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The Green Lotus Peasant Girl

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Chapter 84: Fifth Sister Zhou

Speaking of the demand for wages, Li Qinghe's uncle went to help the Yang family for a few days.

Hearing the commotion, he couldn't help but go over to help, "I need to take a look."

The rest who followed, just wanted to watch the drama. Zhou Chengkang carried the child and held her hand, "Let's go to have a look too."

They all went in the direction of the chicken coop in the backyard, crossed the barren field, and reached outside the Yang family's courtyard.

The courtyard gate was open right now, and there were many people inside. They could vaguely see the people lying on the floor. It was cold that day hence the people were covered in quilts.

When they got closer, they saw that about twenty or thirty people were lying on the ground, occupying a large area. Their faces, their lips were pale, and there was a strong stench emanating from the bathroom.

Diarrhea.

Thinking back, it was very unusual for the Yang family to sell their pork for such a cheap price. Along with the people's resentful words, Li Qinghe realized that there must be something wrong with the pig, for Yang family to sell it this cheaply.

"You must find a doctor to help us with the treatment." The woman at the front looked angry, "If something were to happen to my husband, I will not leave your house."

"If we are going to die, we will report this to the official."

"Why was this pork so cheap? The pig had gone bad and yet you still wanted to sell it for money. You are a real example of a crooked businessman."

Mr. Yang seemed to have just come out of the house. He quickly bent down to take a look at the man laying on the ground. He frowned and said, "How can you conclude that the diarrhea was caused because of the pork? The pork I sold was good and the texture and taste were normal. If the quality was bad, you wouldn't have bought it! You can't blame that my meat was stale just because it was sold cheap."

The village chief stepped forward. His face was pale while his hand covered his stomach. It seemed as if he was quite in pain, "Then why did so many people, who all ate your family's pork, get diarrhea? This includes me too!"

Mr. Yang told the large number of people in his courtyard, "Just because a few have diarrhea doesn't prove that the cause was my product.There are so many people who ate the pork and are still fine."

One of Li Qinghe's aunts took two steps forward, "That's because we did not eat much of it. The people who do the physical labor in our families usually consume most of the meat. Now that your family's pork has caused such a situation, if something were to happen to the men in our family, how could we widows or orphans manage to survive?"

"No, you must hurry up and get us a doctor. Or else ...... if my husband dies, I won't allow your family to live peacefully either."

Even the other people then started to attack the Yang family members. Someone punched Mr. Yang in the face while someone grabbed Mrs. Yang's collar and wouldn't let go. They even dragged Yang Lanrou out of the house.

Mr. Yang finally said, "Okay, stop this. I'll have someone to escort the doctor."

The Yang family's old servant immediately set up the carriage and went out of the village to get the doctor. Seeing this, the crowd was no longer panicking as before. They did not shut their mouths though, and many discussions were going on in low voices.

The old servant was very agile in his work. In just a quarter of an hour, she brought back the doctor with two large medicine boxes. It seemed that the old lady was very reliable despite her age. She not only invited the doctor, but also explained the condition to him a.

Since it was a little cold outside, Li Qinghe wanted to take the child home. The doctor started checking the pulses of the people and began to dispense the medicines. Seeing such a large group of people in the yard, it was obvious that the Yangs had made up some trouble. After checking up on them for a while, he asked, "Who will be paying for my consultation fee and the medicine?"

"The person who called for you will pay. Why is that even a question to ask?"

Mr. Yang's face turned ugly, "How come this becomes my responsibility? My family was kind enough to lend our private carriage and call the doctor. I have been benevolent enough already." He looked at the doctor and asked, "Doctor, why did these people get diarrhea?"

The doctor frowned. "They ate something stale."

"Hey!" The people around were immediately motivated to argue.

Another woman from the crowd came out of their house, while holding a large plate of fish in her hand, and said loudly, "There must be something wrong with the pork, even their family members didn't consume it. They even went to buy fish to eat. Everyone knows that the price of fish has increased. This man exchanged our lives to eat fish!"

The crowd was agitated. They waved their fists at Mr. Yang demanded an explanation. And the rest of the people forced the doctor to dispense the medicine.

Li Qinghe exited the crowd. Zhou Chengkang went home with her, with Mrs. Zhou following them.

