Ugly girl only wants to farm

Chapter 112 A touch of heartache spreads

Meng Jiuxia looked up at her, quickly put down her chopsticks, and asked with concern, "Sister-in-law, what's wrong?"

Meng Jiuhe looked at her, his concern impossible to hide.

Xu Chaoyan quickly hid her hand and pretended to touch her ear.

"Oh, it's nothing, it's just that this bowl is too hot, I burned my hand, you guys eat quickly."

Xu Chaoyan found this meal extremely difficult. She had done some chores today, and her hands were covered in blisters. She had accidentally popped one of the blisters, and it hurt so much that she was wincing in pain.

Those people were simply going too far. Not only did they deliberately try to lower the price for her, a mere woman, but they also made her do a lot of chores. In her current predicament, she was already grateful to have even a little bit of work to rely on.

Meng Jiuxia glanced at her from time to time. After dinner, she found Xu Chaoyan and told her her thoughts: "Sister-in-law, where did you go to look for work today? Why don't I agree to go with you tomorrow? Brother, you've recovered quite a bit these days. Let him stay at home and read books or chat with Brother Zhang about his studies. It's too hard for you to go out alone."

Xu Chaoyan glanced at the earnest little girl in front of her. Perhaps because she had experienced too much in recent days, the little girl seemed much more sensible than before, but her face was much thinner than before. How could she bear to let her do those rough jobs?

These days everyone is building houses, and she, a woman, can only do odd jobs at most. She can hardly handle this kind of work, let alone this young girl.

Seeing her disapproving look, Meng Jiuxia pressed on, saying, "Sister-in-law, I'm also part of this family. If there's anything, let me share the burden with you. Right now, our parents are missing, and it's just the three of us relying on each other. We can't put everything on your shoulders. Don't worry, I can handle hardship."

After saying this, her face and eyes involuntarily reddened. Ever since she saw Meng Jiuxia's sorrowful face on the day the earth dragon turned over, she had acted normally for the next few days. The little girl was quite sensible, but now she probably couldn't hide her sadness and tears were streaming down her face.

Meng Jiuxia cried and choked back tears: "I know our family has wronged you. Now that my brother is like this, please don't despise him. I will eat less from now on, and I will do all the dirty and hard work. I will not get married and stay at home for the rest of my life. I will also take care of your children in the future."

Xu Chaoyan blushed. Although they slept together, they slept very innocently. Besides, she couldn't bring herself to do it to a sick person. She shook her head and quickly took out a handkerchief to gently wipe her face, comforting her softly: "Don't cry. How could I despise you? I went to great lengths to win over your older brother. I like him too much. I just can't bear to see a young girl like you doing those kinds of work with me. I'm afraid you won't be able to handle it."

While sobbing, Meng Jiuxia glanced at Xu Chaoyan and, seeing that her words seemed genuine, felt relieved.

These days, she has been worried that her sister-in-law abandoned her brother, and how her brother would go on. Since her brother was injured, he has become very depressed. These days, she can clearly feel that her brother has a smile on his face and a light in his eyes.

She selfishly wanted to keep Xu Chaoyan by her elder brother's side for a long time. No matter how hard or tiring it was, she could persevere. Even if she never married and spent her whole life taking care of the household chores for them, she was willing.

Xu Chaoyan finally managed to calm the little girl down. Seeing that her eyes were red, she teased her, "If you keep crying, your eyes will be swollen like walnuts tomorrow. Your older brother will think I'm bullying you. Okay, go and boil some hot water for me. I want to wipe myself down. I'm very tired today."

She felt sore back and sticky all day, and she helped some women collect wood and pass things around.

Although the job looks easy, it's actually quite tiring. The men do the heavy lifting, while the women, being weaker, can only do what they can manage, and are even criticized by the employer for being too slow.

Now that the country has just experienced a dramatic economic downturn, the economy must be in a very slump. She couldn't think of any way to make money. Fortunately, she had some savings that could cover Meng Jiuhe's medicine costs. As long as they weren't too picky about food, they could still fill their stomachs.

