Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

Chapter 423: Chapter 223: Dinner under the Moonlight

Juhua spaced out for a second, then asked Meizi with a laugh, "You haven’t been out all afternoon. What have you been busy with at home?"

What she really wanted to know was what Meizi had roped Granny Hua into doing.

Meizi smiled. "I was tilling the soil with Mother. We planted a row of eggplants and weeded the chili peppers and cucumbers—just busy with chores all afternoon. Oh, Juhua, I didn’t plant enough peppers. I want to plant more, but I don’t have any more space or seedlings."

When Juhua heard Meizi had put Granny Hua to work, she couldn’t help but smile to herself. Hearing her mention pepper seedlings, she quickly said, "I thought I had too few at first, too, so I sowed some more seeds. But now I have too many. I was just going to pull out the extra ones and toss them, so come get some if you want. I also have extra cucumber and hyacinth bean seedlings. If you don’t have space, you can plant them along the base of the courtyard wall. You can even plant some outside the yard—it’s not like anyone’s going to tax you for it. You just have to keep the chickens and ducks from getting to them."

Meizi’s face lit up. "That’s a good point. I’ll come see you in a couple of days when I have time. I need to go home and make dinner. Aren’t you going home to cook?"

Juhua smiled. "My mom is making dinner now!"

Meizi nodded, thinking enviously, ’It’s such a blessing to be unmarried.’ But as she walked away, tugging Li Changming along, she thought happily, ’Changming always looks out for me. He even helps with the cooking. I’m pretty blessed myself, even being married.’

Once the young couple had gone through their gate, Qingmu and Zhang Huai burst out laughing.

Juhua couldn’t help but chuckle as well. She asked Zhang Huai, puzzled, "Was Meizi like this back at her old place, before she moved here?"

Zhang Huai glanced at her and said with a smile, "I’m not home that often, so I wouldn’t really know. But..." He paused, suppressing a laugh. "You could always hear her voice in the morning and evening."

He glanced up at Li Changming’s courtyard. Seeing no one was coming out, he put on a high-pitched voice and, for Qingmu and Juhua’s benefit, imitated Meizi. "Mother—hurry up! We need to wash the dishes and feed the pigs! Mother—time to get up!"

Hearing his strange, squeaky impression, Juhua shot him a glare and asked in astonishment, "Yelling at her to wash the dishes and feed the pigs is one thing, but why does she need to be yelled at just to get out of bed? Doesn’t Li Laoda know how to wake his own wife?"

Zhang Huai said, "Oh, Li Laoda must have tried. We just don’t know how he went about it. But he’s been trying for decades, and that woman would always wait until he and the boys had gone to the fields before she’d sluggishly get up to cook and do chores. Ever since Meizi married into the family, she’d be out in the yard at the crack of dawn, her voice ringing out ’Motheeeer!’ so clearly that all the neighbors could hear. How could Granny Hua dare stay in bed? To be honest, I’m not a morning person myself, but when Meizi yelled for her mother-in-law from the next yard over, I couldn’t stay in bed either. I’d just get right up. Now that she’s moved over here and no one’s shouting for Granny Hua, I’m actually not used to it!"

Qingmu burst out with a "HAHA!", and even Juhua had to lower her head to hide her laughter.

After a moment, she squatted down and started picking up sharp-edged little stones and tossing them aside. "There’s not even that much to do around the house," she said with a curl of her lip. "That woman needs someone constantly watching over her and nagging her to get any work done. It’s a real skill, in its own way."

Zhang Huai quickly interjected, "Now, don’t be too hard on her. She’s actually improved a lot lately and has started doing things on her own. At first, Meizi would just yell like that, but after the start of spring, it turned into yelling for her to get up early and cut pig feed. She said they’d gotten an extra pig and she was worried the acorns wouldn’t last, so they had to supplement with other things. After cutting the feed, Granny Hua has to sweep the yard, feed the pigs, and she often helps Meizi till the soil and plant vegetables. Anyway, Meizi keeps her busy from dawn till dusk. Of course, Meizi herself is just as busy. Otherwise, there’s no way her mother-in-law would be so cooperative."

Qingmu and Juhua started laughing all over again.

Qingmu said, "It’s like they say, every monster meets its match. Granny Hua is helpless against Meizi. I just saw her eyeing those eels, wanting to take some back. But first, Meizi said she’d bring a bowl over once they were cooked, and then she added that the rest was being saved as an extra dish for the people helping with the planting. That left Granny Hua completely unable to get a word of protest in."

Zhang Huai shook his head. "She was just being greedy, hoping Meizi would send some over after they were cooked. She wouldn’t dare actually ask for any. You probably don’t know, but last time, she secretly ate a pancake Meizi had saved for Changming, and Gou Dan’s mother really laid into her. My mom said she yelled at Granny Hua until she cried. So the reason she’s so obedient with Meizi now—aside from the fact that Meizi completely ignores her wheedling—is that she’s also a little scared of Gou Dan’s mother."

Juhua pictured the look on Gou Dan’s mother’s face when she got angry—it truly must have been a fearsome sight—and she started laughing again.

As they talked and laughed, they finished tamping down both paths. Wiping sweat from his brow, Qingmu said, "There. All we need to do tomorrow is trim some willow branches and plant them along the sides."