the two of them stunned.

Xu Chaoyan quietly asked her sister-in-law, "Your brother seems to be enjoying it so much, it can't be that bad, right? Why don't we try it together?"

In her memory, ginger soup was sweet and spicy, made by simmering in red broth. Seeing this bowl of steaming ginger soup, they couldn't refuse Meng Jiuhe's kindness, so they pinched their noses and took a sip.

The pungent and spicy smell of the ginger soup almost made Xu Chaoyan vomit. When she put down the bowl and saw Meng Jiuhe's eyes, she could only pick up the bowl again and continue drinking.

After the three of them had finished dinner, Meng Jiuhe brought over a bucket of hot water, gesturing for the two of them to come over and soak their feet to warm up.

Xu Chaoyan also happened to be planning to discuss something with them.

Meng Jiuxia quickly grabbed a basin and smiled mysteriously: "Brother, I'll use a wooden basin by myself. I'll add extra hot water to this one for you and your wife. It's a waste of water and firewood. We only have this much manpower at home, right?"

After saying that, he winked at Xu Chaoyan, giving her a look that said, "Praise me, praise me!"

Xu Chaoyan sighed inwardly. This little girl would occasionally create small opportunities for her to be alone with Meng Jiuhe, thinking that she just didn't want to expose him because she couldn't understand him.

"Well, what I wanted to say today is that the three of us have been working for a month and have saved up a little money. We're not worried about food and clothing for the time being. With what we had left over, I'd like to ask your older brother to go back to school. I heard the school has been cleared out."

Meng Jiuxia's foot was scalded by the hot water. He hissed and lifted his foot to place it on the rim of the wooden basin.

“Yes, what my sister-in-law said makes sense. Yesterday I heard from Brother Zhang that he went to help out at the school, saying he was doing cleaning and such. Brother, you don’t need to continue working with us. My sister-in-law and I will support you.”

Meng Jiu frowned and pondered for a moment before speaking: "I don't plan to continue studying. I plan to work with you and live a good life as a family. Studying for a year costs a lot of money, including tuition, writing materials, and inkstones. Besides, what's the point of a scholar reading so many books if he's useless?"

Xu Chaoyan disagreed with him and immediately retorted: "Who said that scholars are useless? In this day and age, it is still beneficial to study more. You already have the title of Xiucai. When you pass the provincial examination, you might even become the Zhuangyuan and return home in glory. We will also benefit from this."

Meng Jiuhe looked dejected, and his voice lowered: "Who knows when this will happen? Do you think this unrealistic fantasy can be realized? I have no confidence at all."

Xu Chaoyan put her feet in the warm water, and the heat washed away the day's fatigue.

Seeing Meng Jiuhe standing there motionless, she looked puzzled: "What's wrong with you? Hurry up and soak your tea, it's getting late, we have things to do tomorrow."

Meng Jiuhe stood there motionless, his face flushed slightly.

Xu Chaoyan glanced at her and thought to herself, "What's this kid up to? His face is always as red as a monkey's bottom. He's so innocent."

She stood up in the wooden tub and pulled him down to sit: "Hurry up and soak your feet. I have something to say. I plan to go back to the village tomorrow."

The brother and sister looked up at her: "Is there something you need to do when you go back?"