Chapter 205

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Chai Mi

Women don't necessarily understand women, but women definitely all hate men who keep mistresses.

At this moment, Chai Mi, looking at Xue Haiyan weeping — tears streaming down her face like rain on sunflowers — couldn't help but feel sympathy rise up as well.

"Auntie, it's okay, it's okay. This matter is all in the past. Living this one lifetime, people inevitably make some mistakes. Of course, I can't say Comrade Liu Zhanggui made a mistake that all men would make." Chai Mi spoke step by step: "Liu Zhanggui's mistake is the biggest stain on his life, this point cannot be denied. But first, I feel my Uncle Zhanggui these past few years has also profoundly realized his mistake..."

As Chai Mi spoke, she looked at Liu Zhanggui.

Liu Zhanggui immediately understood what she meant, and hurriedly turned toward the fat large pink fist pulling Xue Haiyan...

Of course, Old Xue simply didn't give Liu Zhanggui this chance; with a shake of her arm, Liu Zhanggui was nearly thrown flying.

Fortunately, son Liu Zhijing was holding on...

Otherwise, with Liu Zhanggui's frail frame, he couldn't withstand Xue Haiyan's two-hundred-odd-jin weight striking at will.

Liu Zhanggui staggered a step, then no longer dared make any move, but his expression was extremely serious, no longer putting on airs pretending to be a gentleman, instead pointing at the sky: "I, Liu Zhanggui... here swear to heaven: I've truly turned over a new leaf, I'll absolutely never do those conscience-lacking things again, from now on I'll definitely wholeheartedly treat my wife well..."

Xue Haiyan's old face instead reddened, a bit awkward and coy, yet unable to produce that maidenly shyness, just her body twisting, expression not too bashful, then covering her chest and turning away, incidentally wiping tears on the sly.

Although Chai Mi never studied micro-expressions, Old Xue's attitude was obviously acceptance.

"Aiya, Village Chief. Your oath-taking, better go back to your room and swear later; doing it in broad daylight where people can see, they'd laugh their teeth off. At such an advanced age, whether it's you or my aunt, you both have shining points; we can't keep clutching the past and not let go." Chai Mi said this, then pulled Xue Haiyan and said in a low voice: "Auntie, rest assured. These two years the Village Chief hasn't messed around, not to mention he's reformed; what I just said was point one, the second point is I heard that woman from back then already found another man, got married even, so you can rest easy on this point, there won't be any rekindling of old flames."

Hearing Chai Mi put it this way, the heart Xue Haiyan had hanging in her throat finally let out a breath.

She was also someone who returned from the gates of hell.

Being broad-bodied and fat doesn't necessarily mean large capacity, but now she also looked on some things more lightly.

Although Liu Zhanggui isn't a decent person, the son is her own flesh and blood.

For her son's marriage not to be so difficult, there was nothing Xue Haiyan couldn't let go of.

They say parents' hearts are the most pitiful in the world; in Xue Haiyan, this was embodied to the fullest.

"Liu Zhanggui, I'm not coming back for you. I'm coming back for Chai Mi, for my son Da Zhi. If it were for you, with that virtue of yours, even if you knelt on the ground kowtowing and calling out eight generations of ancestors, I wouldn't come back."

Xue Haiyan said this, and Liu Zhanggui only said in a low voice: "Understood, understood."

This matter was thus turned over.

Since Xue Haiyan has already returned, remarriage and re-registering are only a matter of time.

Afterwards Liu Zhanggui had Liu Zhijing take Xue Haiyan into the house; after all, Xue Haiyan had surgery only a few days ago, her body was still weak.

Resting well was what Xue Haiyan should do.

Liu Zhanggui also gave the minibus driver the fare, and the minibus people left.

"Chai Mi, this matter is all your credit." Liu Zhanggui, with no outsiders present, instantly shifted into Village Chief mode.

He touched his nose, then took out a Red Pagoda Mountain and lit it.

Before, Liu Zhanggui always smoked the white-box Red Plum; now he's upgraded his grade too.

Liu Zhanggui took a drag, simply held it a moment, then said: "From now on, ah... your Chai Mi's matters are my Liu Zhanggui's matters. Whether I'm Village Chief or not doesn't matter; anyway, whenever you have need of me, Liu Zhanggui, I'll definitely handle it for you."

Chai Mi laughed: "Aiya, Village Chief, look at what you're saying, what kind of talk is that. I didn't do anything..."

Owing a favor is what's most valuable.

"I'm not asking for repayment; we're from the same village, everyone has times they need each other. Our old house fights every day, don't you still go over all the time?"

Finishing this, Chai Mi didn't chat idly anymore, and said: "My family's Old Third, the day after tomorrow holds the Full Moon Wine. Want to invite Village Chief to grace us with your presence, come lend face."

