Ugly girl only wants to farm

While wiping away her sweat, Xu Chaoyan instructed Meng Jiuhe, "Go and get a glass of water quickly."

"What's wrong? You've been gone for almost half an hour. Has something happened to the Zhang family?"

Meng Jiuxia took the bowl of water and gulped it down in one go: "Let me tell you, sister-in-law, when I went to deliver some medicine to Uncle Zhang's house, I saw the mother and her children still crying their eyes out. The little girl looked so pitiful, sitting there with injuries all over her body, but she still sat there obediently, very well-behaved."

Xu Chaoyan pulled her along, saying, "Come on, let's go to the kitchen first. Let's put the noodles in the pot first. Tell me what happened at the Zhang family's place. Why are you in such a hurry?"

When the two women arrived at the kitchen, Meng Jiuxia started chattering away: "I heard that the older sister was beaten by her in-laws and couldn't take it anymore, so she ran away with her child. I didn't want to eavesdrop on this, but I happened to witness it as soon as I arrived. You know I'm not good at comforting people, so all I could do was wipe away the tears for the older sister and stuff. But then I learned from them that her in-laws wanted a grandson and insisted that the older sister give birth to one."

While quickly putting noodles into the pot, Xu Chaoyan stirred them a few times with her chopsticks: "It's normal to prefer sons to daughters. Now that we have a granddaughter, we'll definitely want a grandson. It's only human nature."

She also knew that the preference for sons over daughters in ancient times was deeply ingrained and unavoidable.

Meng Jiuxia suddenly looked indignant: "Sister-in-law, I can understand that they want a grandson, but what they're doing is too much, even more so than my grandmother."

Xu Chaoyan brought over the freshly washed vegetables, preparing to put them in later: "Oh, what do you mean? Your grandmother used to abuse you."

Meng Jiuxia added firewood to the fire with an indignant look on her face: "It's not that bad. My grandmother doesn't dare to mistreat me. She just sometimes likes to secretly send my family's things to my second uncle's house. She often gives them to my cousin to eat. But my father and mother turn a blind eye. She doesn't dare to do anything to me."

Xu Chaoyan added a little cold water to the pot: "Then why do you look so indignant? Just how bad were your older sister's in-laws? Tell me more."

Meng Jiuxia was holding a pair of fire tongs when she threw it to the ground with a "snap": "That eldest sister's in-laws actually bullied that little girl in order to have a grandson. They even beat their daughter-in-law and made the eldest sister drink herbal medicine and incense ash every day. You probably didn't see the other parts of the little girl when you went there. Her hands, feet, and face were covered in bruises. She also complained of stomach pain for no reason and her back hurt all over. But we have already called a doctor to take a look. He said there was nothing wrong and it was just some superficial injuries that would heal in a few days. But the little girl just keeps complaining that she is in pain and uncomfortable."

Xu Chaoyan picked up the noodles with her chopsticks, glanced at them, and then picked up a slotted spoon to scoop them out: "Little sister-in-law, would you like to rinse your noodles in cold water? Rinsing them in cold water will make them more chewy. How would you like to eat them?"

Xu Chaoyan quickly scooped up the noodles while asking her sister-in-law for her opinion.

Meng Jiuhe has a rather bland palate and a weak stomach, so we don't plan to give him cold water. We'll feed him something light, since he's a bit weak after his injury last time.

"Sister-in-law, please rinse this meat in cold water. Also, please add more of the braised meat and the braising liquid. It smells so good, so please add more of that too."

As Meng Jiuxia used a fire poker to push the embers aside, she looked up and asked, "Where was I, sister-in-law?"

Xu Chaoyan scooped a spoonful of braising liquid into her bowl and added a braised egg: "You just mentioned that the child complained of body pain for no reason, and when you went to see a doctor, there was no result. We shouldn't get too involved in this matter. Why don't we go and take a look again tomorrow?"

"My lady, if you have some free time tomorrow, go to the Zhang family and see if there's anything you can do to help."

Xu Chaoyan rested her head on his arm and changed her sleeping position again: "Yes, I know."

The next day, when Meng Jiuhe went to find Zhang Xuyang to go to school together, Zhang Xuyang still looked worried. He said he wanted to ask for another day off to stay at home with his older sister and parents. It was the first time he had encountered such a situation, and he was a little lost.

