The Formidable Lady of the Poor Scholar’s Household

Chapter 24: Buying Watermelons in the Scorching Summer to Listen to Gossip

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

With September approaching, the weather was only getting hotter by the day.

Someone in the village had come up with the idea of pushing an oxcart around with watermelons for sale, causing the villagers to surround the cart.

Qian Sishui had heard from Auntie Wan’s in-law, Auntie An, that there was a watermelon seller under the banyan tree at the village entrance, so she followed them to take a look.

Auntie An was a typical farmer’s woman. Her skin was a little tanned from the sun. Her clothes were neat and clean, but she spoke casually and loudly.

She pulled Qian Sishui all the way to the village entrance and saw that there were already many people gathered.

“We’re too late! Hey!” As she said so, she saw a gap in the crowd and squeezed in.

Qian Sishui didn’t know how to choose watermelons, and watched as everyone touched and knocked on the watermelons. Some even patted the watermelons. Although she didn’t understand what they were doing, she could hear the different sounds when the different watermelons were tapped.

“Sister, why are you standing there? Choose quickly.” Auntie An urged Qian Sishui while choosing watermelons herself.

Qian Sishui felt that every watermelon looked the same, except for their size. “Sister-in-law, I don’t know how to choose.”

When Auntie An heard this, she handed a watermelon to Qian Sishui. “Hey, how many do you want?”

“Three.” She could be placed them in a wicker basket, which could then be hung directly in the well. It would taste better than iced lollies.

“Alright, I’ll pick two more for you.” She quickly turned around and started picking with everyone.

Seeing that Qian Sishui had bought three big watermelons, the boss said, “Young lady, use my frame to bring them back. The frame’s broken, so you don’t have to send them back. Just throw it away.”

“Okay.”

Qian Sishui bought three watermelons. Everyone else bought only one. There were even others who bought none at all.

On the way back, she chanced upon Liu Jiang and Zhang Hongying walking ahead of her.

“Did you see that? We women are born not to enjoy life.” Auntie An had long disliked Zhang Hongying’s lazy behavior.

Qian Sishui was confused.

“When Zhang Hongying first married into our village, she was very diligent. At that time, we even privately said that the old village chief’s family was lucky to have found a good daughter-in-law.” As she spoke, she deliberately lowered her voice.

“Who knew what would happen? Ever since she got pregnant, her mother-in-law’s heart ached for her. She told her to take good care of the baby.” She looked at Zhang Hongying, who had lost a lot of weight. “When she first got pregnant, she was afraid that she might give birth to a daughter, so she worked very diligently.”

Auntie An hugged the watermelon. “But you know what happened in the end. She gave birth to a boy, so she felt like she had done a lot for Old Liu’s family. Since then, she has been shamelessly lazing around at home, not doing anything. Some people couldn’t stand it and even criticized her. Unfortunately, it was useless. The old village chief and his wife are already so old, yet she’s so idle all day.”

Qian Sishui listened to Auntie An’s casual conversation. That was interesting.

“Look what happened in the end. The old village chief finally got angry and asked Liu Jiang to send her back to her family. He said that he wanted her to go back to her family and learn how to be a daughter-in-law from her sister-in-law,” Auntie An commented as she looked at the two people in front of her.

She thought of something. “Sister Qian, sometimes I’m quite envious of you. You don’t have any in-laws to take care of you, and you don’t have any sisters-in-law or brothers-in-law to cause trouble for you. You can live your life however you want.” She was really envious.

“However, we country bumpkins are particular about having more children. When there are more people in our family, there are many conflicts, but other people wouldn”t dare to bully us, right?”

“Mm, yes.” When it came to group fights, having the numbers was more advantageous.

“Therefore, I’ve finally seen through it. There are advantages and disadvantages to everything in life. The key is how we choose to live.”

Along the way home, Qian Sishui had heard all the latest gossip in the village.

As for Zhang Hongying, who had returned to her parents’ house, she couldn’t have been more obedient.

