W Chapter 63

Chapter 63: Chapter 63 – Fighting

Smelling the aroma of meat, everyone unconsciously sped up their work. Although they didn’t dare to have too many expectations, their hearts still yearned for meat.

“Dinner’s ready!”

Shen Lai shouted, and the villagers wiped the sweat from their foreheads, smiles appearing on their faces as they eagerly grabbed their earthenware bowls to line up for food.

The Shen family’s dishes had fixed portions, but there were no restrictions on how much coarse rice one could eat.

As long as it wasn’t wasted, one could eat as much as they wanted, but they couldn’t take it home.

As for the dishes, each person got a spoonful of each dish. You couldn’t get a second helping of a dish, but you could take it home if you wanted.

The first villager in line couldn’t help but exclaim when he saw what was in the earthenware pot.

“They’re really giving us meat!”

His words caused a stir among those behind him, who couldn’t help but crane their necks to get a better look. The first few could see, but those further back couldn’t see anything and could only ask those in front.

The line became lively for a moment, with everyone’s eyes and thoughts focused on meat.

Shen Chengshan was afraid of any trouble, so he had Shen Hui stand nearby to watch the line.

The villagers were somewhat afraid of him, so even though they were anxious, they were still relatively orderly.

Zhou Dashan, the first in line, eagerly presented his bowl, his eyes fixed on the slices of meat mixed in with the vegetables in the earthenware pot.

He swallowed, his gaze following the movement of the wooden spoon, hoping that at least two slices of meat would be his.

Shen Gui scooped downwards without any hesitation, directly filling the villager’s large earthenware bowl.

Seeing this while he was serving rice on the side, Ling Xing couldn’t help but think how great it would have been if Shen Gui had been serving food at his university cafeteria.

His steady hand was reassuring.

Zhou Dashan stared intently at the wooden spoon, quickly counting the visible slices of meat in his mind.

One, two, three, four…

Ten slices!

He had at least ten slices of meat!

The Shen family was genuinely giving them meat to eat, not just putting two slices on top to deceive people!

Zhou Dashan took his large earthenware bowl, which contained two dishes, one meat and one vegetable, as well as a bowl full of coarse rice.

He happily carried the two large bowls away, squatting down on the ground to start devouring the food.

The villagers behind him were very eager, unconsciously swallowing.

Those who got their food all did the same as Zhou Dashan, eagerly finding a place to squat and start eating!

Wang Tiesheng and his son, Wang Shuanzi, got their food one after the other. After squatting in a corner, Wang Tiesheng took out a clean, large leaf from his worn clothes.

He picked out all the meat slices and arranged them neatly on the leaf.

The Shen family didn’t interfere with what the working villagers did with their food. Many people would save half of their dishes to take home to their families after work in the evening.

Wang Tiesheng had previously used leaves to wrap the dishes, then mixed the rice with the soup and put the leaf-wrapped dishes into the earthenware bowl after finishing.

Wang Shuanzi did the same as his father, but today Wang Tiesheng said, “You keep the meat for yourself. It’s enough for me to take my share home.”

His eldest son had never eaten much meat since he was a child. It was his fault as a father for being useless.

Now that he finally had some, he naturally wanted his child to eat more.

Wang Shuanzi was truly craving meat. He had never seen so many slices of meat in a bowl since he was a child.

When he first saw it, his eyes lit up. It had to be said that the Shen family was not only rich but also generous.

He kept the meat in his bowl, but he didn’t eat it all by himself. Instead, he shared it with his father.

After eating one slice, the father shook his head. “I’m not eating anymore. I don’t like meat.”

If Wang Shuanzi hadn’t been watching his father, seeing him chewing the meat with relish and reluctance to swallow, he might have believed him.

In these days of lack of oil and sugar, who could really not like eating meat and sugar?

Wang Shuanzi silently put meat in his father’s bowl. When Wang Tiesheng refused, he also stopped eating.

After a moment of stalemate, the father and son still split the meat slices equally.

As he ate, Wang Tiesheng wondered when he could allow his family to have a hearty meal of meat.

Chen Cuihua neatly stacked the remaining cabbage at home and pickled a few heads with coarse salt, saving them for winter.

“Mom, meat!”

Six-year-old Wang Zhuzi held a slice of meat in his skinny hand. This was the meat dish that Wang Tiesheng had brought back yesterday.

Chen Cuihua was busy pickling cabbage, swallowing at the scent of meat. “Why haven’t you finished eating it yet? Mom doesn’t like to eat it, you eat it yourself.”

Wang Zhuzi was wearing a patched-up garment, which was the clothes that his elder brother Wang Shuanzi had taken off. It had been tattered and could no longer be mended.

However, Chen Cuihua was still thinking of ways to take it apart and make two small garments out of it.

