Chapter 319

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Protagonist:

Chai Mi

Wang Huirong didn't want to go back now.

After all, Wang Huirong wasn't too sure what Chai You De and his wife could actually provide.

After so many years, Wang Huirong had experienced the feeling of not being full; that taste was truly miserable.

Although Wang Huirong knew Chai Mi would be back soon and might turn hostile, with Chai Mi not here now, she still wanted to struggle a bit.

"Eldest Sister, your father has gone inside; I have no one to rely on, so why not let me live with you?"

Chai Youqing was at a loss, keeping his head down without speaking.

This was her biological mother, but she didn't look like a mother at all. One could say she had done many, many bad things.

But...

Chai Youqing sighed repeatedly, not knowing what to do.

Chai Youqing muttered, and before he could finish the sentence "Why don't you just...", a crisp, sharp shout cut him off:

"No!"

Chai Xiu, holding the third child, frowned and shouted.

"Granny, hurry up and leave! I've given you rice and white flour, enough for you to eat until the autumn harvest! Go back to the old house and cook porridge and rice by yourself; you won't starve!" Chai Xiu's little face was scrunched up tight, her eyes showing a clarity and vigilance beyond her years. "The contract you signed with my Third Uncle and Third Aunt is written clearly in black and white: you support Third Uncle in his old age and see him through to the end! Why are you running to our house? Our family is building a storehouse, busy as can be, with no time to wait on you!"

Wang Huirong was choked so badly she almost couldn't catch her breath, pointing at Chai Xiu with a trembling finger: "You... you little brat..."

"What's wrong with me?" Chai Xiu stuck her neck out. "Did I say something wrong? Back then, you testified for Third Uncle and sent Grandpa to prison—wasn't it just so Third Uncle would support you in your old age? Now that Third Uncle won't feed you, you come running to us? Too late! Our house is small and the kang is narrow; there's no room for you! Besides, my sister is coming back—do you think she'll let you in?" She invoked Chai Mi as this great "living Buddha."

"I'm not trying to scare you. If my sister hasn't come back, you can say whatever you want. But once my sister is back, forget about rice and white flour—if she doesn't give you two big slaps, consider yourself lucky."

Liu Zhanggui and Song Qingshan exchanged glances, both nodding silently in their hearts. This girl was young, but her mind was truly clear; every word made sense, and she even knew to invoke Chai Mi to back herself up.

"Xiu'er is right," Liu Zhanggui said with a stern face. "Wang Huirong, this isn't proper. You chose to follow Old Three's family yourself. Now that Old Three's family won't take care of you, they're heartless, but you can't cling to the Eldest family. Take your grain and go back to the old house! I'll personally go find Chai You De! If he dares to ignore your life or death again, I'll make him regret it!" His words also gave Wang Huirong a way out—someone would take care of Chai You De.

After all, not supporting the elderly was somewhat illegal.

Not to mention anything else, at least don't let her starve to death.

If she starved to death, that would be a major event.

Wang Huirong looked at Chai Xiu's stubborn little face, and at how she kept bringing up Chai Mi again and again; the thought in her heart of clinging to them completely cooled.

She understood that this little girl Chai Xiu was now very sharp and couldn't be fooled at all. If she kept making a scene, when Chai Mi, that evil spirit, came back, the situation would only become more embarrassing.

"Why is my life so bitter..." she wailed one last time, her voice trembling with tears, but she also resigned herself and stopped struggling, allowing Chai Youqing and a clansman nephew beside her to almost half-support, half-drag her out. That bag of rice and white flour was carried on another man's shoulder.

The farce in the courtyard finally came to a temporary end. Liu Zhanggui and Song Qingshan breathed a sigh of relief, looking at Chai Xiu with complex expressions. This little girl's formidable spirit was quickly catching up to her sister's.

"Alright, disperse, disperse! Everyone go do what they should be doing!" Song Qingshan waved his hand, driving away the few people still craning their necks to watch the excitement. "The storehouse foundation is still waiting for stones to build the wall! Hurry up!"

The crowd gradually dispersed, and the courtyard returned to calm. Only two little puppies poked their heads out timidly from the crack in Chai Mi's room door, whimpering.

Chai Xiu held the third child; her small chest was still rising and falling slightly. That outburst just now had taken a lot out of her. She looked down at the third child in her arms; the third child was wide-eyed, looking at her blankly.

Even though things outside were a mess, this third child didn't cry or make a fuss.

Truly easy to raise; otherwise, Eldest Sister would say this little wretch had a tough life.

A tough life was a good thing, as long as he didn't jinx others.

