Free Web NovelChapter 367: Chapter 194: Following (2)
Little Shitou rolled his eyes. "Does your mom go to the Sun Family’s house often?"
Gou Dan said hesitantly, "Not really. My older sister used to go a lot before Sister Liu’er got married, but she doesn’t go at all now."
Little Shitou glared at him. "And you still want to go in and find your mom? So stupid! Let’s go. We’ll take a look. We’ll walk past their front door first."
Like a gust of wind, the two kids chased each other as they ran past the Sun Family’s courtyard entrance.
Little Shitou chased Gou Dan, his eyes darting to the side. He saw Granny Hua and Liu’er’s mother moving two small stools and setting them up against the base of the courtyard wall. It looked like they were planning to sunbathe and gossip there.
When they reached an empty corner of the wall, Gou Dan stopped and asked, "So? What now?"
When they were playing, he was used to asking Little Shitou for ideas.
Little Shitou gave him a look and whispered, "Let’s circle around to the back. They’re sunning themselves by that wall, so we’ll definitely be able to hear what they’re saying from over there."
Gou Dan nodded excitedly. He and Little Shitou then quieted their steps, creeping along the base of the wall to the back like cats.
Once they got to the back, they could indeed hear voices coming from the courtyard. But because the speakers had lowered their voices, the boys couldn’t hear clearly.
Gou Dan was so anxious he was practically spinning in circles. He wanted to climb the wall. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
Little Shitou stopped him. He looked around and saw a small patch of woods nearby, with Li Gengdi’s house just beyond it. He made a silent gesture to Gou Dan, signaling for him to follow him into the woods to get a couple of large rocks.
The two kids made several tiring trips, moving a few irregular-shaped rocks—probably leftovers from when the courtyard wall was built. They placed them at the base of the wall, but when Little Shitou sized it up, the wall was still too high. He couldn’t help but start to worry.
He scanned the wall carefully and suddenly noticed a spot where one of the stones looked loose. He picked up a stiff branch and started scraping around the stone.
The wall was just built from stones held together with yellow mud and sand; it wasn’t a very sturdy structure. As he scraped, the mud and sand rained down. Before long, he had dug out the stone, revealing a large hole that could be used as a foothold.
Seeing Little Shitou find a solution so quickly, Gou Dan’s dark face flushed with excitement. He felt his heart pound—THUMP THUMP—an unprecedented thrill.
He leaned close to Little Shitou’s ear and whispered, "They’re sitting over there. If you climb up from here, will you be able to hear them clearly?"
Although Little Shitou didn’t understand the theory of sound propagation, experience told him he’d be able to hear them if he climbed up—they weren’t that far away.
He waved his hand like an expert, motioning for Gou Dan to keep watch below. He moved one of the rocks beneath the hole, then placed his left foot on the rock and his right foot in the hole in the wall. With nimble ease, he scaled the courtyard wall.
He had originally intended to straddle the top of the wall, but that would make him too obvious a target. Hanging on with his arms was just fine—he had support under his feet, so he wouldn’t fall. Besides, for village kids like him and Gou Dan, climbing trees and walls was child’s play.
He lay flat on top of the wall and peered ahead.
’Good,’ he thought. ’The two women both have their backs to the wall. As long as I don’t make a sound, there’s no way they’ll notice me.’ They were about ten feet away, a perfect distance to hear them clearly. He focused and began to listen intently.
The more he listened, the uglier his expression became. His little face turned red with anger, and he gnashed his teeth, glaring at the two women below. ’Thank goodness I followed them,’ he thought furiously. ’Otherwise, I’d never have known this woman was scheming like this.’
It turned out that the person and the matters Granny Hua and Liu’er’s mother were discussing all had to do with Juhua. Of course Little Shitou was angry when he heard.
’Hmph, how dare you scheme against Sister Juhua. Just you watch how I’ll deal with you.’
This Granny Hua wanted her younger son to marry Juhua, but she didn’t dare tell her sons. She had mentioned it once last year, and both of them had flown into a rage. So she was thinking, if she could just find a way to get Changling to marry Juhua, like how her older son had married Meizi, then her family’s wishes would truly be fulfilled.
What kind of good ideas could that brain of hers come up with? She’d mulled it over for days without figuring anything out, but she couldn’t let the matter go. So, here she was, hashing it out with Liu’er’s mother.
For the past year or so, Li Laoda and her sons had kept a tight rein on her. She no longer dared to run her mouth and gossip with everyone like she used to. That’s why she had hesitated for a long time before coming over. In the end, however, the bit of greed in her heart won out, and she came anyway.
After Little Shitou climbed onto the wall, he heard her sigh and say to Liu’er’s mother, "Juhua is a hard worker. She might be a little ugly, but it’s not our place to be picky. You’ve seen the state of my family—we’re dirt poor. What right do we have to be choosy? It would be great if she didn’t mind how poor we are."
She thought she had spoken quite skillfully and sighed for effect.
Liu’er’s mother understood her petty schemes perfectly. She shot her a disdainful sideways glance and chuckled. "The Zheng Family isn’t short on money. Why would they mind that your family is poor? I’m just afraid your Changling will find her too ugly and refuse."
Granny Hua remembered what Li Changming had said last time. She had pondered it for a long time and concluded that he had blamed her because Juhua was too young.
So she said hurriedly, "Changling won’t mind that she’s ugly. He just thinks she’s too young, that it’s not appropriate." fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
Liu’er’s mother asked in surprise, "And which is it? Is Changming older than Meizi, or is Changling older than Juhua?"
Granny Hua thought for a moment and said, "Changming is older than Meizi. My Changling is only twenty-three."
Liu’er’s mother rolled her eyes. "Then what’s the problem? She’s young, so at worst you can just arrange the engagement first and let her mother raise her for another two years."
Granny Hua hadn’t been talking all this time to discuss *whether* to marry Juhua, but *how*.
No matter how stupid she was, she had enough self-awareness to know that marrying this "ugly girl" wouldn’t be easy now. Never mind Zheng Changhe and his wife; Juhua herself was a major headache. That girl was a formidable one, much more so than Meizi. The memory of being caught stealing acorns by her was still fresh in Granny Hua’s mind.
She sighed. "That may be so, but the Zheng Family has made a fortune now. They might not even look twice at our Changling."(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
