"Alright," Liu Xiaoyu also agreed to lock the kitchen door.
Tang Huai's gaze fell on the face of the baby sister who was nursing, "Mom, let's name the little sister."
"What name?" Liu Xiaoyu was eating pumpkin cakes.
"Tang Zihan, how about that?"
"If you think it's good, then it's fine," Liu Xiaoyu had no objections.
"Then let's call her Zihan," Tang Huai said with a smile. She stretched out her hand and gently poked Tang Zihan's face.
Tang Zihan's cheeks were soft and tender, softening Tang Huai's heart. She smiled and said, "Zihan will definitely grow up to be beautiful."
In her previous life, Tang Zihan was indeed very beautiful, a rare beauty.
"I'm done eating," Liu Xiaoyu was hungry and finished two pumpkin cakes in no time.
"Do you want more?" Tang Huai asked.
"No need," Liu Xiaoyu was reluctant to eat more, wanting to leave some for Tang Huai and Tang Li.
"I'll take the bowl out to wash, Mom, you should rest well."
"Alright."
Tang Huai took the cleaned bowl back to the kitchen.
She saw several frogs jumping around in the kitchen.
Tang Huai watched them, her eyes flowing, frogs?
She remembered that in her previous life, some villagers caught frogs to sell at the drugstore, which could fetch eight or nine cents per pound.
After Tang Huai knew this information, she also caught a few pounds to sell and made two dollars.
Tang Huai's eyes shimmered. Wasn't it around this time in her previous life that villagers started catching frogs to sell?
Delighted, she immediately put down the bowl and caught the hopping frogs.
She wanted to make a profit before the villagers received the news that frogs could be sold for money!
----
At dusk, Tang Huai said to Tang Li, "Tang Li, take good care of Mom and our little sister at home. Your older sister is going out to catch frogs."
"Catch frogs for what?" Liu Xiaoyu asked, puzzled, as she lay there.
"Today, when selling snakes, I saw someone bring frogs to the drugstore. I asked the owner, and he said that frogs could be used as medicinal materials and they were buying in bulk," Tang Huai lied.
With that, she took a sack and a flashlight and went out the door.
The nights of summer saw frogs fond of appearing, especially near the vegetable gardens.
Tang Huai planned to go to her own vegetable garden to catch frogs, and she could also weed the garden.
----
The village chief's house was a three-story western-style building, very imposing.
In that era, to build such a house was already considered a luxury.
There was also a large front yard, planted with starfruit and wampee trees. At the entrance of the house was a fish pond.
The fish pond wasn't used for raising fish. Although some lotus roots were planted, the water was very clear.
Opposite, there was a straight road leading to the village entrance.
Passing by the village chief's house was Tang Huai's route to the vegetable garden.
Right now, the village chief's house was bustling with nearly everyone from the village in attendance.
The wild boar that Jing Xuan had injured was to be killed, and the village chief had decided to distribute the pork among the villagers.
A group of men and women, young and old, gathered around to watch the village butcher kill the wild boar.
Thinking of having pork to eat tonight, everyone was very happy.
Tang Huai saw Jing Peng!
The evening sun was like a streak of orange light, illuminating the entire land.
Jing Peng was leaning lazily against the starfruit tree.
The orange light filtered through the leaves, scattering in speckles upon him, making his tall figure seem like a handsome man who had stepped out of a painting.
Tang Ying stood beside him, chatting with him now and then, occasionally revealing a sweet smile.
Jing Peng's expression was indifferent, casting a glance at her from time to time, with a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Thinking of their betrayal in his past life, Tang Huai's face darkened.
When Tang Ying turned her head inadvertently, she saw Tang Huai.
Seeing Tang Huai, Tang Ying couldn't help but think of the pig's feet she had eaten at noon, and suddenly felt nauseous.
Feeling annoyed, she unconsciously called out loud, "Tang Huai!"
