Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Reflect on Their Action

Zhou Anran choked at her daughter’s question.

Xiao Qingya immediately ran to the kitchen and brought back a bowl of water, obediently handing it to her mother.

"Thank you, Little Ya. My daughter is so clever and filial," Zhou Anran praised and drank the water.

The uncomfortable feeling in her throat subsided, but not uneasiness in her heart. Divorce?

Considering the women’s weaker position, that was something that rarely occurred here. The notion itself felt quite foreign, and yet, she didn’t reject it.

Somehow, it felt familiar.

Most men would never divorce their wife, but they would take in concubines. Women were generally the ones suffering; they had to accept their husband’s affairs.

However, it was also too rare for women to initiate the divorce. Almost never happened. As a weak woman, they were regarded as a burden and would be living a worse fate once they had no man’s protection. As such, they could only endure it.

[Little Ya, this is your grandfather’s matters.]

When did the little one become so gossipy?

Xiao Qingya huffed. [I am just asking.]

Compared to most women, Chen Huayun had a loyal and responsible husband. Alas, she never appreciated that and often took it for granted.

Once she made trouble, she would be afraid of her husband’s stern face, but once he softened or a long time had passed, she would dare to try to make trouble again.

Chen Huayun might have thought that Zhou Wenzhi would always tolerate her. It was also unknown when Zhou Wenzhi’s patience would finally be exhausted.

In the end, the System also couldn’t help itself. It couldn’t resist the temptation of gossip, almost leading its baby host astray.

[Should we make him divorce your bad grandmother, Host?] The System let out an evil laugh.

Zhou Anran’s temples throbbed.

The System didn’t say it but once Zhou Wenzhi found out about all the evil deeds Chen Huayun had done, it might not be impossible.

***

News that Chen Huayun and Liu Hua had been detained at the yamen spread like a wildfire in their small Hejia Village. They became the topic for aunties who often gathered around for gossip.

"Have you heard? That old woman and her daughter-in-law are being arrested at the yamen right now!" One auntie was acting as the main gossip provider.

"Hiss, what crime did they commit?" The aunties gasped.

"Apparently, they sell poisoned soy milk. It’s unknown where they get the recipe from. When the people who had bought the soy milk from them were demanding justice, they even tried to pin the blame on Zhou Anran’s twin daughters." The auntie told the women around her enthusiastically.

"Pah, with a mother or grandmother like her, it’s really bad luck for several generations!" Another one commented.

Zhou Anran was passing by when she heard the group of aunties gathering around, discussing her mother and sister-in-law.

Her lips pursed tightly. The group of aunties was so engrossed in the gossip that they didn’t notice someone was heading in their direction.

"The people who suffered from drinking the soy milk all demanded compensation money, to make up for the amount of money they might have lost for skipping a day of work and the physician fee."

"The Zhou family can’t pay the amount of money they demanded. Hence, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law pair will stay at the yamen for a little longer until the Zhou family can pay off completely."

The women lamented, sighing at the unfortunate women in the Zhou family.

"With a mother-in-law like that, who will dare to marry their daughter and grandchildren–"

The auntie’s words abruptly stopped. She happened to look up and met Zhou Anran’s emotionless pair of eyes.

She smiled stiffly, lowering her head in embarrassment. They were caught red-handed talking about the Zhou family in front of one of their daughters.

Soon, other women also noticed Zhou Anran who was passing by. They all had an embarrassed and guilty look on their faces, nudging each other.

One auntie cleared her throat and greeted Zhou Anran with a forced smile. "Anran, did you just return from the fields?"

Zhou Anran nodded, her face decorated with a thin smile that didn’t reach her eyes. "Yes, I’ll go first, Aunties and Sisters."

"Oh, yes, be careful on the way. The weather is hot!" A few aunties tried to show their concern to ease the atmosphere.

They didn’t know whether Zhou Anran had heard of their discussion, but most likely she had.

The group of aunties glances at each other awkwardly. They were waiting for Zhou Anran to walk far ahead before continuing their gossip.

Zhou Anran rubbed her temples. In order to pay compensation to the people who had been affected by the soy milk, Zhou Wenzhi had sold one of their goats.

The main family should have been able to pay off all the due compensation...

She bit her lip, realizing that her father was serious about making them reflect on their action.

"Mother, we boiled a pot of soy milk. It’s already cooled down. The weather is hot, try it! Try it!" After Zhou Anran opened the door and took off her straw hat, Xiao Yuxi immediately noticed that their mother had returned.

Earlier, the heat had become unbearable. Worried that her daughters might suffer from the heat, she told them to return early with their youngest sister while she finished doing a little more work at the fields.

Alas, with such a hot temperature, she couldn’t continue to water the paddy rice plants or the water might evaporate too quickly. It would have been a waste of Xiao Qingya’s fertilizer.

That was right. A few days have passed since Zhou Wenzi’s visit, and the little one had clamored to go to the fields with them again. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Luckily, Xiao Fenghao could finally move around a little on his own now. He could easily grab the food or water on his bedside table and no longer needed anyone’s help.

During the next batch of harvest, he should be able to help them to cut the paddy rice stalks.

He was noticeably getting restless after staying too long on his bed.

"Mother, Old Shun finally took a few more jin of paddy rice sheaves. Is the business really working?" Xiao Yuxi mumbled worriedly.

It had been so many days since Shun Zi took the first two hundred jin of paddy rice.