Xu Chaoyan was about to go out to sell tofu pudding, so she comforted him with a few words: "Zhang Xuyang, you should hurry to school with my husband. The studies have been quite intense lately. Whether you can go to the county school next year or not, you can't let it interfere with your studies. Besides, I'll be back in a bit. I'll go and see what's wrong with your aunt and the others. Also, what did the doctor say about your little niece? Should we ask another doctor to take a look?"

Zhang Xuyang looked worried: "We already had a doctor take a look yesterday. The little girl kept complaining of headaches, backaches, and pain all over her body, but the doctor couldn't find anything wrong. I guess she fell hard. The doctor also had her move her limbs, and there were no broken bones."

Uncle Zhang came out from inside and urged, "Xuyang, you should go first. Your father is taking care of things at home. We won't be setting up the tofu stall today; let's take a break and let your sister stay home for a few days. That beast was so eloquent back then, but only a few years have passed, and he's tormented your sister like this. I knew it was for no reason why your sister didn't want to go back to her parents' home."

“He only comes over once every two or three years, pretending to feel sorry for your sister because the journey is too far. It turns out that your sister suffered so much injustice and was beaten so much by him at his house. It’s all my fault for being useless.”

After saying this, he looked like he was about to burst into tears and punched himself a few times.

Meng Jiu and Zhang Xuyang quickly grasped his hand and dissuaded him, saying, "Dad, don't do this."

Meng Jiuhe: "Uncle Zhang, you don't need to make things difficult for yourself like this. This is not your fault."

As a man, Meng Jiuhe really didn't know how to persuade him.

Seeing Uncle Zhang's tearful face, Xu Chaoyan tentatively said, "Uncle, don't worry. If we don't want this kind of man, we can just divorce him."

"what."

The three men stared at her in surprise. Finally, Uncle Zhang spoke up: "I'm afraid this is a bit inappropriate. If a woman is divorced and left at home, she will be looked down upon. Her eldest daughter and youngest daughter will be gossiped about behind their backs. We old folks are fine, but I'm afraid it will affect Xuyang's future."

Xu Chaoyan could still sense some helplessness in his tone. Although reputation was highly valued in ancient times, and the fact that a woman in the family was divorced would affect the unmarried brothers in the family, judging from Uncle Zhang's troubled and sad appearance, he probably wouldn't accept this suggestion for a while.

Zhang Xuyang spoke directly: "What use is a beast like Dad to us? Just divorce him and let my eldest sister and her maid stay at home. I'll be fine."

Uncle Zhang looked ashamed and said, "Xuyang, what will you do when you get married and have children?"

He didn't say everything he was about to say, but everyone understood perfectly well.

Zhang Xuyang blurted out, "At worst, I won't get married. If my wife minds that I have an older sister who has left me at home, what use is she to me? What I want is a kind-hearted woman who can accept everything about me."

Meng Jiu patted him on the shoulder: "Alright, let's go to the school first, we can discuss this later."

After the two went to school, Xu Chaoyan sold out the entire bucket of tofu pudding and then went to the street to buy some vegetables and meat. Meng Jiuxia is now able to cook for more than a dozen people on her own. When she came back, she had already steamed the steamed buns.

After the two prepared the meal and delivered it to the craftsman, they took two bags of pastries and headed to the Zhang family's house.

As Meng Jiuxia walked, she muttered to herself, "Sister-in-law, do you think we should have brought some food over? The Zhang family is probably not in the mood to cook right now, and we didn't want that little girl to go hungry."

Xu Chaoyan patted her head, looking annoyed: "You're so thoughtful. I forgot about that, but it's too late now. Let's go take a look."

When Xu Chaoyan and the others entered the house, they saw the three of them sitting there with a pot of cold water on the table. The three of them were sighing and complaining. The little girl sat there obediently with dark eyes like black grapes, which made people feel sorry for her.

Upon seeing her arrive, he called out softly without any fear, "Mother, we have a guest."

Aunt Zhang glanced at the two women, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "I'm sorry to have made you laugh. Come and sit down. Old man, hurry up and prepare lunch."

"Auntie, no need to bother, we'll just sit for a bit and then leave. We just came to see if anything happened to your family, and we'll lend a hand if you need anything."

"Mom, Grandmother, my head hurts so much!"

The little girl's sudden cries left everyone at a loss.