Village Belle Chapter 144
Translated by Digitalian (ko-fi)
Chapter 144: Milksop, You're Weak And Can't Take A Beating
Xie Yuntang reached out and pulled Su Tao along, letting her walk a little ahead while he blocked her path.
"You worthless thing! Who are you calling a dung beetle!" Mrs. Su-Qian was so angry that she jumped up and down on the spot, not daring to chase after them. After all, the Xie family was right across her house.
Now everyone in the village knew that the Xie family was bad to the Su family.
Su Tao crossed the bridge, turned around and made a face at her, determined to drive Mrs. Su-Qian mad. "Wretched old woman, I'm talking about you."
There were still many people washing clothes under the bridge, all looking up to watch the commotion, but they weren't surprised at all by Su Tao's cursing.
It wasn't the first time.
The whole village knew that Su Tao had been driven mad by her grandmother, and she kept calling her wretched old woman.
No one said she was disrespectful to her elders.
She was driven mad by her beating.
"You stop right there. I’m going to beat you to death."
Mrs. Su-Qian was about to rush over angrily, but Su Tao grabbed a clod of mud and threw it at her, then pulled Xie Yuntang and ran into the Xie family's house.
"Pfft, pfft, pfft!"
Mrs. Su-Qian lowered her head and wiped her eyes, cursing incoherently, "You worthless thing and short-lived wretch, I curse you to never get married."
Everyone who heard this felt that Mrs. Su-Qian really didn't treat her granddaughter like a human being. She had driven Su Tao crazy and was still saying such unkind things.
No wonder Su Jinbao was still unmarried at fifteen. Who would dare to marry their daughter into his family? Their daughter would be treated like dirt.
Mrs. Su-Jin was so worried about this that she couldn't sleep at night, arguing with Su He every day. She regretted it, wishing she had moved out like Su Fu’s family.
……
After Xie Qing and Mrs. Xie-Qin understood Xie Yuntang's intentions, they didn't show it to Su Tao, speaking to her as usual.
Their son's affairs were his own to decide. They shouldn't interfere.
Su Tao greeted them with a smile and then went to Xie Yuntang's room to eat.
Just as she was enjoying her meal, Xie Yuntang handed her a box, saying shyly, "Sister Taozi, this is for you."
"What’s it?"
Su Tao wasn't embarrassed at all. She took it and opened it. Inside was an osmanthus hairpin. Her eyes lit up. "It's so pretty! You're giving it to me?"
"Tomorrow is your birthday, so I'm giving it to you in advance." Seeing that she liked it, Xie Yuntang's expression relaxed, and he felt happy too.
Last year, Zheng Duoyin gave her a gift before he did, and he regretted it then. This year, he'd been thinking of giving it to her earlier.
He'd give her one tomorrow too. He'd bought a lot of birthday gifts for Sister Taozi.
"Thanks, Milksop." Su Tao's eyes sparkled, her radiance captivating.
She reached up and stuck the hairpin in her hair, then ran to the bronze mirror to look at herself. She thought it looked quite nice.
Soon, a crescent-shaped reflection appeared in the mirror, and a gentle voice sounded from above, "Sister Taozi, you've stuck it in crooked. Let me help you."
With that, a large, well-defined hand pulled out the hairpin, paused for a moment as if searching for the right spot, and then gently inserted it.
Xie Yuntang said earnestly, "Sister Taozi, you look beautiful."
Sister Taozi was beautiful in every way.
"Of course, I'm naturally beautiful and can't hide it." Su Tao was shamelessly narcissistic.
Xie Yuntang couldn't help but smile. Seeing this, Su Tao immediately stood up, turned her head, and, standing on tiptoe, flicked his forehead with some effort.
She said fiercely, "What are you laughing at? If you laugh again, I'll beat you up."
"Don't think that just because you're so tall that I can't beat you. You're too weak to take my beating!"
Any man who knew anything about matters between men and women would hate being called weak, but Xie Yuntang showed no displeasure. He said gently, "I’ll stop laughing."
