Village Belle Chapter 143
Translated by Digitalian (ko-fi)
Chapter 143: Sister Taozi Is Acting Up Again
"Wretched girl, why are you so greedy? I'll sew it up later. Yuntang, there's so much mutton. You should take it back and sell it."
Lin Sanzhu saw that there were at least five or six pounds of mutton, so she was too embarrassed to accept it. She immediately handed it to him.
Xie Yuntang didn't take it. He shook his head and said, "There's still a lot at home. Auntie Su, you guys eat it." As he spoke, he looked at Su Tao, and smiled upon seeing her puffing her cheeks.
"Yuntang, you're really unfair. You gave it to Big Sister but not to me."
Zheng Duoyin stood up and came over to joke. Everyone who had grown up with Xie Yuntang knew that he only gave food to Su Tao.
Before Xie Yuntang could say anything, Su Tao handed him the pastries and said fiercely, "Eat these and get your sister to come to my school. If you can't, you're dead meat."
Seeing that she gave the pastries to someone else, Xie Yuntang felt sullen. It wasn't that he didn't want to give food to others.
He just didn't want to give it to Zheng Duoyin.
He always asked to play with Sister Taozi.
Although Sister Taozi was often fierce toward Zheng Duoyin, she didn't dislike him.
But Zheng Duoyin refused, nodding and saying, "I'll go home and talk to my mom. If she agrees, you have to treat me to a meal."
"Sure, sure, sure," Su Tao readily agreed, thinking the meal wouldn't cost much.
If it were just now, Lin Sanzhu might have been secretly pleased to see the two of them hanging out together, but now she had no such thoughts. She was a little worried about where to find a good husband for her daughter.
After talking for a while, Zheng Duoyin left. Lin Sanzhu saw him to the door without inviting him to drop by again.
Then she glanced at the sky, then at Su Tao and Xie Yuntang in the main hall. "I'm going to work in the fields. You and Yuntang hang out at home. Wretched girl, take good care of Yuntang. There are peanuts in the house. Give them to Yuntang."
Su Fu had gone out to work today. There were still some weeds left in the fields.
"Okay, go ahead."
Su Tao stuffed a piece of pastry into her mouth. Lin Sanzhu ate while going into the room to wake Su Dou, and then took Su Dou to work in the fields.
She wasn't worried at all about what Su Tao and Xie Yuntang might do when left alone.
It was mainly because Xie Yuntang seemed too obedient.
After she left, Su Tao had almost finished her pastry, but she choked a little. She hurriedly ran to the kitchen and scooped up a few mouthfuls of gruel.
When Xie Yuntang came in, she was just letting out a burp, as rude as could be.
If Lin Sanzhu were here, she definitely wouldn't have been able to bear it.
But Su Tao wasn't embarrassed at all. Instead, she instructed Xie Yuntang to pat her back. "Burp, Milksop... burp, quickly pat my back, I'm choking." She then drank another big mouthful of gruel.
Xie Yuntang didn't seem to mind at all. Instead, he was very worried. He quickly strode behind her and skillfully patted her back.
After a while, Su Tao finally felt better. "I nearly choked to death."
"Sister Taozi, don't eat them one after another. Eat slowly." Xie Yuntang looked at her, his eyes crinkling up.
Su Tao didn't pay much attention, and even if she had, she wouldn't have taken it seriously. Milksop had always looked at her this way.
"Why aren’t you studying?"
"The teacher has to attend to some family matters and won't be back until this afternoon. Sister Taozi, come to my house. Grandpa sent a lot of food this morning."
Xie Yuntang stared at her nervously, afraid she wouldn't go.
"Then why are we still standing here? Let’s go now. My mom cooked the gruel this morning with the leftover food from last night. It's awful."
Su Tao pulled him out with a look of disgust, then, remembering something, let go of him and ran back into the house to get the key.
The two locked the door and headed toward the Xie family's house. It was the time when the villagers were working, and most of the fields they passed were occupied.
Many people greeted Xie Yuntang, who nodded politely but didn't say much.
After walking a few steps, Xie Yuntang fell half a step behind Su Tao. He bit his lip hesitantly, his voice low. "Sister Taozi, what was Duoyin doing at your house?"
"I ran into him this morning when I came back from looking for the teacher. My mom saw him and asked him to sit down for a while."
Su Tao turned her head and glanced at him, meeting his deep gaze. Her heart skipped a beat.
Milksop was incredibly handsome with a refined and elegant look. His attractive eyes especially were clear and bright.
Xie Yuntang naturally noticed her gaze, his ears starting to burn slightly. He quickly asked, "Is Auntie Su trying to arrange a marriage for you two?"
"Probably. Let my mom go ahead. Anyway, if I don’t agree, so she can't do anything about it."
Caught red-handed, Su Tao wasn't embarrassed. It was normal to look at someone so handsome.
It would be wrong not to look instead.
She turned back, walking away happily, and said, "The teacher said he'd talk to the village chief for me."
Hearing this, Xie Yuntang didn't ask about Zheng Duoyin anymore. He knew that Sister Taozi truly had no romantic feelings for Zheng Duoyin.
Besides, Sister Taozi liked to eat, and Zheng Duoyin's family couldn't afford to buy so much food.
This struck a chord with Su Tao. Having gotten used to eating at the Xie family's house, eating at home always felt like eating "pig swill."
He said, "That's good. The village chief will probably agree if the teacher talks to him. I told my dad yesterday, and he said it was a good idea."
"Once the teacher gives me a reply, I'll go door-to-door to talk to them," Su Tao said enthusiastically.
She would save up some money, and once she had enough, she would chase after Xie Yuntang to send her "home."
Thinking of this, she looked at Xie Yuntang with some reluctance and said, "Milksop, if I'm not here anymore, will you miss me?"
"Where are you going? I'll go find you," Xie Yuntang said anxiously.
"You won't be able to find me once I get home. All good things must come to an end. Milksop, I'll definitely miss you." Su Tao winked.
A flicker of worry flashed across Xie Yuntang's eyes at her earnest words. Sister Taozi had been acting up again recently. He'd have a doctor check on her in a few days.
He went along with her words, "Sister Taozi, I'll miss you."
When they reached the ditch, a group of children were catching crabs. Su Tao glanced at their buckets. There were quite a few.
It had been a long time since she'd eaten crabs.
Crabs were something one’d only find delicious after they’d tried them.
She turned to Xie Yuntang. "Since we're free this afternoon, let's pick some too. Your mother can fry them later."
"Okay." Xie Yuntang nodded without hesitation.
They followed the ditch to the Su family's door. Xie Yuntang stood to Su Tao's right, afraid that Mrs. Su-Qian would rush out and attack her.
Su Tao glanced at him and whispered smugly, "Don't worry, that wretched old woman is no match for me now. If she dares to hit me, I'll hit her back."
And as if on cue, she appeared.
Mrs. Su-Qian went out carrying a basket. When she saw the two of them, she glared at Su Tao and said sarcastically, "No wonder I smelled something bad. It turns out there are bedbugs here."
Su Tao rolled her eyes at her and said without any politeness, "I thought you didn't know, you dung beetle!"
"Milksop, let’s leave now, lest the stench rub off on you. Ugh, it's almost making me throw up." She then exaggeratedly made a "vomiting" gesture.
