Chapter 56: Emptying the Enemy's Home, Marrying the Tyrant 12
Everyone in the family was busy: some were working in the fields, some were cutting pig feed, and some were doing housework. Besides two three-year-old children, she was the only one idle.
She simply lay back down on the kang and went to sleep.
In the fields.
Xu Xuejuan kept looking towards the road. Zhou Xiaomian asked curiously, “What are you looking at? Why do you keep looking at the road?”
“Hey, did you see Ning Yan today?”
Zhou Xiaomian wiped the sweat from her forehead with a towel before replying, “No. She’s newlywed, so she’ll definitely rest for a couple of days. There’s no way she’d be working in the fields today.”
After hearing that, Xu Xuejuan unhappily tapped the ground a few times with her weeding hoe. Then she started to wonder, maybe she was beaten by her bear-like tyrant husband and couldn't get out of bed.
Another young female intellectual, Sun Xiaohong, said, “Oh, I suddenly feel a bit envious of Ning Yan. She’s been in the countryside for nine days and has only worked one day. Why doesn’t anyone help me with my work?”
“If someone really helped you, would you dare to marry him?”
“How could that be? I’m going back to the city! Who would marry someone in the countryside?!”
Xu Xuejuan said, “That’s it then. It’s better for us to be self-reliant.”
She didn't want to stay in this rotten countryside for another day. The living conditions were bad, the food was bad. In all the days she had been there, the only meal with meat was yesterday at Ning Yan's in-laws' banquet.
Not only that, but she also had to work every day!
Damn thieves! If those people hadn't stolen everything from their house, how would she and her brother have ended up in the countryside?
Unfortunately, Ning Yan acted too quickly. She found a man and married herself off just two days after arriving. Otherwise, she would have definitely helped Ning Yan find a good-for-nothing scoundrel to live with.
Judging from the Fan family's banquet yesterday, their life shouldn't be too bad.
She got off too easy.
...
Fan Dahu returned around ten o'clock at night. The courtyard gate was already closed, so he climbed over the wall to get in.
Ning Yan had slept enough during the day, so she was a light sleeper at night. As soon as he jumped over the wall, Ning Yan sat up. Hearing his footsteps heading straight for their room, she knew he was back.
Sure enough, the sound of splashing water came from the courtyard. Ning Yan quietly got off the kang and opened the door.
A moment later, the man, carrying a damp scent, appeared in the room.
“Wife, I’m back.”
His tone sounded like he hadn't been home in eight years.
Ning Yan sat up and asked him, “Hmm, did you eat tonight?”
“Not yet.”
“Then what do you want to eat? I’ll go make it for you.” It wasn't too much trouble for her to work a little for her parents.
Fan Dahu's answer was to take off his damp underwear, casually wipe himself twice with a towel, then lift his leg onto the kang and start 'eating'.
He had been hungry for so many years, and now that he finally had something to 'eat', he definitely had to eat his fill.
“Mmm, you’re annoying! Didn’t you say you hadn’t eaten? Finish eating first then…”
“Yes, eat first.” With that, he covered Ning Yan’s mouth.
An hour later, Fan Dahu was holding Ning Yan and chatting, “I saw our parents.”
Ning Yan excitedly said, “Are they doing well? Have they lost weight?”
It was a silly question, after all, Fan Dahu had never seen what Ning Dad and Ning's Mom looked like before.
But he understood, “They look quite spirited, but their hands are blistered from working. When I went to their small hut, I smelled meat.”
Ning Yan: Ah, this…
“For the past few days, they’ve been following along to carry night soil. I inquired a bit and was told that someone had put out word not to make it easy for Father-in-law.”
Ning Yan angrily said, “What? Who is it?”
Fan Dahu quickly patted her back to comfort her, “You should have guessed. It’s the person who reported Father-in-law. He’s afraid your family might return to Beijing.”
Ning Yan: Damn Xu Yong is really a persistent ghost.
“Don’t worry, I promise Mom and Dad won’t suffer anymore. The farm has over ten cows and two horses, and the person in charge of the horses just got sick.
So I found my brother, gave some gifts to the person in charge of assigning work. Starting tomorrow, Father-in-law and Mother-in-law can move into the small hut by the stables and will only be in charge of raising cows and horses.”
Compared to carrying night soil and farming, raising cows and horses would definitely be much easier. The key was that they could live alone and wouldn't have to worry about people smelling meat.
Ning Yan was indeed relieved. She had chosen a good man!
“Did you tell my parents the truth?”
Fan Dahu: “I did.”
Ning Yan asked with a smile, “Then what was their reaction?” They weren't beaten, were they?
Fan Dahu: His wife’s desire to see him make a fool of himself was written all over her face!
Fortunately, “I gave them your letter, and they weren’t so angry then.
Also, I wanted to leave them money, but they wouldn’t take it.
Time was tight, so I couldn’t say too much. They just told me to take good care of you and then sent me away.”
There were time limits for people sent down to meet their families. If it was strict, a farm manager would even accompany them.
Plus, it was his first time meeting his in-laws, so the atmosphere was a bit awkward. He said what needed to be said and then left. The rest of the time was spent pulling strings.
But Ning Yan was already very content.
“You’ve worked hard.”
This time, Fan Dahu didn’t speak. Instead, he turned sideways and rubbed against Ning Yan, saying in an ambiguous tone, “Then, wife, you’ll have to compensate me well.”
Ning Yan really wanted to kick him onto the floor. He had only been quiet for less than ten minutes and was acting up again—phantom limb syndrome, overly energetic!
“Tomorrow, will you still go to the fields to earn work points?”
“What? You don’t want me to go out?”
Fan Dahu immediately sensed a business opportunity, “Then things in the black market will definitely be more expensive in the future,”
Ning Yan: …This one is truly a natural born businessman.
The private plot was only one fen. How could that little bit of vegetables be enough for anyone to eat?
They weren't allowed to raise poultry, so things in the black market would definitely be more expensive. That made perfect sense!
But what if he got caught?
As if sensing Ning Yan’s worry, Fan Dahu patted Ning Yan’s shoulder with his other free arm as if to comfort her, “Don’t worry, your man isn’t stupid. He definitely won’t get caught.”
Ning Yan didn't say anything about not allowing him to run to the black market again. Everyone had their own path. She had fulfilled her duty to warn him, and he himself said it was no problem, so she would let him be.
At worst, if he really got caught or sentenced, she would just wait for him to come out. What was the big deal?
The next day, Fan Dahu got busy. He finished eating and then ran off.
Ning Yan was idle, so she simply took out some yarn from her space, planning to knit a sweater for the bear in her family.
She had done this kind of work before, so she became proficient after knitting a few rounds.
In the courtyard, the second son's wife was washing clothes. Ning Yan moved a small stool and sat next to her. It was more interesting for the two of them to chat together.
“Sister-in-law, you’re planning to knit this for Big Brother, aren’t you?”