Village Belle is Trying to Cause Trouble Again Chapter 41
Translated by Digitalian (ko-fi)
Chapter 41: Sister Taozi, You’re So Kind
Su Tao glanced at Su Fu. She didn’t expect him to know how to catch pheasants. Look, wasn’t this better than those days living in the Su family’s house?
She thought of something and took the money from her arms. She handed it to Lin Sanzhu. "Auntie Xie gave me the wages."
Lin Sanzhu was overjoyed. The one hundred coins were enough to support the family for a month. She took them and counted them. There were really a hundred coins, and she couldn't stop laughing. "Wretched girl, you’re still of some use."
She had no idea that Su Tao ate and drank well in the Xie family. She thought Su Tao was doing tough work.
Su Fu was also very happy. He raised his hand and touched Su Tao's head. "My Taozi is capable."
These words of praise made Su Tao feel guilty. In the past, when her father couldn't find anything to praise her for, he would praise her for becoming more and more beautiful.
Lin Sanzhu put away the copper coins. She had a sense of propriety. The Xie family had helped so much, so she had to give something in return. "The Xie family is kind-hearted. Tomorrow, you ask Yuntang to come for a meal. We still have half of the chicken left."
It wasn’t that she was stingy and didn’t want to invite Mr. and Mrs. Xie. They had nothing at home, so she was worried they wouldn't be used to it.
Milksop wouldn't care about eating chicken. Sometimes, he gave it all to her because he didn't like to eat it. Su Tao quickly shook her head. "No, the path is slippery. If he falls, we’ll be in trouble."
She didn’t want to get too close with him. The closer she got, the harder it would be for her to get him to kill her.
She was having a big enough headache now.
Lin Sanzhu thought Su Tao’s words made sense. At this time, Su Fu answered, "Let me carry him up here. There’s nothing delicious at home. This chicken will go bad if it's kept for a long time.
"The Xie family has helped us so much. We have to give them a treat. If our place wasn't a bit shabby, I would have wanted to invite Mr. and Mrs. Xie."
Su Tao, "..."
Seeing that they were determined to invite Xie Yuntang for a meal, she sat down on the ground and said, "Forget it. I'll bring him up tomorrow."
It was good as well to invite him. Then she wouldn’t owe Milksop anymore.
The table wasn’t made yet, so the family ate around the fire. Probably because there wasn’t Mrs. Su-Qian's scolding, the family was in a harmonious mood.
It was bad enough that Su Zhi's ten fingers were all covered in oil, but the point was, he wasn't afraid of being burned. He could even pull the meat off the grill, and he wouldn't spit it out even if it was so hot that he grimaced.
Su Tao's eyebrows twitched, and she couldn't bear to watch it. Milksop had good manners while eating.
Seeing that Su Zhi was about to grab the meat with his hand again, she said fiercely, "Use the chopsticks. If you grab the meat with your hand again, I'll chop off your hand."
Su Zhi shrank back in grievance and complained to Lin Sanzhu, "Mom, Sister hit me."
"Stop yelling. Your sister did it for your own good. Use the chopsticks to eat." Lin Sanzhu glanced at her daughter and then quickly looked at Su Fu.
The two looked at each other and felt that their daughter was sick.
After finishing the meal, Lin Sanzhu put the children to bed. And then she started to sit with Su Fu and weave straw mats. She whispered, "Fuzi, I want to spend two coins to let Taozi see a doctor."
Their wretched girl had been acting crazy recently. Could she have lost her mind and gone crazy?
"She should see one. I'm afraid her brain is hurt." Su Fu echoed worriedly.
Su Tao was still awake and clearly heard the conversation between the two. "..."
She was really not sick.
She couldn't help but explain, "I'm not sick. I don't need to see a doctor."
Suddenly, it was quiet, except for the sound of insects outside.
"You wretched girl, why aren't you sleeping? You eavesdrop all day long. Go to sleep now," Lin Sanzhu snapped out of her daze, and turned around to yell angrily.
Su Tao couldn't sleep. The ground in the cave was too hard, even with a layer of grass. She got up and sat next to the fire.
She looked at the straw mats in their hands and said, "Can they be sold for money?"
