Too deceitful and excessive

  Xiu Niang was taken aback by An Yan's question and stared at her with a hint of surprise, somewhat stunned by An Yan's perceptiveness.

  "The county magistrate's sister has been a widow for two years, and now seeing San Niang's husband young and handsome, already a scholar at a young age, she thinks he is promising, so she has the intention of marrying him off."

  "So it was..."

  "This is outrageous, and yet he's so shameless."

  "How dare this man be so presumptuous? It turns out he's actually the county magistrate's younger sister; now that's a tricky situation."

  The Bai family was also in a dilemma for a while, and couldn't think of any good solution. No wonder Xiumei said earlier that someone in the Liu family suggested to swallow their anger and remain silent.

  "Now that San Niang has encountered such a situation, all the daughters of the Liu family who have been married have returned. Everyone is together to comfort San Niang and persuade her not to do anything foolish again. At the same time, they are discussing whether there is a solution to this problem. Unfortunately, the Liu family only had seven daughters but no sons, not even one person who can support the family."

  The young woman was speaking on one side, and her eyes gradually turned red. It seemed that the situation of the Liu family appeared in front of her. The women of the Liu family were all strong and fierce, but they had many misfortunes in their marriages. Mrs. Liu's mother, Gu Shi, had been a widow since she was young and had raised seven daughters on her own. The eldest daughter, Da Niang, was steady and introverted, and married a hardworking carpenter. In the early years, the couple was harmonious and diligent, but later, because Da Niang's husband had offended a powerful family's maid while working as a carpenter, he was beaten and crippled, losing the use of both hands. The second daughter, Er Niang, had a bold personality and thought that marrying a gentle and honest farmer would complement her nature. However, the farmer's family had unclear relationships among relatives, making their life difficult and unsmooth. The fourth daughter's husband was misdiagnosed by someone and passed away early, leaving behind only the fourth daughter and a young daughter to live alone. The fifth daughter was rumored to be infertile by outsiders, and after being diagnosed by a doctor invited by her fiancé's family, it was confirmed that she could not bear children, making it impossible for her to marry. Until now, the fifth daughter remains unmarried. The sixth daughter had a large growth on her face, which looked extremely frightening, and no one asked for her hand in marriage.

  Even Qiuniang, Bai Ping's wife, had a hard time. Although her parents-in-law were kind and the Bai family was well-off, she had been worried about Hua Die at first. After Hua Die recovered, the arrival of the arrogant Tang Jinyu also made the relationship between the Bai family tense. Later, the Bai family experienced such a tragic event. Now, with this happening again in Qiuniang's household, it can be said that she hasn't had many peaceful days.

  Xiu Niang thought of those kind and strong women, tears quietly rolling down her eyes. She hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand, swallowing all the sobs, and tears quietly flowed down from between her fingers.

  "I'll go take a look right away."

  Bai Ping suddenly lifted his head, his eyes heavy with emotion, his lips pursed tightly.

  Wang looked at Bai Ping and then at the sky, hesitating to say: "At this time, it will be late when we arrive there, won't it be a bit inconvenient?"

  It's true that when the time comes, it will suddenly arrive, and it will indeed be a bit of a bother to others. The Liu family is not well off, and there are few rooms, so if Bai Ping were to go over suddenly, it would probably be a hassle even for sleeping at night.

  After hearing Wang's words, Bai Ping was also in a difficult situation.

  An said thoughtfully, walking over to comfort him: "Big brother, don't worry for now, things have already happened. Big sister is also trying to console the third daughter of the Liu family on that side. If big brother rushes over at this time, it's indeed not very suitable. How about this, tomorrow morning big brother can go again and take a look at the situation, see if there's anything he can help with."

  "Uh-huh."

  Bai Ping nodded and then walked heavily back to his own room.

  The people on the scene looked at each other in dismay, with helplessness in their eyes.

  Man-made disasters are always hateful and helpless, and the Bai family is no exception.

