Chapter 54: Widow Xu

Isn't the end of the village where that mother and daughter live...

Zhao Wulai narrowed his eyes and followed quietly.

Widow Xu walked very fast and soon arrived in front of Jiang Xiaoxiao's courtyard gate.

The courtyard gate was tightly closed, surrounded by a fence, and the courtyard was well-organized, with a chicken coop and a sheep pen.

Those chickens were still small, but full of energy, holding their heads high, strolling and pecking for food in the chicken coop.

And that sheep was very sturdy, its belly eaten round, and because of the hot weather, it was dozing in the sheep pen.

Widow Xu's eyes were hot with envy. Not to mention those chickens, just this sheep alone was worth a lot of money!

She looked at the fence in front of her and secretly gritted her teeth. These were not obstacles; as long as it wasn't that high courtyard wall, there was still a way to get in.

Widow Xu looked around. Today, the people in the village were all gathered at the Ancestral Hall, first for praying for rain and worshipping gods, and later because of the trench digging.

This was the end of the village, and usually, no one would come to stroll around. As long as she sneaked in, perhaps she could find the recipe for that snow cake...

With the recipe, she could make snow cakes, sell them to make money, and buy whatever she wanted!

These past few days, as a widow in the village, she was extremely jealous and envious of Jiang Shi being able to make snow cakes to make money. They were both widows in the village; why could she live so well!?

Especially today, seeing Jiang Wei surrounded by everyone, with the villagers full of praise for her, she felt sour in her heart watching from the side.

Hmph, what's so great about it? Once she secretly learned how to make snow cakes and sold them for money, the villagers would also look at her with new eyes!

After confirming that there was no one around, Widow Xu crouched down and came to the corner behind Jiang Xiaoxiao's courtyard, reaching out to tear the fence on the side.

Just as she was about to step in, a hand suddenly reached out from behind, covered her mouth, and another hand hugged her waist and dragged her hard into the small grove on the side.

Widow Xu struggled subconsciously, bit the person, and was about to open her mouth to call for help, but then she realized she was here to steal things from someone's house. If someone discovered her, she wouldn't end up well either.

"Stinking woman!" Zhao Wulai was bitten, and in his anger, he pressed the person to the ground and slapped her hard.

"Zhao Wulai!? So it's you, you bastard!"

Seeing Zhao Wulai's oily face clearly, Widow Xu couldn't care about the pain on her face and struggled, twisting her body, "Zhao Wulai, what do you want to do to me! Hurry and let me go, or I'll call someone!!"

"Heh, then call! Let the villagers see you sneaking into someone's house and see what they say!" Zhao Wulai sneered. Holding Widow Xu's handle, he wasn't afraid at all and reached out to tear Widow Xu's clothes.

"Y-you..." Widow Xu didn't dare to move after being threatened by Zhao Wulai a few times, her trembling fingertips clutching her own clothes.

But her strength was no match for Zhao Wulai, a grown man. In a few moments, she was stripped clean.

Zhao Wulai leaned over, his big yellow teeth close, and the bad breath was nauseating, "Without a man for so long, your heart must have been itching to be unable to hold back, right? Today, I'll let you taste it."

The fire in his lower abdomen had long been unable to be held back, and he hurriedly took off his pants and pushed forward.

Widow Xu turned her face away, shedding tears of regret. She shouldn't have come here today. If this matter spread, how would she face people...

At the village Ancestral Hall.

At this moment, the sun was setting in the west, and the registration of everyone was gradually coming to an end.

Jiang Wei recorded the last person's name and then put away the brush.

The Li Zheng took the paper and looked at the full names on it, a gratified smile appearing on his face.

At first, there were people who opposed and didn't sign up, but in the end, those few people saw that everyone had signed up to participate, and finally, they obediently signed up.

In general, the people of Yuhe Village were still united.

"Xiaoxiao's mother, thank you for your hard work today." The Li Zheng rolled up the paper and put it in his bosom, "Tomorrow I will let everyone go up the mountain to dig the trench."

"Yes, Uncle Liu, remember to tell everyone to prepare more stone hammers and shovels tomorrow, in case they encounter stones while digging, it will be easier to pry them open."

"Hey, alright."

After Jiang Wei finished explaining, she took Jiang Xiaoxiao home.

As soon as the mother and daughter arrived home, they discovered that the fence in the corner of the courtyard had been torn open.

"Who did this?" Jiang Xiaoxiao frowned and walked over. The fence had only been built a few days ago and wouldn't be easily broken.

This looked like it was broken by someone!

Jiang Wei entered the courtyard and checked the door lock. There were no signs of being pried, so she said: "The thief didn't get into the courtyard."

Hearing this, Jiang Xiaoxiao breathed a sigh of relief. Although the family's silver and important things were stored in her mother's space, the things they usually wore and used were still at home, especially the toothpaste, facial cleanser, and so on that didn't exist in this era... If they were taken by someone with ulterior motives, it would be a disaster!

"I'll urge the carpenter on the way when I go to town tomorrow. This house must be built quickly." Jiang Wei scanned the courtyard and said.

She didn't know why the thief didn't come in this time, but next time, they wouldn't have such good luck.

Jiang Wei took a firewood knife to the backyard to cut a few bamboos, repaired the broken fence, and then set about preparing dinner.

At this moment, Jiang Xiaoxiao was also filling a large vat with water in the kitchen. Her ability hadn't been used up, so she went to feed water to the chickens and sheep in the courtyard.

After filling the trough with water, Jiang Xiaoxiao put the wild vegetables her mother had cut in the morning mixed with barnyard millet into the feeding trough.

Since these chickens were bought and drank the ability water every day, they changed every day and grew very fast. Before, they were still yellow and fluffy, but these past few days, their feather color started to fade, and their body size increased a lot.

After finishing the chores at home, Jiang Xiaoxiao washed her hands clean and entered the kitchen, seeing her mother processing the river deer she had carried back from the mountain during the day.

Jiang Wei used a kitchen knife to skillfully peel off the entire skin of the river deer, then cut off a piece of the hind leg meat to make dinner. The remaining river deer meat was taken back into the space, and only the skin was hung outside to dry.

She said: "Keep this skin to make you a pair of small leather boots later."

Jiang Xiaoxiao couldn't help but smile: "Such a big skin, Mother one pair, I one pair."

Jiang Wei glanced at her and started washing the river deer meat in the basin, "Alright, stop being glib, hurry and help me watch the fire, I'll roast river deer meat for you to eat."

"Alright, Mother!"

Jiang Xiaoxiao ran to the side of the stove happily.

River deer meat is tender and rich in nutrition, whether stir-fried, stewed, or made into soup, it is very delicious.

The mother and daughter had another beautiful dinner.

Jiang Xiaoxiao was responsible for cleaning the bowls and chopsticks and washing them in the courtyard, while Jiang Wei started boiling ice cream.

She didn't go to town to sell snow cakes today, and naturally didn't go to Shopkeeper Zhou to deliver goods. Jiang Wei decided to deliver more when she went tomorrow, so she boiled a full large pot of ice cream.

She poured it all into a large porcelain basin, added the whipped cream, stirred it evenly, and then took it into the space to freeze.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 55 =====