"One coin for two of them. After they are sold for money, I’ll buy fish back."
Su Fu smiled honestly. It was a bit difficult for their family to cope right now, but he wasn’t lazy. They wouldn’t starve to death.
"Don’t buy fish. Save up to buy a quilt. Winter is coming. We can't do without a quilt." Lin Sanzhu felt that there was nothing at home now, so they should save as much as they could.
"It's okay. A fish costs only a few coins. I can weave straw mats very quickly. There are cicada shells on the mountain. I can pick them up after I finish working for the Xie family. They can be sold for some money too."
"Don't go. I’ll do it. Hurry and rent the land. If we plant the vegetables now, we’ll still have vegetables to eat in the winter."
Listening to the couple worrying about their livelihood, Su Tao was also worried. She also wanted to make money, but she didn't know what to do.
Sure enough, a scholar was useless.
Even if she was a solid academic, she was of no use here. If she were a boy, she might still be of some use.
In the end, she learned to weave mats from Su Fu. It took her one hour to weave one, but it had a strange shape.
"No one would even want that for free. That’s enough. Go to bed now. You’re usually lazy, but now you’re diligent." Lin Sanzhu gave her an angry look.
If it were before, Su Tao might just give up when she felt that it was something that she couldn’t do. But she couldn't do that now. They would starve to death in the cold winter.
The point was, Milksop had no intention of killing her at all.
She continued to weave the mats.
……
The sky outside gradually became dark and gray, and the first rooster crow sounded.
Su Tao opened her eyes suddenly, and the first thought in her mind was to go to the Xie family's house for breakfast.
She turned around and saw that Su Fu and Lin Sanzhu were still weaving. There were already many mats at her feet. The two or three mats she had weaved yesterday were probably lost somewhere amid the pile.
Lin Sanzhu saw that Su Tao had woken up. She yawned, and was a little tired, "Your dad will send you down the mountain. Skip breakfast and then eat at noon."
"No, I'll go down by myself. You guys can get some sleep."
Su Tao waved her hand, then opened the door and went out. Lin Sanzhu's voice came from behind her. "Don’t walk too fast then, and work hard."
"Okay."
At this moment, there were a few rays of light in the sky in the distance, which was beautiful. The gentle breeze was a bit cool.
Su Tao rubbed her arms, then quickened her pace and ran down the mountain. At the foot of the mountain, she saw Su Jinbao carrying a basket cutting ragweed.
She raised her eyebrows, walked over, and shouted smugly, "Su Jinbao!"
Su He’s family usually gloated at their misfortune, but now that their family had moved out, the suffering of Su He’s family had just begun. They had to do all the work.
When Su Jinbao saw her, he glared instinctively, then pointed at the basket and said, "Hurry up and fill up the basket with ragweed, or I'll beat you." After saying that, he picked up the stick on the ground.
Apparently, he didn’t learn his lesson the last time!
Su Tao rolled her eyes, but said with a smile, "Okay, I'll help you fill the basket up. I'll go to the river to fill it for you."
She grabbed the basket and ran away. When she reached the river, she threw it in as hard as she could. And then she turned to Su Jinbao and bared her teeth. "The basket is gone. You're done for. You’ll get beaten when you go home!" After that, she ran off.
She wasn’t a fool, standing there to be beaten. If they really got into a fight, she would definitely not be able to outfight Su Jinbao.
……
After eating at the Xie family's house, Su Tao heard Su Jinbao's cries and howls coming from the Su family's house opposite. She quickly ran to the door to take a look.
Su Jinbao was running all over the yard. Mrs. Su-Qian chased him with a stick, and Mrs. Su-Jin was following them. They made quite a din.
He deserved it!
It was bad enough that Su Jinbao didn’t help in the past, but he also took the opportunity to mock her.
She turned to look at Milksop who was following her, "My mom has invited you over for a meal. Are you going?"
"Anyway, the food won’t be delicious."
Xie Yuntang’s eyes lit up. Sister Taozi had invited him over for a meal. He hadn’t had a meal in anyone else’s house in the village before.
He smiled until his eyes crinkled up. He nodded, and said sincerely, "Sister Taozi, you’re so kind."
Su Tao, "..."
The system might as well just kill her.
