“I’m still hungry, why should they eat? And aren’t these your chickens? You don’t feed them yourself, and then you blame me.”
“Hmph, no compassion. You won’t get any eggs in the future,” Su Yunyi couldn’t help but mutter softly.
“What are you mumbling about?”
Su Yunyi ignored him and went to find something to feed the chickens.
Xiao Ze continued to eat, not telling her that he had actually fed them at noon. For some reason, he just wanted to see her angry.
The family worked until dark before tidying up the scattered straw in the yard. Xiao Mother looked at the mess in the yard. All the household items had been moved by Xiao Ze to the Xiao family’s yard for storage. There was no place to sleep.
She said to Xiao Ze with some concern, “The bricks and cement should be fine in the yard. Why don’t you go home to sleep?”
“Forget it, it won’t take more than a few days. You don’t know, today people already came to watch the excitement and wanted to take a brick or two. When I caught them, they said they were taking it to prop up a table corner. If it weren’t for your son’s notorious reputation, not afraid of offending people, and the workers being hired by me, they would have taken every last piece in a few days.”
“It’s cool at night. I brought a military coat when I came. Wait for me, I’ll get it for you to wear tonight.”
Su Yunyi had experienced the weather in Dahe Village. The temperature difference between morning and evening was terrifyingly large. No matter how warm it was during the day, you had to bundle up in a quilt at night.
Xiao Ze rubbed his nose and said with a half-smile, “I have a good constitution. You guys should go back to sleep. You all have to go to work tomorrow.”
Xiao Mother, seeing her daughter-in-law caring for her son, had no reason not to support it. She immediately declared that she would accompany Su Yunyi back to get the clothes and then bring them over.
The mother and daughter-in-law were quick. Before Xiao Father and the two sons had even entered the house, they had already packed what they were going to bring to Xiao Ze and were ready to leave.
When they arrived at Xiao Ze’s yard, they saw him leaning against the bricks, his eyes closed, still covered in a layer of gray.
Su Yunyi felt a strange sense of emotion.
Hearing the sound, the man’s eyes, like cold stars, suddenly opened. Seeing that it was them, he returned to his usual flippant demeanor.
Su Yunyi handed him the military coat and pointed to the pile of bricks, saying, “Why don’t you build a bed with the bricks? You can rest better if you lie down.”
“No need, I’ll fall asleep as soon as I lie down. Then who will keep watch? I’ll just sleep like this.”
Seeing that Xiao Ze was only loosely holding the military coat and not wearing it, Su Yunyi urged him to put it on.
He pointed to his body, “I’m dirty. If I wear it, I’m afraid it won’t wash off. I’ll just drape it over myself tonight.”
“Clothes can be washed if they get dirty, and you can buy new ones if they can’t be washed. What if you get cold and sick?”
Was this concern for him?
Xiao Ze looked at Su Yunyi playfully.
Su Yunyi also felt that her words were a bit too intimate and quickly added.
“If you get sick, how will our house be renovated?”
With that, she snatched the military coat from his hand and supervised him putting it on.
Xiao Ze looked at her slightly red ear tips and didn’t expose her.
After putting on the military coat, he continued to lean in his previous position, “You guys should go back quickly. I’m going to rest too.”
Su Yunyi and Xiao Mother then returned home under the moonlight.
Everyone in the Xiao family had already turned off the lights.
They were tired from working during the day, and generally went to bed early, not staying up to play with the lights on.
Xiao Mother originally slept in a separate bed from Xiao Father, but she gave her room to Su Yunyi so she could sleep alone.
Su Yunyi washed up and lay in bed. Perhaps because she had changed places, she couldn’t fall asleep for a long time.
Holding a flashlight, she was about to go to the toilet when she heard Xiao Lao Er and Jiang Yunxia talking.
She was about to retreat when she heard her own name.
She stopped in her tracks and stood there, listening to what they were saying about her.
The old houses had poor soundproofing, so the voices were quite clear.
“You say this Third Brother, he’s changed since marrying this Su Yunyi. Today, seeing his face covered in dust and dirt, I almost didn’t recognize him.”
“He’s grown up. He’s grown up since getting married. He’s grown up and become sensible. He definitely won’t cause trouble like before.”
“But you know, they say emperors love their eldest sons, and commoners dote on their youngest. Mom really treats the Third Son’s couple well. Mom hasn’t shared a bed with Dad for so many years, but this time, for the Third Son’s daughter-in-law, she slept with the old man again.”
Saying this, a crisp female laugh could be heard.
“You… you’re even gossiping about Mom and Dad.”
“I’m just speaking up for you. Mom and Dad are just partial to Third Son. Otherwise, where did the money for his wine and gambling come from before? It was Mom secretly giving it to him.”
The man paused for a moment: “Mom and Dad are also partial to you. Er Tou is already so big, and they haven’t made you go to work. Look at other people’s wives, who is as well-off as you?”
Just as Su Yunyi was about to tiptoe to the toilet, the voices from the room sounded again.
“You know, although Third Brother isn’t promising, his looks are really good. His body is all muscle. No wonder Su Yunyi was willing to give all her dowry to renovate the house.”
“You! What kind of sister-in-law stares at her brother-in-law’s body? You’re so slutty!”
Then, the woman’s moans and some unspeakable sounds could be heard.
She hadn’t eaten pork, but she had seen pigs run, right?
Su Yunyi had never been in a relationship, but with the internet being so developed now, she had some understanding.
Hearing this sound, Su Yunyi’s face turned red, and she wanted to return to her room, but she desperately needed to pee.
She quickly rushed to the toilet to take care of it.
Head down, she walked back to her room, secretly vowing never to drink water at night again and never to get up in the middle of the night.
Unexpectedly, as she passed by the second brother’s room, she heard the woman’s low weeping from inside: “Why is my life so bitter… Let’s ask for leave and go to the county hospital to see. If you’re like this, what’s the difference between my future and being a widow.”
Su Yunyi’s eyes widened.
Oh my god!
She had stumbled upon some major gossip.
Afraid to listen further, she tiptoed back to her room.
In her dreams, Jiang Yunxia kept acting flirtatiously in front of her. Su Yunyi couldn’t help but rub her groggy head, which was not well-rested.
The after-effects were too strong.
As a result, Su Yunyi fell asleep again on the donkey cart to the commune.
Zhou Juanjuan had wanted to tell her the news she had heard yesterday when she reported the rehearsal situation to the brigade leader. Seeing how soundly she was sleeping, she didn’t have the heart to wake her.
Su Yunyi, groggy, followed them to the assembly hall. Zhu Xiaomei announced that Director Zhang was in a meeting today and she would lead everyone in rehearsal.
“Since the director is not here, let’s practice the basic skills first.”
“Su Yunyi, the director just said yesterday that you dance well. You come and demonstrate for everyone.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the way others looked at her changed.
Seeing Su Yunyi still standing there blankly, she spoke again, “Is she playing hard to get now?”
“I’m not…”
Before she could finish, Zhu Xiaomei had already pulled her to the front row.
“This Su Yunyi really thinks she dances that well. It’s just Director Zhang encouraging her.”
“Exactly, she doesn’t even put Xiaomei in her eyes. She’s too arrogant.”
She hadn’t said a word, and they could already imagine so much.