Pastoral Splendor

A gentle breeze stirred, causing peach blossoms to flutter down, casting specks of pink and white on the path leading to the door. A mule cart slowly made its way towards Xiaojia Village. The driver was an old man of about fifty, who waved a small leather whip in one hand, spurring the slowly moving mule as he spoke to Yan Ying.

Jian Yifei took her to Yuzhou City and accompanied her to buy things. He originally wanted to send her back, but Yan Ying was afraid that the gossipy women in Xiaojia Village would see her and spread rumors behind her back. After all, she was already fourteen years old, and it was inevitable that others would have wild thoughts about her coming back with a seventeen or eighteen-year-old young master.

"Xiao family's three flowers are back!" Several people were standing at the village entrance. Yan Ying frowned when she saw them. Weren't those the grandsons of Old Lady Si Jin?

"They even bought so much stuff! They must have traded our sheep for it!" Damu shouted as he spotted the pile of goods on the mule cart in the distance, "Let's hurry and snatch it back!"

"Who dares?" Yan Ying shouted, jumping off the mule cart. She reached into the basket and pulled out the wood-chopping knife, glaring menacingly at Da Mu. "When I left the village, you chased after me, but I didn't use this knife. Now you dare to steal my things? Don't blame me for this knife being sharp!"

Qi Mu stared at the gleaming knife and couldn't help but recall the scene of Yan Ying slaughtering the sheep. He shouted, "Oh my god, run! Xiao Sanhua really knows how to fight!"

The younger ones, upon hearing Qi Mu's words, vanished in a flash, leaving only Da Mu standing there, blocking the mule cart's path. Yan Ying raised her wood-chopping knife and lunged at Da Mu. Da Mu, startled that Yan Ying would actually attack, hurriedly ran back, shouting, "Xiao Sanhua, you really did it?"

Yan Ying was actually holding the knife with the back of it facing Da Mu, but he just didn't see it. She chased after Da Mu and rushed forward, shouting, "If you dare to try and take anything from our family, I'll take action!"

The old man driving the mule cart stared in disbelief until Da Mu had disappeared from sight after Yan Ying chased him away. He then cracked his whip and urged the mule cart forward, asking, "Young lady, which way should we go?"

Yan Ying sat back on the mule cart: "Keep going straight, and turn left when you reach those big pear trees."

When the cart arrived at the door, Yan Ying called out, "Erhua, Sihua, Wuhua, Liuhua, come quick and get some things!" Instantly, the sisters ran out, and when they saw what was on the mule cart, they all gaped in surprise: "Third sister, did you buy this?"

"Yes, we just sold the sheep and used the money to buy some things we need." Yan Ying smiled, noticing the worried looks on her sisters' faces, and asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

Erhua walked over and pulled Yanying aside: "The village chief is here!"

"What does the village chief's arrival have to do with me? Hurry up and move your things inside, don't delay Grandpa's return." Yan Ying clapped her hands and walked into the main room, where she saw Xiao Laoda and Xiao Da Niang standing there, with a person sitting in the middle chair, glaring at her with a very dissatisfied look.

Old Master Xiao's face was full of resignation. Old Madam Xiao stood there, supporting her back with her hands, her belly round, and beads of sweat were already seeping from her forehead, indicating that she had been standing for quite some time. When Yan Ying saw Old Madam Xiao's appearance, she was shocked. How could a woman who was more than seven months pregnant stand like that? She quickly went over and helped Old Madam Xiao to the side, and asked Er Hua to bring a chair: "Mother, sit down and rest."

The man sitting in the middle of the room glared at her fiercely: "Third daughter of the Xiao family, come here!"

Yan Ying glanced at him: "And who are you, uncle?"

"You actually dare to ask me who I am? Have you lost your mind?" The man was so angry that his face turned red, and he almost jumped up from his chair: "I am the village chief of Xiao Family Village!"

The village chief of Xiaojia Village was named Xiao Wenhua. He had five sons and more than a dozen grandsons. Among his grandsons was a boy named Xiao Jingwei, who was said to be very intelligent from birth. So Xiao Wenhua gritted his teeth and sent him to a private school. Two years ago, he passed the imperial examination and became a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the lowest level of the imperial examinations). Xiao Wenhua was very proud and, unusually, he was generous and held a banquet with more than ten tables to celebrate.

Of course, those who went to the drinking party were expected to bring gifts. Old Master Xiao sent over about a dozen eggs, which he had saved up by scrimping and saving, but Xiao Wenhua complained that it wasn't enough and felt that Old Master Xiao was looking down on him, so he was very unhappy. Even though Old Master Xiao was sensible and didn't stay for dinner, Xiao Wenhua still felt resentful and would often try to find fault with Old Master Xiao from then on.

After a nice nap after lunch, he was about to go for a stroll in the fields when Old Lady Sijin came to visit him. Old Lady Sijin held a very special position in Xiaojia Village. Her cousin was a clerk in the Yuzhou government office, which was considered a high-ranking official by the farmers. Xiao Wenhua was hoping to curry favor with Old Lady Sijin so that he could get his grandson, Xiao Jingwei, into the government office as a clerk or something similar.

