When the pears are green

Chapter 151 Thinking

The fields in early autumn are much busier than in summer. Along the way, Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou met many villagers who had just come out of the corn fields or were going to the fields to check on the maturity of the corn.

"Uncle, when can we collect it?" Jiang Qingzhou stopped and asked a man who was using a bamboo pole to drive away sparrows.

The man put his hand on his forehead and glanced at Jiang Qingzhou, then smiled and replied: "It's Dahu, it will be almost done in ten days, what are you going to do with your wife?"

"Let's go to my aunt's house." Jiang Qingzhou said, smiled and waved to the man, then led Song Li to continue walking towards Zhanggou Village.

Jiang was standing at the gate of the courtyard, angrily scolding Li Fengshi to five or six women. One of the women saw Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou approaching and smiled and said to Jiang, who was scolding vigorously, "Sister-in-law Jiang, stop scolding. Aren't those your nephew and his wife?"

The women turned around to look, and a younger woman said jokingly, "Sister-in-law, you are wrong. It should be Sister-in-law Jiang's niece and nephew-in-law."

When the women heard this, they all covered their mouths and laughed. Jiang quickly asked the group of women who were watching the fun to disperse and stood up to greet Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou who were walking to the door.

Song Li glanced at the scattered women and asked Jiang: "What is Jinzi talking about? Qingzhou and I heard everyone laughing before we even got to Jinzi's house."

"Alas, it's all because of that damn Li family. They originally said they would discuss Ruyi and Li Dongfeng's marriage after your uncle came back, but they ended up secretly getting engaged to another family because that family only wanted four taels of silver as a dowry. If someone hadn't come to our house to gossip, I wouldn't have known about it. That damn old lady Feng, don't let me run into her again." Jiang thought of the scene she saw when she ran to the Li family, and she trembled with anger.

Song Li quickly supported Jiang and comforted her, "Don't worry, sister-in-law. Just wait until your uncle comes back and choose a girl for Ruyi. Besides, Ruyi won't be sixteen until next summer. It is said that good food is never too late and a good marriage is never too late. A girl like Ruyi is not afraid of waiting. When the time comes, a good man will come to ask for her hand in marriage."

Jiang Shi felt relieved after hearing what Song Li said. Seeing that Jiang Shi did not mention Chen Yuan, Song Li did not say anything more.

As the two were talking, they entered the Zhang family's yard. There were only a few sparrows chirping on the elm tree in the yard, and one or two leaves had fallen on a few benches under the tree.

"Hurry up and sit down." Jiang smiled and asked Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou to sit down, then shouted towards Ruyi's room: "Ruyi, come out and pour water for your cousins. Don't just stay in the room and do nothing."

Song Li knew that Jiang was referring to Xia Lin, so she smiled and said to Jiang: "Don't bother, sister-in-law. Qingzhou and I are not thirsty. Why didn't we see Ping An?"

"Ping'an goes out all day long and plays with the boys in the village." After saying this, Jiang rolled her eyes towards Xia Lin's room.

Ruyi hurried out of the room. She first greeted Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou, and then went to the kitchen to pour water.

"Ruyi, don't fall down. It's not hot, and Xiaoli and I are not thirsty. The rabbits at home have given birth, and I brought a pair for you. Go and call Xiaoyou out to see the rabbits." Jiang Qingzhou stopped Ruyi and showed her the rabbits in the basket.

Ruyi excitedly touched the gray rabbit fur with her hand. She smiled and went to Xia Lin's room. Soon, Xia Lin came out of the room holding Zhang You.

When Jiang saw Zhang You coming out, she quickly concealed the displeasure on her face and asked with a smile what Zhang You was doing in the room and why he didn't come out to play.

"Grandma...play." Zhang You said intermittently, causing Jiang to laugh.

Song Li stood up and wanted to hug Zhang You, but Zhang You turned around and hugged Xia Lin tightly.

"This is your aunt, Xiaoyou, don't you remember her?" Xia Lin whispered to Zhang You.