This one sentence from Chai Mi nearly made Liu Zhanggui laugh; the cigarette he was smoking he inhaled sharply, choking him into a coughing fit.

"Definitely going, you can count on it."

"When the time comes, you act as Toast Master; the village all listens to you, you arranging people to work is also righteous." Chai Mi assigned Liu Zhanggui as Toast Master.

Toast Master is the minor official for rural banquets.

Generally it's the Village Chief, Village Group Leader, or clan elders who do it.

The village these past two years mostly finds Liu Zhanggui to be Toast Master.

Mainly because Liu Zhanggui is idle to the point of being blank...

"No problem." Liu Zhanggui glanced at the courtyard, then said: "Then I'll go tomorrow morning; have you found the hardworking people?"

"Just give a shout tomorrow morning; our Chai Family doesn't have that many people, my dad and his brothers' relations are just so-so. Tomorrow morning I'll have my dad call out to everyone, after that I won't specially come invite you; when the time comes you just go yourself."

Liu Zhanggui agreed instantly.

Chai Mi thus went home.

Liu Zhanggui stood outside the courtyard and lit another cigarette, puffing away bar-da bar-da.

Wife's back, his heart disease is gone too.

Actually, reaching Liu Zhanggui's age, past fifty, reached the age of broad-mindedness.

They say thirty while standing, forty without confusion, fifty knowing heaven's mandate, sixty ears obedient, seventy ancient rare, eighty Thunder Law King...

Liu Zhanggui at this moment directly crossed several dimensions, directly transforming into Thunder Law King.

"Da Zhi, come out a moment." Liu Zhanggui shouted toward the courtyard.

Liu Zhijing scurried out.

"You tomorrow morning, go..." Liu Zhanggui smoked half the cigarette, took another drag: "go to Cai Xiao's and get me two pigs. Big ones, two of three to four hundred jin each."

Liu Zhijing froze a moment: "Dad, this hot weather, getting two pigs? Even if Mom's back, you don't have to get two pigs, right? Ten or eight jin of meat would be enough."

"You understand nothing." Liu Zhanggui glared: "These pigs you buy back, we'll slaughter at home. Call your uncles and elders over for a meal, announce your mom's return this major event. The leftover meat, when the time comes, all send to Chai Mi's house; her younger sister the day after tomorrow holds Full Moon Wine, I've got nothing to show, sending some meat isn't excessive, right."

Liu Zhijing directly a bit dumbfounded: Er...

Would my father have feelings for Chai Mi?

This old bastard...

In this world, there's never a free dinner, but today there's a free breakfast.

The first step to holding a banquet in the countryside is to invite the laborers to breakfast, and it's invited a day in advance.

Early the next morning, Chai Mi's household became lively.

The laborers who came to eat numbered several dozen.

The breakfast was just home cooking, very simple.

Steamed buns fill you up, and there was stewed cabbage vermicelli with five-flower pork. Chai Mi specially put in over ten catties of five-flower pork to let everyone eat their fill.

Though this era isn't so poor that meat is only eaten during festivals, it's obvious no family can have big fish and big meat at every meal; being able to eat fragrant meat was practically like New Year.

Chai Mi's clan relatives weren't many. Her grandfather Chai Zhongxiao made an excuse after eating and didn't come over. Chai You De, however, thick-skinnedly came...

Chai You De is hard to evaluate.

Chai Mi felt Chai You De was thoroughly bad, and he was shameless...

Chai Mi had her father Chai Youqing go door to door to invite clan relatives to eat, and she greeted Chai You De, but Chai You De actually came...

And he drank very happily, calling her "Big Brother" on one side and "Big Niece" on the other.

It left Chai Mi a bit bewildered: Is this Third Uncle of mine not a bad person?

Actually...

Chai Mi was certain Chai You De wasn't a good thing; he just wanted to drink.

For Chai You De, drinking and eating meat was the most comfortable thing in this life. As for face...

It could be completely discarded!

"Third Uncle... you've had two catties by this drinking method, right... You'd better not come to mooch just because my family has business; if you drink yourself into trouble, I won't care," Chai Mi said, frowning.

Chai You De was dressed very properly today; he was handsome, and due to long-term drinking, his body grew increasingly weak and thin, making even cheap clothes look quite neat. Holding his wine cup, hearing Chai Mi say this, he immediately retorted: "Big Niece, what are you saying? Isn't this a happy occasion? How can a happy occasion be without Third Uncle... And don't worry, I definitely haven't drunk two catties, at most one catty two taels, I know my own limits..."

Chai Mi frowned: Still knows his own limits, my ass?

Forty-eight percent sorghum liquor, and Chai You De has already retorted one catty two taels?! This isn't plain water...

But now there are many people, so Chai Mi couldn't well flare up, only saying: "Then drink slowly, eat a few buns in a while, don't drink on an empty stomach, eat some food too. And..."

Don't drink yourself to death at my house; that's very unlucky.

