Ugly girl only wants to farm

The girl was usually taken care of by her parents. She was somewhat introverted and didn't talk much before.

The neighborhood children didn't want to play with her, knowing she was a divorced woman. They spread countless hurtful rumors about her behind her back, and Ya Ya came home crying several times. She comforted her each time behind her back.

At this moment, Qi Yu looked up and saw her standing in the courtyard. She gave her a slight smile and said, "So it's you, Sister, who's back."

Qi Yu and Zhang Yueniang were about the same age, so Qi Yu also addressed Zhang Xuyang as "elder sister" to show respect.

Ya Ya ran towards her with a joyful expression. The little girl had grown quite a bit in the past six months. She pounced on Yue Niang, who almost lost her balance, but fortunately Qi Yu was quick enough to steady her.

Zhang Yueniang looked embarrassed and awkwardly smoothed her hair to hide her embarrassment: "I'm really sorry, the child's naughtiness has caused you trouble."

Qi Yu said gently, "I should be the one causing you trouble these days. Fortunately, with Ya Ya by my side, the days haven't been so boring."

Ya Ya looked up with a displeased expression: "Mom, how could you say that to me? Uncle Qi must be so bored staying in the house all by himself. It would be so much better if I stayed home to keep him company while he read and practiced, and it would also help him relieve his boredom."

Zhang Yueniang tapped her head, giving her a look that said, "I saw right through you."

"Just don't cause trouble for your uncle. Oh, and hurry up and call your grandpa out; we're going to the shop for dinner."

Zhang Yueniang thanked Qi Yu again: "This child doesn't have any playmates usually, and it's a good thing you had the patience to teach her to read. With her slow-wittedness, you probably got so angry that you wanted to give up and leave. Please forgive her."

Qi Yu looked puzzled: "Ya Ya is very smart, not as dull as you say. I can teach her to read those words after teaching her a few times."

Zhang Yueniang also looked surprised: "Xuyang said before that she was clumsy and couldn't write well, and her character recognition was terrible, so he didn't have the patience to teach her."

Just then, Ya Ya ran out of the house, and Qi Yu quickly caught her: "Be careful, don't fall."

Ya Ya quickly spoke up to defend herself: "Uncle, don't listen to my mom saying I'm slow-witted. It's clearly my uncle who doesn't care about teaching me. How dare he call me slow-witted? He probably forgot all about asking him to help me name my child. By the way, didn't you promise to help me name my child last time? Have you thought about it yet?"

Zhang Yueniang hadn't expected this at all. She looked at him apologetically and said, "I'm really sorry, the child was impulsive. Please don't mind."

Qi Yu reached out and picked Ya Ya up, telling her earnestly, "This name is a gift from your parents, representing their expectations for you and their best wishes for the future. I think your name, Ya Ya, sounds quite nice."

Ya Ya pouted and started complaining, "Then I'll be called Zhang Ya Ya from now on. When people see me, they'll just call me Zhang Ya Ya. It feels like they're calling a kitten or a puppy, and the name is too ordinary. I want to be my mother's darling, so maybe you can call me Zhang Baobei instead."

Zhang Yueniang burst out laughing: "Come here quickly."

He took the child from Qi Yu's hands: "You little glutton, you're almost as heavy as a piglet now. How can you still let your uncle carry you? You don't like being called Zhang Yaya, you want to be called Zhang Baby. When you go out, I can't help but laugh when people call you Zhang Baby. Do you think you'll be comfortable responding when people call you Zhang Baby when you grow up? When you're seventy or eighty years old, you'll be called Old Baby."

Ya Ya listened from the side, seemingly understanding but not quite, but when she heard the phrase "old darling," she immediately became unhappy.

"No, I need to change this old thing. It sounds awful. Uncle, please give me a new name."

The uncle came out of the house at this moment, and Zhang Yueniang tried to fool her, saying, "Let's walk and let the uncle think of a name, okay? It's not something that can be come up with in a short time." Then she gave Qi Yu a look, indicating that they could just let it go like this.

During the journey, everyone chatted for a while, and then Qi Yu suddenly spoke up: "Ya Ya, how about I name you Zhang Mushang?"

"Great! This is much better than Zhang Yaya and Zhang Baobei."

The two, one big and one small, held hands and chattered incessantly along the way, completely forgetting their mothers and grandfathers.

Zhang Yueniang shook her head helplessly: "Father, look at this little girl, she doesn't even want her own mother anymore."

The middle-aged man stood by, chuckling as he watched the two people, one big and one small, in front of him. He casually remarked, "Hey, Yue Niang, have you ever considered remarrying?"

Zhang Yueniang never expected her father to bring this up with her. She asked somewhat nervously, "Father, do you also think that my staying at home is affecting my brother's marriage? Why don't you give me a little more time? I'll save up enough money and then move out with Yaya to live closer to you."

When Uncle Zhang heard his daughter say that, he quickly explained, afraid that she would misunderstand and think that her parents disliked her: "That's not what your father and I meant. It's just that we can't be with you until you're old, but right now we can help you raise the children. You'll always need someone by your side. As for Xuyang, that's his own business. Whether he can get married or not is up to him."

