Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

chapter 26

While speaking, this woman sneered smugly and grinned at the people around her.

The people around her washing clothes laughed quietly; then, they quickly covered their mouths and went back to their tasks.

Everyone said that widows attract gossip, but it seems that widowers have plenty of drama too!

Liu Sisi shook her head without responding; talking with these women would only make her feel dirty. She brought her wooden basin to the stone stool beside Guihua, and she took out the clothes to wash.

“Hey, you gossip mills, how can you judge people so easily? He is a widower with two young children. You brazen women, instead of helping him out, criticize and gossip about him. What’s wrong with you?”

The leader of the women threw the cudgel in her hands, put her hands on her hips, and began to scold, “What are you talking about? If you have the guts, say what you think! I see, the house owner is silent, but you are shouting from the sidelines. It’s just because he’s young and easy to bully. Are you going to stick up for him? I think you are just a daffodil that never flowers. Everyone, do you agree?”

This provocation caused a burst of laughter from the surrounding people, and the leading woman looked even more smug.

Guihua glanced at the crowd and continued to wash her clothes leisurely, “Don’t think that just because I don’t say anything, it means I don’t know anything. A few days ago, I saw someone dressed in red sneaking around outside my window. I chased after her out of curiosity, and guess what I saw?”

Guihua’s seemingly random words made the woman beside her, who had laughed the loudest, suddenly change her expression. She hastily packed up the clothes on the stone stool, picked up the wooden basin, and turned around to leave: “I’m done washing. You all take your time.”

The woman next to her hurriedly stopped her, “Hey, your clothes aren’t completely washed yet. How can you leave? Hey, hey!”

The louder the woman shouted, the faster the other woman ran, leaving no trace in the blink of an eye.

Guihua chuckled at Liu Sisi and coughed lightly again, “Yesterday, I passed by the orchard in the east. Guess what I saw? Sisi, you too, give it a try.”

Liu Sisi was suddenly named, and since Guihua had just helped her out, she kindly asked, “Aunt Guihua, what did you see?”

Guihua’s eyes glanced sideways; her tone was somewhat wandering, “I saw, I saw…”

Suddenly, the pockmarked-faced woman stood up, covered her stomach, and shouted in pain, “Oh! My stomach hurts so badly. I need to go to the restroom. Second Sister-in-law, can you bring my clothes back later?”

After saying this, she didn’t even look at the others; she ran even faster than the previous woman while holding her stomach.

Liu Sisi blinked her innocent eyes, but her curled lips betrayed her good mood, “Aunt Guihua, what did you really see?”

“What could I see in the orchard? Obviously, I saw trees full of nearly ripe fruit. Sisi, the fruit in our house is very sweet. When they are ripe, I’ll have Zhang Yun send you a basket to taste.”

Liu Sisi graciously nodded, secretly keeping Guihua’s kindness in her heart: “Thank you so much, Aunt Guihua.”

“Don’t call me Aunt, I call you Sisi, and you call me Guihua. Zhang Peng and Di Yelei are brothers, and we can’t be worse than them, right?”

“Okay, Guihua.”

Liu Sisi was happy, she liked Guihua’s forthright nature.

After that, the others dared not say anything more. When everyone finished washing their clothes and left, Guihua took a long breath and smiled embarrassedly at Liu Sisi: “Sisi, don’t take what those gossips said to heart. They just see you as a newcomer and want to intimidate you.”

Liu Sisi wrung the clothes in her hands firmly and smiled back when she heard this, “Don’t worry, Guihua. I won’t take their words to heart.” If she bothered about these things, she might as well not continue living. “By the way, Guihua, what were you really going to say earlier? Why did they…?”

“What else could it be? It’s just that they have ghosts in their hearts.”

As Aunt Guihua spoke, she leaned close to Liu Sisi’s ear: “A few days ago, the Land Officer’s family’s duck went missing. That day, I couldn’t sleep during the noon break, so I got up to get a drink. I saw their festive kid in red clothes passing by the door of my yard. He’s always been a thief. Everyone in the village knows it, so I just frightened them a bit. Who would have thought… hehe!”

Guihua’s face was full of smugness as she laughed, and Liu Sisi laughed along with her!

“As for the incident in the orchard, Sisi, just pretend I didn’t say anything. After all, it’s not something to be proud of, so let it go.”

Guihua slowed down her work: “Sisi, don’t laugh at me, I’m just quick to speak up when I see injustice.”

“Guihua, your temperament is good, not like mine…”

“You’re just too delicate. That’s why they think you’re easy to bully and always gossip about you. If you were like me, who would dare to talk nonsense and not be afraid of this old mother knocking out their teeth!”

Guihua swung the mallet in her hand with force and slammed it down with a fierce face!

Seeing the surprised look on Liu Sisi’s face, she laughed shyly: “When Dou Family’s mother left, YingEr was still a baby, and how could Brother Ye Lei, a grown man, take care of a baby? His stepmother refused to help raise YingEr, so I took care of her until she was half a year old. Later, I made some clothes for Brother Ye Lei, and people started gossiping about our affairs. Tsk, these troublemakers! I’m telling you personally now to prevent you from getting suspicious.”

“Guihua, don’t worry, I have a clear understanding.”

Liu Sisi quickly responded, believing that there was nothing going on between them, no matter what had happened in the past since Guihua dared to tell her.

“As long as you trust me! Actually, although Xuan’er was brought into the Di family by Dou’s mother, Brother Ye Lei really treats those siblings as his own children…”

“What were you just saying? I didn’t hear it clearly?”

Liu Sisi asked back.

“What did you not hear clearly? Brother Ye Lei treats the two siblings as his own children… Oh, you don’t know? Dou’s mother was pregnant when she entered the Di family.”

Guihua laughed: “Dou’s mother was also a poor woman. Her hometown was hit by a plague, and she was the only one left with 3-year-old Xuan’er and pregnant. At that time, Brother Ye Lei had a kind heart and married her, raising Xuan’er as his own child. He used to work outside to earn money, and only returned here after marrying Dou’s mother, claiming that the children were his own. My husband helped arrange their marriage, so I know the details.”

So, Xuan’er and YingEr were not Ye Lei’s biological children.

Liu Sisi didn’t know what to say and could only smile: “Do Xuan’er and YingEr know about this?”

“Of course, they don’t know. No one told them. When Xuan’er was young, he didn’t remember, and Brother Ye Lei treated them well.”

Guihua felt a bit awkward: “Sister, there’s something I don’t know if I should mention. It’s like this, my Zhang Yun is ten years old this year, and I think YingEr is a good match. I want to arrange their marriage early, what do you think…?”

So she had her eyes on YingEr!

Liu Sisi understood now. Was she trying to increase her bargaining power by mentioning those things earlier?

“Aunt Guihua, by rights, Sisi should call you aunt and not object to this matter. But as you can see, Sisi just entered this family… So for this issue, Aunt Guihua should talk to Ye Lei.”

YingEr was so young, calling her mother, which made her feel as if she were her own daughter. She couldn’t bear her daughter marrying early. After all, she also called her mom!