Farmhouse Green Plum

Chapter 151 Worry

The Xu family was an outsider household in Xinghua Village. The land they were allocated was small and not fertile. Over the years, it was only thanks to Xu Dahe's bucket after bucket of manure that the land became fertile.

But the output was barely enough for the family's food and drink. The Xu family was not like the Song family, and there was income from Uncle Song's eels. The Xu family was not well off.

Chen pushed the bamboo basket back and said, "Just take it. Our family is in trouble, but we can still get by even if we tighten our belts. You are just starting a new family now, and you are in need of everything."

"But……"

"But what is it?" Chen interrupted Song Ying before she could finish. "You taught Yulan to read, and we haven't given you a thank-you gift yet. These are your thank-you gifts. If you don't accept them, do you think your aunt gave you too little?"

"No, no, no, of course not!" Song Ying waved his hands quickly.

Chen happily put the bamboo basket in her hand and said, "If you don't mind, take it! Now Yulan can read and write normally. I don't know how to thank you."

Xu Yulan also persuaded him: "Song Ying, just accept it. There is nothing in this room. What will you eat? You don't want to go to my house..."

After they talked so much, Song Ying had no choice but to accept it and said sincerely, "Thank you, Aunt Chen."

Chen waved her hand and said, "Okay, you pack up first. I have to go back and see Yuzhi and Miss He off."

Hearing He Tianyu's words, Song Ying's expression froze for a moment, "Miss He, how did she know that we were collecting herbs to sell for money?"

She thought about it for the whole afternoon but still had no clue.

Xu Yulan shook her head: "Don't ask, we don't know either. I asked her when I went back to have lunch today, but she refused to say anything. My mother and others asked about it at noon, but she still didn't say anything."

Song Ying clenched her fists. She would definitely find out who leaked the secret!

After seeing Chen and Xu Yulan off, Song Ying took the straw to the bedroom and spread it in a drier place in the room.

Before she finished laying the floor, someone called her from outside.

She put down the straw, went out and saw that it was her great-aunt's second daughter-in-law, that is, her second aunt from the next room, who came over with a small bowl.

"Second aunt." Song Ying greeted her with a smile. From now on, they would be neighbors. They would see each other every day. Moreover, she had just set up a new household, so she would definitely need things a lot, and would have to borrow from the next door.

Sun laughed twice and handed her the bowl. "This is the glutinous rice cake that we pounded today. There's not much left. You can eat it as you like."

"Thank you, second aunt. I'll bring the bowl to you later." Song Ying took it.

Sun nodded, said nothing more, turned around and left.

Song Ying was stunned and was about to go back to the house, but he found that the outside of the bowl was soaked in water. It looked very cold in the hot summer day, and it must have just been taken out of cold water.

It is hot in the summer, and food will easily go bad if left for too long. Farmers don’t have ice, but they have their own way of preserving food. If food needs to be kept overnight, they hang it in the well in a basket. If food needs to be saved for the next meal, they put it in a basin of water.

Since the glutinous rice cake was placed in the water, it must have been intended to be saved for the next meal or eaten tomorrow. Why was it sent to her again?

Soon, she remembered the Chen mother and daughter who had just left, and realized that she was forced into this.

Her great-aunt was a person who was very particular about rules and required girls to be chaste and obedient. Her behavior today would certainly displease her great-aunt.

But Chen was an outsider, and even though her own relatives were indifferent to the gifts she sent her, it would be embarrassing if it got out.

Song Ying shrugged. No matter what, there was more food, which should be enough for the three of them to not go hungry tonight.

She put the bowl in the basket and went back to the bedroom to spread the straw.

After laying out the straw, she took the clay pot and prepared to go out to get some water from the well so that she could cook in the evening. Just as she went out, she saw Xiaoxiang, her parents and brother coming back.

The two ancestral houses of the Song family did not have courtyards surrounded by fences, so Xiaoxiang saw her getting ready to go out at a glance.

"Song Ying, what are you doing here?" Xiao Xiang was very curious. She looked at the pottery jar in her hand and asked, "Are you here to borrow salt from your great-aunt?"

"Uh, no." Song Ying answered her second question and was thinking about how to answer the first one.

Xiaoxiang didn't care anymore. She asked curiously, "Oh, by the way, when I passed by the village chief's house just now, I saw Meiyue and Nanxing kneeling in the yard. Do you know what they did wrong?"

Xiaoxiang's mother Zhang also looked over and shook her head, saying disapprovingly: "Aunt Qian is really something. It's a big festival. Even if the child made a mistake, you should wait until the festival is over before punishing him."

Song Ying touched the tip of her nose guiltily, praying silently that Zhang, who knew the truth, would remember what she said now.

After Zhang finished speaking, she saw that Song Ying didn't say anything, so she thought that Song Ying didn't know the reason either, so she told the family to go home quickly.

Xiaoxiang waved to Song Ying and said, "I'm going to go back first. We'll play again in the evening. I haven't eaten a single grain of rice since breakfast. I'm starving."

When Song Ying heard this, he became even more worried.

Sure enough, not long after they walked away, she heard Zhang's roar: "What? Picking herbs to make money?!"

Then, Xiaoxiang's crying sounded...

As the night deepened, the people of Xinghua Village fell asleep. On the inky sky, the full moon became brighter and brighter, and the moonlight like water illuminated the village.

Song Ying walked towards Luo Yanxing and Xiaoxiang, carrying duck eggs, moon cakes and glutinous rice cakes.

Passing by Luo Yanxing's house, she stretched her neck and looked around. The yard was empty, with no one there.

Song Ying walked around to Luo Yanxing's room at the back, raised his hand and knocked lightly on the wall, but heard no response.

It seemed that she was either asleep, or like herself, she was worried about Xiaoxiang and went to her house.

Song Ying immediately walked towards Xiaoxiang's house. From a distance, she saw a dark shadow standing on tiptoe and lying on the fence.

As he walked a little closer, he heard Luo Yanxing mumbling in a low voice, "Xiaoxiang, come here, don't kneel. Don't worry, your parents are asleep, I've confirmed it..."

"I guessed you were here." Song Ying walked over quietly and spoke in a low voice.

Hearing her voice, Luo Yanxing came down from the fence and asked anxiously, "You're here, what's going on? How did you get exposed all of a sudden?"

As she said this, she rubbed her butt, "Ouch my butt, it hurts so much."

He stretched his neck and whispered to Zhao Xiaoxiang inside, "Xiaoxiang, get up quickly. Let's discuss this together."

Song Ying looked inside worriedly and said helplessly, "I don't know either. When I was coming back, I passed by the village chief's house and He Tianyu was there. She suddenly said that we can make money by selling herbs. She was so sure about it that I was stunned!"

It was He Tianyu who pointed this out. Luo Yanxing already knew about it. She exhaled deeply, "This is really strange. How did He Tianyu know this?"

He Tianyu and them were not only from different villages, but also from two different social classes, so they had absolutely no contact with each other.