A Farm Girl: Three Acres of Fertile Land Can Be Exchanged for a Country

Chapter 7 Eat Your Chicken

The maidservant lifted the curtain and came in, carrying a wooden tray with several kinds of pastries on it.

"Madam, your snacks are here," she said, bowing respectfully.

Ruolan casually picked up a piece, took a bite, chewed a few times, then frowned and slammed the pastry back onto the tray.

"Nonsense! How can you eat something so crude? Are you blind or brainless? Are you trying to fool me with food meant for that woman again?"

The maid was so frightened that she dropped the tray, knelt on the ground, and trembled like a leaf.

"Madam, I don't have any. There are simply no other pastries left at home, and I can't go out to buy any. These are all I have."

"You dare talk back! Are you deliberately trying to embarrass me in front of Wutong?"

"I didn't, sob sob..."

Wutong was taken aback by Ruolan's sudden outburst of anger, holding her teacup and unsure what to do.

Should she try to persuade her? But she really couldn't understand what Ruolan was so angry about.

With the world flooded, forget about pastries, just having food to eat should be enough. Why be picky?

Zhao Sanyang and Nanxing also stopped fighting and looked over, exchanging bewildered glances.

Ruolan was still berating the maid incessantly, as if she had done something terribly stupid.

Wutong noticed faint red marks on the maid's wrist, visible beneath her sleeve, as if she had been beaten.

She couldn't be sure because the maid was trembling, her clothes swaying back and forth, making it difficult to see clearly.

The maids weren't very old, perhaps even older than the girls. It was unclear whether the Zhou family bought them or hired them, but either way, they were pitiful.

"Ruolan... never mind, we're already full, these pastries won't make a difference."

She grabbed Ruolan's sleeve and shook her head at her.

Ruolan, her throat dry from cursing, picked up her teacup, took a sip, and fanned herself with her hand incessantly: "I'm so angry! Ugh... This girl just takes pity on that quiet girl, thinking she's some kind of virtuous woman, and she's always helping her to go against me!"

The maid didn't even dare to argue; she just sobbed softly.

Ruolan waved impatiently and said, "Fine, you can go now."

The maid picked up the tray and ran off.

Silence returned to the tent. Nanxing and Zhao Sanyang both looked at Wutong. Wutong gave them a wink, and the two pretended nothing had happened, continuing to eat their chicken.

Wutong tentatively asked, "Is your relationship with his first wife very bad?"

Ruolan pouted and said, "How can she possibly get better? She doesn't see Zhou Pan'an every day, so she thinks I stole her opportunity. Actually, with that sour face of hers, who wants to see her... Never mind, let's not talk about that anymore, let's talk about something happier."

Wutong nodded thoughtfully and added some water to her teacup.

After not seeing her for several months, Ruolan's temper had become much more volatile, perhaps because she had been suppressing her emotions for too long in this family.

Becoming someone's concubine would certainly subject her to pressures she couldn't have imagined.

She was glad she had chosen to leave, but at the same time felt sorry for Ruolan and hoped she could be happier and return to her former quiet and gentle self.

"Oh, right," Wutong remembered something and asked, "Did you see the red cloth I brought? Did you like it?"

Ruolan paused for a moment, then forced a smile and said, "I like them! I like all the ones you chose, haha..."

Wutong didn't notice, because she was confident that the surprise she had prepared for a long time would be appreciated.

"What style are you planning to have made? I saw a few really nice ones in the store before, but unfortunately I didn't have time, otherwise I would have had them made and brought over."

Back in school, besides complaining about how strict the professors were and how difficult the assignments were, the two of them mostly talked about clothes and cosmetics.

Now that she's here, Wutong hasn't touched cosmetics at all. She doesn't dare use the rouge Abuduo gave her, so the only thing they can talk about is clothes.

Unfortunately, Ruolan seemed uninterested: "I don't know yet. The wedding's already taken place, and I don't know when I'll be able to wear it."

Wutong said, "Wedding attire... these days there aren't wedding dresses anymore. You only have one set for a lifetime, so it's good to keep it as a keepsake."

Ruolan smiled but didn't say anything.

Zhao Sanyang poked his head in and asked, "What's a wedding dress?"

Wutong pushed his head back: "Eat your chicken."

"Speaking of wedding dresses, I have something nice to show you." Ruolan suddenly remembered something, gave her a mysterious smile, got up and went into the inner room, and came out a moment later carrying a stack of things.

"Come and take a look."

She put it down with a smile, her eyes filled with pride.

Wutong looked down and saw that it was an extremely thin and soft piece of fabric, about the size of two bed sheets when unfolded, but because it was so thin, it was only about the size of a table when folded.

The fabric has an excellent texture and a beautiful color—a delicate pink, as if dyed with peach blossom petals, rich yet not gaudy.

When you place your hand under the fabric, you can immediately see the lines on your palm.

Wutong asked in surprise, "What is this?"

Ruolan said, "You don't recognize it, do you? This is called cicada wing gauze. Pan'an sent someone to bring it back from outside. It's very expensive; it's said that only royalty can wear it."

Wutong clicked her tongue: "He's so good to you, what are you planning to do with it?"

Ruolan sat down, propping her head up with one hand, casually fiddling with the gauze: "I haven't decided yet. There isn't a proper tailor in the village, and the clothes they make are terribly ugly. I'll have to go to a big town someday and find a tailor to make them to my measurements."

After she finished speaking, she turned to look at Wutong: "You don't have any nice clothes, how about I make you a set?"

Wutong quickly waved her hand: "No need, no need. I'm crawling in the mud every day. Making nice clothes would be a waste; they'd wear out in no time."

Ruolan sighed, thinking about her current living conditions: "You, you really don't know why you went through all that trouble to come to such a faraway place. Couldn't you just stay home and enjoy good food and drink?"

Wutong chuckled twice, but didn't answer.

The atmosphere eased, and everyone started chatting, covering a wide range of topics. Finally, at dinner time, the conversation ended with their shared favorite singer.

Both of them were filled with regret, because they might never have the chance to attend one of his concerts again in their lifetime.

The maid had been gone all afternoon. When she came back to set out dinner, her gaze was still somewhat evasive; she didn't dare look at Ruolan.

Ruolan had chatted for so long and was in a particularly good mood, so she didn't mention the pastries again.

At dinner, Zhou's parents-in-law and first wife ate alone in the inner room, while Ruolan, Wutong, and others sat around a table, with Zhou Pan'an also present.

As the head of the family, it was normal for him to entertain guests. However, Nanxing and Zhao Sanyang were still childlike and didn't have much in common with him, nor did they drink. So he had to drink alone, feeling lonely and desolate.

As he drank, his gaze drifted to the sycamore tree.

End of this chapter