Chapter 103: Chapter 62: The World Outside

As they were about to leave, Laicai was still whimpering, demanding Juhua’s little throw pillow—he claimed he slept soundly on it!

Juhua was furious, but she kept consoling herself. ’This little terror is finally leaving. I won’t stoop to his level.’ She quickly rushed into her room, grabbed a small throw pillow, and shoved it at him. Only then did he stop crying.

Mrs. Yang walked them to the outskirts of the village before turning back, while Qingmu continued on, carrying the shoulder pole all the way to Xiatang Market.

The moment the two of them left, Juhua felt utterly relaxed, as if dark, oppressive clouds had suddenly parted to reveal a clear sky and a gentle breeze.

After Qingmu and Mrs. Yang returned home, the whole family, feeling completely at ease, gathered around the foot-warmer barrel to chat idly.

Juhua couldn’t help but ask Mrs. Yang, “Mom, how did Second Uncle end up marrying someone like Second Aunt-in-law?”

Mrs. Yang replied in annoyance, “Hmph! He was taken in by her looks, what else? Years ago, your grandmother’s family was poor. I was already married, but your Second Uncle still hadn’t found a wife. He was getting on in years when he finally married your Second Aunt-in-law, and now he treats her like some precious treasure. Your uncle saw she had a pretty face and didn’t give a damn about her character. And what good is a pretty face? Your grandmother is the one who’s had the worst of it since she married in—she’s had to put up with so much! Luckily, even though the woman is lazy and petty, she’s also a coward, so she’s never caused any huge trouble. In a way, she’s one of the better ones. There are some truly difficult daughters-in-law out there who turn a home upside down, and the family just has to endure it!”

Zheng Changhe thought to himself, ’That’s just your second brother’s bad taste. Didn’t I also marry you for your looks back in the day? And I ended up with a wonderful wife!’

He couldn’t help but feel extremely pleased with his own judgment. He then thought about how his own son and daughter were so obedient, nothing like the unbearable Laicai.

With this thought, he felt he was truly blessed and couldn’t help but break into a goofy grin.

Juhua added, “What’s going to become of Laicai when he grows up like this? Second Uncle doesn’t even try to discipline him.”

Mrs. Yang gestured with the shoe sole in her hand and looked up. “Discipline him how? He’s already this old; his personality can’t be changed now. That child has been stuck to his mother since he was born. Your Second Aunt-in-law is the type who wouldn’t lift a finger if an oil bottle tipped over, and she’s petty. She lets her son do whatever he wants, in public or not, so of course he turned out like this! If your grandmother weren’t there to manage him, he’d probably try to tear down the heavens. Even so, as they say, ’go three days without a beating, and he’ll be on the roof tearing off the tiles.’ Besides, your grandmother is an old woman who dotes on her grandson. She can’t bear to be too strict, giving him a few light smacks at most. It’s just been dragging on, and the older he gets, the worse he behaves.”

Juhua thought to herself, ’I can’t even stand having Laicai here for a single day. I have no idea how Grandmother gets through the days, looking after him year in and year out.’

But she didn’t know that no matter how naughty a little child is, in the eyes of his parents and grandparents, it’s never a big deal. Although Mrs. Wang found Laicai a bit taxing, she still liked his cleverness and wit. Mrs. Lin, for her part, never thought there was anything wrong with her son at all.

Juhua didn’t want to talk about her Second Aunt-in-law and Laicai anymore. She just hoped they would visit less in the future. Life was always unpleasant when they were around. Finally able to breathe easy, she seized the moment to ask Qingmu if the land deeds were finalized.

Qingmu smiled and nodded, pulling out two deeds written on stiff, yellowed paper and stamped with bright red seals for his parents and Juhua to see.

As they all examined them, smiles spread across their faces. They were already relieved that Second Aunt-in-law had left, but seeing the deeds made them even happier.

Mrs. Yang carefully placed the deeds into a cloth pouch, tucked the pouch into the family’s usual money jar, and weighed it down with a sandbag for safekeeping.

Qingmu then brought over the bundle, opened it, and laid out what he had brought back. Not many of the pastry boxes were left—Laicai had taken almost all of them.

As Juhua smelled the pure, fragrant, and sweet aroma, a warm feeling blossomed in her heart—’These are the real deal, a product of agrarian culture, purely handmade without any of those strange additives. In my past life, the pastries in the city were all cloyingly sweet and overwhelmingly fragrant, always lacking a certain traditional flavor.’

She carefully opened a box of sesame crisps. Inside were small, shiny, jet-black pieces that exuded a rich sesame aroma, enough to make one’s mouth water. No wonder that little rascal Laicai had wanted to take them all home. The other two boxes contained glutinous rice cakes and walnut crisps, both of which also had a light, sweet fragrance. Fearing they would go stale if she opened them and couldn’t finish them, she left them sealed.

She first gave a piece of sesame crisp to her mother, her father, and her brother. Then she hugged the rest of the box to herself and ate with great relish!

This prompted little Black Dog to circle the foot-warmer barrel, wagging its tail furiously at Juhua and barking, WOOF WOOF. It was also overjoyed that Laicai was gone. Laicai had tormented it terribly these past two days; eventually, it had learned to run the moment it saw him.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep