Ugly girl only wants to farm

Xu Chaoyan looked at them with curiosity: "What's going on?" She didn't remember ever hearing about any taboos before, except for not touching cold water and eating less spicy food.

She used to be a glutton and never watched what she ate, and she forgot the pain once the wound healed. Now, when she heard what the aunt was saying, she quickly moved closer to listen more carefully. After all, it was the young girl's first time experiencing something like this, and as her sister-in-law, she was fulfilling her responsibilities.

The old woman pulled her over to sit down before saying, "There's a pigsty behind our yard. The owner said they haven't raised pigs for a long time. They suffered a lot of losses because of the swine fever outbreak. It's empty there, so bring Xia'er over later."

Xu Chaoyan: ? ? ?

Seeing that she was still in a daze, Zhang Yueniang pulled a sweet potato out of the fire, shook off the ash, and handed it to her.

"Just do as I say. Here, take this back and sweeten the little girl's mouth. She'll probably be quite frightened."

Xu Chaoyan walked back carrying her needlework basket, her doubts growing, still unsure of what the old lady and the others were up to.

Hearing the noise outside, Meng Jiuhe came out and saw her carrying a sewing basket. He quickly came over and said, "Come in and warm your hands. It's windy outside."

Xu Chaoyan shoved the sweet potato into his hand and said, "Wait a minute, I have some things to take care of. Why don't you read for a while longer?"

Seeing her mysterious expression, Meng Jiu dropped the sweet potato and headed towards his younger sister's room. He didn't press her for more information.

He had just gone to his younger sister's door and asked. She said she was a little tired in the afternoon and would be fine after resting in the house for a while.

He didn't think much of it. Xu Chaoyan carefully took the menstrual pad to Meng Jiuxia's room and taught her how to use it. At first, the sister-in-law looked shy and embarrassed.

Xu Chaoyan held her hand and talked about a lot of knowledge and precautions in this area. Slowly, Meng Jiuxia's face turned red and then shy.

She asked in a very soft voice, "Sister-in-law, you've already told me how to use it, I can do it myself, you wait here for me."

Xu Chaoyan felt she had been waiting outside for about half an hour, and finally she couldn't help but ask, "How's it going, sister-in-law? Do you know how to do it? Do you need my help?"

Meng Jiuxia's anxious voice came out: "Sister-in-law, no need, I'll be done right away."

When they went out, the old woman and her daughter had been waiting outside for quite some time. I happened to have some red dates left, and I had just boiled some brown sugar water there. I'll have Xia'er go drink some later. Before it gets completely dark, let's go to the pigsty."

Filled with doubt and confusion, Xu Chaoyan followed them to a pigsty not far behind the courtyard.

Xu Chaoyan also knew about this place. When they came to see the house before, the landlord had introduced it to them, saying that it used to be a place where pigs were raised, but it was now vacant because of the African swine fever. The old lady kept saying that she wanted to see if they could raise some piglets here, to keep for slaughtering the New Year's pig or to sell.

As it grew darker, Zhang Yueniang carried a lantern to light the way for everyone, while the old woman walked beside her to shield the little girl from the wind: "The wind is howling and it stings my face. Xia'er, stay close to me and don't catch a cold. Just walk around for a bit."

Meng Jiuxia held her hand nervously, and Xu Chaoyan could clearly feel that her palms were starting to sweat. She squeezed her hand back and gently comforted her, "It's okay, just do as your aunt says. They're all doing this for your own good."

Zhang Yueniang was near the pig trough. She moved the lamp closer and said, "Xia'er, come over here and walk around the pig trough twice. Then, take the shoes out after pressing them down at the bottom."

Xu Chaoyan had been wondering why they had come to this pigsty, and now seeing what they were doing, she was even more puzzled.

"Auntie, why are you doing this?"

The old woman made a vague gesture to him: "Children shouldn't ask questions if they don't understand. This is a custom passed down from the older generation. Every girl has to do this when she has her first period. Didn't your mother teach you that?"

Xu Chaoyan then looked dejected: "My mother passed away early, and no one taught me these things back then. It was my mother, Xu, who was by my side, who told me these things."

