novelaction Chapter 306: Drive her away?
Chapter 306: Drive her away?
Xie Jiaojiao was turning over the soil in the yard, and he helped her without saying a word.
Xie Jiaojiao raised her eyes and looked at him: "Why are you here?"
Xie Zhili replied: "When will Liu Mingyue leave?"
"Oh? You still care about this? What? Can't stand the gossip in the village?"
Xie Zhili didn't say anything, but Xie Jiaojiao could guess about 30% of the answer.
"How about I just kick her out?"
"If she has somewhere to go, it would be good for her to leave early. After all, she is a woman. These rumors are nothing to me, but for a woman like her, this is a big deal."
Xie Jiaojiao was very surprised when he said this. Could it be that Xie Zhili had also changed his mind?
Seeing that Xie Jiaojiao didn't answer, Xie Zhili looked at Xie Jiaojiao, and his eyes met with hers. Xie Jiaojiao came back to her senses and nodded slightly: "Okay, then I'll let her leave tomorrow."
Xie Zhili nodded, and waited until all the soil was turned over before going back. He did not rest after returning, but cooked some of the coarse grains he had bought, and then went up the mountain with his load. Now he basically goes up the mountain to pick up some firewood every day, waits for it to be dried, and then takes it to the town to sell the next day. Many people in the village do this.
Fortunately, there are many people in this town who need firewood recently, and a bundle of firewood is two cents more expensive than before.
He had earned quite a bit of copper coins these days, at least enough for his own living.
When it was too hot during the day and there was no work in the fields, he would go cut some bamboo and weave some winnowing baskets. In this way, he could save a few copper coins so that he could buy himself a coffin when he died.
He was in the yard, spreading the firewood he had picked up from the mountains, when Sun Ruhua came in.
Carrying a basket in his hands.
Xie Zhili hurriedly stood up and invited Sun Ruhua in. These days, he had time to weave a bamboo fence to enclose the old house.
Sun Ruhua just looked at him and smiled: "Drying firewood."
Xie Zhili nodded.
Sun Ruhua handed him the basket in her hand and said, "These are the seedlings that my mother planted in the backyard. I gave you some. You can find a place to plant them. At least you will have fresh vegetables to eat in the coming days."
Xie Zhili took it with a smile and quickly brought a stool to Sun Ruhua.
"Mom, please sit down. I'll go get you some hot water."
"No need, I'm just coming here, I'm not thirsty, sit down, I want to talk to you."
Xie Zhili put the basket on the ground, then sat down and waited for Sun Ruhua to speak.
Sun Ruhua looked at him, hesitated for a while, and finally spoke: "I heard from Jiaojiao that you went to the field to look for her this morning?"
Xie Zhili nodded and explained, "There have been some serious rumors in the village recently."
"I heard that after you left, Jiaojiao went to look for Liu Mingyue. Liu Mingyue cried hard at home and said she didn't want to leave. She also said that her husband and son were killed in the flood. Jiaojiao said she would send her back to her parents' home, but she refused to go back no matter what."
Xie Zhili lowered his head: "Why are you telling me this, mother? It has nothing to do with me."
"How can it be irrelevant? You picked her up, and do you think she can't hear these rumors?"
Xie Zhili picked up a wooden stick from the ground and drew on the ground casually without saying a word.
Sun Ruhua continued, "Liu Mingyue even said she would sell herself to Jiaojiao..."
This sentence made Xie Zhili raise his head: "She is a good person with hands and feet, why is she so depressed?"
“I still have nowhere to go!”
At this point, Sun Ruhua sighed, "This world is already difficult for women, and she suffered a great disaster. Her husband and son were killed, and she had nowhere to go. She couldn't go back to her parents' home. I don't think she wanted to sell herself. In the end, she just wanted a place to stay."
"Her husband and son were killed?"
Sun Ruhua nodded: "It's really pitiful. I heard that her son is only three years old."
“It’s a bit pitiful.”
Sun Ruhua looked at Xie Zhili: "Zhili, don't blame me for being nosy! Think about it, you are alone now, and she has no one to rely on and nowhere to go, otherwise..."
"Mom! What are you talking about!" Xie Zhili interrupted Sun Ruhua and threw away the stick in his hand.
"The villagers can just say whatever they want. Why are you like that too? You know I'm useless. Her child is only three years old, so I think she must be young too. What's the point of following someone like me? If she wants to get married, she might as well look for someone suitable in the village or nearby."
As soon as he finished speaking, Sun Ruhua slapped him on the shoulder: "How can you say that about yourself! How can you be a useless person? The doctor said that your illness can be cured if you treat it well. It's you who is stubborn and unwilling to seek treatment!"
Xie Zhili stopped talking.
Sun Ruhua lowered her head: "Mother knows that you are still upset about Zhou Cuihong's matter! But Zhili, so much time has passed, people should always look forward! I think Liu Mingyue is not a lazy woman! She has nowhere to go anyway, are you really going to let Jiaojiao drive her out of the village?"
Xie Zhili still didn't speak.
Sun Ruhua supported herself on her knees and slowly stood up: "That's all I have to say, mother. And I think Liu Mingyue is not uninterested in you, otherwise she wouldn't wash your clothes, cook for you, and accompany you to farm. Think about it yourself."
After Sun Ruhua finished speaking, she put her hands behind her back and went home.
When she returned home, Sun Ruhua heard Liu Mingyue still crying.
After looking at Xie Jiaojiao, Xie Jiaojiao shrugged, turned around and went back to work.
After thinking about it, she went to find Liu Mingyue again.
When Liu Mingyue saw her coming, she immediately wiped the tears from her eyes, stood up, and respectfully called out, "Auntie Sun."
Sun Ruhua waved her hand, then sighed and sat down in her room: "Still crying."
Liu Mingyue lowered her head, bit her lip and said nothing.
Sun Ruhua looked at her and said, "Auntie knows that you are a good woman, but you are from outside our village after all. Zhili saved you and he was afraid of humiliating your reputation, so he put you in our home. But now there are rumors outside, and he is also worried about your reputation, so he thought of letting Jiaojiao send you back to your home, or your mother's home!"
As soon as she was told to leave, Liu Mingyue started crying again.
I only heard Liu Mingyue kneeling down in front of her while crying: "Auntie Sun, please don't chase me away, I really... really have nowhere to go."
Sun Ruhua hurriedly helped her up.
"Hey, don't kneel down all the time in our house. If Jiaojiao sees it, she will be unhappy again."