Chapter 242: Chapter 131: Rippling a Pool of Spring Water (Part 2)

Meizi was desperate for someone to talk to, and she didn’t hesitate.

’Who should I go see?’ she wondered.

She ran through a list in her head—Lanzi, Li Jinxiang, and the others—but didn’t really feel like seeing any of them. Then she thought of Juhua. Juhua always listened quietly when she spoke, only chiming in with a word or two now and then. Though not much older, she seemed more mature and level-headed than Meizi herself.

’I’ll go see Juhua!’

So she tucked a shoe sole under her arm and headed for Little Qing Mountain.

However, while the chores at her own house were mostly finished, Juhua’s family still had much to do. With her mind so preoccupied, Meizi didn’t notice. She simply trailed after Juhua everywhere—following when she fed the pigs, following when she did the laundry—making idle chit-chat and barely sewing a few stitches into her shoe sole.

Once Juhua had her chores in order, she brought out a small stool, sat down to shell soybeans, and chatted with Meizi.

Juhua was completely bewildered. ’What’s gotten into Meizi? She’s so obviously distracted, she might as well be wearing a sign that says, “I have something on my mind!”’

She suddenly recalled what Li Changxing had said the other day. ’Could it be that Li Changming has already sent a matchmaker to propose to Meizi?’

’If that’s the case, is she acting this way because of Li Changming?’

She found the thought hard to believe. Just like Gou Dan’s mother, she had a difficult time picturing Meizi together with Li Changming.

She looked at Meizi, feeling a pang of jealousy on Qingmu’s behalf. ’Why couldn’t she have fallen for my brother? He’s a much better catch than Li Changming!’

’Is it because Li Changming saved her? No, that doesn’t seem right.’

Then she suddenly felt how ridiculous she was being. ’Who can ever make sense of love?’ she thought. ’Otherwise, how do you explain those seemingly mismatched couples who end up living in blissful harmony, while some picture-perfect pairs, who everyone thinks are a Heaven-made Match, end up getting divorced?’

’So there’s nothing wrong with Meizi liking Li Changming. Isn’t fate often just as random as this? Besides, apart from being a bit older, Li Changming is a decent person. I’d always wondered how a mother like Granny Hua hadn’t managed to raise a bad son.’

As her thoughts wandered, she looked at Meizi and sighed. She had no idea how to comfort her when she was in this state, especially when Meizi hadn’t even said what was wrong.

’But I’m so busy, I don’t have time to properly keep her company. And here she is, trailing after me like a lost puppy. It’s so pitiful!’

She sighed inwardly. ’What is this thing called love, that it can cause such turmoil in the heart of a simple country girl like Meizi!’

As Meizi was talking with Juhua, she suddenly remembered how Liu’er had tearfully told her, “I’m in so much pain, Meizi.”

She wondered in a daze, ’Did I come running to Juhua because my heart aches, too?’

’I don’t think so.’

’I just feel like my heart is hanging in the air, unable to come down. I can’t sleep well, and food has lost its taste. I thought that coming to talk to Juhua would help, but I still feel so adrift. I can’t even remember what we were just talking about.’

“Juhua, these soybeans are getting tough,” Meizi said, putting down her shoe sole to help Juhua shell them.

Juhua laughed. “I know! They’re past the point where we can eat them tender. We’ll let the rest dry on the vine. Why don’t you stay for lunch? I’ll cook some fish with soybeans for you to try.”

Meizi quickly refused. “I can’t eat here, you’re swamped with work. Some other day, when you have more time, let’s get Lanzi and Liu Xiaomei and go gather some water bamboo shoot greens to cook.”

Juhua quickly said, “Oh, yes! Those are delicious stir-fried, they’re just a pain to wash. In a couple of days, we can go to the small round pond to gather some. The water bamboo shoots should be growing by then, right?”

Meizi replied, “The water bamboo shoots still need a little more time. But they’ve started to grow, so it won’t be long now.”

As she spoke, she let out a listless sigh. Clearly, even this topic couldn’t spark her interest.

Seeing Meizi’s dazed and distant expression, Juhua grew anxious on her behalf. ’It must be so painful to have your heart in suspense like this, no matter the reason. And this innocent girl… she doesn’t seem to understand her own feelings or know how to deal with them. She’s like a fallen leaf, just tumbling wherever the wind blows.’

She chuckled lightly and said, “Meizi, your mother really dotes on you. The rest of us are still swamped with work, but she lets you come out for a stroll. Do you tell your mom everything? You’re quite lucky, you know. No matter what problem you run into, I’m sure your mother will help you come up with a solution.”

’I can’t stand it anymore,’ she thought, ’I have to give her a little push.’ If this wasn’t about Li Changming, that would be one thing. But if she was starting to have feelings for him, she would eventually have to talk to her mother to sort things out.

Meizi paused for a moment, then smiled. “Oh, yes. That’s true. My mom is always asking me…”

She stopped short. ’Doesn’t my mom always ask if there’s anyone I like? When other matchmakers came, she always asked what I thought. But that night… Mom didn’t ask me at all!’

Her heart ached. ’Do I really like Changming?’

’Do I, or don’t I? Should I tell my mom? It’s not proper for a girl to secretly like a man.’

She murmured in a daze, unconsciously speaking her thoughts aloud.

It must be said that, for all her naivety, Meizi did one thing right this time: she came to Juhua to sort through her feelings instead of anyone else. If someone else had seen her in this state, the story would have surely gotten out. It wasn’t that the other girls were necessarily gossips, but they would have been so stunned that one of them might have accidentally let it slip.

Juhua looked at the utterly dazed Meizi, at a loss for words. She tried to snap her out of it, “Meizi, is something wrong? You seem to have something on your mind. If you do, you should talk it over with your mom. Our mothers are older and wiser. I always ask my mom for advice. Why don’t you sit for a while? I’m going to start cooking. Just stay and eat here. I’ll be free after lunch, and we can really talk then.”

Hearing Juhua’s words, Meizi seemed to wake from a dream. She scrambled to her feet. “I have to go home! Juhua, I’ll come back in a few days when you’re not so busy.” She turned to leave, forgetting all about her shoe sole.

Juhua quickly called after her and handed her the shoe sole. Meizi took it and then scurried off.

Watching Meizi’s retreating figure, Juhua thought to herself, ’Well, this is sure to stir up some trouble!’

(To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian.com to vote with recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep