Chapter 19: Rumors cannot be trusted
Editor: Atlas Studios
The eldest daughter-in-law of the Qiao family said, "Why not? With Qiao Mei's dark and fat appearance and her strength, how will she die before Eldest Uncle? Between her and that family, who knows who will be the unlucky one! Oh right, don't say anymore." She continued happily, "This Qiao Mei and that family are simply a match made in heaven, truly everything has its vanquisher!"
A mean mother-in-law and abusive husband?
Qiao Zhuang heard all that, but he was still hesitant and said, "Don't they mind Qiao Mei's dark and fat appearance?"
Second daughter-in-law, Wang Qin thought for a while and said in a low voice, "It's not something that they will mind. Once Qiao Mei gets to their house, they naturally have ways to make her slim down. If she doesn't want to work, they can hit her. If not, they can just sell her…"
What did it matter that Qiao Mei was dark and fat and ugly? Anyway, she did not require a dowry so she was as good as free.
When the time came, they just needed to tidy Qiao Mei up. If he could use her, he would keep her. If not, he could just sell her to another family's fool and then use the money to take another wife. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
Who would turn down such a good deal?
When the eldest and third daughter-in-law heard this, their eyes widened. What kind of family was able to come up with such an idea?
But Qiao Zhuang only looked at Wang Qin. Ordinary people would not be able to come up with this idea, but Wang Qin could!
Wang Qin's expression was indifferent. She was actually the one who had suggested this idea and that family had gone along with it, but what did it matter? Was there a problem?
Qiao Zhuang finally nodded in agreement. He knew that Wang Qin was a scheming person.
"Since that's the case, you don't have to bother about this matter anymore. Get that man to find a matchmaker to propose marriage on his behalf. Don't reveal our part in this," Qiao Zhuang said. "It must be fast. Send someone over the day after tomorrow… or tomorrow. At the latest, we have tol get Qiao Mei married off in half a month's time!"
Any later and the season would have passed, then there would be one less harvest from Qiao Qiang's land.
…
The next day, Qiao Mei ran up the mountain again. This time, she came to collect some energy to nourish her body and also to find some vegetables and fruits to eat.
She ate cabbages and carrots every day at home. A diet of only vegetables was neither beneficial for her grandfather to recuperate, nor good for the development of the children that she was carrying…
Qiao Mei touched her stomach softly with a gentle expression on her face.
She had just walked out of the yard when she turned the corner and ran into a boy of around 14 or 15.
When the boy saw Qiao Mei, he was stunned for a moment before turning around to one side.
Until he turned around, Qiao Mei did not notice that he was carrying a small piglet in his arms.
Qiao Mei's eyes lit up and she shouted, "Wait, wait!"
The boy was shocked and wanted to run away.
"What are you afraid of? I won't snatch your piglet. When have I ever snatched anything from you?"
These words made the boy stop in his tracks. That was true.
Although Qiao Mei was not well liked in the village and she was greedy and lazy, had mood swings and liked beating people up using her brute strength, he had never heard of her snatching other people's things.
"I just wanted to ask where you bought this piglet from? My family also wants to buy one," Qiao Mei quickly said.
The boy heaved a sigh of relief to know that that was all.
Qiao Mei was famous for her strength in the village. The kids who fought with her had never ever thought of taking revenge on her, so most people avoided her when they saw her in order not to get into trouble.
"There are two more in Uncle Wang Wu's house," said the boy.
During this period, business dealings were no longer as strictly monitored as they used to be. In the countryside, piglets birthed by sows owned by the villagers could be bought and sold at will.
"Thank you!"
Qiao Mei left after saying that.
The boy looked at her in surprise and stood rooted to the ground.
What was going on? Qiao Mei actually thanked him. Did the sun rise from the west?
She even had a carrying pole with hanging baskets and looked like she was going up the mountain to work. Wasn't she the kind of person who would not be bothered even if everything collapsed?
Tsk tsk tsk, seeing is believing.
So she was not such a lazy person after all.
Chapter 20: Entering the Mountains Again
Editor: Atlas Studios
Qiao Mei stayed at home all the time. There was no way that her grandfather would badmouth her, so all the rumors about her were actually spread by Qiao Zhuang's family based on what Qiao Yu told them.
