Chapter 13

When Jiang Xi came out because of the noise, there was still a commotion outside.

The women were frightened by the sudden change and tried to separate the two, who were entangled in a mess with lots of noise.

Pei’s mother stopped Jiang Xi and didn’t let her get close until the two were pulled apart.

After the fight, both the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law looked like crazy women—one with a bruised face and nose, the other with messy hair, and both with dirty clothes.

Neither side continued fighting. Li Aimei was held back by her two sisters-in-law, who whispered words of persuasion to her. She kept her head down the whole time, looking as obedient as ever.

But after seeing how she had just violently slammed her mother-in-law’s head on the ground, no one looked down on her anymore.

During this time, Xisheng’s mother kept cursing, but she no longer hit her daughter-in-law like before. Looking at her daughter-in-law, there was not only anger but also a hint of fear in her eyes.

“You’re just a bully!” Pei’s mother snapped, then whispered, “Finally, you’ve met your match.”

Jiang Xi also breathed a sigh of relief.

It’s good that Li Aimei had the courage to resist.

After such a commotion, Xisheng’s mother could no longer continue her tantrum. With the persuasion of the onlookers, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were escorted home, and Pei’s mother and Jiang Xi could no longer watch the scene from the front line.

Aunt Lanhua watched the whole thing with great satisfaction, especially when she saw Xisheng’s mother being beaten. She was so happy that she was about to pull the culprit to admit her mistake, but when she reached out, she realized there was no one behind her.

She was immediately furious.

She had been so busy watching Xisheng’s mother being beaten that she didn’t notice Xu Cui had run away when she sensed something was wrong!

Aunt Lanhua cursed, “What a coward! Loves to stand out when nothing’s happening but hides when something actually does!”

Pei’s mother noticed her good friend’s strange expression and asked in surprise, “What happened? Were you beaten too?”

Aunt Lanhua rolled her eyes and pulled her aside, whispering, “Your eldest daughter-in-law is really a troublemaker! If she hadn’t been so nosy, insisting Xisheng’s mother come over and saying that you promised He Jun’s wife could definitely be cured, Xisheng’s mother wouldn’t have brought us all here. She wanted to ask for compensation, but Xisheng’s wife refused, so the two started fighting…”

Jiang Xi didn’t clearly hear what was said and wanted to go in.

But Pei’s mother suddenly lost her voice in shock and anger: “What? She said that?!”

After getting a nod from Aunt Lanhua, Pei’s mother smiled coldly. Without saying much, she went straight into the yard and ran out angrily with a stick in her hand.

“What is Mother doing?” Jiang Xi was at a loss.

Aunt Lanhua, thinking about what would happen next, said cheerfully, “Your mother-in-law is helping you vent your anger.”

Jiang Xi was even more surprised.

But soon, she heard a familiar sharp cry of pain coming from the other side of the village, but it was too far away to be clear.

After seeing Aunt Lanhua off, Jiang Ermei and Jiang Sanmei, who had been out all afternoon, came back. Each of them carried a basket, and they ran back, sweating profusely. Their skin, reddened from the sun, couldn’t hide their sparkling eyes.

“Big sister! I just saw our aunt beating someone!” Jiang Sanmei said in a low voice. “She used too much force. The person was beaten so hard they cried for their parents. Many people watched and said she deserved it!”

Jiang Xi raised an eyebrow. “Who did she hit?”

Jiang Sanmei shook her head, unsure. But Jiang Ermei whispered, “It was your sister-in-law.”

Xu Cui?

Jiang Xi raised her eyebrows slightly. Considering the way Aunt Lanhua and Pei’s mother had been muttering before, she figured it had something to do with the relationship between Li Aimei and her mother-in-law. Never mind; it was the eldest wife’s business, so she wouldn’t interfere.

Jiang Xi looked at her two younger sisters’ backpacks, full of expectation. “How much is there? Let me see.”

“Lots!” Speaking of this, the two sisters were very excited. They put down the backpacks and pulled out the freshly picked green leaves. 

It was indeed patchouli.

And everything was done according to the method taught by Jiang Xi.

The key point was the amount. Two baskets on the ground took up a lot of space.

Jiang Ermei looked at her nervously, and Jiang Sanmei tugged on her sleeve. “Sister, how is it? Is it okay?”

