Chapter 67 pt 1

When mentioning this Widow Xue, it is necessary to point out that her original surname was not Xue. She was from another village and married into this village.

This woman was also unlucky, and within a few years of her marriage, her husband died. She didn't have a child or anything, so she was alone.

That’s not all. The key point is that her uncles-in-law are not good people either.

Her husband is an old man and is the last in the ranking. When she got married, her mother-in-law was already dead, leaving only a sick father-in-law. The father-in-law didn't live for many years, but fortunately, before he died, he divided his sons into separate houses, and the people in the houses lived alone. Although her man died now, she was left with two acres of land. On weekdays, by renting out the land and doing some needlework by herself, it would be enough to feed her alone.

But who ever thought that within two years of this kind of life, her uncles-in-law sent her back home. The implication is that she is a woman. Who knows if she will remarry in the future and take the Xue family's land away while accompanying other men.

Widow Xue didn't agree, but this place was occupied by many people with the surname Xue. In the end, the house was left for her, but the land was divided by the several uncles.

Everyone thought that the woman couldn't hold on and would return to her natal house sooner or later, but she just lived in this house. People didn't usually see her, but there was no shortage of rice to eat, and her life was still comfortable. However, there are rumors in the village saying that men often come into her home.

This matter is a bit outrageous. Patriarch Xue opened an ancestral hall meeting to deal with widow Xue. However, this woman is not a good one either. Probably because ever since her man died, she has suffered too much and stopped caring about her reputation.

Patriarch Xue said that she was offending public morals, so she said that all those surnamed Xue were stinky and shameless, robbing people of the land. She was a woman of the house, but they didn't give her any land, so how could she live? She also said that she was determined to guard her man’s property. Whoever refused to let her guard, she would go to the government to sue him.

Such a shrew, no one can do anything to her. So she can only be driven out of Xue's house, but she chose a place at the end of the village, and asked someone to build a house, so she stayed and lived there for so many years.

They haven't heard anything about her in the past few years, but her life is still going on, and it’s not known where she got her money. Anyway, when the villagers mentioned this Widow Xue, the men laughed ambiguously, and the women were full of disgust.

These things happened in the early years. At that time, Zhaoer and Xue TingRang were both young, and they were told all this by others.

When the two looked at each other, these thoughts flashed through their minds. Then they unanimously agreed, and the two of them walked inside along the fence where there was a gap.

The vegetable plot of Widow Xue's house is not big. It's only half an acre. Although the house is a tiled house, there are only two rooms with a kitchen and a storage room on the left and right respectively. She didn't raise any livestock in her house, and as they walked quietly along the way, they heard someone’s voice as they walked forward.

It was a woman who was laughing, and there was a man's faint voice.

"...You promised me a long time ago that you would buy me a hairpin, but now the hairpin hasn't been seen, and you still appear in front of me every day. You are not afraid that I will chase you out with a big stick?"

"Are you willing to push me out?"

"Why can't I bear it anymore? Someone like you is not uncommon..." The two voices lowered, only to hear Widow Xue laughing. After a while, the pitch became higher again: "You are really worthless as a tongsheng. There is still an old man in the house and a woman in the room watching you. I heard that you are busy looking for a school for your son recently. Did you use the silver that Yang shi gave you to coax me again?"

Xue Qingshan's face was lost when she said this, and his face fell on the spot. Widow Xue raised her eyebrows, her eyes flashed, and she leaned over and said: "But if you are willing to coax me, I will accept it. I am just afraid that someday you will not even be willing to coax me anymore."

This voice was tender. Not only was Zhao’er ears tingling from outside, Xue Qingshan couldn't bear it either. Immediately he didn't care about what Widow Xue had just said, and started to hug her and kiss her again.

The voice inside fell again.

After a while, they heard Widow Xue say again: "...It's just that if you don't go out to find the academy, what can you do about Juncai’s issue?"

"You are really worried about nothing. I already have an idea about this..."

Outside, Zhao'er slapped his lips again and again. She had also seen this Widow Xue. She was not considered too beautiful, but she was a fair, pretty woman. She didn't expect her to be like this in private. No wonder the women in the village scolded her when they mentioned her, and many men in the village were still willing to come to her.

And, if she remembers correctly, Widow Xue is the cousin-in-law of Xue Qingshan in terms of her seniority. This is really...

Thinking that she didn’t know where Xue Juncai was hiding and listening, Zhao’er felt extremely uneasy. The son came to catch the father’s affair, but they bumped into him and followed him. It would be embarrassing if the two sides met.

Thinking of this, she went to drag Xue TingRang and motioned him to leave quickly.

It happened that Xue TingRang didn't have much interest in this, and the two quietly left.

After returning, they thought about Xue Juncai who was still inside and wondered if he would make a fuss. Or maybe something else happened. The two held their hearts for a while, but who would have thought that a short while later Xue Juncai had returned.

Is everything all right?

While breathing a sigh of relief, the two couldn't help feeling sad for Xue Juncai when they thought about having such a father.

Let’s not mention this for now. The day passed quickly.

It wasn't until the evening when the sun went down that human voices were heard in the village.

The adults and children all walked out of the house, and even the dog ran around the village, taking advantage of the cool air. The Xue family's dinner was not ready until it was dark, and now the days are long and nights are short, so the meal is much later than before. Xue Qingshan would also arrive late. He came back from outside just after the meal was served.

Seeing the dusty appearance, it seems he has run to a lot of places. Recently, because of the hot weather and the need to find a school for Xue Juncai, Xue Qingshan has given a lot of days off to the children in the private school.

Just looking at this appearance, he must have come back from the outside. Zhao shi thought about how hot the day was and her eldest son was still running outside. She was so distressed that she told Yang shi to give him some water and change his shoes.

Once they finished, the family gathered at the dining table for dinner.

Xue Qingshan didn't seem to be hungry, holding the chopsticks and picking the rice in the bowl. Zhao shi thought he disliked that the rice was too simple, so she took her chopsticks and put some good dishes into his bowl. She also explained that she would stew chicken at home to improve the nutrition in the food.

"Mother, I'm not thinking about this. It's about Juncai going to school."

As soon as he said this, everyone around the table looked up at him.

Xue Qingshan simply put down his chopsticks and said to Xue TingRang: "TingRang, uncle has something to tell you."

Xue TingRang looked at him.

"Don't blame your eldest aunt. She is an ignorant woman. It’s also that Qinghe Academy suddenly closed. Your eldest aunt felt sorry for the money that was poured out, so she would be ignorant and make trouble with Zhao'er that day. Recently, Uncle has inquired outside and knows that Qingyuan Academy is now distinguished as the best academy in our village. It's just that Uncle is thin-faced, and thinking about your eldest aunt’s recent fight, I really didn’t have the face to ask you to help Juncai get into the academy.

"But after running for such a long time, the money has been spent, and two pairs of shoes have been worn out, yet I really haven't found a better academy than Qingyuan. So I want to tell you, can you talk to your academy owner and let your Juncai brother also go to school in Qingyuan."

Looking at Xue Qingshan again, his words were sharp and his face was sincere.