Chapter 175: Minding Other People’s Business

Cheng Huazi pondered.

Last night, Jianwa didn’t consider the years of upbringing and directly refused his request to take a child along.

Since it was clear that Yu Xiangnian was the one in charge of their family, he decided to appeal to her.

His Cheng family needed to produce someone successful from their own kin!

After returning home from the fields, Yu Xiangnian had lunch and enthusiastically went to check on the hoof trimming again.

This time, she brought the medicines she had bought yesterday.

She was eager to treat the animals’ hoof problems.

But today, she was disappointed. All the animals that came for hoof trimming had perfectly healthy hooves.

In the afternoon, on her way home, Yu Xiangnian encountered Dong Ju.

At a corner, one was walking past, the other approaching. They faced each other, unable to avoid the meeting.

On the day of the feast, Dong Ju had left a good impression on Yu Xiangnian.

She remembered that Dong Ju’s right eye corner was bruised that day.

Today, her right cheek was swollen, her lip was split, and her brow was also injured.

Yu Xiangnian recalled what Cheng Shuan had said about Dong Ju’s husband getting drunk and committing domestic violence.

Seeing Yu Xiangnian, Dong Ju forced a smile. “Sister-in-law, heading home?”

Yu Xiangnian forced a smile. “Yes.”

Dong Ju stepped aside to let Yu Xiangnian pass first.

Yu Xiangnian smiled as she walked by, but after two steps, she stopped.

She didn’t like meddling in others’ affairs, but remembering Cheng Jingmo mentioning that Dong Ju’s family had been kind to him, she decided to help a bit.

“Dong Ju!” Yu Xiangnian turned around.

She thought about phrasing it gently, without hurting her dignity, but when it came to domestic violence, it seemed any way of putting it might sting.

So she spoke directly, “Dong Ju, men who beat their wives when drunk and then repent when sober are just scumbags! In my view, men who commit domestic violence don’t change. One day, he might accidentally kill you when he’s drunk.”

Dong Ju was shocked, staring at Yu Xiangnian with her mouth agape.

Yu Xiangnian continued, “Your child is still young. Watching her father beat you frequently will cause great harm to her psyche. You need to seriously think about this kind of life!”

Dong Ju thought of the times she was beaten, and her mother and daughter cried and trembled in fear. Her eyes reddened.

She opened her mouth several times before saying, “He treats us well when he’s sober, it’s only when he’s drunk that he acts like this. I… I…”

Yu Xiangnian didn’t want to hear more and interrupted her, “As long as you think this life is good, that’s fine. I was presumptuous to say this today. Sorry! Pretend I didn’t say anything!”

She rarely meddled in others’ affairs, and it seemed her help wasn’t appreciated.

Forget it!

Dong Ju weakly said, “Sister-in-law, don’t say that. I understand your good intentions, but…”

Yu Xiangnian said, “I need to get home for dinner. Goodbye!” She then walked away.

If she didn’t wake up to her situation, there was no helping her!

The village’s rush to plant lasted four days, and finally, the spring wheat was sown.

Today, Cheng Jingmo didn’t go to the fields, thinking that since Yu Xiangnian and Xiao Jie had been there for a week, they hadn’t had a good meal.

Today was market day in the neighboring village.

Early in the morning, he went to the market to buy meat and vegetables, planning a good meal for the day.

On his way home with the meat and vegetables, someone called out, “Jianwa, wait a minute!”

Cheng Jingmo turned to see Cheng Chaomin, the village’s hoof trimmer, striding towards him.

“Uncle Chaomin, what’s up?”

Cheng Chaomin hesitated, then said, “Can you ask your wife and child to stop coming to watch me trim hooves?”

Cheng Jingmo was surprised. “Have they been bothering you?”

“Not exactly a bother,” Cheng Chaomin felt awkward, “but your wife keeps asking me all sorts of questions while I’m working!”

A woman who looked like a fairy sat on a small stool every day, staring at him as he trimmed hooves, her eyes filled with admiration and reverence.

Only because of his upright character could he handle such a gaze. If it were anyone else, who could endure it?

But that wasn’t the most troubling part for him.

The most troubling part was that Yu Xiangnian asked questions that he, a lifelong hoof trimmer, couldn’t answer.

It left him feeling quite awkward!

Cheng Jingmo chuckled and asked, “Did you use the medicines she bought?”

“I did!” Cheng Chaomin replied. “Two days ago, a cow had a sharp stone stuck in its hoof, and your wife insisted I use the medicines she bought!”

He paused, then added, “Your wife also suggested padding the other half of the cow’s hoof. I’ve been trimming hooves all my life, and I’ve never heard of padding an animal’s hoof!”

Cheng Jingmo’s smile grew wider. “Did that hoof heal?”

“How would I know? The cow is in the production team’s care.”

Cheng Jingmo said, “Uncle Chaomin, today, bring that cow over for her to check. Find another animal and let her trim its hooves.”

Cheng Chaomin was shocked for a long while, his voice rising, “What does your wife know about hoof trimming?! Besides, look at how delicate she is. What if she gets hurt by the animals? How could I bear that responsibility?”

Cheng Jingmo smiled and said, “Uncle Chaomin, if you don’t want her to keep watching you, trust me. You and I will make sure the animals are well-behaved so she won’t get hurt.”

Watching Cheng Jingmo walk away, Cheng Chaomin’s mouth twitched.

His original intention was for Jianwa to keep his wife away from him, not to bring her to trim hooves!

This Jianwa, spoiling his wife like this, isn’t he afraid she’ll become too spoiled?

When Cheng Jingmo returned home, Yu Xiangnian had just gotten up and was brushing her teeth.

Seeing him, her eyes lit up, even with her mouth full of foam. “Cheng Jingmo, you’re not working today?”

“Yes, I’m not working from today on,” Cheng Jingmo replied. “For lunch, we’re having dumplings.”

Actually, in the morning, Mu Huanzhen had asked Cheng Jingmo to join the work, but he refused.

Upon hearing they were having dumplings, Laowu, Laoliu, and Damao jumped for joy.

They only got to eat dumplings during the New Year, and they never expected to have them today.

Cheng Jingmo prepared a big bowl of dough and started making dumplings with Laowu and Laoliu.

In the morning, Yu Xiangnian and Xiao Jie were firmly focused on their work and studies, so they didn’t help.

The dumplings, filled with pork and cabbage, were thick-skinned and well-stuffed, overflowing two large trays.

When Cheng Huazi and the others came home from work, Laowu was already boiling the dumplings, and Cheng Jingmo and Laoliu were still making more.

With so many people in the house, a small amount wouldn’t be enough.

“What’s that smell? So fragrant!” Cheng Shuan sniffed his way into the kitchen, seeing all the dumplings, and swallowed his saliva.

“Jianwa, you’re really generous!”

He had been ignoring Cheng Jingmo for the past few days over the egg incident.

Cheng Shuan’s family, after hearing from Da Mao and Xiao Mao that they had eaten the eggs, lost their temper in the fields that day.

Yu Xiangnian was willing to give eggs to all the children in the family, proving she wasn’t stingy and probably didn’t have any eggs left.

Cheng Huazi, smoking his dry pipe, looked thoughtfully towards Yu Xiangnian’s room.