Green Lotus Peasant Girl

12

Chapter 12: Second Meeting

The palm leaf fan in Li Fu's hand shook clattering, apparently furious. After fanning a few times, he got up and went into the kitchen and said to Li Qinghe, who was eating steamed buns, "You really want the Zhou family? Don't blame me for not warning you. You can wait over there, and wait to become an old girl. Otherwise you should behave obediently. I’m your father, and I won’t hurt you."

Li Qinghe might as well just say a few words from Mrs. Qian, and Li Fu ran to her in a panic. She said, "The Zhou family has not asked to marry me. Where did you hear it from?"

Li Qinghe frowned and said, "Father, I'm only fourteen. I turn fifteen after the Chinese New Year. There are people in the village who marry even at eighteen. Are you so anxious to marry me off?"

Li Fu thought about it. He seemed to be in a bit of a hurry, but he would not admit it in front of his daughter, "Then you shouldn't delay, it's not bad for you to make preparations earlier."

Li Qinghe shook her head, "I don't want to get married right now." She looked outside and asked in a low voice, "Father, has the silver from Uncle Wanwan's side come back yet?"

Who wouldn't make trouble when provoked.Mrs. Qian didn't want Li Fu to scold her about the silver she had lent. If she used Qinghe’s marriage as a diversion, how would she like it if Qinghe reminded Li Fu of the original topic again?

As a result, Li Fu's face instantly darkened, he shook his fan and went out. Soon, the low voice of Mrs. Qian's explanation sounded outside again.

Zhao Wanwan cowered in her room and shivered like a quail. When she heard Mrs. Qian's crying, she didn't show up at all.

When Li Qinghe went out after eating, Mrs. Qian was crying and couldn't speak well due to hiccups. Li Fu was comforting her.

Sure enough, it was the woman who he had fallen in love with when he was a teenager. Even if she did something wrong, he couldn't bear it as long as she cried.

The next morning, Li Qinghe changed clothes and carried a knife to the wasteland, planning to cut the grass on the edge of the pond first, and then go down to clean it. She used to do these tasks in her last life, but she forgot that her present body was not used to it. In half an hour, she was so tired that her waist and back hurt, and the palms of her hands were also aching. In the past two years, she had never went down to the ground and worked as a helper in the town’s kitchen instead. Her hands were still tender, and this work quickly formed blisters.

She spread her hands and after looking at her red palms, bent down and began to cut again. After a while when she raised her head again, she found an old man standing not far in front of her. She froze, "Grandpa."

The person who came was her grandfather, but he hadn't spoken to her in a long time, because Li Fu got married to Mrs. Qian. The two elders moved to her eldest uncle's house after that marriage and never came to Li Fu's house again.

Li Kui nodded and came forward, asking in a deep voice, "I heard your third master say that you bought ten acres of land over here?"

Thinking of the old man who also ran to tell Li Fu not to force her to marry, Li Qinghe's heart softened and reached out to point around, "This is the piece, I want to clear out the small pond to buy fish fry* to raise fish."

(TN: fish fry = newly hatched fish - Link)

Li Kui was a little surprised, and bent over to look at the pond, "Is it suitable for that?"

In fact, Li Qinghe had no idea. “I don’t know if it will work, you have to try to find out."

Li Kui nodded, bent down next to her and began to cut the larger trees, pointing to a small sapling next to it, and said, “This is a peach tree, don't cut it, save it for later to produce peaches to sweeten your mouth.”

Li Qinghe saw that he was cutting well, but in the end he was not young and said, "Grandpa, I can do it by myself."

"It's good for me to move my muscles and do some work." Without raising his head, Li Kui instructed, "Remember to wear a straw hat when working and don't get sunburned. When you get dark it looks really bad." He sounded disgusted by the prospect.

The corners of Li Qinghe's mouth couldn't help but turn up, "I know."

There was a spring in the pond. The spring water was sweet. It was not necessary to bring water from home. At noon, Li Qinghe threw down the knife and said, "Grandpa, I'll get you food."

“No need," Li Kui said gruffly, "I won't eat your family's food. I'll go home to eat later."

He wouldn’t eat Li Fu's food.

Sure enough, he came back after the meal time, and when he went home at dark, he said, "I'll come back tomorrow." No one could refuse him.

But that wouldn't work out. The old man came to help her with work, but went back to eat at her eldest uncle. Her eldest uncle’s side should be upset. The results were good, and after two days most of the circle was cut out.

When Zhou Chengkang had to take someone into town, she asked him to buy 20 kilograms of grain and sent it directly to Li Kui without taking it home.

When she arrived, it was lunchtime, and her eldest aunt Liu was setting up the meal. There was a big tree in their yard, and food was set on the stone table under the tree. She said, "The weather is cold, and people seem to be hungry. Hurry up, the grain has been falling so fast recently, and there is still more than half a month before the autumn harvest. I don’t know if I can make it through.”

Uncle Li Xingwang scolded her, “If you talk too much, you won’t be hungry.”

It was at this time that Li Qinghe stepped into the yard, carrying a rice bag in her hand, "Grandpa, eldest uncle, eldest aunt, brother Qingyuan." After calling out one by one, she put the bag at the kitchen door and smiled apologetically, "Grandpa helped me cut down the tree, but I can't conveniently cook for him to eat, so I'm sorry to trouble Eldest Aunt."

Mrs. Liu smiled, "How embarrasing that I can’t even refuse a youngster’s help." She said that, but the hand that took the grain was steady.

Li Qinghe's tone was soft, "You did me a favor, I should be the one who is embarrassed." The old man followed her through life and asked her to be more kind.

Mrs. Liu opened the bag, her eyes lit up, thinking of something, and said, "I heard that you want to clear out the pond. Tomorrow, let your uncle and brother come work together with you. I will cook and send your meals. The pond is not big. It will be done in two or three days."

Li Qinghe was a little surprised, "How can I be shameless about this?"

"I'm also embarrassed." Mrs. Liu picked up the grain, "It's not good to take your things for nothing. Then it's a deal, I'll take it in."

The people at the table over there kept watching and did not refute Mrs. Liu's words. Li Xingwang even greeted her and asked her to eat together.

It was really different if there were people who helped, but in three days, the pond had been cleared. Not to mention the surrounding weeds were also all cleaned up, and Li Qinghe was also preparing to introduce fish fry.

She had thought about it a long time ago. Other people don't know about fish fry, but the person who came to sell fish at the market must know.

However, before that, she had to work at the Sun’s family kitchen. On the fifth day, after the sky just broke, Li Qinghe called Zhao Wanwan to get up. It was still early, so the two of them did wake anyone and left the village together and went to town.

When they passed a mountain pass, Zhao Wanwan turned pale in fright when she heard the painful cry of a man in front of her, and she held Li Qinghe’s arm tightly. Looking at the man lying on the ground not far away, Li Qinghe was also a little nervous, and walked a few steps closer. Through the faint light of day she could see a blue long gown and instantly felt that it was familiar... Xu Changjie!

The cyan gown was stained with blood, and he could only lay down on the ground and cry out in pain, and traces of him crawling could be seen from the side of the road, and he was beaten so badly. Who has this person offended?