The youngest, the fifth child, was still naked. Now that it was cold, Chen Cuihua was afraid that the child would catch a cold, so she could only lock him in the house.

When Wang Zhuzi heard that his mother did not like to eat meat, his eyes widened, and his little head really could not understand his mother.

How was that possible?

How could she not like to eat meat?

Wang Zhuzi sucked his saliva, happily putting the meat he had hidden for a long time into his mouth.

Chen Cuihua was happy to see her child eating happily.

She calculated the money in the family, thinking that the price of grain in town had fallen by half, she also sold the cabbage, and her husband and eldest son had forty copper coins a day, which saved a lot of food and grain.

From autumn to winter, she no longer had to be as frugal as before, daring not to eat an extra bite.

After all, if she ate an extra bite now, she would have one less bite to eat in winter.

It wasn’t a big deal to eat less when the weather wasn’t that cold. In the winter when it was so cold, people really couldn’t survive without anything to eat.

“Zhuzi, take good care of your younger siblings at home, Mom is going to buy a block of tofu back.”

Wang Zhuzi jumped up when he heard that she was going to buy tofu.

“Okay!”

He liked to eat tofu. It was so soft and tender and delicious!

Chen Cuihua put the pickled vegetable jar away, counted out five copper coins from the bottom of the box in the house, carefully put them away, and closed the door to buy tofu.

She hadn’t bought tofu in half a year, and she was really missing it.

Speaking of tofu, Xie Qingya made the best tofu, so Chen Cuihua naturally wanted to buy delicious tofu, so she first went to his place.

Xie Qingya’s tofu business was the best in the village, but he had a fixed amount every day, and it was gone when it was sold out.

There were many people who came to buy tofu, and the yard was also lively.

There were also quite a few who weren’t buying tofu, but just had nothing to do, so they came to chat with people.

When Chen Cuihua arrived, there were several groups of people standing in the yard, talking animatedly.

“Aunt Chen is here, how much tofu do you want?”

Xie Qingya removed a board that had been sold out and carried a new board up.

Coming early was not as good as coming at the right time, Chen Cuihua pointed to the middle part, “Give me five copper coins’ worth, I want the middle part.”

The surrounding area of the middle part was tender, Chen Cuihua felt that this was the best part of a board of tofu.

Buying it here with five copper coins was more valuable than in other places.

The aunt who came after Chen Cuihua saw that she was only one step away, and slapped her thigh in annoyance.

Alas, what a pity!

Xie Qingya also knew that the people in the village loved the middle part, but this part was limited, so it could only be first come, first served.

After cutting the tofu, Xie Qingya directly put it in the earthenware bowl that Chen Cuihua had brought.

The taste of tofu made Chen Cuihua feel a little better. She was about to leave when she heard Aunt Yu’s shrill voice criticizing behind her.

“Hey? Wang Fulan, what’s wrong with you? There’s a corner missing from that piece, that’s very unlucky. Cut me another one.”

Xie Qingya looked at the corner the size of a little fingernail that had been cut off by the knife, and cut another piece for Aunt Yu.

“This one won’t do either, it’s too close to the edge, it’s very hard.”

Hearing this, Xie Qingya changed another direction and continued to cut.

“This one is not good either, I think this place is not as white as the others, is there a problem with the making?”

Xie Qingya stopped what he was doing, looking at the tofu, which was no different from other places.

What missing corner, hard, not white, all were excuses to make trouble.

It was all a board of tofu, how could it be hard and soft at the same time?

“Aunt Yu, just point to which one you want directly.”

Aunt Yu smiled, her face full of wrinkles. “Isn’t there a next board that hasn’t been touched yet? I want the middle part of that.”

Xie Qingya chuckled, “This board won’t be sold out, the next board will not be sold. If you want the next board, Aunt Yu, you can wait.”

Aunt Yu panicked when she heard it, “No way, my son-in-law is coming to eat at night, the family is waiting for the tofu to be put in the pot.”

Xie Qingya glanced at the sun, and said strangely, “It’s only afternoon now, it won’t delay things.”

Of course, it wouldn’t delay things. Aunt Yu just didn’t want to wait, and was also afraid that she wouldn’t be able to get in line after waiting.

Some people would buy two pieces together at the end of the previous board, so that they could choose the tofu on the next board.

And Xie Qingya had only one board of tofu left. If she couldn’t wait for the next board, she wouldn’t be able to buy it today.

Aunt Yu wouldn’t have it.

“Wang Fulan, just sell it to me first, you’re going to sell it anyway.”

Xie Qingya shook his head without even thinking. How could he open this opening? Once he did, everyone would want the middle piece of tofu from him. He would offend people no matter who he gave it to, and he didn’t want that.

