16 – I have nothing to do with you, get lost.
The Qin family lived at the foot of the mountain, at the very end of the village.
For the young couple to return home, they had to walk from one end of the village to the other.
When they left the village, the two baskets were filled levelly, and if one didn’t look closely, they might think they were empty.
But when they returned, both baskets were packed full.
The two large, lively fish hadn’t died yet after the journey from the town to the village, still flopping and jumping around;
The two chickens were no quieter, constantly flapping their wings as if trying to fly away.
Who in the village wouldn’t envy them? Anyone who saw them would come up to greet the young couple and take a look at what was in those two big baskets.
“For a while, the whole village was talking, saying that Taohua from the Chen family is actually a husband-bringer!” Sun Xiao Lan giggled, repeating all the rumors she had heard in the village to Taohua.
Taohua was sitting next to Sun Xiao Lan at the moment, both of them sewing shoe soles.
Taohua rubbed the needle against her scalp and said, “Is that really what everyone is saying? Before, they all said I didn’t know how to behave properly, but now they’re praising me?”
“Yes, actually, even before you two returned, people in the village were already talking about you. They said they saw you selling fur in the street, and that the street was packed with people trying to sell fur, but the fur merchant only bought from one family.
They said he came up with some kind of trick, making you all pick beans. There was a single red bean hidden in a handful of green beans, and whoever picked the red bean would have their fur bought by the merchant. And out of all those people, only you, little Taohua, picked the red bean.
Hey, tell me, is that true?”
“Mhm!” Taohua nodded. “It’s true, but it wasn’t as exaggerated as the villagers say. There were only about twenty people picking beans, not enough to fill the whole street. Brother Qin and I, along with one other person, were the last to pick, and it just happened to be me who got the red bean. I really was lucky, but it’s not that I bring luck to my husband—it’s Brother Qin who brings luck to his wife.”
“Oh,” Xiao Lan perked up at this. “So it seems you two really did it last night, didn’t you?”
Taohua nodded. She no longer blushed when talking about such things with Xiao Lan. “We did.”
Xiao Lan nodded, but after a moment of thought, she added, “Maybe it was just a coincidence? Why don’t you two take a break for a couple of days and see if the luck continues. You can’t be sure with just one or two times, right?”
“Really? But…” Taohua paused. “If Brother Qin wants to, should I refuse? That wouldn’t be good, would it?”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, you girl!” Xiao Lan looked at Taohua with a mischievous grin. “Have you gotten a taste for it? Can’t even go a day without it?”
“What nonsense!” Taohua retorted, annoyed. “Just sew your shoe soles. Actually, I didn’t even want to be so proactive last night—I just wanted to see if I’d have good luck going to town today.”
“Come on, you’re not a little girl anymore. Why be shy with me? Even if you admit you like it, I won’t laugh at you.”
“Go away, you’re always so improper.” As she spoke, Taohua started tickling Xiao Lan.
Xiao Lan burst into laughter.
While the two were playfully wrestling, a knocking sound came from outside the house.
The two sisters instantly stopped their antics and pricked up their ears to listen to the commotion outside.
Taohua listened carefully for a moment and immediately frowned. “Why does that sound like Chen Dashan’s voice? What does he want with me?”
“He must have heard from the villagers that you bought a lot of things today. Probably here to freeload.”
“How shameless!” Taohua couldn’t help rolling her eyes toward the outside. “Then I won’t answer him. Let him shout until his throat gives out—I’m not going out.”
“Alright, just pretend you’re not home. Let him shout while we keep working.”
After returning from town, Qin Feng had gone up the mountain, leaving Taohua alone at home. But Sun Xiao Lan, having heard the village gossip, had brought her needlework over to chat with Taohua.
Now that the two had resolved to ignore the commotion outside, they waited for Chen Dashan to leave on his own.
But Chen Dashan was thick-skinned and showed no intention of leaving.
After a brief lull, Taohua thought he had finally gone, but then he suddenly exclaimed excitedly:
“Hey, where did these two chickens come from? They must be wild ones from the mountain, but they don’t look like it—more like someone’s domesticated chickens. One rooster and one hen, perfect for me to catch. I’ll braise the rooster and stew the hen for soup.”
