Ugly girl only wants to farm

After seeing Mr. Zhang off at the hospital, Mrs. Zhang repeatedly reminded him, "It must be Pear Blossom White wine. That wine is smoother and more mellow. Don't mix it into strong liquor. Did the old man remember?"

Mr. Zhang, growing impatient, simply slapped the silver into her hand: "You go ahead. If Meng sits there feeling uncomfortable, what can you two women possibly talk to him about?"

Zhang's mother was a little unhappy and declined several times: "Go quickly, I don't know what you want to drink. I'll go in and cook two more dishes. Let the two of them have a chat alone for a while. They haven't seen each other for a long time, and they grew up together, so there must be some affection between them."

When Meng He saw that everyone had left and Zhang Qiao'er was standing there smiling, he immediately felt a little uncomfortable and seemed somewhat resistant.

"Since there's no wine, let's not go for it. Let's just have a simple meal. I have some things to do at home, and my wife told me to go back early."

Seeing that he was about to leave, Zhang Qiao'er quickly went over and stopped him, giving her father a meaningful look: "Father, come back quickly."

Mr. Zhang looked displeased: "I told you I'd stay here with this kid, but you insisted I go get some liquor. Go get him some liquor, and bring me some strong liquor, preferably the really strong kind."

After leaving the shop, Xu Chaoyan followed the route she had taken back and found the butcher's wife.

"Meng family daughter-in-law, where are you going? Look at you, you're all sweaty. Come here and rest for a while and have some water."

The butcher's family usually runs a meat stall outside because they have a large family. They have to sell all the pork every day, and with the hot weather these past few days, it's even harder to keep it for long, so they're selling the meat cheaply now.

"Sister-in-law, have you seen my husband? We must have taken different paths just now."

The butcher's wife picked up a palm-leaf fan and fanned her a few times: "Here, cool off first. I was just wondering what was going on when I saw your husband near the entrance of Cat Alley, getting into a fuss with an old man. I was going to go up and say hello, but then I saw him go into a courtyard with that man. Isn't Meng's wife just stirring up trouble?"

Xu Chaoyan looked at her seriously: "Sister-in-law, what are you talking about? We've known each other for a long time, so just say what you want to say."

She thought Meng Jiuhe had gone astray by following those people, after all, there were gambling dens and brothels just past the corner of Cat Alley.

However, given Meng Jiuhe's character, he would never go to those places; otherwise, he would be taken there by Shen Siheng and his cronies.

The butcher's wife glanced around, and seeing that no one was paying attention, she whispered to her daughter, "There's a pretty widow living over there in Cat Ear Alley. She's only been married a few years, and not only did she bring death to her husband, but her parents-in-law also passed away one after another. There are always some troublemakers climbing over the wall. Although the widow hasn't gotten a bad reputation, there's always gossip around her. And it just so happens that your husband and that old man went into that courtyard again. I can't help but think a little more. Please don't take offense."

Xu Chaoyan mentally filtered through the people Meng Jiu and knew, wondering which old man she didn't know.

She trusted Meng Jiuhe quite a bit and believed he wouldn't do anything reckless.

But the butcher's wife kindly reminded her to thank the man, saying, "Thank you for telling me this, sister-in-law. I'll go and look for that widow right now, but I don't know her name."

The butcher's wife then continued, "That widow's name is Zhang Qiao'er. Judging from her accent, she should be from the same hometown as you, right? You haven't been here long, so it's normal that you don't know her. Why don't I go with you to take a look? There's not much business at the meat stall right now. What if you, a woman, get bullied if you go alone? I've lived here for decades, so I'll stand up for you."

Xu Chaoyan felt a surge of warmth in her heart. She'd been here for over half a year, and she never expected her sister-in-law to be so considerate. It would be a lie to say she wasn't moved. So that's the green tea bitch; she still had to go see if that person had any good intentions.

Zhang's mother quickened her pace toward the wine shop and bumped into Meng Xiuzhi. She lost her grip on the wine pot and almost dropped it.

Meng Xiuzhi was already angry, and she had nowhere to vent her anger these days. She wanted to find Xu Chaoyan a lover so that she could divorce him without any problem, but she couldn't find an opportunity to do so.

So she planned to go to Zhang Qiao'er's house to sound her out. She heard that Zhang's house was quite big, so she wondered if she could stay for a few days. She had just received letters from her son and daughter.

They expressed their dissatisfaction with her in the letter, saying that she had gone to the county town to enjoy a life of luxury, leaving them to live a miserable life in the village, and that they also wanted to come to the county town to see what it was like.

It just so happens that Zhang Qiao'er has such a large property, she could spare two rooms for her son and daughter to stay temporarily. I suppose they wouldn't refuse.

He bumped into the same woman again. He regained his footing, felt dizzy, and was just about to pretend to faint to extort some money.

"Isn't this Meng Xiuzhi? What are you doing here? It's like the flood washed away the Dragon King Temple, we're all family. I'm so sorry I bumped into you while I was walking."

Meng Xiuzhi held her forehead and examined her for a moment before recognizing her as Zhang Qiao'er's mother. Seeing the clothes she was wearing without a single patch and the silver hairpin covering her hair, Meng Xiuzhi felt a pang of jealousy. She wondered if the old couple had come to persuade their daughter to remarry.

She still had sons and grandsons at home. What if they sent Zhang Qiao'er back to the countryside to remarry? Then all those properties would definitely fall into the Zhang family's hands. She couldn't help but feel anxious, worried that she might end up with nothing. Fortunately, she still had some sense and decided to sound out their intentions.

