Green Lotus Peasant Girl

61

It was not until the beginning of March that the two pig pens were built. There were people in the village who raised pigs, so Zhou Chengkang went to them to get six pigs. Generally speaking, if there hadn’t been so many women in the house, they wouldn’t be feeding so many pigs. The pigs were left to eat only grass every day.

The people who were aware of their family situation, such as Li Fu and Mrs. Zhou, did not stop them.

Over there, the wheat fields and sweet potato sprouts were lush and green. Although they didn't know if there would be a harvest, they could still cut the seedlings and bring them back to feed the pigs.

Now that the pigs didn’t need to be fed very often, they were much freer. Every time there was a big fair in the town, they bought chickens, so this year they had more chickens than last year. A special room was built for the chicks. Many of them were purchased, and in total, nearly two hundred chickens were being raised.

Soon, news of Zhang Haiyao's delivery came from the Zhou family. Both mother and daughter were safe.

Because she had just given birth and Li Qinghe had plenty of eggs at home, she counted thirty and sent them to her. Her village, however, didn’t celebrate the child washing ceremony*, only the full moon ceremony**.

In a blink of an eye, it was March 27, the day before the Yang family's housewarming. According to village rules, villagers were to go one day in advance to help. Li Qinghe and Zhou Chengkang were no exception. They passed through the chicken-raising wasteland and took half an hour to walk around to the other side. When the time came, many people arrived at the Yangs’ house.

Li Qinghe met a lot of people she knew, because she had hired them to build a house and clean up the land. In addition, Yu Yan and Third Aunt Li were there, so she didn't feel bored and went to the kitchen to help prepare the dishes as well.

For these happy events in the village, whenever she went to help, she was asked to cut vegetables. Even if someone was already cutting them, after seeing her come, they would give up the position and assume that she would get the work done quickly.

Li Qinghe was not modest, and Yu Yan was preparing the vegetables to be cut beside her. The room was very lively.

It was bustling when Mrs. Qian arrived at the kitchen door. "Is there anything I can do to help?”

Mrs. Qian and Li Fu's reputation in the village was poor, all because the two had been involved even before they got married. However, it had been a long time, and most people would only talk about them in private and not say anything to her directly. Aunt Li waved her hand and said, "Come here and pick vegetables."

Li Qinghe didn't pay any attention to her. Yu Yan beside her whispered, "Actually, I didn't want to come."

At that, Li Qinghe thought deeply. Because she had saved Xu Changjie, rumors spread among the villagers that she held deep affection for him. Even Yu Yan, who really did have a relationship with Xu Changjie, didn’t usually feel that way. However, on a day like this, if she didn’t come, others would think that she was deliberately not coming.

She whispered again, "You said it's all like that, how come you're not engaged yet?"

Li Qinghe was deeply affected by this question. In fact, the relationship between men and women was still considered very simple in the villagers' minds. As long as they both got married, there wouldn’t be people spreading rumors indiscriminately.

It was just that Xu Changjie was not married yet. Li Qinghe was okay; she had been married for a year, and there were no children, but her days were pretty good. Nobody would speak ill of her and Xu Changjie. However, Yu Yan refused to settle for any random person, so this made things a bit awkward.