Chapter 42: Earning the Betrothal Gift

Li Ermei was displeased and stepped forward to reprimand Xia Tiantian.

“You little wretch, what filthy nonsense are you spouting? My brother-in-law has nothing to do with you! If you dare to slander him again, I’ll slap your mouth until it’s ruined.”

By this time, more and more people had gathered to watch.

Some were egging things on.

Some were there just for the spectacle.

In any case, the crowd was full of eager onlookers.

“Mangy Dog, you really hit the jackpot today! You picked up such a beautiful young lady. Are you taking her home tonight for the wedding chamber? When are you inviting the whole village for a feast?”

Mangy Dog chuckled twice.

“No money, no feast.”

“Tsk, whoever marries you is really out of luck.”

Mangy Dog ignored the jeers of the crowd. Seeing that Xia Tiantian refused to leave, he simply picked her up.

Xia Tiantian was terrified and struggled desperately.

“Don’t touch me! Help! Somebody help!”

“Mangy Dog, put her down!”

At that moment, the Captain arrived.

He quickly stepped in front of Mangy Dog and shouted sternly: “Put her down!”

Mangy Dog, unwilling but without a choice, threw Xia Tiantian onto the ground.

The moment she was free, Xia Tiantian scrambled away as fast as she could, rolling and crawling to get as far from Mangy Dog as possible.

Zhou Ying, who had come with the Captain, hurried forward to help Xia Tiantian up.

Her gaze was gentle as she asked: “Are you alright? Come on, get up.”

Zhou Ying had witnessed Xia Tiantian falling into the water and Mangy Dog jumping in to save her.

She had known something like this would happen, so she had immediately gone to find the Captain.

After all, Xia Tiantian’s parents worked in government offices—they couldn’t afford to offend them!

The Captain certainly wouldn’t allow Mangy Dog to take Xia Tiantian home as his wife.

At that moment, when Xia Tiantian, who had no one to rely on, saw that someone was finally helping her, her eyes filled with tears of gratitude.

With a loud “Waaah.” she burst into sobs.

“It’s okay now. Captain won’t let Mangy Dog take you away.”

Zhou Ying patted Xia Tiantian’s back, comforting her.

The onlookers were a bit confused about what was happening.

“Zhou Ying, why are you so close to Xia Tiantian? Could it be that your brother-in-law isn’t marrying Shen Jiaojiao anymore and is switching to Xia Tiantian instead?”

Zhou Ying was just about to explain when Li Ermei grabbed her hand.

Li Ermei’s expression was grim.

She yanked Zhou Ying away from Xia Tiantian and scolded: “You’ve really gotten used to being a do-gooder, haven’t you? Always meddling in other people’s business. If you ruin my brother-in-law’s reputation, Mother will beat you to death!”

After saying that, she turned to the spectators and declared: “Don’t go spreading nonsense! Xia Tiantian is absolutely not marrying into our family!”

Li Ermei shot another glare at Zhou Ying before dragging her away.

Captain gave Mangy Dog a stern scolding and then reassured Xia Tiantian before arranging for someone to send her home.

Xia Tiantian was already frightened out of her wits. At this moment, she didn’t dare stay in the village any longer and left for the county with the escort.

When Xu Mo returned home, he happened to run into Xu Meili, who was carrying a basket on her back.

“Third Brother, why are you back? Oh no! Your hand is bleeding so much!”

Xu Meili quickly put down the basket and ran into the kitchen. When she came back, she was holding a handful of plant ash.

Without hesitation, she pressed the ash directly onto Xu Mo’s wound.

Xu Meili grimaced as if she were the one in pain.

Xu Mo found it amusing and looked at her with a smile.

“I’m the one who’s hurt, not you. Why do you look like you’re in so much pain?”

“It hurts just looking at it! Third Brother, how did you cut your hand so deeply? Were you distracted while working? Our teacher said you can’t multitask when doing labor.”

Xu Mo pulled his hand away. “Go play by yourself.”

“Oh.”

Xu Mo returned to his bedroom, found a piece of cloth, and wrapped the wound without any further treatment.

Then, he fetched some water and took a bath.

Once he lay on the bed, his mind drifted to the thought of marrying Shen Jiaojiao.

The room he was in now had originally been occupied by the eldest and second households.

Now that it was vacant, aside from a kang bed, there was nothing else in it.

It could only be described as utterly barren.

The walls were made of mud.

A layer of newspaper had been pasted over them, making them look slightly more presentable.

For the wedding, the room had to be furnished.

Liu Xiaolan had already arranged for the village carpenter to make a set of furniture.

It should be delivered in two or three days.

But Xu Mo felt that these things were far from enough to marry Shen Jiaojiao.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that Shen Jiaojiao would be wronged and suffer if she married him.

At the very least, he had to prepare a proper betrothal gift for her.

Right, and Shen Jiaojiao’s family—they had to be notified, at the very least.

Thinking of this, Xu Mo grew even more anxious.

So anxious that, despite just taking a bath, a layer of sweat had already formed all over his body again.

He had no idea whether Shen Jiaojiao had told her family about them.

If she had, would her family despise him?

If she hadn’t, then once her family found out, they would definitely resent him even more.

At this moment, Xu Mo was restless, unable to sit still or lie down in peace.

So, he simply went out.

He grabbed a sharp sickle and headed for the mountains.

He had to earn Shen Jiaojiao’s betrothal gift.

There were plenty of rabbits, wild pheasants, and roe deer in the mountains.

Deeper in, there were wild boars.

But normally, one wouldn’t venture into the deep mountains.

Wild boars were too dangerous—even grown men couldn’t always handle them.

Xu Mo had no intention of going that far today.

He planned to stay around the outer parts of the mountain, hunting rabbits, wild pheasants, or roe deer.

After all, he had no intention of handing over the game he caught to the brigade.

He was going to take these animals to the black market and exchange them for money.

With money, he could prepare a generous betrothal gift for Shen Jiaojiao.

As for why he didn’t hunt wild boars—

Naturally, it was because wild boars were too large, making them difficult to transport secretly.

If someone discovered him, it would be even more troublesome.

Xu Mo was already quite familiar with going to the black market.

Back when his father was bedridden for so many years, requiring expensive medical treatment, he had secretly gone to the black market to earn money.

But now, private trading was prohibited.

So, he couldn’t make too much of a scene.

Earning money had to be done in moderation.

Xu Mo wandered the mountain for two hours.

His harvest was quite good—

A roe deer, three rabbits, and four wild pheasants.

He placed all the captured animals in a hidden cave.

It was a cave he had stumbled upon by chance.

The space inside was quite large, and its concealed location made it a perfect place for his activities.

After securing the animals, he found a large rock to block the entrance before leaving.

From a distance, the cave was completely covered by wild grass, making it utterly inconspicuous.

There was no risk of anyone discovering it.

By the time Xu Mo returned home, it was nearly evening.

On his way down the mountain, he had also gathered some dry firewood.

After neatly stacking the firewood, he started a fire and began cooking.

The closer it got to nighttime, the more restless he felt.

Suddenly, he had an overwhelming urge to see Shen Jiaojiao.