“Aunt Yu, you should still wait.”

Seeing that Xie Qingya wouldn’t budge, Aunt Yu put away her good looks and drooped her mouth. “How can you, a fulan, be so unreasonable? I’ve already said that I’m in a hurry to put the tofu in the pot, and you still keep telling me to wait? What do you mean?”

Xie Qingya was also unhappy.

“It’s only afternoon now, you want tofu in the evening, so how are you in a hurry? If you’re really in a hurry, which piece can’t you buy? Which piece is different?”

Aunt Yu was the only one who had the final say at home, and none of the wives and fulans in the family dared to raise their voices in front of her.

She never thought that she would be treated like this today.

She rolled up her sleeves and said sharply, “What’s with your expression? What’s with your tone? You, a junior, dare to talk to me like that!”

Xie Qingya snorted. He wasn’t even her clan elder, putting on airs just because of her age.

Just as he was about to say something, there was a noise from the house.

“What’s wrong?”

The weather was getting colder, and Wang Juan wasn’t feeling well. He walked out while coughing.

Aunt Yu retreated with a look of disgust.

“What, you, a sickly person, want to act like a man and support others?”

The others in the yard couldn’t help but remind him, “Aunt Yu, just talk about tofu, it’s not good to talk about people like that.”

“If you don’t need tofu, you can just wait.”

Aunt Yu spat in the direction of the person who was talking, and a mouthful of phlegm went down, causing people to shout and retreat.

Before the few women and ge’ers could recover, Aunt Yu put her hands on her hips and roared, “My mouth is on my body, I can say whatever I want. What business is it of yours?”

After saying that, she turned her head and yelled at Xie Qingya, spitting everywhere, “I want the middle piece of tofu today, you have to sell it whether you want to or not!”

Xie Qingya was very disgusted and promptly covered his tofu.

This action and undisguised disgust angered Aunt Yu. She stepped forward to pull Xie Qingya’s hand, but Wang Juan stopped her and pressed her down.

Aunt Yu shook her hand violently and screamed at the top of her lungs, “Indecent assault!”

Wang Juan’s face was pale, and his dark eyes were cold. “If you talk nonsense again, I will report to the authorities.”

Aunt Yu was stunned when she heard it. Report to the authorities?

What a joke, this trivial matter could be reported to the authorities? Did she think the yamen was opened by his family?

“You, a sickly person, don’t be afraid of losing your life if you say that. You say report to the authorities, so report to the authorities? Who cares about you?”

Saying that, he looked at Xie Qingya again, his eyes contemptuous, “Oh, your stingy fulan is close to that widower from the Shen family. What? Seeing that the widower from the Shen family has made money, you think he’s capable, and even the county magistrate listens to him?”

“Even if he doesn’t have this ability, even if he does, you have a good relationship with that widower, why didn’t he take you to make money?”

After saying that, Aunt Yu smiled mockingly, “That’s right, how could he take you to make money? If he really took you to make money, would you still be selling tofu here in bitterness?”

“That ge’er looks like a shrewd one, not sincere to people. He doesn’t seem to trust us villagers, otherwise he would secretly make money without a word of it…”

With a bang.

Xie Qingya chopped the tofu knife directly on the board and said angrily, “Try saying that again?”

Aunt Yu was taken aback and screamed while patting her chest, “What! Do you want to kill someone!”

Before Xie Qingya could come out, the others in the yard couldn’t stand it anymore.

Many people had family members working at the Shen family’s, and the treatment was good. They couldn’t remain silent at this moment.

“Aunt Yu, what you said is too much, what does it have to do with the Shen family?”

“Whether people make money or not is their business. Did your family make money and beat gongs and drums to let everyone know? Then you wouldn’t be looking for a thief!”

“Why bring up the Shen family for no reason?”

Two people from Chen Cuihua’s family were working in the Shen family’s, and the family had really benefited from it. She herself had earned more than a hundred coins from Shen Gui. Her children had even eaten meat.

She had always preferred to have one less thing than one more thing, but at this moment, she also spoke up to help, “The Shen family is a good family. The treatment they give for hiring workers is so good, how can they not trust the people in the village?”

Aunt Yu gave Chen Cuihua a cold look.

She got angry when she thought about it!

Seven men from her family went to apply to build houses for the Shen family, but the Shen family didn’t choose any of them.

Aunt Yu didn’t care about the tofu at this time and said strangely, “Heh, I don’t know what tricks your family used, but two men went to build houses for the Shen family. You naturally help and put on airs here, what good things can you be?”

“The other day, that Shen Si Lang also went to your house to collect cabbage and stayed for a while before leaving. I don’t know how much cabbage, why would it take so long to collect?”

Chen Cuihua could endure the previous words, but she couldn’t endure the following words.