Jiang Xi weighed the patchouli. She had been dealing with various medicinal materials for many years, so she had a good sense of weight. After a few checks, she smiled and said, “Let’s go and get the money.”

“Thank you, big sister!” Jiang Ermei said.

Jiang Sanmei quickly followed suit, saying playfully, “Thank you, big sister!”

The two children followed Jiang Xi into the house and looked curiously at their brother-in-law on the bed. The smile on Jiang Ermei’s face faded, and she lowered her eyes with discomfort. Jiang Sanmei was still confused.

At that time, the money was in one-cent, two-cent, and five-cent notes. Jiang Xi gave each of them a five-cent note, and the two of them left, holding it like a treasure.

Jiang Xi also went out again. Since Pei’s mother went to teach her daughter-in-law a lesson, she had to cook.

The one helping this time was Jiang Sanmei.

“You can’t always let honest kids do all the work,” someone said.

After waiting for a while, Father Pei came back and asked Jiang Xi where Mother Pei was. Jiang Xi said she was at the eldest brother’s place, so Father Pei went there. After a while, noises from the other side got louder.

When the two elders came back with gloomy faces, they seemed quite upset.

Jiang Sanmei spoke softly, looking a bit uneasy.

Mother Pei forced a smile and stuffed some cloth coupons into Jiang Xi’s hand. “These are from the old family. They said they forgot to give the gift money for your wedding today, so they’re making up for it now. Take this and buy some cloth. I’ll make you some clothes.”

Jiang Xi accepted it with a smile and said, “Thank you, Mother.”

It was best to act like nothing had happened.

The two elders felt a bit better, especially Mother Pei.

As a former daughter-in-law and now a mother-in-law, Mother Pei had been on both sides. She was unlucky to have had a mean mother-in-law who was lazy, greedy, and disliked her. She had been bullied since she got married.

Because of this, when she became a mother-in-law, she always tried her best not to bother the young couple.

Unexpectedly, her two daughters-in-law were not easy to deal with and turned her son against her.

Fortunately, the third daughter-in-law was a good person—kind and generous.

God always gave her a little hope when she was in despair. While eating the not-so-tasty dinner, Mother Pei listened to the two girls brought by her daughter-in-law talking about how they picked herbs today. She thought the only bad thing might be the cooking skills.

Even though there was a lot of oil and seasoning, the food could be summed up in two words: delicious with rice.

She decided not to let her daughter-in-law cook in the future. Her skills were better suited for curing diseases and saving lives.

Mother Pei thought about how on the way back from confronting the eldest brother, many people in the village asked her about her daughter-in-law’s medical skills. This time, she really didn’t brag at all and told them everything her daughter-in-law said. Those people were envious, and some even wanted to take advantage of her and asked her daughter-in-law to see them.

But Mother Pei didn’t agree; they couldn’t expect to get treatment for free.

If everyone was like Li Aimei, then being a doctor would be a loss-making and thankless job.

Thinking of this, Mother Pei tentatively asked, “Xiaoxi, if someone wants you to see a doctor, would you do it?”

Jiang Xi nodded readily: “Sure, but I don’t have any medicinal materials now. I’ll have to go to town to get medicine after seeing a patient, and seeing a doctor isn’t free.”

Mother Pei’s eyes lit up: “Okay, then I’ll let them know if someone comes.”

___

The next day.

When Jiang Xi woke up, it was already bright outside.

In the yard, she could hear the clear voices of Jiang Ermei and Jiang Sanmei.

This was Jiang Xi’s first day sleeping in Pei Hejun’s room. The room was large and bright. The curtains did not have the sunshades commonly used in later generations. The sunlight came through, making the room very bright.

She turned her head and saw the man next to her, facing sideways towards her.

There was no alarm clock at this time, so she could only rely on her intuition to get up.

Jiang Xi gave herself countless hints before going to bed last night. As soon as she felt the sunlight, she woke up. She turned Pei Hejun over, and the last time, she turned him sideways to face her.

The man’s eyes were closed. After washing his face, which was covered with lipstick yesterday, he looked much whiter and more handsome. If he was a healthy man, Jiang Xi felt that he would be a good husband.

At least he had a good appearance and figure.

What a pity.

Jiang Xi sighed, then boldly reached her hand into the man’s clothes and touched him.

Very good.