As the old woman pulled Meng Jiuxia over, she slapped her mouth twice with a look of annoyance: "It's all my fault for not knowing how to speak properly, reopening your wounds and reminding you of painful memories."

Xu Chaoyan quickly waved her hand: "Auntie is fine."

Encouraged by Meng Jiuxia's sister-in-law, she walked around the pig feed trough twice, then pressed one of her shoes under it for a moment before taking it out.

The group then retraced their steps. They had only been out for about fifteen minutes when Xu Chaoyan felt her legs were ice-cold, like two icicles.

She couldn't help but rub her cold hands. When they got back, Meng Jiu had already prepared hot water for them so they could scald their hands first.

Meng Jiu noticed something was wrong with his younger sister during dinner. Her eyes were swollen like walnuts. He glanced at her, and Xu Chaoyan winked at him, so he didn't say anything more.

When the two were resting at night, Meng Jiu casually asked, "Little sister, what happened to her? Her eyes are so swollen from crying."

How could Xu Chaoyan possibly tell him such a thing? So she just gave him a few perfunctory replies.

On the third day, Shen Siheng came to find them again, bringing some snacks and books.

Zhang Yueniang and Xu Chaoyan are busy grinding tofu and making dried tofu. There are still about 20 days until the New Year. Now that the weather is good, they are making some smoked dried tofu and blood tofu, so they can take advantage of the last few big market days.

Shen Siheng was very outgoing. After visiting twice, he knew the place like the back of his hand. As soon as he saw Ya Ya, he quickly handed her some snacks: "Here, little Ya Ya, your brother bought you some snacks. Try them and see if they're good."

Zhang Xuyang was chopping wood on the side. He put down the axe and looked at Shen Siheng as if he were a fool: "Hey, Young Master Shen, don't you have anything to do at home? I see you have plenty of free time. Aren't you going to Mingyue Academy? Why aren't you at home studying? What are you doing running around in this dilapidated little courtyard? And have you no shame? Give me back my brother."

Shen Siheng blushed slightly, looking quite self-righteous: "I'm still a young man, so what's wrong with calling me 'brother'?"

He hummed a few times at Zhang Xuyang, and seeing Meng Jiuhe arranging the timber there, he quickly went over and said, "Brother Meng, I just wrote a few articles, could you take a look at them for me?"

Fearing that Meng Jiuhe would disagree, he quickly stuffed the articles into his hands, and then handed him a few books.

"I've made it clear, I'm not the kind of person who would take advantage of others. Since you've helped me read the article, I'll lend you a few books to read. I heard they're all rare copies, so you can't refuse."

He knew that Meng Jiuhe was always like this; if you said you were giving it to him for free, he definitely wouldn't take someone else's things for nothing. He could only say you were lending it to him.

Meng Jiuhe looked at the thing in his hand and couldn't refuse it, so he pushed it back into Shen Siheng's hand, making Shen Siheng so anxious that he almost jumped up and down.

Meng Jiuhe then slowly said, "Put it away first. My hands are very dirty, so don't get these stains on it later." Shen Siheng then smiled broadly.

When Xu Chaoyan and Zhang Yueniang saw him like that outside, they couldn't help but laugh.

Zhang Yueniang: "This person doesn't seem to have any ulterior motives. It's good for the two of them to associate with him; having more friends means having more options."

Xu Chaoyan pushed the stone mill, while Zhang Yueniang added soybeans and water little by little. The two worked together very well.

At this moment, Zhang Yueniang suddenly spoke up: "Hey girl, what are you planning to do with those konjac jelly ...

Xu Chaoyan stopped what she was doing: "Sister, there's no rush. Let me go to the general store outside and buy two more pots. We can make this konjac tofu later tonight."

Zhang Yueniang looked puzzled: "Why wait until night to make it? Wouldn't we have plenty of time in the afternoon? We can buy a pot and make it while the weather is still warm."

Xu Chaoyan suddenly remembered seeing her grandmother make konjac tofu and fried meatballs when she was little. She was the one who started the fire. She wanted to go out to play, but her grandmother kept her there to start the fire. She was unhappy and complained a few times.

Grandma used to tell her not to talk nonsense when making fried meatballs or konjac tofu, or she would mess it up.