This was to harm people to death!

Not to mention Chen Cuihua, the others were also frightened.

“Aunt Yu, you can eat anything, but you can’t talk nonsense!”

“Yes, what you said, how can Aunt Chen live!”

Chen Cuihua hugged a bowl of tofu, trembling with anger, and also frightened.

Hearing the people in the yard speak up for her, she felt a little better.

If this kind of rumor spread, she might as well die.

Aunt Yu was told by a yard full of people, her face couldn’t hold back, and she said stiffly, “If you’re upright, you’re not afraid of a crooked shadow, if there’s nothing really going on, what is Chen Cuihua afraid of?”

“You old hag!”

Xie Qingya couldn’t stand it anymore, and the person rushed out directly. He was too fast, and Wang Juan wanted to pull him, but couldn’t hold on.

Xie Qingya grabbed Aunt Yu’s collar and dragged her out.

He was strong, and Aunt Yu didn’t react for a while, and was really dragged away.

After throwing the person out the door, Xie Qingya said with a cold face, “Don’t come to buy my tofu in your house in the future, I’d rather give my tofu to the dog than sell it to your family!”

Aunt Yu finally came to her senses, sat on the ground and yelled with her neck stiff.

“Who cares about your broken tofu! Your stall will close down sooner or later and no one will come!”

“You and the Shen family are not good things! Earning black-hearted money!”

“No wonder your husband is sick, you don’t have children! Retribution! It’s all retribution!”

Aunt Yu cursed badly, and the people in the yard couldn’t listen to it anymore, and couldn’t say anything.

Whoever said it, she would scold that person together.

It was really unbearable to hear.

Chen Cuihua was crying in the yard. After hearing Aunt Yu curse another aunt who helped her speak, and then curse back at her, she cried even more fiercely.

“What kind of good daughter was born to you, Chen Cuihua? Also a coquettish girl who seduces men… ah—”

Chen Cuihua didn’t know when she put down the earthenware bowl. The person rushed out and punched Aunt Yu on the head.

She cried and beat, I told you to scold my daughter!

The two fought in front of Xie Qingya’s house. Chen Cuihua was not full for a long time. Although she worked in agriculture, she was also strong, but after all, she could not beat Aunt Yu.

She soon fell behind, but she didn’t suffer, because Xie Qingya was on.

Wang Juan was afraid that Xie Qingya would be injured. The old lady was crazy, biting people when she saw them. He quickly went up to protect Xie Qingya.

He also didn’t forget to call someone to invite the village chief.

At this moment, Zhu Rushan was at the Shen family’s.

Ling Xing got Xie Qingya’s reminder and knew that if he wanted to develop in the village for a long time, he would definitely have to share the soup with the people in the village.

He couldn’t bring it before when he just started.

Now, he could bring some.

The others had nothing for the village to participate in for the time being, only the pickled vegetable business.

This matter was discussed by Ling Xing and Shen Gui with the village chief. People in the village would grow vegetables in the spring of next year, and they would collect them from the village first.

Village chief Zhu was naturally happy. When Shen Gui collected the vegetables some time ago, he wanted to find Shen Gui to talk about it.

See if he can tighten his village to collect it in the future.

Now that he heard what the Shen family said, he nodded repeatedly and hurriedly asked them what kind of vegetables they needed.

It was just right to tell the villagers about the requirements in advance, and to plant more when planting, so that they could earn more money at that time.

Ling Xing was also preparing to open a wrought iron pot in the spring and make chili oil, so he just let the village plant some peppers.

While they were discussing this, an urgent voice came from outside.

“Is the village chief here? There’s a fight at Wang Fulan’s house!”

The person who came was a ge’er, with something black smeared on his left cheek to cover his pregnancy mole.

He was not tall and thin.

He ran to the village chief’s house first and couldn’t find anyone. He said that he was at the Shen family’s, and he ran all the way here.

He couldn’t breathe after saying all of it, and he was dizzy.

When Ling Xing heard that something had happened to Xie Qingya, he got up faster than village chief Zhu.

“Is Qing Ge’er all right?”

The ge’er took a moment to catch his breath before realizing that Ling Xing was asking about Xie Qingya.

“When I came, he was fighting with Aunt Yu.”

When Ling Xing heard this, he couldn’t care about so much, and ran away in a puff of smoke.

Shen Hui noticed this from a distance, looked at the lip language of the person who came, and knew that Ling Xing was worried. Almost the moment Ling Xing ran out, he put down the work in his hand and followed him directly.

Shen Chengshan put the brick in his hand, turned around to prepare to pick up the brick, where was anyone there.

He stared at Shen Hui’s hurried departure, his brows slightly frowned, “What’s wrong with Second Brother? Why are you running so anxiously?”