"Oh, it's Sister-in-law Zhang. When did you arrive in the county? Did you come to see Qiao'er?"

Mother Zhang nodded and shook the wine pot in her hand: "It just so happens that my old man ran into your nephew and took him back, saying he wanted to have a couple of drinks. Before I went out to get a pot of wine, I told Qiao'er that I would invite you to our home another day. It's been a long time since we've seen each other, and we'd like to have a simple home-cooked meal together. But I can't get away right now, so I'll invite you in a couple of days."

After saying that, she turned to leave. Her last two sentences were just polite words, but Meng Xiucai took them seriously and quickly took her hand: "Sister Zhang, there's no better time than today. My nephew is at your house today, so I'll take the liberty of chatting with you. It's been a long time since we last met. We might have to visit each other more often in the future."

Zhang's mother muttered to herself, "What do you want to talk about with my family? Back then, the breakup with her nephew was so unpleasant, and this woman was so arrogant and domineering, she cursed her out."

He felt a little disgusted by their intimate behavior, but he didn't want to offend them directly.

The two talked along the way, exchanging pleasantries, but it was all vague and ambiguous, and Meng Xiuzhi didn't manage to glean much useful information. Both of them were somewhat secretive.

Zhang's mother was also pondering the situation of the Meng family. She heard from her daughter that the two had opened a shop and that the Meng family's son was studying at the county school, indicating a bright future for them.

After all, they had misjudged her once before, and this time they tried to find out some information, both openly and subtly, but Meng Xiuzhi was completely unyielding. She kept subtly asking her daughter whether she wanted to stay or go back to her hometown.

While Mr. Zhang ate his food, he felt uneasy. Seeing his daughter's eyes fixed on the Meng family boy, he felt a pang of sadness. Had his daughter really grown up and no longer cared about him as her father?

He grumbled a few times, somewhat disgruntled, "Qiao'er, didn't I see a jar of medicinal wine in your room? Could you spare me a cup to satisfy my craving? Did your mother go to brew wine?"

Meng Jiuhe found the meal rather unappetizing, wanting it to end quickly, but Zhang's father kept bringing up this and that. He even mentioned his grandson's upcoming education and asked for his opinion, to which Meng Jiuhe could only offer perfunctory replies, steering the conversation towards his parents.

Zhang Qiao'er was getting anxious when she saw that her mother hadn't returned after half an hour. She had just given her mother a meaningful look, but she didn't know if her mother had understood.

She looked like she was doing it for her father's good: "Father's medicinal wine is a bit strong, you two might not be able to handle it, why don't you wait a little longer?"

Mr. Zhang slammed his chopsticks on the table: "What are you waiting for? Young Master Meng has come all this way, just spare some for me. Are you reluctant to let us drink it? I can see the ginseng soaking in it, it looks like it's been around for years."

Helpless, Zhang Qiao'er could only pick up the cup and pour some wine out. This wine was left over from when her father-in-law was still alive. It wasn't that she was reluctant to give it to someone else. It's just that he's been gone for so long, and she felt that things left behind were a bit unlucky. She kept saying she'd throw it away, but she hadn't had time to. It's just that someone liked it, so she reluctantly kept it.

"Uncle Zhang, could you tell me in detail what the situation is like on the mountain where my uncle lives? The route there was cut off before, and we couldn't get there. We had no idea what was going on."

Zhang's father poured him a small cup of wine and gestured for him to take a sip.

Meng Jiuhe frowned helplessly as he looked at the slightly yellowish wine, picked up the glass, and took a small sip.

"There's quite a story to tell. My distant relative lives not far from that mountaintop, just a few ravines away from your uncle and his family. You can hear him if he shouts from that mountain. It's been a long time since we've seen each other, let's drink to that."

Mr. Zhang raised the wine glass directly to Meng Jiu's lips. Meng Jiu had no time to refuse and could only reach out to take it, saying, "Uncle Zhang, no need to rush, drink slowly."

Seeing his son's hesitant manner, Zhang's father became somewhat displeased, his face darkening: "What's wrong with you, kid? You're even hesitating when you drink. Are you even a man? Come on, down this in one gulp! Let's have a proper talk, about what happened in your uncle's mountain area."

Meng Jiuhe had only taken a small sip and found the wine a bit spicy and fiery, but he forced himself to swallow it.

At that moment, a small glass of wine rolled down his throat. The spicy and pungent taste made him frown and his face turn bright red.

He usually had a low alcohol tolerance, but he wouldn't blush after just one drink. When Zhang's father saw his face suddenly turn red, he laughed heartily, patted him on the shoulder, and gave him a small sip.

"You little rascal, your face is already red after just one small cup. Here, have another one. You must keep your uncle entertained today."

Helpless, Meng Jiuhe had no choice but to pick up his cup again and pretend to be polite to him.

"The day the earth dragon and phoenix turned over was truly earth-shattering and ghost-weeping; the entire mountain shook. My house happened to be able to see that mountain, and all I saw was a cloud of thick smoke rising. I also started to feel dizzy and couldn't stand up at all. Before I could even react, my old woman grabbed me and ran, saying that the earth dragon had turned over."

Meng Jiu was a little annoyed as he listened to him ramble on about trivial things. He had already drunk three cups of wine, and he shook his slightly dizzy head.

Zhang Qiao'er happened to come over and was about to help him up, but he quickly stepped aside, saying, "No need."