Zhang You still held Xia Lin's neck tightly.

"Sister-in-law, don't say anymore. He must have not seen me for a long time and is feeling unfamiliar with me." Song Li smiled and patted Zhang You on the back. She took the tied rabbits from the basket and showed them to Zhang You. Zhang You immediately started to make a fuss and wanted to get down.

Xia Lin put Zhang You down, and Jiang took a handful of grass from the chicken coop and asked Zhang You to play with the rabbit.

"Xiaoyou, thank your uncle and aunt. This is a gift from them to you." Xia Lin smiled and pointed at Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou who were standing aside.

"Thank you!" Zhang You said, then took two pieces of green grass and put them in the mouths of the two rabbits.

Song Li smiled and touched Zhang You's head, saying softly, "You're welcome."

Seeing Zhang You being so sensible, Jiang Shi felt proud inside, and then she said to Jiang Qingzhou meaningfully: "Qingzhou, you and Xiaoli have been married for almost a year, it's time to have a child."

Jiang Qingzhou first glanced at the somewhat embarrassed Song Li, then smiled and replied to Jiang: "Aunt is right. Speaking of children, do you still remember Gou Wa and Xiao Mei from our village?"

"Gou Wa and Xiao Mei? Aren't they Jiang Erbao's children? I heard a few days ago that these two children were driven out by his uncles and aunts. The weather is getting colder. What will we do when winter comes?" Jiang kept sighing. She thought of the deceased Jiang Wan and Jiang Rong, and her eyes couldn't help but turn red.

Jiang Qingzhou knew that Jiang was thinking of her parents, so he comforted Jiang and continued, "It is precisely because of this that Gou Wa wanted to send his younger sister to someone else's house as a child bride, in order to find a way for his younger sister to survive."

"Child bride? Not all child brides are as lucky as your mother. Many are tortured beyond recognition. What's even more frightening is that they meet a husband who is possessed by evil spirits..." Jiang looked at the three older girls and the young wife in the yard and swallowed the words she had half said.

Seeing that Jiang didn't continue, she asked Jiang: "Mother, why don't you say anything? What are you talking about?"

Jiang couldn't help but feel embarrassed, and she told Ruyi not to pry into the affairs between the adults.

"Ruyi, come here and feed the rabbits with Xiaoyou." Xia Lin hurriedly pulled the pouting Ruyi over, and the embarrassment on Jiang's face eased a little.

Jiang Qingzhou brought up the topic, and the rest was up to Song Li to tell Jiang the purpose of this trip.

"Gou Wa thought so too. I don't know where he heard that Ping An and little sister are of similar age. He also said that he knew Jin Zi was a kind-hearted person, so he asked Qing Zhou and I to come to Jin Zi and talk to her." After Song Li finished speaking, both Jiang Shi and Xia Lin and Ruyi who were feeding the rabbits were stunned.

Jiang asked Song Li again with some uncertainty, and Song Li nodded with a smile.

Jiang began to think about it. Zhang Ping'an is eleven years old this year, and he can get married in five years. The current bride price is generally five taels of silver, and with miscellaneous things, it will be almost six taels. If Jiang Xiaomei comes to be a child bride, I will raise her for five years, and she will definitely be loyal to me. I can also teach her to spin cloth or let Ruyi teach her to embroider handkerchiefs, which means I can get a daughter-in-law for free.

"Qingzhou, Xiaoli, I haven't seen those two children for many years. Let's talk about it after we see them. Besides, this matter has to be decided by Ping'an's father." Although Jiang was tempted, she did not agree directly. She was afraid that Jiang Gou Wa would take the opportunity to make other requests.

Song Li also saw the corner of Jiang's mouth raised when she was in deep thought. She smiled and agreed, and said that she would bring Jiang Xiaomei and Jiang Gou Wa over tomorrow morning.

Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou did not stay in Zhang's house for long. After they left, Zhang asked Ruyi to go to the village to find Zhang Pingan.