Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

Chapter 416: Chapter 219: The Fields (Part 2)

Seeing the fear in Juhua’s expression, Madam Yang chuckled. "Don’t listen to your brother. Our fields are pretty safe. There’s none of that nasty stuff here."

As she spoke, she finished planting the rice seedlings in her hand, rinsed her hands in the water, and climbed onto the embankment.

Juhua quickly called out to Qingmu, "Brother, come up and have some flatbread! I put meat in the filling."

Qingmu called back in acknowledgment and came up a moment later.

The mother and her children squatted on the embankment. Juhua poured tea for her mother and brother, then served them the flatbread in bowls with chopsticks.

Juhua looked at the adjacent paddy field—it was still a vast, watery expanse, not yet planted with seedlings. She turned and asked with a smile, "Whose field is this? How come they haven’t planted their rice yet?"

Qingmu glanced at the field. "It belongs to Changming’s family. They’ll plant a bit later. We’re growing two rice crops this year, so we soaked our seeds early. That’s why we’re planting a few days sooner than usual."

Juhua nodded. Suddenly, she thought of Granny Hua and couldn’t help but let out a snicker.

Madam Yang and Qingmu looked at her, puzzled as to why she was laughing for no apparent reason.

Juhua began to act out what she had seen at Meizi’s house for her mother and brother.

’She was starting to understand why people loved to gossip about their neighbors’ affairs. In this simple, leisurely country life, there wasn’t much else for entertainment. Weren’t these scenes from village families just like a live-action drama series? An endless one, at that—continuing until old age, until death, and then carried on by the next generation!’

Madam Yang burst out laughing when she heard the story. "Well, that’s a happy accident, isn’t it? Meizi has never been one for mind games or beating around the bush. She just does what she thinks is right and doesn’t care what Granny Hua was like before! It’s actually better this way; she won’t have to put up with any nonsense. Now, if it were anyone else," she continued, "they’d get angry just looking at Granny Hua. They’d spend all day scheming how to deal with her, which would just get in the way of their work and throw their lives into chaos. They might even get into huge fights. But Meizi doesn’t bother with any of that. She acts just like she’s still at her own family’s home—I’d say she’s practically disciplining her mother-in-law the way she disciplines Gou Dan."

This time, even Qingmu snorted with laughter. Still, he asked doubtfully, "Even so, could Granny Hua really change for the better that quickly? Uncle Li and Changming haven’t been able to straighten her out after all these years!"

Madam Yang shot him a look. "That’s where you’re wrong. How could it be the same? She was born lazy. Even her own mother-in-law couldn’t manage her back in the day, let alone her husband and son. But Meizi is different. Meizi is her daughter-in-law, and she’s a simple person. If they have a public fight, Granny Hua would be afraid of the scandal."

Juhua added, speaking to her brother, "She might be lazy, but she can’t afford to lose that much face. I heard last time it was because she ate the fried pancake Meizi had saved for Changming. Meizi was so upset she cried, which provoked Gou Dan’s mother to come over and have a huge fight with her. Can you imagine how embarrassing that was? Usually, people just don’t bother arguing with her, but Meizi won’t be so polite. Meizi’s determined to make a good life for herself, so there’s no way she’ll let Granny Hua walk all over her!"

Madam Yang shook her head and sighed. "Meizi was crying over a piece of flatbread, but Gou Dan’s mother wasn’t fighting over it—she was just looking for an excuse to teach Granny Hua a lesson. She’s not a simple person; Meizi is no match for her. In the end, it was Granny Hua’s own pathetic behavior that brought this on herself. In any other family, who would fight because a mother ate a piece of her son’s flatbread?" No sooner had she said it than she corrected herself, "No, that’s not right. In any other family, a mother wouldn’t eat her son’s flatbread in the first place."

Qingmu and Juhua laughed in unison.

’Ever since they were little,’ Qingmu thought, ’it was always their father and mother who saved food for him and his sister. And he, in turn, always let his sister eat more. Someone like Granny Hua was truly a rare sight.’

The mother and her children sat on the embankment, talking and laughing as a gentle breeze blew. Juhua felt the warm air wash over her face. Her gaze stretched out to the distant fields, a patchwork of green against the faint outline of the Qingshan mountains. Looking up at the vast sky, she saw a canopy of soft, deep blue dotted with a few cotton-like clouds. This feeling of being embraced by heaven and earth put her at ease, making her feel closer to nature.

The sunlight wasn’t harsh, offering just the right amount of warmth to shine down upon and nourish all living things.

A few nameless birds swooped up and down over the paddies or circled endlessly above the newly planted fields, as if searching for prey. In the distance, the people planting rice in their own fields chatted and laughed loudly, their cheerful voices carried on the wind.

She didn’t want to go home just yet. She simply sat on the embankment, watching her brother and mother finish their flatbread and go back into the field to continue planting.

Seeing how much she enjoyed being outside, Madam Yang didn’t press her to go back. Qingmu mentioned that since there were only three of them for lunch, they could just whip something up when they got home later. If his sister liked it here, she should stay and enjoy herself a while longer.

And so, the three of them—one on the embankment, two in the field—continued to work and chat.

Suddenly, Zhang Huai came rushing over, his pant legs rolled up high and a pair of straw sandals on his feet. He looked at Juhua in surprise and asked, "What are you doing sitting here? Playing supervisor?"

When Juhua saw him, she couldn’t help but smile. "What are you doing here?" she asked playfully. "Don’t tell me you’re here to help my family plant rice? Oh! That would be wonderful—with your help, my mom and brother can finish early."

Zhang Huai found it amusing how she was so quick to take advantage of the situation, pinning him down with her words. But since he had come to help anyway, he just smiled. "My mother said your family still had one last paddy to plant. With Uncle Zheng out repaying a labor debt, she was worried that Qingmu and Auntie wouldn’t be able to finish today, so I came to lend a hand."

Juhua’s face lit up with a grin. "Great! Hurry up and get in there. The sooner you plant, the sooner we can all finish."

In the field, Madam Yang saw her daughter teasing Huai Zi and shot her a look. "Huai Zi, you must be busy at home, too. Why come and help? Even if you have free time, you should be resting. You must be exhausted from the last few days, aren’t you?"

Zhang Huai smiled. "I went to weed the soybeans early this morning, and I’m pretty much done. Weeding isn’t as urgent as planting rice seedlings; it can wait."

As he spoke, he kicked off his straw sandals and waded into the paddy. After a few steps, he turned back and asked Juhua, "It gets hot out here in the fields. Why are you sitting here instead of going home?"

Juhua smiled. "The sun isn’t that strong. I like it out here. Looking at the fields clears my head. I was so busy the past few days my head was spinning. I just want to relax for a bit."

Zhang Huai understood what she meant and smiled. "In that case, you should have brought a small net. You could have fun catching little fish, shrimp, and loaches in the ditches. You could even scoop up some fry for the fishpond."

Juhua’s eyes lit up at the suggestion. "Hey! I’ll do that this afternoon."

Zhang Huai smiled, then turned and went back to planting rice seedlings.