Inviting the Moon to the Farmhouse

The town market was bustling, but because it was summer planting season, there were relatively few people.

On the street, many seasonal fruits that she had never seen before were now available. Xia Lanyue stood in front of the fruit stall with A Xiang, swallowing hard.

"Aunt Yue, I want to eat."

Xia Lanyue tugged at A Xiang's hand, "Which one do you want to eat?"

“This,” A-Xiang said, pointing to the bayberry.

The stall owner turned around and noticed the two of them, and quickly and warmly greeted them, "This was just delivered, it's very fresh, which basket would you like, young lady?"

"Ah, I'm not buying today. I didn't bring any money with me. I'll come back tomorrow," Xia Lanyue said with an awkward smile to the stall owner.

Upon hearing this, the stall owner didn't say anything, and then turned around to attend to other things.

Dai You walked over from the side and asked, "Does A-Yue want some fruit?"

"No," "Yes," Xia Lanyue and A Xiang said in unison.

Dai You looked at the two of them and couldn't help but laugh, "Which one do you want to eat?"

“He wants to eat bayberries,” Xia Lanyue said.

"Which one does A-Yue want to eat?" Dai You asked.

"Me too," Xia Lanyue hesitated for a moment before finally saying it.

"Sister-in-law, how much are your bayberries?" Dai You asked.

"Twenty coins a basket," the stall owner said.

Xia Lanyue looked surprised; clearly, the price exceeded her expectations.

"I want three baskets," he said, handing the coins to the stall owner.

The stall owner smiled and took the baskets, counted them, and then said, "Take them yourselves, whichever basket you want."

Dai You picked up a basket from the ground and said to Xia Lanyue, "Ayue, take two baskets. I'll take this basket to Doctor Zhang. You wait here for me for a while." After saying that, he jogged off to the pharmacy.

Xia Lanyue picked out two baskets, then pulled A Xiang to wait by the stall.

"Your husband's family is so considerate to you," the stall owner said to Xia Lanyue, who was standing next to him.

"Huh?!" Xia Lanyue was stunned for a moment, then quickly explained, "No, he is my older brother."

"Oh, look what I said, you've really misspoke. Your brother is so good to you," the stall owner said with an awkward smile, then went to attend to his other tasks.

"Wow, this one is huge!" Ah Xiang exclaimed, staring at the bayberry.

Seeing A Xiang's greedy look, Xia Lanyue held out the basket to him and said, "Eat up."

Ah Xiang picked up a bayberry and held it out to Xia Lanyue, saying, "You eat it."

Xia Lanyue was touched by A Xiang's actions. She didn't take the bayberry, but said, "A Xiang, you can have it."

"Why don't you eat it? Is it because Mom said you're fat? Mom said I'm fat too, but I'm not afraid," she said, putting the bayberry into her mouth.

Xia Lanyue was taken aback. What did that mean? "Your mother said I've gained weight?"

Ah Xiang nodded.

Xia Lanyue was speechless. This Lin Xiu was talking about her behind her back. She retorted, "I'm not fat at all."

The stall owner returned at some point, and upon hearing her words, continued, "Your mother isn't fat. Her belly is like this because she gave birth to you, not because she's fat."

Xia Lanyue was both amused and exasperated upon hearing this.

“She’s not my mother, she’s Aunt Yue,” A Xiang explained.

The stall owner was taken aback when he heard this, then gave an awkward laugh.

Xia Lanyue smiled sheepishly and changed the subject, asking the stall owner, "Sister-in-law, is that Guanghuang... Pharmacy far away?"

"Guangji Pharmacy? It's not far, it's right next door. You want to buy medicine? They're very busy now, there are a lot of snakes in the fields this season, and it's full of people buying medicine."

Xia Lanyue nodded after hearing this and said nothing more.

Finally, Dai You ran back with a bag of things.

"Ah Yue must be tired of waiting, let's go," Dai You said, taking the basket from Xia Lanyue's hand without saying anything more, seeing that Xia Lanyue's expression wasn't good.

"What did you buy?" Xia Lanyue asked, noticing the bag in his hand.

“This is medicine for relieving summer heat given by Physician Zhang. Take it back and boil it for A Niu and the others to drink,” Dai You said.

"When did you and A Niu become so close?" Xia Lanyue asked.

"It's not that we're really close, we only got to know each other these past few days when I've been bringing him food. Ah Niu is a good guy, honest and thoughtful. Don't let his brotherhood with Ah Cheng fool you, their personalities are completely different."

"I see," Xia Lanyue replied.

Not far along, Xia Lanyue looked up and saw a paper shop. Thinking she needed to buy paper for rice cakes, she went inside.

"Shopkeeper, what kind of paper is suitable for wrapping food?" Xia Lanyue asked.

The shopkeeper walked over, pointed to the three kinds in front of him, and said, "These are all of them."