  At dinner time, the atmosphere in the main room was naturally dull and silent. Without Eldest Sister-in-law and Chubby, the Bai family felt incomplete, even eating became monotonous and tasteless. An Yan also found the food flavorless as she ate.

  She ate slowly, pondering the news about San Niang's family that Xiu Niang had brought. The grudges between San Niang and Xiu Cai's family could be put aside for now, but what she was thinking about was San Niang's health problem. It was said that San Niang had fallen from a mountain and broken her leg. After seeing a doctor, she had recovered but also been left with a disability. Judging from the situation, it seemed that the bone hadn't healed properly. In this case, if it wasn't serious, rebone could be done. However, now the priority was to take a look at San Niang's foot and see how severe the situation was before deciding whether to rebone or not. An Yan was so lost in thought that she didn't even pick up any dishes during dinner, just shoveling plain white rice into her mouth.

  Su San ate on one side, secretly paying attention to An Yan's discovery. When she found that she was distracted and didn't know when to pick up the dishes, her eyebrows suddenly raised slightly. He looked at the food on the table, picked out what she usually liked to eat and put it in her bowl, then quietly observed from the side.

  An Yan was originally eating plain and tasteless white rice without any feeling, but suddenly she tasted a flavor in her mouth, and it was one she loved dearly. She immediately came to her senses. She lowered her head, looking at the dish in front of her with suspicion, raising an eyebrow. Then, as if thinking of something, she turned her head towards Su San's direction, only to find him intently eating his meal. However, that overly concealing action inadvertently revealed some clues. An Yan smiled lightly and stretched out her chopsticks, thinking of returning the favor, but she didn't know what Su San liked to eat, nor had she paid attention before.

  She happened to see Bai An eating eggplant, so she followed suit. Since they were both men, their tastes should be roughly the same, An comforted herself.

  When An Yan placed the eggplant into Su San's bowl, Su San was shocked. He stared blankly at the dish in his bowl, then looked up at An Yan, thinking to himself silently. His wife was really good to him, actually serving him food, even though he didn't particularly like eating eggplant...

  However, Su San still calmly finished the eggplant. After finishing, he suddenly said seriously: "Today's eggplant is well done and delicious."

  The quiet hall, the silent atmosphere was broken by Su San's words.

  Because Su San was usually taciturn and rarely spoke, but today he actually spoke up. Wang Shi's eyes suddenly became moist, thinking that Su San did so because everyone else was silent, wanting to break the silence and adjust the atmosphere, and she was moved to tears. Wang Shi said in Su San's direction: "If you like it, eat a bit more."

  After finishing speaking, she enthusiastically gave Su San a lot of eggplants, almost taking away half of the eggplants on the plate. At this time, there were more dishes than rice in Su San's bowl, and the bright purple eggplants were piled up high. Su San looked down at them with his head bowed, feeling that those eggplants were showing off and had a sense of demonstrating against him. His mouth corners trembled slightly, but he still raised his head and said warmly to Wang Shi: "Thank you, Aunt."

  After finishing speaking, Su San lowered his head and seriously started eating eggplant.

  Wang looked at him, his face slowly relaxing, with a faint joy in his eyes, and said softly: "I'm glad you like it, Aunt will often make it for you in the future."

  If it weren't for Su San's composure, he would have choked by now.

  On the other side, An Yan saw this situation and thought to herself that Su San indeed liked eggplant. Suddenly, she remembered the knife and small doll that Su San had given her, which she really liked. She should also give something in return, it's only fair. However, this matter couldn't be done for now, after all, something had happened at Eldest Sister's house and An Yan was worried too, so she didn't have the mood to think about other things.

  After dinner, everyone went back to their rooms early. Due to the gloomy atmosphere, no one had any interest in talking, and it was better to go to bed early and wait for news tomorrow.

  At night, An Yan couldn't sleep on the bed and tossed about. After a while, he couldn't help but say to Su San: "Tomorrow, you come with me to accompany Big Brother to the Liu's house."

