Chapter 770 - 396: Face-Slapping (Part 2)

Chapter 770: Chapter 396: Face-Slapping (Part 2)

He nodded to Li Gengtian, then turned and walked out.

Everyone stared at each other dumbfounded. ’Wasn’t that whole argument for nothing?’ ’If he’d just said that from the start, none of this would have happened!’

Li Gengtian watched Qingmu and Huai Zi with a complicated expression. After a long moment, he waved his hand listlessly. "Everyone, dismiss."

Without waiting for anyone else, Sun Jinshan shot to his feet and stormed out without a backward glance.

Qingmu and Huai Zi smiled as they walked out with the crowd, offering their sincere thanks. "Thank you, everyone, for today. I, Zheng Qingmu, won’t forget that you were willing to stand up and speak a word of justice. This matter may not seem huge, but it’s not insignificant either. As they say, ’a man fights for his dignity, a tree for its sunlight.’ Knowing that not everyone has turned their backs on us will surely make my mother happy. Yesterday, she fainted from anger twice. I had to take her to the market to see Doctor Qin, and we didn’t get back until after dark."

Zhao San was shocked. "Goodness! Why are you only telling us now? Is Aunt Zheng alright?"

The others all stopped in their tracks, looking at Qingmu with concern.

Li Changliang couldn’t stop the blood from rushing to his head, his face flushing a deep purple. ’Mrs. Yang fainted from anger, and it was almost certainly because of Liu’er’s mother.’ He thought of the long-standing feud between the Zheng and Sun Families. But the Zhengs were decent people; they hadn’t used the feud as an excuse to kick Liu’er while she was down. They had even comforted her and encouraged her to pull herself together. And what about Liu’er’s mother? Instead of being grateful, she blamed Juhua for being a busybody and spreading gossip.

As her son-in-law, he was mortified. He couldn’t even bring himself to look up.

No one else noticed him, but his brother, Li Changming, patted him on the shoulder and sighed.

Qingmu grinned. "We were all terrified yesterday, but who knew it was actually wonderful news? My mother’s pregnant! Isn’t that the best news ever?"

The crowd was stunned for a moment, then erupted in a boisterous clamor, saying they had to go offer congratulations and demand a celebratory drink.

Qingmu and Huai Zi exchanged a smile. "Everyone’s welcome! We’ll have pickled vegetables with braised pig’s trotters. We’ll fill a giant basin, so you can eat your fill!"

They were only joking, of course, and weren’t actually going to impose for a meal. Most of them had chores waiting at home. So, after another round of laughter and chatter, they finally dispersed.

Li Gengtian watched them go, his expression impassive. Li Mingtang, however, said angrily, "Gengtian, that brat Zheng Qingmu is slapping you in the face!"

Li Gengdi quickly tried to placate him. "I don’t think that’s what Qingmu meant. Didn’t he say he’d listen to you, his elder brother, in all things?"

To be honest, he strongly disapproved of his brother’s wishy-washy way of handling things as village chief. He was even more disgusted by Third Grandpa and Sun Jinshan’s pot-stirring. But what could he do? His surname was Li, after all. He couldn’t very well side with outsiders against his own family, so he had to keep his mouth shut.

’That kid Changliang has it better,’ he thought. ’He just says whatever is on his mind.’

Li Gengtian shot Li Mingtang a cold glance and walked off in the other direction without a word.

「At the Zhang family home」

Juhua was in the garden with Pu Pao, cutting tender chives. She was planning to make dumplings to send over for Mrs. Yang.

It hadn’t been long since the old chives were harvested, so they hadn’t fully grown back. The tender green blades were only about six inches long. She used an old sickle to cut three small bunches.

"Young Madam, the chives have barely grown in. It seems a shame to cut them," Pu Pao said reluctantly, gathering the cuttings into a basket.

Juhua glanced at the half-bed of chives and smiled. "They’re more tender this way. I’m just cutting a little to mix into the dumpling filling for aroma. I’ll be adding other ingredients too."

’A pregnancy at Mrs. Yang’s age would definitely take a toll on her, so her diet would need to be very carefully managed. And now Liu Yunlan is pregnant too. As the daughter of the family, I’ll just have to put in more effort to look after them both.’

Pu Pao asked eagerly, "What else are we adding? Teach me, Young Madam, I’ll do it." She was just learning how to cook and was very enthusiastic.

Juhua had her put the sickle in the chicken coop before they headed to the front yard. "We’ll add some eggs, and some pickled vegetable stems," she explained as they walked. "Don’t use the leaves, the stems are crisp and sour. A filling like this is very appetizing." She thought for a moment, then added, "Diced cured meat would be good in it, too."

Back in the front yard, she saw the two little ones were still asleep. She and Pu Pao washed the chives and pickled vegetables, chopped them, scrambled the eggs, and mixed the dumpling filling. Mrs. He had already rolled out the wrappers.

Once the dumplings were wrapped, they were steamed. Juhua also prepared a dipping sauce for them.

Juhua first filled a plate for Pu Pao to take back for her grandmother to eat. Then she prepared two more plates to bring next door to her parents’ home.

Mrs. He frowned. "Is that all? You can’t just feed your mother and sister-in-law, can you? Hulu, Laishou, and your maternal grandmother... everyone, old and young, will want some. If you ask me, you should just take the rest of the filling and wrappers next door. You can wrap and steam them in their kitchen. It’ll be easier than steaming them here and trying to carry them over hot."

Juhua glanced at the dumplings already on the board. "Will we have enough for our family?"

Mrs. He chuckled. "If not, Aunt Liu and I can just make more. It’s not like *I’m* pregnant and can’t do the work."

Juhua let out a laugh. When Pu Pao returned, the two of them carried everything next door.

The women were busy in the kitchen when Qingmu and Huai Zi came home.

Seeing their relaxed expressions, Juhua smiled at Mrs. Wang. "Grandma, Laishou’s matter is settled. You can finally rest easy. No more long faces! You have to be happy! You’re about to have a new grandchild *and* a new great-grandchild. Your blessings are overflowing!"

Mrs. Wang agreed again and again, her eyes crinkling into a smile. Still, she needed to hear it from Qingmu himself. After he recounted the details of the meeting and what Scholar Zhou had said, she finally lifted the corner of her tunic to wipe away tears of joy. Liu Yunlan quickly moved to comfort her.

Mrs. Yang had her son and son-in-law sit at the small square table and called for Liu Yunlan to bring them a plate of dumplings. "If the whole village had sided with that wife of the Sun family," she said, "I think I would have died from pure rage. It turns out there are more decent people than I thought."

Juhua soothed her in a gentle voice, "Ma, you and Dad are good, honest people. Everyone in the village knows it. What happened yesterday morning was just... people here are used to not sticking their necks out. Country folk are reserved, aren’t they? My own father and father-in-law are usually the same way—they just go along with whatever the group decides."

Qingmu and Huai Zi quickly chimed in with more words of reassurance.

Mrs. Yang nodded. "That’s true. In village meetings, your father and Dashuan don’t usually say much either. They just do whatever the village chief decides."

Just as they were eating, Zheng Changhe returned from the undeveloped fields with little Hulu perched on his shoulders, with Zhang Dashuan in tow. The moment they entered the yard, Hulu yelled, "Mama, Hulu’s hungry!"

Zheng Changhe chuckled and set the boy down. He watched Hulu run toward the kitchen with Black Dog, tugging the dog’s ear as he went. "This kid’s been running wild all morning," he said to Zhang Dashuan. "Of course he’s hungry. I’m starving myself!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to visit qidian.com to vote with recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)