mesbooks Chapter 51: The Spear is Targeted at the Shan Family
Chapter 51: The Spear is Targeted at the Shan Family
Meng Fuqing looked at him and asked, "Who told you that?"
"Many grandpas and grandmas outside are saying the same thing. They even suggested that my aunt take my cousin to get rid of the evil spirits."
Meng Fuqing naturally knew what Meng Linlang wanted to do; it was simply that the preparations last time were incomplete, so this time she would cut her finger and try again.
"I don't know if she's having a nightmare. You're always running around outside, so stay away from her, understand?"
Meng Ali nodded obediently, "I understand, eldest sister. Ali doesn't run around outside all day anymore. Second sister goes to Doctor Zheng's place all day long. Eldest sister, you don't play with me either. Ali doesn't even dare to go to the back to collect firewood and cut grass by herself."
Meng Ranran is learning to identify herbs from Doctor Zheng. Doctor Zheng also gave her a booklet with pictures of plants. She is learning to recognize both the words and the pictures, and she is so engrossed in learning that she wants to flip through a couple of pages even while eating.
"Your second sister has a master and is going to help her. Mother needs to sew winter clothes. How about Ali helps your eldest sister?"
Meng Ali obediently agreed.
Meng Fuqing wasn't unwilling to resolve the issue with the Shan family, but she had many family matters to attend to, and Shan Qiyu was busy making winter clothes, so she couldn't spare the time and didn't even go to the mountain often anymore.
It's good that she can cook. Now that she has her own space, she can bring out some stream water from her space to add to rice porridge or congee every time she cooks, which will help improve her family's health.
That night, Meng Fuqing vaguely heard some voices outside, but it soon quieted down, so she didn't pay any attention to it.
The next morning, after breakfast, she was about to take Meng Ali to the back mountain to cut some hay to feed the mules when she saw a person walking towards them from afar. It was Xie Jin.
As soon as he walked over, Meng Ali was so frightened that she shrank behind Meng Fuqing, only peeking out with her big eyes to look at Xie Jin's face.
Xie Jin glanced at him and then looked away, asking Meng Fuqing, "Do you know what happened last night?"
Meng Fuqing thought for a moment, "Is it related to Meng Linlang?"
Xie Jin was surprised for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's right. Why did you guess her?"
"She poses a threat to you, so it's only natural that you're paying attention to her. Is it hard to guess? Are you going to tell me or not?"
“She secretly went to the river last night and almost jumped into the river again, but her parents rushed to stop her.”
Meng Fuqing nodded somewhat indifferently and pulled Meng Ali towards the back mountain.
Xie Jin followed, "Do you know the reason?"
"Xie Jin, put away your curiosity or use it in a better place. If you want to know the reason, just ask her. Why are you asking me?"
Xie Jin's eyes darkened slightly. "I just felt you should know."
Before Meng Fuqing could shoo him away again, he asked, "Are you going to the back mountain to gather herbs?"
"No." Meng Fuqing saw that he kept following him, so she didn't chase him away. She tossed Meng Ali's small basket to him and said, "If you have nothing to do, help cut some dry grass."
I'm working hard, panting, while someone stands next to me looking at the scenery. It's annoying.
Xie Jin subconsciously caught the basket, and after a moment of silence, thinking that he really had nothing to do, he followed.
With one more person helping, the speed more than doubled. After both baskets were full, Meng Fuqing put down the baskets and began directing the gathering of firewood without any hesitation, so that they could be taken back together later.
She carries the big basket, Ah Li carries the small basket, and Xie Jin carries the firewood.
Make the best use of resources.
Xie Jin chuckled, annoyed by her little scheme. "Do I get paid for working for you?"
"You insisted on coming along, it's not like I forced you." Meng Fuqing thought for a moment, deciding it would be better to offer some benefit, and asked, "How about two copper coins?"
Xie Jin: "..."
He realized that in Meng Fuqing's eyes, he was not only rich but also cheap.
He said irritably, "Keep it yourself."