  Because An Yan was too loud on the bed, Su San was also wide awake. At this moment, he suddenly heard An Yan say this, and his heart was delighted. The little woman finally thought of him, and finally began to notice that there was a man beside her who could help her with things. Su San suddenly felt that maybe it was really effective to send gifts, and it seemed that the subsequent plans to chase his wife should continue. In a few days, he would find Zhang Jun to make arrangements again, and then continue to make progress.

  "Good."

  Su San replied loudly, with a still quite loud voice.

  He suddenly replied in a loud voice, which startled her and made her somewhat perplexed. She didn't know what was wrong with Su San. However, at this moment, she didn't pay much attention to it. She continued thinking about those things, and she would let Su San go together, mainly because she thought Su San's serious and stern face was quite intimidating. Didn't Xiu Niang say today that the Liu family, without a man to hold up the household, couldn't help but appear weak and vulnerable to bullying? That's why she thought of Su San. Su San was tall and sturdy, like a stable mountain, and with his serious expression, his deterrent power should be sufficient.

  An Yan thought, tomorrow I'll go to the Liu's house, maybe I'll need to go to that Nan Shan village scholar's house, it's always more convenient to bring Su San along. At this moment, An Yan finally realized Su San's great use, truly like a door god and bodyguard.

  If Su San knew that An Yan brought him along because of his robust physique, I wonder if he would still be so delighted.

  At this time, Su San was overjoyed and couldn't sleep a wink because of the slight progress in their relationship.

  The next day, after finishing breakfast, Bai Pingli set out to go outside. An Yan hurriedly put down his bowl and chopsticks, calling out to Bai Ping: "Big Brother Bai, wait for me and Su San, we'll go with you."

  Hearing this, Bai Ping looked back at An Yan with a puzzled expression.

  An Yan glanced sideways at Su San and found that he had already finished eating, now sitting there calmly. An Yan's eyes moved slightly, then turned his head to explain seriously to Bai Ping: "I'm with Su San, don't you think it's a perfect combination of civil and military? Bringing us two along, being prepared for any situation, is a must-have for traveling."

  An Yan really couldn't stand Su San's calm demeanor, so she spoke fluently and calmly, saying a long string of words that made Bai Ping, who was originally filled with worries, involuntarily curve the corners of his mouth, and his eyes also brightened up a bit.

  Su San's whole body stiffened slightly, and his mouth twitched inexplicably.

  Wang's family on the other side heard this and hurriedly said, "Yes, Ping'er, you can go with Jinzhu and Su San, it's better to have someone to take care of you. With Jinzhu there, maybe she can help think of a good solution. And with Su San there, those who like to gossip will be less likely to talk nonsense."

  An Yan really wanted to ask at the time, why when Su San was around, they would say fewer complaints, was it just because of that fierce-looking board-like face?

  Thinking so, An Yan quietly turned his head to glance at Su San, discovering that his cold expression was really quite intimidating. At least every time he suddenly glanced over, he would feel a bit fierce.

  Thus, Bai Ping set off with An Yan and Su San to Beishan Village. The Liu family's Beishan Village and the Li family's Nanshan Village were adjacent to each other, located in two directions along the south mountain. However, Nanshan was a bit far from Lüzhuyuan, and it took half an hour by sedan chair. Moreover, all the villages near Nanshan belonged to Baishui County.

  It's impossible for several people to walk there on foot, and even if they could persist in walking, time wouldn't allow it. By the time several people get there, the yellow flower dishes would probably be cold. However, if you want to take a cow cart, you'd have to go all the way to the county seat to rent one. Going to the county seat takes some time and isn't very suitable, so the more appropriate solution is still to borrow from someone in the village who has a cow cart.

