Tian Baozhu figured that Aunt Yuegui wouldn’t be finished with the clothes anytime soon.
So, she decided to head to the village carpenter’s place first to order some custom items.
Just as she stepped out the main gate, she saw a tall figure approaching.
“It’s Xiao Xie. Thanks for the pheasant you gave me yesterday.
When you come down the mountain later, remember to stop by my place.”
Tian Baozhu recalled Aunt Yuegui mentioning that Xiao Xie was only eighteen, still a kid.
So, her tone softened considerably when speaking to him.
To Xie Zhong’s ears, her voice sounded soft and sweet, stirring an odd, itchy feeling he wanted to reach in and scratch.
He shrank his neck slightly and gave a barely perceptible nod in response.
Seeing this, Tian Baozhu didn’t say anything more.
After all, social anxiety existed everywhere.
Especially for someone like Xiao Xie, with a tragic childhood, he was undoubtedly extremely timid.
She smiled and waved at him before heading off to the village carpenter’s.
Xie Zhong, however, furrowed his brow tightly, standing still as he watched her retreating figure, feeling quite perplexed.
Did she recognize him or not?
Upon arriving at the carpenter’s, Tian Baozhu explained what she wanted made.
After stepping back outside, she glanced at the sky. It was almost noon, so she decided to head back and get started on the buns she had planned to make in the morning.
With that slab of meat, plus the large basin of meat filling set after adding the pork skin soup, she managed to make sixty buns, each the size of a large bowl.
They had a thin skin and a generous filling. Once the water in the pot boiled, she put them in to steam.
When they were done, the buns looked so soaked with oil from the filling that it seemed to seep right through the skin.
Moreover, they had visibly expanded in size from before steaming.
An average person would probably feel full after eating just one.
Tian Baozhu ate three in a row before she started feeling satiated.
Of the remaining fifty-seven buns, she wrapped six, planning to give them to Xiao Xie when he came down the mountain.
As for Secretary Liu’s family, since she had already brought them things today, she wouldn’t send any buns over.
She understood the principle: a favor becomes a debt when given too freely.
Every time Tian Baozhu gave something to Secretary Liu, it was a reciprocal exchange.
Renting the house, hiring workers, and getting the referral letter—all of these required maintaining good relationships.
That was why she was willing to give those things willingly.
Of course, more importantly, she was currently in the Chengjiawan Brigade. Even if she wanted to get on good terms with Brigade Leader Cheng, he wouldn’t accept her goodwill.
Between the Cheng and Liu families, she could only side with the Liu family.
That was also why she had asked Liu Dazhu to help chop firewood.
Otherwise, with her space, she could just take a stroll up the mountain and gather as much firewood as she wanted.
Not to mention that her space didn’t lack firewood or coal either.
Only by tying her interests to the Liu family would they stand up for her if she was bullied.
And even if they didn’t fully side with her, as long as they didn’t side with the Chengs and kick her when she was down, that would be the best help they could offer.
While Tian Baozhu was happily enjoying her meat buns, a major quarrel was erupting at the brigade leader’s house.
Although Cheng Aiwen was the brigade leader of Chengjiawan, his household was not divided.
Living with him were his father, Cheng Quanxi, and his mother, Zhang Xiu, along with his two younger brothers and their families.
His father had a total of three sons and one daughter. The daughter, Cheng Xue, had long since married and moved to the county town. She rarely had contact with them, only coming to the village to pay New Year’s greetings with her children.
The eldest was Cheng Aiwen, who had served as the brigade leader for over a decade. He married Feng Taohua and had two sons and one daughter: the eldest son, Cheng Baolin, nineteen; the second daughter, Cheng Baole, eighteen; and the youngest son, Cheng Baohua, sixteen.
The second brother, Cheng Airong, married Hu Qiugui and had one daughter and one son: the eldest daughter, Cheng Baolan, seventeen; and the youngest son, Cheng Baoxin, fifteen.
The third brother, Cheng Aiwu, married Ruan Jinmei and had one son and two daughters: the eldest daughter, Cheng Baoli, twenty, already married; the second daughter, Cheng Baolian, also eighteen, a few months younger than Cheng Baole; and the youngest son, Cheng Baoping, only fourteen, currently in his first year of middle school in town.
At this moment, Hu Qiugui, the second brother’s wife, was wailing and slapping her thigh.
“She’s just a worthless girl. If she’s getting married, fine, but since when does her maiden family have to subsidize the marriage instead of taking a betrothal gift? A full eighty yuan! My Airong and I toil from dawn to dusk, barely earning over ten work points combined a day. By the end of the year, after food and expenses, we’ve never even seen a single ten-yuan note. My poor Baolan and Baoxin have been working in the fields with us since they were little, and after all that, they still come home to chop firewood and wash clothes. Meanwhile, Baole gets to go to town to study without lifting a finger at home! Now that she’s getting married, why should the family fund pay this eighty yuan? The way I see it, they’re not raising a daughter, they’re raising a leech! And this educated youth, surnamed Tan, wanting a wife with no money to his name, where does he get the nerve? For all we know, he could be a swindler. Trying to get the money for him? No way!”
The more Hu Qiugui spoke, the more sorrowful and indignant she became, tears and snot streaming down her face. Unbothered by the mess, she simply pinched her nose with both hands, blew forcefully, and flicked the mess onto the ground. She then casually wiped her hands on her clothes, showing no sign of disgust.
Cheng Baole, standing nearby, felt like she might throw up her breakfast at the sight of her second aunt’s behavior.
Tan Yandong, standing beside Cheng Baole, had a face that alternated between pale and red, feeling deeply humiliated being insulted so directly by such an ignorant village woman.
Cheng Aiwen was also displeased. He felt his second sister-in-law’s words severely undermined his authority as the elder brother. However, his father was still alive, and Hu Qiugui was a woman; he couldn’t very well get into a scuffle with her.
“Airong,” he said, gritting his teeth, “are these your wife’s sentiments, or yours as well?” He refused to explain himself to that ignorant woman. This matter concerned the future of his own branch of the family, which was why he had made this decision. He hadn’t expected his own brothers to kick up such a fuss.
Cheng Airong flinched under his elder brother’s stare but, thinking of the eighty yuan, straightened his neck and retorted, “Big Brother, we haven’t split the family assets. For you to go ahead and decide to subsidize Baole with eighty yuan without consulting us, of course I object. Unless, whenever any of our daughters in this family gets married, the communal fund also gives eighty yuan. If that’s the case, then I have nothing to say.”
Hearing this, Ruan Jinmei, the third brother’s wife who had been shrinking in the corner, suddenly brightened. “Second Brother is right. If Baole gets an eighty-yuan subsidy from the family for her marriage, then my Baoli’s eighty can’t be overlooked either.” Thinking she had two daughters, that meant two eighty-yuan sums. With that much money, Ruan Jinmei felt for the first time that having daughters wasn’t such a loss after all.
“Nonsense! Don’t be so contemptible!” Cheng Baole’s eyes reddened with anger as she shouted at them through tears. “Father already said this money is just a loan to Brother Yandong to help him through a difficult time. Brother Yandong said he will eventually pay the family back. Second Uncle, Third Aunt, how can you act like this?”