Hearing this, Taohua couldn’t sit still for another second. “My chickens!”
Xiao Lan frowned. “Could he be bluffing? The whole village knows your family bought two live chickens from town today—one rooster and one hen. It’s no surprise Chen Dashan knows about it.”
“But what if he isn’t? Should I really let him steal my two chickens? I won’t stand for that! I didn’t want to deal with him, but he’s just too despicable. If I go out and see him grabbing my chickens, I’ll make him pay!”
Taohua had long held a grudge against Chen Dashan. With that, she got out of bed.
Just as she picked up a broom from the yard, Chen Dashan’s voice drifted through the crack in the gate:
“Taohua, I knew you were home. Look at you pretending—do you think I don’t know you inside out? Open the gate. I have something to say to you.”
“I don’t want to talk to you. Get lost! I made it clear when I got married—from now on, you and I have nothing to do with each other.”
“How can you talk like that, girl? What daughter tells her father to get lost? Let me tell you, Taohua, once a father, always a father. As long as your mother is still my wife, you have to call me Dad.”
“I don’t have a father like you. If you don’t leave now, I won’t be polite!”
As she spoke, Taohua picked up two stones from the ground and threw them outside, but Chen Dashan dodged both.
He laughed while dodging. “Hehe, can’t hit me. If you want me to leave, fine. I heard you got a lot of silver from town today. Give me some money to buy wine, and I’ll go right away.”
“You still want money from me for wine?!” Taohua was so angry she laughed. She turned and ran into the kitchen.
When she came out again, she was carrying a kettle.
At Taohua’s instruction, Xiao Lan had also opened the gate.
The moment she saw Chen Dashan, Taohua didn’t think of anything else. She focused solely on splashing the hot water from the kettle onto him.
Although the water in the kettle was no longer boiling, it was still very hot.
In no time, Chen Dashan was hopping around from the scalding, his hands bright red.
He pointed at Taohua, cursing as he fled, “You damned girl, you’re ruthless. Just you wait, next time I come looking for you, you’re done for!”
“If you dare come back, I’ll have my man break your legs!!! You shameless scoundrel!!”16 – I have nothing to do with you, get lost.
The Qin family lived at the foot of the mountain, at the very end of the village.
For the young couple to return home, they had to walk from one end of the village to the other.
When they left the village, the two baskets were filled levelly, and if one didn’t look closely, they might think they were empty.
But when they returned, both baskets were packed full.
The two large, lively fish hadn’t died yet after the journey from the town to the village, still flopping and jumping around;
The two chickens were no quieter, constantly flapping their wings as if trying to fly away.
Who in the village wouldn’t envy them? Anyone who saw them would come up to greet the young couple and take a look at what was in those two big baskets.
“For a while, the whole village was talking, saying that Taohua from the Chen family is actually a husband-bringer!” Sun Xiao Lan giggled, repeating all the rumors she had heard in the village to Taohua.
Taohua was sitting next to Sun Xiao Lan at the moment, both of them sewing shoe soles.
Taohua rubbed the needle against her scalp and said, “Is that really what everyone is saying? Before, they all said I didn’t know how to behave properly, but now they’re praising me?”
“Yes, actually, even before you two returned, people in the village were already talking about you. They said they saw you selling fur in the street, and that the street was packed with people trying to sell fur, but the fur merchant only bought from one family.
They said he came up with some kind of trick, making you all pick beans. There was a single red bean hidden in a handful of green beans, and whoever picked the red bean would have their fur bought by the merchant. And out of all those people, only you, little Taohua, picked the red bean.
Hey, tell me, is that true?”
“Mhm!” Taohua nodded. “It’s true, but it wasn’t as exaggerated as the villagers say. There were only about twenty people picking beans, not enough to fill the whole street. Brother Qin and I, along with one other person, were the last to pick, and it just happened to be me who got the red bean. I really was lucky, but it’s not that I bring luck to my husband—it’s Brother Qin who brings luck to his wife.”
“Oh,” Xiao Lan perked up at this. “So it seems you two really did it last night, didn’t you?”
Taohua nodded. She no longer blushed when talking about such things with Xiao Lan. “We did.”
