“Isn’t that right? All the Ye family kids go to school, but this girl was only allowed to attend for one year. I heard that only after the old village head came to ask.”
“The year before last, I saw Wang Xiu beating her with a broom myself. She hit her hard and didn’t even let her cry out. Such a grown girl, who knows how many scars she has all over her body.”
“Hah, and Old Ye still has the nerve to talk. Not a single kang in their house was ever for her to sleep on. Absolutely shameless.”
…
Wang Xiu snapped, “Why are you all sticking your noses into our family business? If you’re so free, why don’t you go stew? It’s because our family has many sons. What, jealous? You can’t envy that!”
The thing Wang Xiu was proudest of in her life was her capable womb, three sons in a row: Ye Jun, Ye Bing, and Ye Wei.
No matter what happened, these three sons were her greatest backing.
The more Ye Jiadong listened, the darker his face grew. He stopped the ox cart again. “You girl, is this how our family taught you to speak to elders? Your biological parents took away our daughter and still haven’t sent her back. No one knows if she’s alive or dead. And you—you’ve been enjoying yourself for a whole year.”
Only then did everyone truly notice Ye Cai’e’s changes.
When she left last year, she was dark and thin, looking just like a local. After only one year, her skin had lightened noticeably. She hadn’t gained weight, but she seemed a bit taller, and now she looked much prettier.
“Uncle, if you want to find your biological daughter, then contact them yourself. I haven’t even settled accounts with you yet over what happened back then, and you still dare jump around in front of me. Do you want everyone to know exactly how you’ve treated me all these years?”
Ye Cai’e’s voice was icy. Her gaze was fixed straight on Ye Jiadong, making his scalp prickle. He couldn’t help suspecting that this girl definitely knew something.
When it was time to rest, he would write to his daughter. For now, he could only suppress things.
Unable to withstand the surrounding ridicule, Ye Jiadong clasped his hands behind his back, took a deep breath, and said, “Cai’e, the grace of raising is greater than the grace of giving birth. Our family’s conditions have been poor these years. If you’re ever willing to come back, this home will always welcome you.”
Only then did he step aside and let the ox cart leave. Wang Xiu was frantic, her heart bleeding.
“You’re just letting her go like that? She definitely bought a lot of good things in town. People from Shanghai have money, they must have given her plenty. These past two years, Xiao Bing and Xiao Wei have been talking about marriage. This is exactly when we need money…”
Wang Xiu nagged endlessly, irritating Ye Jiadong to no end.
Didn’t he want it too? But the girl wasn’t accepting anything now. If this stalemate continued, she might say something she shouldn’t, and then no girl would dare marry into the Ye family.
Besides, she was just a young girl. She couldn’t possibly use all those things. And Cai’e was always soft-hearted. Once his wife went to apologize and admit fault, she would surely be willing to come home obediently.
Then they could find her a husband and collect some bride price…
Qin Chengyi heard about what happened at noon while working, from people in the same team gossiping. Although only a small portion of villagers had witnessed it firsthand, the news quickly spread throughout the village.
Thinking of last night, when he had been tidying the room and saw the scars on the girl’s arm as she rolled up her sleeves, a dull ache spread through his chest.
So that was how they came to be. Even in such obvious places there were so many scars, how could the rest of her body be any better?
She had parents growing up, yet her life was worse than his, who had no family at all. No wonder she didn’t want to go home after returning and chose to find another place to live.
He unconsciously sped up his work. Each person in their team had assigned tasks. Once they finished their portion, they could rest.
He finished a whole afternoon’s farm work in just two hours. After telling the brigade leader, he left directly.
The people in his team weren’t surprised at all. Qin Chengyi was strange—nothing he did was unexpected.
Ye Cai’e could easily guess that the villagers’ afternoon work wouldn’t be dull. With Ye family gossip to talk about, time would pass quickly.
Humming a tune, she thoroughly cleaned the small courtyard she had rented. The original owner had been excellent at manual labor. She even cleared the weeds in the backyard and turned over the soil, just barely finishing by dinnertime.
In the corner of the backyard near the wall was a large iron pot. Although Ye Cai’e didn’t know how to use it, the original owner did. From the age of three, she had cooked with this kind of iron pot.
Ye Cai’e sat on the stone stool at the doorway, resting and thinking about having some tables and chairs made. She remembered there was a skilled carpenter in the village. Those large, sturdy chests in Duoduo Space could also be taken out for storage.
Ah, the comfortable bed in Duoduo Space had nowhere to go. The room was still too small, and everything was kangs.
After sleeping one night, Ye Cai’e hadn’t quite adjusted. It was too hard. When she bought quilts, she would need to get a few extra mattresses as well.
“Knock, knock, knock!”
Someone knocked on Ye Cai’e’s gate. Who would come at this time?
She was already prepared for a fight, but when she opened the door, she saw a man nearly a head taller than her, holding a rabbit that was already dead.
“I hunted too much. I can’t finish it before it spoils. This is for you.” Qin Chengyi rarely interacted with people, let alone something like this. He was a little nervous.
“Huh?” Since when was there such a thing as having too much meat?
The two stared at each other in silence for a moment.
Ye Cai’e broke first. “You’re really giving it to me? You went up the mountain?”
“Mm.” It wasn’t clear which question he was answering.
“Come in first. I don’t know how to deal with it. We’ll eat together tonight. You handle the rabbit and I’ll cook. The pot in the backyard hasn’t been used in a long time, I don’t even know if it still works. If it doesn’t, help me fix it.” Ye Cai’e pulled him inside and closed the gate.
Qin Chengyi looked at the small hand resting on his arm, his mind going blank. In all these years, this was the first time anyone had been so close to him.
Ye Cai’e kept chattering. When she pulled him into the backyard and finally looked over, she asked, “Hey, are you too hot? Why is your face so red?”
It really wasn’t easy for her to notice redness on such a dark face.
“Ahem, I’m fine. I’ll go handle the rabbit first.” Qin Chengyi escaped the situation, grabbed a basin, and started working in the yard.
He wore very little on his upper body, clearly strong and not afraid of the cold. Sweat made the fabric cling to his muscles, tracing smooth lines with every movement.
With nothing to do, Ye Cai’e sat back on the stool and watched him.