Upon seeing the old lady Sijin arrive, Xiao Wenhua was naturally polite and quickly told his wife to make tea: "Use the tea leaves from the bamboo box, not the ones from the outer plate." After thinking for a moment, Xiao Wenhua leaned close to his wife's ear and whispered, "Just count five tea leaves, and take a few from the plate to make up the number."

The bamboo box contained last year's finest tea, made by himself from the buds. He had planted about ten tea trees by his door, but had only harvested less than half an ounce of tea, which was specially brewed for important people. Xiao Wenhua also spent twenty coins to buy three catties of coarse tea, all large leaves and tea tree branches, of the lowest quality imaginable. But Xiao Wenhua didn't find it disgusting at all, always comforting his wife, "It's good enough to have something to drink. Tea should be chewy and have good strength; that's what makes it fragrant."

Grandma Sijin took the teacup, took a sip, wiped her mouth, and then tearfully complained to Xiao Wenhua. She said that the Xiao family's daughter, Sanhua, was truly hateful; she had killed her sheep and, together with an unknown outsider, had beaten her family's big tree! "I was originally planning to go to Yuzhou City to find my cousin, but I thought there was still a village chief in Xiao Family Village. It wouldn't be good to bypass him like this." Grandma Sijin looked at Xiao Wenhua, gritting her teeth, "Village chief, you must stand up for me!"

"Old Master Xiao's family?" Xiao Wenhua chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Old Lady Sijin, don't worry, I will naturally give you justice! It's just that Old Master Xiao's family probably doesn't have anything to compensate you for this sheep, so this is a difficult matter."

"Of course they have it! Their vegetable garden is quite nice. I'm willing to take a small loss and just get the garden." Old Mrs. Sijin stared greedily at Xiao Wenhua's face with her small eyes: "Village Chief, you have to help me get it!"

"A vegetable garden? I'm afraid that won't be easy to handle." Xiao Wenhua was taken aback. She hadn't expected that the old lady Sijin would be so greedy. A sheep was only worth a little over one tael of silver. The vegetable garden in the Xiao family was more than an acre in size. Although it wasn't exactly fertile land, it could still fetch six or seven taels of silver. The third daughter of the Xiao family had cut down one of her sheep, and now she wanted to take the vegetable garden from the Xiao family?

"What's so difficult about it?" Old Lady Sijin glanced at Xiao Wenhua with displeasure: "In our village, aren't you the one who calls the shots?"

Xiao Wenhua hesitated for a moment: "Old Master Xiao's vegetable garden is over an acre long, and the soil looks good; the vegetables grown there must be very fresh..."

"You're spouting nothing but useless nonsense!" Old Mrs. Si Jin spat out a tea stalk with a "pui" sound, leaving a dark mark on the ground instantly. "Do you still want me to speak up for your grandson? If you want me to put in a good word for you, then you'd better get your hands on that vegetable garden!"

Looking at the old lady's unreasonable manner, Xiao Wenhua scratched his head and said, "I'll go and talk to her for you right away."

Stepping out of the house, Xiao Wenhua paused at the doorway, pondering for a moment. He reasoned that Xiao Laoda was a weak man; if he simply threatened him a few times, saying that Old Lady Sijin was going to take his third daughter to the authorities, he would surely lose his composure and obediently agree. Besides, he was the village head of Xiao Family Village; if Xiao Laoda wouldn't listen to his mediation, wouldn't that be rebellion? With this thought, Xiao Wenhua felt more confident and strode confidently towards Xiao Laoda's house.

When Xiao Laoda wasn't home, Xiao Da Niang was shocked to hear that the meat she ate for lunch today was from a sheep that San Yatou had slaughtered four jin from the old lady's house. Beads of sweat dripped down her forehead. Xiao Wenhua pointed at Er Hua and said, "Go quickly and call your father back!"

Erhua stood still, muttering resentfully, "Who told Old Lady Sijin to send her grandson to steal vegetables from our garden!"

Aunt Xiao turned pale with fright and pushed Erhua out, saying, "Stop talking! Go and call your father back!"

Seeing Aunt Xiao so respectful and trembling before him, Xiao Wenhua felt very pleased. He waited for Erhua to call Xiao Laoda back, but before Xiao Laoda could even speak, Xiao Wenhua berated him mercilessly. Xiao Laoda was so angry that he dared not break a sweat and could only stand there, trembling all over.

“Your third daughter has been so wicked! Our Xiao Family Village cannot tolerate such a person! Old Lady Sijin was clamoring to go to Yuzhou City to file a complaint, and I had to stop her!” Seeing the panic on Xiao Laoda’s face, Xiao Wenhua nodded: “How about this, if Old Lady Sijin wants your family’s vegetable garden, you can give it to her as compensation.”

"This vegetable garden..." Boss Xiao stammered, only managing to utter a few words before Xiao Wenhua interrupted him: "What's wrong? Still not willing? Then let your third daughter go to jail!"

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