Now, she doesn't want to go back to the village courtyard for the time being, because she estimates that the money from the imperial court's disaster relief will not amount to much when it reaches them.

For now, she'll resolve this predicament first, and then go back to repair the courtyard wall when she has extra money. Life has to go on, and no matter what difficulties or adversities she faces, she believes there's always a ray of light ahead. As long as she keeps going, she'll eventually reach the end.

Xu Chaoyan simply wiped her body with warm water, lay down on the bed, and suddenly felt sleepy, her eyes involuntarily closing.

Meng Jiuhe tidied up the books on the table and heard even breathing coming from the bedside.

He tiptoed over, originally intending to chat with her for a bit tonight, asking how things were going outside. If things weren't going well, he didn't want to go. He felt he had recovered enough, and after a few days, he and Zhang Xuyang would look for work outside, anything that could support their family.

Xu Chaoyan slept on the inside of the bed tonight, with a thin blanket draped over her and one foot on top of it. She was sleeping soundly, hugging the blanket. Usually, she would sleep on the outside so that she could easily get up to check on Meng Jiuhe. But tonight she was too tired, so she just rolled over into the bed.

Normally, Xu Chaoyan likes to sleep in a starfish position, or with her legs spread out on the blankets. However, after sleeping in the same bed with Meng Jiuhe, she became much more restrained, but she wasn't sure how she tossed and turned in her dreams.

Meng Jiuhe walked over to rest and happened to catch a glimpse of her snow-white legs exposed. He blushed involuntarily, quickly looked away, and gently pulled back the covers.

He lowered her legs and covered them up. He wondered if Xu Chaoyan did it on purpose or what. The sash of her undergarment was tied loosely, revealing a patch of snow-white skin on her neck. She unconsciously turned over in her sleep, and with that movement, the snow-white skin became even more clearly visible, dazzlingly white. Meng Jiu's face flushed red, quickly rising to his ears. He felt a little dry-mouthed, his throat bobbing up and down a few times before he quickly looked away.

Xu Chaoyan had just turned over when she accidentally pressed her finger and made a few hissing sounds without realizing it.

Seeing the pain on her face, Meng Jiuhe frowned repeatedly. He carefully opened her hand, and when he saw the shocking blisters on her palm and fingers, he was stunned for a long time, unable to react. No wonder she looked so pained when they were eating.

They asked her several times and she said nothing was wrong. She and her younger sister had been whispering to each other in the kitchen for a long time, and they didn't know what they were talking about.

He had been trying to find an opportunity to ask what was going on, but after waiting for a long time, the person came back and immediately fell asleep.

He went to the table, picked up the oil lamp, and carefully examined the blisters on her hands, feeling a slight pang of pain in his heart.

He stared at Xu Chaoyan blankly for a long time. At this moment, he didn't know what was wrong with him. Looking at the many blisters on her hands, he couldn't help but feel a little heartache.

I remember my mother telling me that you should gently prick these blisters on your hands with a needle to let the fluid out, otherwise they will stay there and hurt when you touch anything.

He held the oil lamp in one hand and gently protected the faint flame with the other as he went to his younger sister's room to find an embroidery needle.

Meng Jiuxia asked with a puzzled look, "Brother, what do you need this embroidery needle for so late at night?"

Meng Jiuhe responded with a moment of silence. Finally, just before leaving, Meng Jiuhe said, "Your sister-in-law went out to work today. I don't know what she was doing, but her hands are covered in blisters. I'll go and rub them off for her so they'll heal faster and won't hurt as much tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Meng Jiuxia quickly searched the house and pulled out a small jar of medicine, handing it over: "Brother, take this and apply it to your sister-in-law. I told her she was acting strangely tonight, and she wouldn't say a word even after I asked her for a long time."

When Meng Jiu returned to the room, he saw Xu Chaoyan lying in the middle of the bed in a starfish position, with the blankets kicked to the side. A slight smile appeared on his lips, which he didn't even notice himself. He carefully took her hand in his hands.