Qiao Mei continued her way up the mountain. Now, she had another reason to go up the mountain and that was to earn money.
As a villager, how could her family not be cultivating some agricultural products?
The eggs laid by chickens every year would be enough for a family's cooking expenses.
As for pigs, they were indispensable in the countryside. Selling a pig would make some money, slaughtering another pig would be enough for a family to eat for half a year.
A piglet would cost more than ten dollars.
Chickens and ducks were usually hatched from eggs at home. However, as she did not have a mother hen, she had to buy chicks and ducklings.
One would cost about thirty cents. If they wanted to raise more than ten, it would only cost around three dollars.
But right now, there was not even three dollars in the house, Qiao Mei thought as she did the calculations.
Although her grandfather held the purse strings in the family, the original owner of the body only wanted to eat all day long, so he spent all of his retirement salary every month. They had no savings at all.
Even if her grandfather still had money, she also did not want to rely on him. She wanted to be self reliant!
Earn money! Earn more money!
Qiao Mei walked forward excitedly with the carrying pole on her shoulder. Her steps were swift like the wind and she was filled with motivation. She really liked this feeling of working hard on her own!
As she reached the mountains, waves of energy washed over her, causing every hair on her body to stand on end.
Qiao Mei did not stay in one place for too long as she was afraid that the plants would exchange too much energy and bear fruit in advance.
She stepped onto a small path and headed deeper into the mountains where there was a hot spring area.
This place was located in the most northeastern region of the country. It was a continuous stretch of mountains and deep within the mountains was a geothermal region.
The straight road did not seem to stretch far, but by the time she reached the area, it was already noon.
There was a small hot spring here. Pools of all sizes formed a large pool and the surroundings were misty like a fairyland.
Qiao Mei did not dare to get too close. The original owner of the body did not know how to swim, but even though she knew how to swim, she did not know if she would be able to swim with this body weighing more than 200 pounds.
Besides, she was pregnant with two babies so she did not dare to take the risk.
Qiao Mei observed her surroundings and found that the plants here were indeed more lush than in other places. The surrounding aquatic plants had already grown to half a foot tall, the little flowers beside them had also bloomed and new leaves were emerging from the big trees next to them.
She immediately saw a fruit tree.
Qiao Mei walked towards a relatively lusher place where all kinds of wild vegetables grew. She used the energy from the jade pendant to accelerate the process of ripening, harvesting, maturing and re-harvesting. Soon, she filled half the basket.
When she was done, she looked up and saw that there were only a few birds chirping around her. It was silent all round and there was no one around.
It was now already peak springtime which was a busy period for farmers. The villagers had all gone to work and no one had the time to come to the mountains to dig for wild vegetables and soak in the hot springs.
Qiao Mei was worried. She walked to a deep bush and squatted down so that her body was hidden by the lush grass. She then pushed aside the weeds on the surface of the soil, revealing the dark soil.
Finally, she planted a sweet potato seed. Very quickly, the sweet potato seed turned into a sweet potato seedling and then matured and bore fruit.
Just like that, Qiao Mei collected more than ten sweet potatoes, each weighing more than one pound.
Then, she planted a pumpkin seed and soon harvested three big pumpkins. Each of them weighed more than ten pounds, filling up the two baskets she brought.
Qiao Mei then pulled a few layers of weeds and covered up the baskets securely.
After that, she stood by the side of the hot spring, took out a towel that she carried with her and wiped her entire body several times.
In just half a day, another layer of black mud had surfaced on her body. It was so smelly!
After cleaning up, she changed into her clean clothes and carried the pole down the mountain.
At the village entrance, she met a group of villagers who were rushing back home after finishing their farm work. When they saw her carrying two loads of things, they stared at her in surprise.
"Qiao Mei, where did you go?" The village officer, Zhao Liang, could not help but ask in the end.
"Oh, it's Uncle Zhao!" Qiao Mei put on a big smile and said, "Isn't my family planning to raise a little piglet this spring? I cut these pigweeds for it. Otherwise, it won't have anything to eat."
Gifts
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received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
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348 Power
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