  There were two families in the village with horse-drawn carriages, one was Fang's family and the other was Ye's family. Unfortunately, Fang's family was Fang Jiao Jiao's family, with whom An Yan had a grudge. As for Ye's family, they were relatives of Fang Jiao Jiao. However, fortunately, the relationship between Fang's family and Ye's family had been tense recently, and the two families had almost reached the point of breaking up. So, maybe they could borrow the horse-drawn carriage from them.

  So several people went to Ye's home.

  An Yan blocked Bai Ping, went up to knock on the door himself. After all, the two families had a grudge against each other because of Fang Jiao Jiao's matter. If Ye's family spoke too much later, An Yan was afraid that his brother would have a dispute with them. So An Yan went forward to knock on the door himself.

  The one who opened the door was a woman wearing a half-new cotton garment, with a silver hairpin on her head, looking like a wealthy family in the village. The one who came to open the door was Shen Shi, the current mistress of the Ye family, who should have been Fang Yuanyuan's mother-in-law, but now the two were almost at odds with each other.

  At this time, Shen's family looked very tired and not in good spirits. When she opened the door and saw it was An Yan, a look of surprise flashed across her face. She was stunned for a moment before reacting, asking softly: "What brings Su San's wife here?"

  Seeing that it was the Shen family, An Yan felt at ease. Although the husband and son of the Shen family, Ye Ming, were both muddle-headed and had been deceived by Fang Jiao's mother and daughter, this Shen lady was a sensible person. It seemed that borrowing the car would be possible today.

  "It's like this, we have an urgent matter to attend to in Beishan Village and we'd like to borrow your family's ox cart for a use."

  When she heard this, Shen's eyebrows slightly furrowed and a hesitant expression appeared on her face. She was willing to lend it in her heart, but she also knew that because of Fang Jiaojiao's affairs, the men and sons at home were extremely disgusted with the Bai family. If she let the two people at home know that she had lent the car to the Bai family, she didn't know if it would cause dissatisfaction.

  An Yan was about to say a few words when he saw Fang Ming stumbling out from inside. Looking at his pale face and staggering gait, it seemed that he had just woken up from a hangover. An Yan secretly thought "this is not good", it seemed that borrowing the carriage today was impossible, so he quickly made plans to hurry to the county to rent an ox cart instead.

  Fang Ming, who had just woken up, couldn't find his mother and only came out to take a look when he heard the voices outside. He didn't expect to see several members of the Bai family, and immediately felt uncomfortable, asking Shen Shi in an unhappy tone: "Mother, what are they doing here?"

  The Shen family had always placed great importance on this son, and although his brow was furrowed even deeper at the moment, he still answered his son's question, "They have urgent business to attend to in Beishan Village, so they came to our house to borrow a cow cart."

  Upon hearing this, Fang Ming immediately laughed and said: "Borrowing a cow cart, no mistake, I thought our two families had a good relationship. Last time, our two families quarreled fiercely because of Bai Ping and his cousin Tang Jinyu bullying...".

  The conversation stopped abruptly halfway through, Fang Ming's face turned ugly, his eyes were dim and unclear, unpredictable.

  An Yan had already known that this time borrowing the car was completely hopeless after hearing Fang Ming's words, and turned around to leave with Bai Ping Su, but then heard Fang Ming's low voice behind him say: "Lend it to them."

  After finishing speaking, he turned around and quickly went in, his figure soon disappeared from view.

  Shen heard this and turned to look at Fang Ming, until his figure disappeared from view, then let out a soft sigh. After sighing, Shen turned back to An Yan and the others and said: "Follow me in, I'll lend you the ox cart."

  Only a few people understood what was going on, and they looked at each other in confusion. Then they followed Shen's family inside and pulled out the ox cart.

  It wasn't until I sat in the car and thought carefully about it that I finally understood the ins and outs of the situation.

  "Didn't I see that Bao Jiao and Wu Wen's son were exchanging flirtatious glances yesterday, their relationship is extremely ambiguous?"

  "What does this have to do with Fang Ming lending us his ox cart?"