"That's more like it." Su Tao liked his obedient manner.
During the meal, Xie Qing brought up Su Tao's plan to teach girls to read. "Taozi, have you decided where to teach?"
"There's an empty dam next to my house. I'll have my dad build a shed." Su Tao took a sip of mutton soup. The mutton soup was really delicious.
Xie Qing nodded. "This concerns the village. I'll have someone build a house next to it."
The village school was built by the Xie family.
Hearing this, Su Tao's eyes lit up, and she said sweetly, "Thank you, Uncle Xie."
Of course, it’d be better if she could spend less.
Xie Qing smiled and looked at Xie Yuntang beside him. "What are you thanking me for? It was Yuntang who brought it up yesterday, otherwise I wouldn't have known."
"Thank you, Brother Yuntang." Su Tao turned to Xie Yuntang, who was serving her food.
Xie Yuntang didn't expect her to turn her head so suddenly, and his hand froze, dropping the food on his chopsticks onto the table.
Xie Qing and Mrs. Xie-Qin couldn't help but laugh, and Su Tao naturally saw it, but didn't think much of it.
After the meal, the two of them took a wooden bucket to the river to catch crabs, calling Zhou Sheng and Zheng Duoyin along.
Zhou Sheng also called his fiancée, Zhu Xiaohua, along.
Zhu Xiaohua wasn't very pretty, but she was good enough for Zhou Sheng.
Su Tao saw Zhu Xiaohua glancing at Zhou Sheng from time to time, so she nudged Xie Yuntang with her crook, signaling him to look.
Xie Yuntang took a glance, then quickly looked away.
Zheng Duoyin walked in front, and when they reached the ditch, he rolled up his trousers and waded into it. "Big Sister, hurry up, don't dawdle."
"Okay."
Su Tao was about to run up when Xie Yuntang stopped her, saying earnestly, "Sister Taozi, don't take your shoes off."
"Okay."
Su Tao didn't object. Women here couldn't show their feet. It was okay when they were little, but not when they grew up.
She went down into the ditch and started turning over stones on the bank.
Xie Yuntang took off his shoes but not his socks and walked over to Su Tao's side.
He was like a little follower.
"I caught one!"
Zheng Duoyin said, holding a crab in his hand. He turned and saw Zhou Sheng and Zhu Xiaohua on one side, and Xie Yuntang and Su Tao on the other.
Suddenly, he felt a little superfluous.
He immediately moved closer to Su Tao, but perhaps his movements were too agitated, as he quickly muddied the water. Su Tao kicked him angrily and said, "Go away, get away from me!"
Just then, Xie Yuntang called out to her, "Sister Taozi, I caught one!"
Su Tao ignored Zheng Duoyin, only saying fiercely, "Hurry up and get the bucket."
In the end, Zheng Duoyin went with the bucket, so he wasn't alone.
The five of them walked along the ditch for a long time before finally reaching the shore. They were now quite far from the village.
Xie Yuntang glanced at Su Tao's wet shoes, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Sister Taozi, change your wet shoes and wear mine."
"Forget it, if I wear them, you won't have any left. It wouldn't be good if you got hurt by a rock later." Su Tao shook her head without thinking.
Hearing this, Zheng Duoyin, who was next to her, handed his own shoes to Su Tao and said readily, "Big Sister, you can wear mine. Anyway, I'm used to walking barefoot."
Before Su Tao could say anything, Xie Yuntang raised his voice slightly to refuse, "No."
He sounded a little urgent.
All four of them immediately looked at him. Xie Yuntang's face gradually turned red. He lowered his eyes and said, "Wear mine, they're cleaner."
Su Tao burst into carefree laughter. She also thought Zheng Duoyin's shoes were dirty. "Milksop, you understand me best. Zheng Duoyin, your shoes are filthy. It'll be a problem if you pass on your athlete's foot to me."
Zheng Duoyin's shoes were indeed dirty, covered in mud, and the fabric was black, obscuring its original color.
