Farm Tough Girl

Chapter 27: Chapter 027 Are you thinking of eating me?_1 Chapter 27: Chapter 027 Are you thinking of eating me?_1 “Third Aunt, please have a seat,” Muniang invited her into the house.

Madam Liu glanced at their dilapidated dwelling and couldn’t help but frown. It was indeed pitiful that the mother and daughter had to live in such a place, but she was by no means a person of overflowing kindness. With not enough surplus grain of her own, she naturally wouldn’t think of supporting others, especially since she didn’t get along with Mrs. Lin.

“Wife, mom wants to know who is here?”

“Just say it’s Mrs. Du stopping by for a chat,” Muniang said without blushing or skipping a beat.

“Alright.”

Watching Erliang leave, Muniang then turned her gaze back to Madam Liu, only to notice a skeptical look in her eyes.

Muniang chuckled, “My mother always overthinks things. If she knew someone from the Qiao family had come, she probably wouldn’t sleep well for days.”

Madam Liu understood. So this girl had been shouldering all the affairs of the household by herself. A sense of respect for the girl sprouted in her heart. Madam Liu had always been shrewd and capable, doing things no worse than any man. She had little patience for weak and incompetent women, which was one of the reasons she had never had any affection for Mrs. Lin, who had silently endured the Qiao family’s bullying over the years.

“Let’s speak plainly, your grandfather sent me here regarding the argument you had with your elders today.”

Muniang found it amusing. Elders? Were those people even worthy of the title?

Muniang had no dislike for this Madam Liu, in fact, she had greatly admired her in the past. So when facing Madam Liu, she didn’t want to use the approach she had for the Qiao family members. Her tone was also amiable,
Muniang smiled and said, “As for this matter, I will seek a personal judgment from the village chief. I will certainly go to the Qiao family’s place, but not just because they’ve summoned me. After all, my mother and I have long been driven out. I am not someone they can summon or dismiss at will. Tomorrow, I’ll go invite the village chief, and then we can go to the Qiao family’s place together. I believe the village chief will ensure justice for us.”

Madam Liu was taken aback. She could hardly imagine such words coming from a fifteen-year-old girl, and especially since it was Old Mr. Qiao who summoned her, she was supposed to be unquestioning. Qiao Muniang seemed utterly indifferent, was it true confidence or youthful arrogance?

“But, you know your grandfather’s temper…”

“Perhaps Third Aunt isn’t aware of my temper. Oh, and by the way, please advise the Qiao family’s elders, hawthorn is not something that’s valuable when just anyone sells it. They shouldn’t waste their energy gathering a heap of worthless trash and make a fool of themselves,” Muniang said with an innocent smile.

Unexpectedly, Madam Liu felt her face burning with embarrassment. Even though she was not involved in this matter, she felt ashamed on behalf of the Qiao family. In the presence of this girl, she always felt as insignificant as a speck of dust. The girl seemed to possess an innate nobility that even coarse clothing could not suppress.

“I should get going,” Madam Liu said, rising somewhat hastily.

Muniang politely insisted she stay for a while longer before seeing her out.

Only then did Erliang come back in, grumbling discontentedly, “None of the Qiao family members are good people. Wife, don’t bother with them!”

Muniang pinched Erliang’s cheek, “Be good, let’s just treat this as entertainment.”

“Eh? Okay, if wife likes it, then it’s fine,” Erliang said blankly.

Muniang grew even more fond of Erliang’s adorably clueless demeanor, so she couldn’t resist pinching his cheek again. How could her husband be so cute?

“Wife, do you want to eat me?” Erliang suddenly asked as he looked at Muniang’s smiling eyes.

“Eh?” Muniang was stunned: “Eat what?”

Erliang said seriously, “The way you were looking at me just now, it was like I was a plate of boiled pork slices.”

Muniang hung three black lines on her forehead, “Your imagination is truly unique.”

Madam Liu returned to the Qiao family and relayed Muniang’s words to Qiao Dazhi, who was naturally so angry he almost choked. Mrs. Ji took the opportunity to badmouth Muniang some more, Qiao Dazhi’s face turned iron blue, had he not been concerned about his own reputation, he would have probably gone straight to Qiao Muniang’s house to settle the score.

Madam Liu kept silent. Qiao Muniang was not to be underestimated; she probably didn’t even consider the whole Qiao family worth her attention. No matter how Mrs. Ji stirred up Old Mr. Qiao, she probably took it as nothing but a joke.

Angry as Qiao Dazhi was, he didn’t dare do anything rash, after all, the Qiao family was the one at fault to begin with. Now that she said she would seek the village chief to ensure justice, they could only wait for tomorrow. He didn’t care about any medical compensation now, his precious son’s reputation absolutely couldn’t be tarnished. No matter what, they had to clear Yuanzhen’s name.

In the evening, Muniang checked the silver by the light of the lamp, fifty taels of silver. After making a big purchase for the household last time, she had spent seven taels and thirty wen. This money, if solely used for daily living, could allow for a rather luxurious life for a year, considering an average family of more than a dozen people only needed about twenty-something taels of silver for a year.

But Muniang’s ambition wasn’t so modest; she wanted to become a rich landowner and take her fate into her own hands. She studied agriculture, naturally, farming was the way to wealth. But buying fields was also a major expense; a good acre of land here was probably worth seven or eight taels. Relying solely on selling vegetables to gather enough money to buy thousands of acres of good land would be too slow. She would have to start from other aspects as well.

After pondering for a moment, Muniang decided to make a trip up the mountain. The mountain was the greatest treasure, who knew, she might even dig up some gold.

“Wife, wife, wife…”

Only then did Muniang snap back to reality, turning her head to see Erliang pitifully tugging at the hem of her clothes, looking aggrieved.

“What’s wrong? Didn’t you go take a bath?” Muniang’s tone softened; she couldn’t resist Erliang’s adorably helpless demeanor.

“I hurt my hand; it can’t touch water,” Erliang said with utmost sincerity.

“Then you can use your other hand to wash.”

“The wound on my chest still hurts; I’m afraid of infection.”

“The bandage is off; it looks fine to me.”

“Why do I feel weak all over, with no strength?”

“Dear, you ate three bowls of rice tonight.”

“Wife…”

“Get in and wash yourself this instant! No sleeping in bed until you’re cleaned up!”

Watching Erliang’s hasty retreat, Muniang finally breathed a sigh of relief, caressing her heart that had begun beating faster. Where did this man learn this act? She had almost lost her composure just now.

Erliang grimaced with resentment, could his wife’s mood swings not be so swift?!

The next day, Muniang and Erliang arrived at the village chief’s house; he was already waiting, along with Old Mr. Qiao.

Well, well, it seems he knows to strike first!

“Village chief,” Muniang greeted with a smile, she wasn’t worried about the chief taking sides, she remembered this village chief was a man of integrity, always fair and impartial.

“Muniang, you and your husband have arrived, Old Mr. Qiao is waiting, please have a seat,” the village chief knocked out his pipe on the ground and put it aside.

Qiao Dazhi had been sporting a bad complexion throughout, particularly when seeing Muniang’s radiant smile. What gave this girl the confidence to smile so assuredly?