Xiao Lan nodded, but after a moment of thought, she added, “Maybe it was just a coincidence? Why don’t you two take a break for a couple of days and see if the luck continues. You can’t be sure with just one or two times, right?”
“Really? But…” Taohua paused. “If Brother Qin wants to, should I refuse? That wouldn’t be good, would it?”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, you girl!” Xiao Lan looked at Taohua with a mischievous grin. “Have you gotten a taste for it? Can’t even go a day without it?”
“What nonsense!” Taohua retorted, annoyed. “Just sew your shoe soles. Actually, I didn’t even want to be so proactive last night—I just wanted to see if I’d have good luck going to town today.”
“Come on, you’re not a little girl anymore. Why be shy with me? Even if you admit you like it, I won’t laugh at you.”
“Go away, you’re always so improper.” As she spoke, Taohua started tickling Xiao Lan.
Xiao Lan burst into laughter.
While the two were playfully wrestling, a knocking sound came from outside the house.
The two sisters instantly stopped their antics and pricked up their ears to listen to the commotion outside.
Taohua listened carefully for a moment and immediately frowned. “Why does that sound like Chen Dashan’s voice? What does he want with me?”
“He must have heard from the villagers that you bought a lot of things today. Probably here to freeload.”
“How shameless!” Taohua couldn’t help rolling her eyes toward the outside. “Then I won’t answer him. Let him shout until his throat gives out—I’m not going out.”
“Alright, just pretend you’re not home. Let him shout while we keep working.”
After returning from town, Qin Feng had gone up the mountain, leaving Taohua alone at home. But Sun Xiao Lan, having heard the village gossip, had brought her needlework over to chat with Taohua.
Now that the two had resolved to ignore the commotion outside, they waited for Chen Dashan to leave on his own.
But Chen Dashan was thick-skinned and showed no intention of leaving.
After a brief lull, Taohua thought he had finally gone, but then he suddenly exclaimed excitedly:
“Hey, where did these two chickens come from? They must be wild ones from the mountain, but they don’t look like it—more like someone’s domesticated chickens. One rooster and one hen, perfect for me to catch. I’ll braise the rooster and stew the hen for soup.”
Hearing this, Taohua couldn’t sit still for another second. “My chickens!”
Xiao Lan frowned. “Could he be bluffing? The whole village knows your family bought two live chickens from town today—one rooster and one hen. It’s no surprise Chen Dashan knows about it.”
“But what if he isn’t? Should I really let him steal my two chickens? I won’t stand for that! I didn’t want to deal with him, but he’s just too despicable. If I go out and see him grabbing my chickens, I’ll make him pay!”
Taohua had long held a grudge against Chen Dashan. With that, she got out of bed.
Just as she picked up a broom from the yard, Chen Dashan’s voice drifted through the crack in the gate:
“Taohua, I knew you were home. Look at you pretending—do you think I don’t know you inside out? Open the gate. I have something to say to you.”
“I don’t want to talk to you. Get lost! I made it clear when I got married—from now on, you and I have nothing to do with each other.”
“How can you talk like that, girl? What daughter tells her father to get lost? Let me tell you, Taohua, once a father, always a father. As long as your mother is still my wife, you have to call me Dad.”
“I don’t have a father like you. If you don’t leave now, I won’t be polite!”
As she spoke, Taohua picked up two stones from the ground and threw them outside, but Chen Dashan dodged both.
He laughed while dodging. “Hehe, can’t hit me. If you want me to leave, fine. I heard you got a lot of silver from town today. Give me some money to buy wine, and I’ll go right away.”
“You still want money from me for wine?!” Taohua was so angry she laughed. She turned and ran into the kitchen.
When she came out again, she was carrying a kettle.
At Taohua’s instruction, Xiao Lan had also opened the gate.
The moment she saw Chen Dashan, Taohua didn’t think of anything else. She focused solely on splashing the hot water from the kettle onto him.
Although the water in the kettle was no longer boiling, it was still very hot.
In no time, Chen Dashan was hopping around from the scalding, his hands bright red.
He pointed at Taohua, cursing as he fled, “You damned girl, you’re ruthless. Just you wait, next time I come looking for you, you’re done for!”
“If you dare come back, I’ll have my man break your legs!!! You shameless scoundrel!!”