"I want the cheapest one," Xia Lanyue said.

"This kind," the shopkeeper handed Xia Lanyue a stack of papers.

"Which type of white paper is the cheapest?" Dai You asked from behind.

The shopkeeper pointed to the other side and said, "This kind of paper is cheap and sturdy. What do you plan to use it for?"

Xia Lanyue looked at Dai You with a puzzled expression. Dai You turned to look at A Xiang, and without answering the boss's question, said, "I want this kind, five of them."

"Okay," the shopkeeper folded the paper that Dai You and his companion had requested and handed it to them.

After Dai You paid, the group walked out of the shop together.

Back in Hegu Village, Xia Lanyue and Dai You escorted A Xiang back to the Tian family home, leaving behind a basket of bayberries before heading towards the Xia family home.

Xia Huifang and Xia Yao have returned. Xia Huifang is cooking, and Xia Yao is reading in the yard.

Upon entering the courtyard and seeing Xia Yao, Xia Lanyue was a little surprised; he hadn't been staying indoors. Knowing Xia Yao had just returned from the village chief's house, and wanting to ask him something, she leaned closer and whispered, "Did Village Chief Zhao say what should be done about A-Cheng stealing the grain?"

Xia Yao looked up at Xia Lanyue, "Who said A-Cheng stole the grain?"

"Huh?!" Xia Lanyue exclaimed in surprise, "I heard..."

"Who said that?!" Xia Yao asked her with a serious expression.

Judging from his expression, he didn't really care who said it; it seemed more like he was expressing his dissatisfaction with framing Acheng.

Xia Lanyue immediately backed down, losing faith in Wang Cui's words, and hurriedly said, "Nobody."

"You seem to really hope that A-Cheng stole it?!"

"How could that be? Although I don't like him, no, I'm not familiar with him, I don't have those kinds of thoughts either," Xia Lanyue explained in a panic.

After hearing her explanation, Xia Yao's expression remained grim. He sighed softly and said, "Village Chief Zhao is still gathering evidence. We can only convict someone once the evidence is conclusive."

"Yes, yes, yes," Xia Lanyue said with a smile, "I misspoke."

After Xia Yao finished speaking, he stood up and went back to the east room.

After Xia Yao left, Xia Lanyue's face fell. She regretted her thoughtless remark. But the words were already spoken and couldn't be taken back. She sighed helplessly and stood up.

Xia Lanyue carried the bayberries into the kitchen and said in a slightly ingratiating tone, "Aunt Xia, have some bayberries."

Xia Huifang nodded, "Let's leave it there for now, we'll wash it and share it with everyone after we finish eating."

"Aunt Xia, why are you cooking so early today?" Xia Lanyue looked up at the sky.

"We need to deliver food to Acheng early today. Zhao, the village chief, doesn't provide meals, and he hasn't eaten since last night."

Hearing this, Xia Lanyue felt inexplicably happy, but the words she was about to say changed, "Oh dear, poor Acheng."

Xia Huifang sighed, "I don't know when this will end. I just hope Wei Liangxing will admit it soon so this matter will be over." Xia Huifang bent down to put out the stove fire and said to Xia Lanyue, "The food is ready, let's eat."

After Xia Lanyue responded, she turned around and stood in the courtyard. She glanced at Xia Yao's room and then shouted loudly, "Dinner's ready! Dinner's ready!"

Dai You was playing with his bamboo horse in the yard when he heard her call. He looked up in confusion, glanced at her, then at Xia Yao's house, and said nothing.

Xia Yao opened the door and came out, nodded to Xia Lanyue and Dai You in the courtyard, and went into the kitchen.

"I said something wrong just now and upset him," Xia Lanyue whispered to Dai You.

“Not necessarily. Maybe he was just unhappy to begin with? So don’t overthink it,” Dai You put down the bamboo horse in his hand, stood up, and said to Xia Lanyue, “Let’s go eat.”

"I'm not eating, I'm on a diet," Xia Lanyue shook her head at Dai You, then walked to the kitchen door and repeated to the person inside, "Aunt Xia, I'm not hungry, so I won't eat."

Xia Huifang looked at her in confusion, "Why? Did you not like the food today? What would you like to eat, Yue? I'll make you some more."

Xia Lanyue quickly shook her head, "No, Aunt Xia's food is delicious, but I'm really not hungry and can't eat. By the way, I'll bring Acheng's food, I'm free right now."

“How can that be? You’ve all had a long day. Listen to your aunt and eat first,” Xia Huifang said.

"I really won't eat, Aunt Xia," Xia Lanyue said resolutely, refusing to sit down and eat, no matter what Xia Huifang said.

In the end, Xia Huifang gave in and handed the food box to Xia Lanyue.

Dai You wanted to go to Zhao Lizhang's house with Xia Lanyue, but she resolutely refused. Then, taking advantage of Dai You's inattention, she ran away.