"What are you looking at? It's all because of you that I almost let Granny get the better of us!" Chai Xiu muttered unhappily in a low voice, though she felt a bit frightened in her heart. If Liu Zhanggui and the others had come a step later, or if she hadn't held her ground and let Wang Huirong really cling to them, when Eldest Sister came back, her own "lesson" would definitely be unavoidable.

And by then, it would be impossible to resolve things.

If Chai Mi came back and saw that the family had let Wang Huirong stay,

there was no need to think—they would start arguing immediately.

Her father Chai Youqing was just a person of foolish loyalty; in handling such matters, one could say he was a complete mess.

She looked up at the sky; the sun was already high. "Dad!" she shouted at Chai Youqing, who was still standing at the courtyard gate staring blankly at Wang Huirong's back. "Stop looking! The storehouse side is still waiting for you to pass bricks and mix mud! Hurry up! If you keep dawdling, skip lunch!"

"Not right," Chai Xiu suddenly said. "Dad, didn't you go fix the purlins?"

Chai Youqing was stunned; he indeed hadn't gone to fix the purlins. He was somewhat embarrassed about the matter of stealing trees.

Seeing Chai Youqing's state, Chai Xiu knew he hadn't fixed the purlins. She sighed: "Just wait, you'll see tomorrow when you go up on the roof—without purlins, what will you do? See if my sister gets angry then."

Chai Youqing didn't speak; he sighed and walked away.

Chai Mi was domineering.

How was Chai Xiu also starting to become like that?

Chai Youqing was choked by Chai Xiu's "See if my sister gets angry then," his heart thumping.

He went toward the Song family with his head drooping.

Stealing trees? Forget about him actually doing it; just thinking about being pointed at the nose and called a "thief" made him ashamed enough to want to burrow into a crack in the ground.

But if he didn't do it? Just thinking about Chai Mi's gaze made his calves cramp. When his father Chai Zhongxiao was squatting in the barbed-wire fence, the cold light in Chai Mi's eyes he still remembered clearly. This daughter truly dared to deal with him ruthlessly!

If he got kicked out again, Chai Youqing could never go back.

A headache.

And utterly helpless.

"Sigh..." Chai Youqing squatted under the Song family's courtyard wall.

Song Qingshan led several clansman nephews; the foundation trench was dug properly, large goose egg stones padded the bottom, cement slurry was poured, and they were just waiting to build the wall.

"Youqing! Are you standing there like a door god? Go mix mud!" Song Qingshan's shout brought him back to his senses. Chai Youqing quickly responded and went listlessly to the water bucket to scoop water and mix mud, moving sluggishly.

Song Qingshan saw his cowardly look and understood clearly. With a cigarette in his mouth, he walked over and lowered his voice: "What? Haven't settled the purlin matter? Just go to the woods and fix it, what are you afraid of."

Chai Youqing's face turned red, and he stammered: "... This... this secretly fixing... isn't proper... what if someone catches us..."

"Grab a fart!" Song Qingshan sneered, blowing a smoke ring. "That bit of mixed woods by the river bend — the public doesn't even bother managing those bowl-thick saplings. You think you're cutting big red pines in an old-growth forest? Besides," he jerked his chin toward Liu Zhanggui, "Zhanggui's right here. If he lets a fart, who'd dare say it's not public-flavored? Hurry up! Before it gets fully dark, scram! If you really wait until that girl Chai Mi comes back, I reckon your lazy bones'll get whipped tight by her again!" He slapped Chai Youqing's shoulder, not lightly. "Man up! Don't spend every damn day acting like a bullied young married woman!"

Chai Youqing was slapped into a stumble, then glanced at the sky — the sun was already high; if he didn't go now it truly would be too late.

He gritted his teeth and went for broke!

"Th-then I'll go?" Chai Youqing's voice came out weak.

"Go! Bring an axe! Pick the straight poles — four-point-five to four-point-six meters is fine, get a few. If you don't want to go, I'll run into Da Zhi later and have Da Zhi go." Song Qingshan waved his hand impatiently.

Chai Youqing slipped out of the courtyard like a thief, hunched over, and went home for his axe, then stumbled his way toward the Niuhe River bend.

On this side of the Niuhe River bend, both banks were lined with willows, and no one had managed them for years, but willows generally grow however they please — straight ones aren't many.

The earlier text also mentioned that Chai Mi's family still has a plot of land here.

Chai Youqing walked a stretch upward along the river bend.

This place actually isn't Sanjiacun territory anymore, but it isn't any other village's either.

It belongs to a three-no-man's-land.

The area is quite large — several hundred mu — it used to be a nursery, then the nursery went bankrupt.

When it went bankrupt, it still owed a pile of famine debt. As a result, this nursery land — nobody wanted it no matter who.

And it isn't any good land either.

Just the sandy soil deposited by the river bend — nothing grows no matter what you plant.

