The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure-Chapter 77 - Thanking Song Chongjin for the Favor of Not Marrying

77: Chapter 77: Thanking Song Chongjin for the Favor of Not Marrying?

77 -77: Thanking Song Chongjin for the Favor of Not Marrying?

Wang Yongping was dumbfounded when he was asked, and it took him quite a while to regain his senses.

His face reddened, and his neck thickened with urgency as he hurriedly explained, “Little sister, I ran into him in the mountains that day, and I’ve beaten him up—”

Wang Yongzhu’s eyebrows raised, “That day?

Beaten up?

You were so drunk you almost hugged each other and called each other brothers, and you call that beating up?

I think your skin is still a bit slack, Fourth Brother…”

Wang Yongping hurriedly covered his behind with his hands, yowling, “Oh man, to think I’m still going to be whipped by mother until I can’t get off the kang, how embarrassing!”

Unable to bear it any longer, he honestly confessed, “Wasn’t it because I couldn’t beat him?

Speaking of which, Song Chongjin, that lad, might look gentle, but he’s really skilled in a fight.

Not to brag, but I’m the undefeated champ around Qilidun—never thought that we’d have the Song Brothers here, and they aren’t inferior to my skills at all!”

Wang Yongzhu blinked, wondering if she was hearing things.

Her own fourth brother actually couldn’t defeat Song Chongjin?

Looking at his demeanor, you really couldn’t tell.

However, appearances can be deceiving, and a man who can go hunting in the mountains to provide for his family must certainly have some skills.

“If you can’t beat him, you can’t beat him, but who asked you to become sworn brothers with the guy?” Wang Yongzhu thought about it and felt itchy for a fight, Was he being too simple-minded?

Her own little sister gets rejected by someone, yet he can become sworn brothers with the guy—does he have water in his brain?

“Little sister, I did ask Brother Song that day why he wanted to call off the marriage, wondering if he had someone else in his heart.

Brother Song explained that with his family’s situation, any woman marrying into their family would suffer; it wasn’t about you.

He said he would call off the marriage with anyone he was engaged to.

I thought about it and felt that he was a straightforward guy.

His family situation is indeed a mess: a dazed father who can’t stand up straight, a mother who only knows how to lean on her own family, and a bunch of good-for-nothing lazy relatives.

It really is like falling into a pit of fire!

To be honest, he was looking out for you—oww!” A scream ensued.

Turning his head, he saw his little sister smiling so terribly, carefully retracting the tray in her hand.

It was this tray that had just made an intimate contact with his behind, causing him to break out in cold sweat from the pain.

Wang Yongzhu withdrew her hand with a smile, intentionally shaking the tray in front of Wang Yongping, then said, “According to what you’re saying, do I even owe Song Chongjin a debt of gratitude for not marrying me?”

Even if Wang Yongping was slow, he knew that if he didn’t give the right answer now, the tray would make a comeback.

A strong instinct for survival made his brain whirl, and he carefully said, “So, thank—oww—no thanks, no thanks!

What’s so great about Song Chongjin?

It would be his great fortune across eight lifetimes to be favored by our little sister.

If there’s anyone not marrying, it’s our little sister rejecting him; it’s not his place to speak!

Don’t worry, little sister.

Once I’m healed up, no, even now, right now I’ll go teach him a lesson!”

With that, he pulled up his trousers, not caring about the pain anymore, and made a dash for the outside, fearing that if he didn’t run now, he might be tortured to death by his little sister today.

Wang Yongzhu didn’t expect Wang Yongping to have such explosive power.

She was now wide and plump, an unagile fatty, and could only watch helplessly as he bolted out the door.

Clapping her hands, she was about to leave when she caught sight of two pairs of coarse cloth trousers in the corner of the kang, crumpled into a heap.

Wang Yongzhu picked up the trousers with two fingers to look at them.

They were a bit dirty, with two rips.

Her eyes lit up; she felt she had mastered the primary level of sewing skills just today and might as well use these trousers for practice.

Carrying the trousers with her, she bumped into Jinhua.

Jinhua, always observant, immediately took them away, saying, “Old Miss, let me wash them!”

