Ugly girl only wants to farm

Xu Chaoyan found an old, worn-out basket, filled it with dry grass, and built a simple nest. She was very satisfied and looked forward to seeing the fruits of her labor in about twenty days.

"Little sister-in-law, Dad just told you to go cut some bamboo to make a chicken coop for me. Why don't I go with you and we can see if we can dig up any winter bamboo shoots or something?"

Meng Jiuxia: "We do have bamboo, but I doubt we'll have any winter bamboo shoots left. We've been busy with my brother's affairs these days, so we haven't had time to think about this. Besides, the women in the village would run away faster than rabbits if they knew the winter bamboo shoots were coming out."

Xu Chaoyan refused to give up: "Alright then, you go cut down that bamboo, and I'll go with you to try my luck."

Meng Jiuxia picked up her sickle and basket and walked with Xu Chaoyan toward the bamboo grove behind their house. When she saw that the bamboo grove was riddled with holes, she jumped up and down in a fit of anger and started cursing: "These damned bastards are not satisfied with digging up their own bamboo shoots, they've dug up all the holes in our place. At least leave one for our family! We can't even smell anything, damned bastards!"

Xu Chaoyan finally managed to calm the little girl down: "Alright, let's cut a few bamboos here and go back to see if there are any more in the distance. There aren't many fresh vegetables to eat in winter, so we'll go dig up some winter bamboo shoots, clean them, and take them to town to see if we can exchange them for a few copper coins."

Meng Jiuxia looked at him like he was an idiot: "This kind of thing is very common in our countryside. Why would people in town buy it to eat? They're not stupid."

Xu Chaoyan revealed a mysterious smile: "You don't understand, this is my exclusive secret recipe. Do you want to come with me first? Come back soon and I'll tell you."

Meng Jiuxia's interest was piqued, and she kept asking her along the way: "Morning Flower, tell me, how exactly do you cook it? Winter bamboo shoots are usually stir-fried with fatty meat, and they have a bitter taste, so not many people like them. I don't believe you can come up with any fancy way to cook them."

“Mother said you’re not allowed to call me Trumpet Flower anymore. I’m your sister-in-law, so you have to show me some respect. If you don’t respect me, I’ll bully your older brother. Anyway, he can’t walk properly now, so I’ll just get back at him for all the bullying you did to me before.”

Meng Jiuxia looked at her in disbelief: "Morning Glory, I never thought you were such a vindictive person. I only got the better of you verbally, and you actually want to treat my brother like this? He is your husband. How could you take advantage of him and retaliate against me like this?"

Seeing the little girl nagging at her, Xu Chaoyan covered her mouth and chuckled to herself. Finally, she pretended to be serious and said, "Do you want to come with me? When we went to the back mountain to look for medicinal herbs before, we found a large bamboo forest there, but it always felt gloomy and dark, so I was too scared to go. Why don't you come with me and take a look? Maybe we'll find something unexpected."

Meng Jiuxia pouted: "Let me make this clear first, I can go with you to find the winter bamboo shoots, but you can't bully my older brother behind his back. He has difficulty walking, so you have to be good to him. You used to love his face the most, chasing after him all day long, and even used every means to marry him. Now that he's lying in the house, you can see him to your heart's content every day. Shouldn't you be satisfied? Don't be greedy."

Xu Chaoyan chuckled awkwardly. Was she really such a shallow person? But this guy was indeed quite handsome; otherwise, why would the original owner have been so smitten by his relentless pursuit?

"Hehehe, who am I doing this for? I'm just trying to save money for your older brother's medical treatment. Didn't that miracle doctor say that as long as he persists with the medicinal baths and acupuncture, his leg will gradually recover? Given our current situation, he can't continue treatment."

Upon hearing this, Meng Jiuxia became incredibly excited: "Mala Flower, let's hurry up and go! I know a bamboo forest somewhere, it's quite far, but I doubt those damned old women have found it yet. The bamboo shoots there are especially big. When we get there, we can each carry a basket back and take it to town to heal Big Brother's leg as soon as possible."

“Ever since he injured his leg, I’ve noticed he’s been in a bad mood. He just pretends not to care in front of us, but he’s actually very bothered by it. He used to be such a proud person, and now he’s in a position where he needs help with everything. He must be very sad inside.”

This young girl was very energetic and got right to work. Xu Chaoyan was panting heavily as she chased after her. In her heart, she cried out, "My goodness, do you have to work so hard? Are you trying to kill this old man with your exhaustion?"

Xu Chaoyan was covered in sweat and felt sticky all over. Finally, she arrived at the bamboo forest, just as Meng Jiuxia had said. The path was a bit rugged and the branches and leaves grew even more lush, so few people went there.

The two dug out a basketful there. Xu Chaoyan saw that her sister-in-law looked reluctant to part with the basket, which was still in her arms. Her hands were itchy and painful from being pricked by the prickles, and she kept jumping up and down.

Xu Chaoyan was amused by her comical actions and chuckled, earning her several glares from Meng Jiuxia.

Xu Chaoyan: "Little sister-in-law, please leave some, okay? We can come back another day. There's no such thing as someone who can't run away."

Meng Jiuxia looked distressed: "I'm just worried that those damned bastards will find out and get there first. Since they can make money selling it, what if they also think of this trick? How about we make a deal and come back later?"

Xu Chaoyan glanced at the sky and said, "Let's forget about it. We can just carry this back. It looks like it's going to rain, and the road is difficult to walk on. Be careful not to fall. We're not in a hurry. They shouldn't find us for the time being, since we're so far away."

Meng Jiuxia looked back several times, while Xu Chaoyan chuckled several times, as she hadn't been happy to be invited earlier.

The two carried baskets down the mountain, but when they were only halfway there, large raindrops began to fall, stinging their bodies.

Xu Chaoyan wiped the rain off her face: "Little sister-in-law, why don't you find a place to rest and get out of the rain? Be careful not to catch a cold."

In ancient times, catching a cold could be fatal at any moment, and she didn't want to die like that.

Meng Jiuxia looked around and said, "Morning Glory, there's nowhere to shelter from the rain here. Why don't we just run back in one go? Our clothes are all wet anyway, we can just change them when we get back."

Xu Chaoyan tilted her basket up to catch her breath: "That's right, it's not safer to hide under the trees around here."

The two hurried home. Li San Niang noticed that it was raining outside. She paced back and forth at the door for a long time, looking anxious. Seeing that the two had not returned, she was wondering whether to take an umbrella and go out to look for them.

Meng Jiuhe was sitting by the window, holding a book. He looked at the scene outside and asked, "Mother, what's wrong?"

"Jiuhe, are you thirsty and want some water? I'll get you some. Your little sister and Yan'er went outside and haven't come back yet. It's raining so hard outside, I'm a little worried."