Right after she shouted, she regretted it—damn it, how could she scold Tang Huai in front of Jing Peng and the villagers?
She was supposed to be a well-behaved girl.
But she had called out too loudly, and now Jing Peng and some of the villagers were looking at her.
Tang Ying had no choice but to change her expression to one of cheerfulness, smiling as she trotted over to Tang Huai.
Tang Huai frowned slightly, a faint smile playing on his lips as he watched Tang Ying approach.
As he watched Tang Ying's smiling face, a saying came to Tang Huai's mind: "A weasel pays a New Year's visit to a chicken, with no good intent."
There was deceit.
After Tang Ying came over, she affectionately wrapped her arm around Tang Huai's saying, "The village chief is butchering a wild boar, you should go have a look. There will be pork distributed soon."
Not only was Tang Ying fair-skinned and beautiful, her voice was also pleasant; crisp, like a cuckoo singing.
Yang Hongxing, who was watching the butcher work on the wild boar, changed her expression slightly upon seeing Tang Ying clinging to Tang Huai.
How foolish this girl was, cozying up to Tang Huai and making a fool of herself!
Held in Tang Ying's embrace, Tang Huai felt some revulsion inside, but she deliberately put on a timid and coy demeanor.
She whispered, "Will there be a portion for my family?"
Tang Ying laughed and said, "How could there not be? Aren't you a part of Shuanglong Village?"
"A pig, can it be distributed to so many households?"
"No matter whether there is enough or not, come over and see. That wild boar is big; half a pound per household should be enough."
Tang Ying pulled Tang Huai over to stand beside Jing Peng.
After giving Jing Peng a brief glance, Tang Huai shifted her gaze away.
She had thought that seeing Jing Peng in this lifetime would be heart-wrenching.
Unexpectedly, standing beside him and looking at him stirred no ripples in her heart—it was as calm as still water.
"The pig will soon be ready, Brother Jing Peng, how about asking Uncle Jing to save half a pig's foot for Tang Huai's family?" Tang Ying looked at Jing Peng with a smile.
The evening sun's fragmented light fell on Tang Ying's face, like a hazy veil, making her features even more attractive.
Especially when she stood beside the plainly dressed, sallow and gaunt Tang Huai, her charm was even more pronounced.
Jing Peng, looking at her pretty smiling face, found his gaze hard to move away. He responded with his pleasant, deep voice, "Alright."
Tang Huai, scanning the surroundings with an air of nonchalance, thought to herself that Jing Peng had liked Tang Ying from very early on—
Not far away, Yang Hongxing, after hearing Tang Ying's words, came up with a scheme!
She walked over, purposely raising her voice, "Tang Huai, didn't your mother want to use her own urine to stew pig's feet? Well, let Uncle Jing keep a half for you."
Yang Hongxing's remarks caused an uproar.
The villagers turned their gaze toward Tang Huai with various expressions—some lewd, some disdainful, others mocking and jeering...
Tang Huai lowered her head, appearing inferior, almost afraid, not daring to look at anyone.
Jing Peng glanced at her, his eyes profound, filled with a hint of puzzlement.
"Liu Xiaoyu wants to use her own urine to cook pig's feet? Did she get hit so hard by having another daughter that she's torturing herself like this?" Liao Xiaoxiao, who was close friends with Yang Hongxing, exclaimed in surprise.
"Having another daughter and losing a husband, could it be that she's been so heartbroken that she's gone mad? Otherwise, who would use their own urine to cook pig's feet?" another woman said in a tone of schadenfreude.
"Who knows," Liao Xiaoxiao replied.
Yang Hongxing had already approached Tang Huai, with a benevolent face, she chuckled as she looked at her, "Tang Huai, is it true that a woman in confinement who uses her urine to stew pig's feet will produce more milk?"
PS: Today's lucky readers are: 6 yuan: An Mu, Qing Feng.
2 yuan: Xun Mi, Xiao Min, Na.