During his stay at Doctor Zheng's house, he heard Doctor Zheng scolding Meng Fuqing every day. Meng Ranran, that little girl, was very obedient to her master, except when Doctor Zheng was scolding Meng Fuqing.
Over time, I heard a lot about what had happened to Meng Fuqing.
If he hadn't been thinking about her past experiences, he wouldn't have let her boss him around like this.
Seeing that he didn't want it, Meng Fuqing pinched Meng Ali's little face and said, "Here you go."
Meng Ali's eyes widened in surprise. Since he was born, his family had to be extremely careful with every penny. He had only ever heard that the village chief's grandchildren had pocket money. He never imagined that one day he, Meng Ali, would have some too!
"Big sister! I'll collect firewood properly!"
He clenched his little fists and ran away as if he had been injected with chicken blood.
Meng Fuqing chuckled, thinking that if the two little ones did well in the future, he would have to reward them with money to let them know the importance of hard work.
Turning her head, she met Xie Jin's gaze. She suppressed her smile and asked, "Regretful?"
Regretting not getting your two coins? What a joke.
Xie Jin withdrew his gaze expressionlessly and went to gather firewood.
Meng Fuqing didn't actually have any ill feelings towards Xie Jin; it was just that he was too perceptive, which made her subconsciously avoid contact with him.
Besides, she wondered if it was just her imagination, but she felt that Xie Jin, as someone whose entire family had been murdered, didn't carry the heavy burden of a blood feud.
Although she was curious, she didn't want to know the answer; knowing too much meant trouble would follow.
As the days went by, Shan Qiyu slowly finished making winter clothes for the whole family.
Finally, there's one small problem: stuffing goose down into cotton fabric makes it easy for the down to leak out, and even sewing two layers doesn't work very well.
Meng Fuqing overlooked this point, but fortunately she knew which fabrics were less likely to leak down, so she went into her space and searched around. After finding them, she made an excuse to go to the county town to buy some suitable fabrics.
After Shan Qiyu agreed, Meng Fuqing went to the Shan family's house that night and easily collected all the valuables before returning to the village.
The next day, she led out the mule, took a carrot from the kitchen, tied it with a rope, attached the other end to a stick, and finally secured the stick to the mule's back.
The carrot was dangling in front of the mule, but the mule, with its tongue outstretched, still couldn't reach it and started kicking in frustration.
Meng Fuqing circled around in front of it for a while and found that she had lost her appeal to it.
So she confidently started driving the mule.
When Meng Fuqing went to the county, he also gave a ride to several villagers from Mengjia Village so he could hear them talking about Meng Linlang.
Ever since Meng Linlang almost jumped into the water last time, Meng Cheng'an and Yuan Qianniang were extremely worried. They actually went to find a Taoist priest to come into their home to exorcise the evil spirit. After the exorcism, Meng Linlang didn't cause any more trouble, but her temperament changed a bit.
"It's such a pity that the girl who used to laugh so much has become a completely different person."
"I don't know what's in that water, but she insisted on going down. Qianniang had to arrange for a son to stay with Linlang every day, just in case she did something stupid."
After a long sigh, everyone began to praise Meng Fuqing again.
After learning that Meng Linlang had been possessed by some evil spirit, the villagers almost all believed Meng Fuqing's story about Meng Linlang pulling her hand and pushing her away. They were even very glad that Meng Fuqing had told the truth, saying, "Otherwise, I can't believe how many people that evil spirit would have harmed."
Meng Fuqing was speechless at such praise. The first half of what she said was indeed the truth, but the second half was a lie.
If she hadn't known the inside story, she probably would have believed it too.
Upon arriving in the county town again, the portraits of Xie Jin and the other two were still posted at the town gate.
After paying the three copper coins entrance fee, Meng Fuqing didn't go to the cloth shop, but instead drove his cart towards the county school.
The Shan family spent a lot of money to send Shan Ziyi to the county school, and she had to go and see how Shan Ziyi was doing now, having obtained this opportunity through the inheritance of her maternal grandfather.