Over time, this place became overgrown with wild grass and trees formed a forest.

People call this place the Da Shulinzi.

Chai Youqing gripped the axe handle, palms slick with sweat.

Before him, this desolate "Da Shulinzi" looked even more chaotic than in his memory. The abandoned nursery's boundaries had long blurred; on the sandy soil, miscellaneous trees grew wildly at varying heights — mostly unusable willows, elms, and unnamed shrubs.

Bowl-thick trunks weren't few, but most were twisted and crooked, like a bunch of drunks standing haphazardly after too much drink. The kind of "straight poles" Song Qingshan wanted would take a careful search.

It was nearly noon now, the sun still hot. Chai Youqing felt cutting this stuff didn't seem too hard; the problem was carrying it out — at minimum he'd have to shoulder it out one li before reaching the road. Only once on the road could a cart haul it back.

That part would be very hard.

But cutting a few saplings was the priority.

Moreover, he needed to find fourteen pieces around four-point-six meters.

Time tight, task heavy.

Chai Youqing's gaze scanned tree by tree. This one too bent, that one too many forks... Finally, he spotted a few young poplars ahead — though not arrow-straight, they were far better than the other crooked-neck trees, and the thickness was just right. He walked over, roughly measured the height with his eyes — about right.

Steadying himself, Chai Youqing swung the axe.

"Huh! Huh! Huh!"

The dull thuds of chopping wood were especially grating in the silent forest. Especially since it was empty — not a soul — Chai Youqing couldn't help repeatedly raising his head to look around, afraid the sound would attract someone.

Sweat quickly soaked his old jacket, trickling down his temples. He didn't dare stop, only wanted to finish fast.

Felled one, trimmed off the branches, left a bare trunk. Length barely sufficient. He moved to the next.

Just as he dropped the second and was about to process the limbs, a rustling sound came from the shrubbery beside him.

Chai Youqing sprang up and saw a person approaching.

It was Chai Zhongming from the village, a notorious idler and moocher.

Chai Zhongming was a distant branch of Chai Youqing's clan; though he also bore the Chai surname, they had long been outside the five degrees of mourning.

And Chai Zhongming was in his fifties but a lifelong bachelor, a man utterly without scruples, doing no proper work.

He had a thinner log on his shoulder — clearly a fellow traveler. Chai Zhongming saw Chai Youqing and the two logs at his feet; his beady eyes rolled, and his face instantly piled on that skin-deep smile Chai Youqing hated most.

"Yo! Youqing? What a coincidence!" Chai Zhongming drawled, sauntering over, his gaze circling the two logs with their fresh-cut ends. "Tsk tsk, this wood's not bad, plenty straight! What for, building something at home?"

Chai Youqing hemmed: "Ah... nothing, just... just putting up a shed, short a few purlins." He subconsciously shifted half a step in front of the logs, trying to block Chai Zhongming's view.

"Putting up a shed?" Chai Zhongming heh-heh'd, edging closer, a wave of cheap tobacco hitting the face. "With this thickness and length, you could build a small warehouse! Doing alright, Youqing — quietly learning to 'procure' materials?" He bit down hard on the word "procure."

Chai Youqing's face flushed red then pale; he knew Chai Zhongming was fishing, and knew this guy's character — once he latched on, nothing good came of it.

"Just... just randomly cutting some saplings... for a shed or firewood." Chai Youqing's voice dropped to a mosquito's hum.

"Saplings?" Chai Zhongming exaggeratedly kicked the poplar log at his feet, nearly as thick as his thigh. "Youqing, you're a jokester! If that's a sapling, what's mine? A toothpick?" His tone shifted, the dagger revealed: "Look, this place — sure, no one manages it, but good stuff can't all be 'procured' by you alone, right? Finders keepers! My family also wants to put up a nest. I don't care how much you cut, but when the time comes you have to send a few logs to my place."

This was blatant extortion.

Chai Youqing wanted to refuse, but the family was waiting on the purlins — he really had no way to waste more time here.

But Chai Zhongming wouldn't leave.

Chai Zhongming didn't rush either, just stood with arms crossed watching him, wearing a confident smile as if he had him dead to rights.

After a few seconds of deadlock, Chai Youqing's shoulders slumped. He drew a difficult breath, voice raspy: "... Fine. I'll send a few over when the time comes."

"Ay! That's right! Still our Youqing's filial — way better than those nephews of mine!" Chai Zhongming beamed. "I'm off then — you better send them, don't make things difficult for me later."

With that, Chai Zhongming left.

Chai Youqing stood in place, angry at heart, but gritted his teeth and reckoned — same surname after all — might as well count it as ordering his coffin boards early.

Otherwise, this kind of person is especially hard to shake.