She snatched the trousers without further ado.

Wang Yongzhu couldn’t be bothered to argue.

Nowadays, the laundry techniques were too primitive, relying on collecting saponin pods from the local soapberry trees, soaking and crushing them, then using a specific laundry stick to beat the clothes, and finally rinsing them.

This process was too grand, and with Wang Yongzhu’s current form, well, the first step was challenging because she couldn’t bend over.

It made more sense not to add to the chaos and let Jinhua, the professional, handle it.

Jinhua washed and dried the clothes swiftly.

Wang Yongzhu didn’t forget to remind her, “Once the clothes are dry, bring them to my room.”

Though Jinhua didn’t know what Old Miss wanted to do, it didn’t stop her from having a heart that wished to be kind to her old miss; she quickly agreed with no objections.

Wang Yongzhu returned to her room contentedly, and even until dinner time, Wang Yongping still hadn’t come home.

Wang Yongzhu glanced outside several times, wondering whether her fourth brother had actually been scared off from coming home by her.

Old Granny Zhang, noticing the eldest daughter’s frequent looks outside, had witnessed the afternoon’s sibling dispute and knew that she was worried about Laosi.

She quickly reassured her, “Don’t wait for him, he’s a strong young man now.

Others his age already have children who can crawl.

Such a big person, how can he get lost?

Perhaps he’s just having so much fun somewhere that he forgot to come home.

Don’t worry about him, just leave some food for him.”

The others were used to this behavior as well, and Lady Jiang casually set aside a meal for her young brother-in-law.

Seeing that no one else was concerned, Wang Yongzhu also eased her mind.

In the countryside, people were frugal, so they took advantage of the remaining daylight to finish dinner and clean up.

Once it got dark, everyone would go back to their own rooms to sleep.

Aside from Old Granny Zhang and her husband and Wang Yongzhu, along with Lady Lin and Wang Yongfu’s room, which had a lamp, the others did not enjoy this privilege.

Even Lady Lin, with just that little bit of bean oil every month, was especially sparing with it, not lighting the lamp unless absolutely necessary. frёewebnoѵēl.com

At the Wang Family residence, only Wang Yongzhu’s oil supply was a bit more abundant.

Old Granny Zhang and Wang Laozhu had gotten used to sleeping once it was dark, rarely lighting a lamp, so their shares were given to Wang Yongzhu.

However, for Wang Yongzhu, whether this bean oil lamp was lit made little difference.

The dim, yellow light made everything look blurry.

Since her arrival, she too rarely used it, preferring to lie on her kang in total darkness, trying to count sheep.

Because she was troubled, Wang Yongzhu tossed and turned, unable to sleep, until she heard the courtyard gate being pushed open, followed by familiar footsteps, and then the vigilant Wang Laozhu asking who it was.

Wang Yongping replied in a low voice, and then there was a rustling sound.

Only then did Wang Yongzhu let go of her worries and fall into dreams.

When she woke up, it was already bright daylight.

Stepping outside, she saw that Wang Yongping, who had been so dramatic on the kang yesterday, was now cheerfully chopping wood in the courtyard.

Seeing Wang Yongzhu come out, he grinned.

The trace of irritation in Wang Yongzhu’s heart dissipated with that smile.

Seeing his younger sister wake up with a calm expression, apparently not planning to pursue the matter further, Wang Yongping secretly breathed a sigh of relief and energetically split the wood, feeling guilty.

He dared not mention that after running out yesterday, with nowhere to go, he ran into Song Chongjin.

The two discussed the details for going up the mountain the day after tomorrow, and somehow, he was persuaded by Song Chongjin.

They dug up a few sweet potatoes from the field and enjoyed a piece of cured meat that Song Chongjin had brought, hastily having their dinner before going their separate ways.

Yet halfway home, taking advantage of the night, he made a detour to Li Jinzhi’s house.

He climbed a large tree and stared blankly into the Li Family’s courtyard, at Li Jinzhi’s room, until he was soaked through by the dew and a breeze chilled him from the inside out, which finally snapped him back to reality.

After one last look at the Li Family’s home, he climbed down the tree and strode away, never looking back.