She even started doing the chores and washing the clothes. She had indeed changed, but how long she could maintain them was yet to be seen.

That day, the sun was shining brightly! Shi Jinhua had not returned home. But Uncle Chen, who pulled the oxcart, came back with a message.

“Little Qian, are you at home?”

After Uncle Chen returned the oxcart home, he stood at the door with the watermelon Shi Jinhua had asked him to bring and a pouch of money.

Qian Sishui was making shoes for Shi Jinhua when she heard a voice. It sounded like Uncle Chen, the oxcart driver.

When she walked out, she saw that she had been right. Ever since the harvesting season was over, no one else had come to the house except Auntie Wan and Auntie An.

“Uncle Chen.” Qian Sishui opened the door.

“Little Qian, your husband asked me to bring this back for you.” As he spoke, he handed the pouch and watermelon to Qian Sishui.

“He also said that he will set off for Yangzhou City for the exam the day after tomorrow. The exam will last for three days, and he will only be back in about ten days. He asked you if you have prepared his clothes and shoes for him and asked me to bring them to him.”

Qian Sishui had not seen Shi Jinhua for almost two months. She did not know what exams were like in this era.

“Uncle Chen, I’ll get you the clothes and shoes.” Qian Sishui had once thanked the body’s original owner in her heart for learning how to embroider clothes and shoes. Otherwise, she would have to spend money to buy them.

When Qian Sishui came out again, she was carrying a bag in one hand and half a watermelon in the other.

“Uncle Chen, let’s split it equally.” Qian Sishui didn’t know how to say nice and dignified words and simply handed half of the watermelon to the man.

Uncle Chen looked at it. “I just helped to bring a message back. Is it worth half of your watermelon? Take it back.”

Any normal person would understand that he was just being courteous.

Unfortunately, Qian Sishui was as dense as a block. With her straightforward personality, she stuffed the watermelon into the man’s arms and turned around to enter the house. Uncle Chen didn’t have enough time to react to what had just happened.

“This child…” After thinking for a long time, he could not think of a way to express his thoughts accurately.

“Haha…” Auntie Wan couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.

“Brother Chen, just take it. Sishui doesn’t know how to phrase her words well.”

“That seems to be the case.” Uncle Chen picked up both the bag and the watermelon.

“This girl doesn’t know how to interact with others at all. She must be sincere in thanking you if she gave you a gift.”

She was quiet and cold, but she could differentiate between good and bad. She also had great ideas, and there was nothing left to wonder about her courage either! Ordinary men couldn’t even compare to her.

The last time Qian Sishui bought watermelons, she had heard about Village Chief Liu’s family. Now that the harvesting was done, she thought planting soybeans like Auntie An had told her about.

There was no need to think about relying on Qian Sishui to farm. No way!

Left with no choice, she had to spend money to find someone to plow the ground and plant soybeans.

Last time, she had troubled the old village chief’s family. This time, she did not dare to look for him again, afraid that Zhang Hongying would cause trouble again, resulting in yet another family conflict.

When she expressed her concerns to Auntie Wan, the latter replied, “You’re right. The old village chief and his wife are good people, but their daughter-in-law isn’t. We don’t usually look for the old village chief. Firstly, he’s old and who knows if something will happen to him. Secondly…” As she spoke, she looked around.

Seeing that there was no one around, she said in a low voice, “His daughter-in-law is always secretly receiving bribes.” She looked down on Zhang Hongying. “We all live in the same village. Everyone knows what’s going on. That’s why some people don’t like to go to the old village chief’s house.”

“Doesn’t the village chief know about it?” Qian Sishui thought to herself, ‘I’m too superficial!’

“He knows., but how many times could he really deal with it? If you don’t bring any gifts for her, she’ll look at you like you’re a beggar. After a long time, who would be willing to suffer like this?”

Auntie An came out of the kitchen and replied. Zhang Hongying was just relying on the fact that she was the daughter-in-law of the old village chief. If it were anyone else, they would have been reprimanded a long time ago.