After a moment of silence, Zhang Yueniang spoke up: "I don't have that plan right now. The trauma from that family is too heavy. Besides, Ya Ya and I finally escaped that vicious family. I don't want to drag her into another fire pit."

Uncle Zhang spoke earnestly, "We're not rushing you to make a decision, we're just letting you take your time to choose. If there's someone suitable, you can try getting to know them. A few women mentioned it to your mother before, and your mother and I both refused outright. But seeing how Ya Ya and Qi Yuyu get along, I suddenly feel that children should grow up in a normal environment. It will be good for her in the future. Don't worry about it, Dad was just mentioning it casually."

Xu Chaoyan made a stir-fried pork intestine dish. She cleaned the fresh intestines, blanched them, drained them, and then deep-fried them until crispy. She then added ginger, garlic, various seasonings, and other vegetables, and stir-fried them until cooked through. The pickled vegetables she had made earlier also came in handy; she took out some pickled peppers and made a pickled pepper pork intestine hot pot. Served with dried tofu, the taste was simply indescribable.

Jiang Xinyi was a little timid when she suddenly saw so many strangers. She pulled Xu Chaoyan aside and said, "I'm so sorry to have troubled you. Why don't I just sit in the kitchen and you all have a good time chatting?" But Xu Chaoyan pushed her away directly.

During a break in the meal, Xu Chaoyan briefly recounted Jiang Xinyi's situation to them. The old woman spoke first: "What kind of girl are you, living in this back kitchen? Come and squeeze into our yard. We can surely make room for you."

Qi Yu suddenly spoke up at this moment: "I have lived in this courtyard for long enough. I am grateful for your kindness and care. I will move out tomorrow and let Miss Jiang stay in my room. I should go back to see my mother so that she will not worry."

“Qi Yu, you don’t need to rush to move back. I heard from Auntie last time that your rent is about to expire. How about this, you can stay in our yard. There’s no need to rush to take your mother back to the countryside. Her health isn’t good, we can talk about it after she’s recovered.”

Meng Jiuhe and Zhang Xuyang also tried to persuade them, saying, "Why are you in such a hurry to go back? You can stay and discuss the lessons together. You are smarter than us, and there are many things we don't understand that we need to ask you for help with."

Xu Chaoyan continued, "Tomorrow you should go back and pack your things, and move directly to our courtyard. Will you stay in your current room? We've already discussed it with the landlord; we can build another kitchen there. There's also a small storage room there, so you can make do. We've all discussed this. Your mother is very skilled at making pastries, and she doesn't need to strain her eyes by mending clothes. She can make some pastries and sell them at our shop, so she won't have to go back to toiling in the fields. She's getting old and often has health problems, so it'll be more convenient for her to stay here."

Qi Yu's eyes suddenly welled up with tears, and he quickly turned away. He was a rather cold and aloof person by nature, and his relationship with his mother and neighbors wasn't great. It was Meng Jiu, whom they had only known for a short time, who took such good care of him when he encountered difficulties.

He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and said somewhat awkwardly, "I got sand in my eyes. I'll go back tomorrow and discuss it with my mother. But wouldn't that be too much trouble for you?"

Zhang Xuyang: "What's the trouble? Fortunately, when our two families divided the courtyards, our side was more spacious. It's just enough for you and your mother to live in. Even if you can't participate in the imperial examinations, you can do other things."

Meng Jiuhe chimed in, "That's right. Even if you can't pursue a scientific career, you can still teach and educate people, passing on what you've learned to those poor children so that everyone can learn to read. That's what I plan to do. If I fail the exam, I'll become an ordinary teacher and live a simple life."

The old lady said, "Come on, let's eat first, it'll get cold later."

Just as Zhang Yueniang and the others stepped out of the courtyard, Meng Xiuzhi chased after them, but she was too late and all that remained was the sound of their laughter fading into the distance.

Meng Xiuzhi slammed the door shut in anger and gritted her teeth as she spoke: "Mother, don't you know how long it's been since Meng Jiu and that brat have had any oil? I'm so hungry I could hardly breathe! You just brought over some soup and didn't even offer to give us more. There's only so little, who's going to get any? Oh, Mother, leave me a little bit!"

While her daughter was talking, Grandmother Meng gulped down the soup in the earthenware pot.

Five days later, Qi Yu and her mother officially moved in to live with them. Uncle Zhang hired a few people to build the kitchen.

Aunt Qi held a basket of pastries with a smile on her face: "Here are some small things for everyone to try. Thank you for taking such good care of my family. If you need anything in the future, just tell this boy. I always said that health is the most important thing. It doesn't necessarily have to be the imperial examination. I'm happy as long as my son and I are together eating simple food. But he insisted on trying to prove himself, and ended up getting into trouble. Now we just want to live a peaceful and simple life."

Xu Chaoyan took her hand and comforted her, "Auntie, let's not talk about the past. It doesn't necessarily have to be through the imperial examination. You make good pastries, so you can make some and sell them in my shop. That should be enough for you and your son to make a living. Later, we'll find Qi Yu an honest and thrifty wife. You can stay home and play with your grandson and enjoy your family life."

Hearing this, Aunt Qi started to worry again: "With our family so poor, we don't even dare to think about getting married. Oh well, let nature take its course."