Just as she was speaking, a vehicle arrived at the door.

It was Zhou Fang driving his egg-collecting vehicle again...

Chai Youqing went out to receive him, but Zhou Fang said he owed Chai Mi a meal last time, and this time he brought ten crates of eggs and five sacks of rice...

Chai Mi: What the hell? Is this some poverty relief? Can't my family afford rice?

But Chai Mi couldn't be bothered to go out, and Chai Youqing was too embarrassed to refuse, so he accepted them.

But even after accepting the things, Chai Mi couldn't be bothered to invite Zhou Fang in to eat.

But it was mealtime, and everyone was eating.

Zhou Fang actually just sat himself down beside Chai You De, took a bun, and started using chopsticks to pick vermicelli from the basin...

Chai Mi frowned displeased: "Why don't you bring five more sacks of flour? I'm not playing along..."

"We're childhood friends; your family has business, I come to help, it's no crime," Zhou Fang said.

Chai Mi felt Zhou Fang had become remarkably shameless lately.

She simply walked away.

This situation was very awkward.

Because in the countryside, no matter whose family has business, if someone comes to help, you absolutely cannot chase them away.

So even if it's just the shameless Chai You De who came for drinks, and the shameless dog thief Zhou Fang...

Chai Mi entered the room and said to the busy Chai Youqing: "Dad, you go find a place to eat too."

The tables were set outside; this morning there were fully six or seven tables, and over two hundred and sixty buns were eaten alone...

Fortunately it's cool now, and they're drinking baijiu, only seven or eight bottles; if it were hot at noon and they drank beer, wouldn't it be ten or eight crates?

Chai Youqing agreed and went to find a place to eat.

Chai Mi ladled a small bowl of food from the pot, took several buns, entered the west room, and gave them to her mother Su Wan and younger sister Chai Xiu.

"Why are there so many people? Usually when our Chai family has business, it's just three or four tables; today there are eight. I steamed over ten pots of buns, originally prepared for a whole day, and they were gone in one meal." Chai Mi had a splitting headache.

Last night, Chai Mi had been busy half the night steaming buns.

"Those who come are guests; more people means more liveliness." Su Wan didn't find it too troublesome. "Your Third Uncle came too; it seems he doesn't bear a grudge against you for breaking his leg."

"Forget it." Hearing this, Chai Mi was displeased: "He broke his own leg. And he's shameless, coming to mooch food and drink. Chai Lao San sees wine and is more affectionate than seeing his own father."

"Sister, you're wrong. Third Uncle isn't affectionate toward Grandfather at all. He's only affectionate toward wine," Chai Xiu said.

Chai Mi scratched her forehead with her fingernail, but didn't refute Chai Xiu.

After all, Chai Xiu was right this time.

In Chai Mi's memory, Chai You De was very peculiar; he was a very bad person, and very cold-blooded, but his courage wasn't great, and he was cowardly and shameless...

He was a contradiction.

What Chai Xiu said wasn't wrong; Chai You De was only affectionate toward wine. Toward his own father Chai Zhongxiao, not at all...

In her previous life, on the day Chai Zhongxiao died, Chai You De was also dead drunk, downing two catties at once...

Asked why: His biological father died, drinking to drown sorrow.

Not asked: Who died has nothing to do with me? I drink my wine; anyway, I'm dying too...

"Alright, don't mention that thing." Chai Mi said: "My Second Uncle and Second Aunt didn't come. I think Second Aunt could come, and my Second Uncle should be able to come too. I had someone secretly tell Chai Min that little green tea bitch yesterday, saying our family is holding a banquet. I reckon that girl will definitely come."

Chai Mi's impression of her female cousin had always been vague.

But Chai Mi told herself, drawing on her experience of living two lives: the sickly Chai Min would definitely come.

"Chai Min is studying, isn't she? She could take special leave to come back? She could be that kind and hardworking?" Su Wan didn't quite believe what Chai Mi said.

After all, high school courses were heavy, Chai Min's health was poor, she originally struggled just to keep up with classes, how could she possibly take leave for no matter over such a small matter?

"Hah. Mom... you underestimate her." Chai Mi said: "I always feel this female cousin of mine is strange. She's a bit like..."

Chai Mi hesitated, unable to finish.

Because Chai Min was a bit like a fujoshi from later generations...

The kind who couldn't move her feet when she saw a good man; last time Chai Mi saw Chai Min see Da Zhi, she even drooled...

Chai Mi was completely baffled at the time, but she hadn't mentioned it to anyone else.

The problem was Chai Mi didn't think Liu Zhijing was anything special?

As for Da Zhi, his skin was a bit dark, his height was quite tall, he dressed like his father Liu Zhanggui, with an air of premature maturity, no bad hobbies, eight-pack abs...

Just generally average.

After all Chai Mi knew, young men with eight-pack abs could be hauled out of the village by the trainload...