  Bai Ping was taken aback for a moment and couldn't understand Fang Ming's sudden change.

  "That Fang is actually Fang Jiao Jiao's fiancé."

  With just one sentence, Bai Ping suddenly understood the whole reason behind it.

  "No wonder the Ye and Fang families have been at odds with each other lately, it turns out that it's all because of this marriage between their children. That Fang Jiao Jiao is really something, she's brought shame to both the Fang family and Green Bamboo Village. She already has a fiancé, yet she's still flirting with another man."

  Bai Ping finished speaking and bowed his head in thought for a moment, but suddenly looked up and carefully glanced at An Yan and Su San.

  When Bai Ping looked at him like that, Su San didn't know what he thought of, and his eyes immediately became mysterious. He even turned his head to look at An Yan with a profound meaning.

  It's inexplicable, but after careful consideration of what Bai Ping said earlier, I also thought of it. I reckon Bai Ping reacted this way because of that last sentence she said. After all, Tang Jinxiu already had a husband back then, yet she still insisted on going to Qingcheng to pester Ruan Yuqing. Such behavior is even more excessive than Fang Jiaojiao's.

  As for Tang Jinxiu's previous behavior, gentle words are powerless to change it, nor can they explain it. After all, she is not the real Tang Jinxiu, and there are many things that she cannot help but do.

  She looked at Bai Ping and found that he was now lowering his head, with a look of saying the wrong thing and doing the wrong thing. This kind of appearance, however, was pleasant and peaceful.

  "It's like that. It seems that Fang's hatred was born out of love, so he thinks that since our Bai family is the enemy of the Fang family, then we can be friends with the Ye family."

  The tone of speech is light and cheerful, speaking easily there.

  Bai Ping listened, hastily lifted her head, and secretly looked at An Yan's expression. She found nothing out of the ordinary and immediately felt relieved. She continued to say: "Actually, Fang Ming is also a good person, he just cared too much about Fang Jiao Jiao in the past. Perhaps, Fang Jiao Jiao's infidelity might be a good thing for him."

  They arrived at Beishan Village in no time.

  At this time, most of the villagers have gone to work in the fields, so the village seems quite quiet. Only occasionally some children's laughter and the barking of dogs between the fields can be heard from time to time.

  Several people got off the cattle cart and stood at the village entrance, just about to head into the village, when they suddenly felt waves of shouting coming from all directions.

  Anwen looked around in all directions at dawn and found that many people were coming this way from the distant fields, with a mighty momentum.

  Is this, coming for them? An Wen felt a little scared in her heart, the power of the masses is always terrifying. If so many villagers come together to do something to them, they will be miserable even if they don't die.

  Just as An was thinking this way, she saw that the villagers had already run close, but not towards them, but towards the direction of the village.

  The villagers ran while shouting loudly to each other.

  "It's really outrageous! The Li family wasn't satisfied with just firing someone, now they even dare to come to our doorstep and cause trouble, it's truly bullying others too much."

  "It's just that, when we were in Beishan Village, we were all dead."

  "The people of Nan Shan Village have always looked down on us from Bei Shan Village. What's so great about them, anyway? They just produced a heartless scholar."

  "That's right, today we will let those people from Nan Mountain Village know that our North Mountain Village is not so easy to bully either."

  ……

  A crowd of people were talking and quickly running towards the village, their faces full of angry expressions.

  However, several people standing nearby heard their conversation and were shocked.

  The Li family from Nanshan Village has actually come to our doorstep? This is simply outrageous, they've already wronged us and now they dare to come to our home to cause trouble. Is this really about bullying the women of the Liu family? Are they trying to drive the third daughter of the Liu family to death before they'll stop?

  Bai Ping became anxious and worried after hearing those words, turned his head to An Yan and said: "Jin Xiu, let's go take a look too, I don't know if the people from the Li family will harm them?"

  "Uh-huh."

  An nodded slightly and turned to gesture to Su San, then the three of them quickly ran towards the direction of the village.