"If there is a commotion like this, then there must have been something wrong with that pork." She shook her head.

"These people did not eat meat for a long time, and after eating too much of it at once their stomachs got upset all together. Even if they were able to go to the toilet, it wouldn't have been this serious."

The people lying in the courtyard, and the dirty toilet, made even standing there a very difficult task because of the disgusting stench. This is why Li Qinghe took the child home. she couldn't endure it anymore.

In the end, the commotion in the Yang family ended with them helping the crowd to dispense medicine. This continued till the evening before the crowd drifting away.

After watching the scene, Zhang Haiyao made her way to Li Qinghe's house. She went in directly through the backyard and knocked on the backyard door.

After entering the house, she sighed, "The medicine cost them several taels of silver. Not only the income from selling the pigs was used, they even had to use their own money to settle the doctor’s bills. Many people claimed that they have diarrhea, and took the medicine for the same. I can't tell where they were genuine or just taking advantage..."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Mrs. Zhou scolded, "It's getting dark, and here you are, outside with the child. Be careful so that the child doesn't catch a cold. Let's go home."

She took Zhang Haiyao and left, leaving Li Qinghe and her husband alone at home. This was the only time since she had given birth that a family of three spent the night alone.

At night, Zhou Chengkang took her into his arms and laughed softly, "It's just the three of us, it's fine."

As soon as he finished speaking, the child in the crib by the bed groaned. Zhou Chengkang sat up helplessly to carry him, "You are disrupting your father's plan."

Li Qinghe couldn't help but burst out laughing. Having a child made their house a lot more lively.

Childbirth was hurtful to the body. After Zhang Haiyao gave birth, she eat meat and eggs to nourish her body. She as well as the child now seemed to be in a good health. But Mei Shi wasn't able to nourish her body back to health and now she couldn't do any hard work.

Because of this, Zhou Chengkang took special care of her and did not let her work even after the full moon celebration. He stewed the soup every day for her and he also sleeps on the side near the crib and watched the baby when he cries. As long as the baby doesn't need milk, he would be the one to coax him.

In the twinkling of an eye, the twelfth lunar month arrived. The child was two months old. Over there, Mrs. Zhou found another marriage proposal for the fifth sister. This time it was not from another village but Wang Village. His family name was Zhao.

His father and Zhao Wanwan's father were brothers in the family, but they were not as rich as Zhao Tianfu. Their family had four acres of land, one acre of paddy fields, and only one son. Both parents were alive, and one sister was married.

This time because the weather was too cold, Li Qinghe did not go to the Zhou house, but two days later, the wedding date was set.

They had already seen several matches for fifth sister Zhou and it was now good for her to settle down. Besides, Mrs. Zhou will not wrong her daughter.

Therefore, the marriage date was decided in the middle of the twelfth lunar month, and the dowry was already given at the end of the twelfth month. Everything was done fast, and the wedding date was also set for March 15 of the following year.

March 15 was just after the spring plowing season.

Li Qinghe had not yet seen the person with whom the fifth sister's marriage was decided. The two were busy selling fish. They went back to Zhou's house this year, but they only went back for a meal.

They just had breakfast that day, when someone knocked on the door. During this time, many people came to the house to buy fish almost every day. Li Qinghe went to open the door and found that she knew the person outside the door.

It was a bit of a stretch to say they know each other, as they've only met once. It was He Hoe's mother who brought the first marriage proposal for fifth sister Zhou. She remembered that Mrs. He said that if the Zhou family was willing, their family will come to the door to propose marriage.

Fifth sister Zhou's marriage was already set, so she shouldn't have come to her house necessarily for the fifth sister, "Auntie, how may I help you?"

Mrs. He had no intention of entering the door and looked towards the pond, "Do you still have fish in here?"

People who had come to buy fish would say this line. That meant she came as a customer. Li Qinghe nodded with a smile, "Yes, there are still some fishes in all sizes."

Mrs. He's changed the topic suddenly, "I heard that your sister-in-law's marriage has been fixed?"

"Yes." When the marriage was mentioned, Li Qinghe's smile narrowed down a bit, "Auntie, if you have something to say, please say it directly."

It was so cold standing outside.

"When I said at the beginning that I wanted to marry my son to your sister-in-law, but your family disagreed, so I didn't think much about it. It's normal to turn down the proposal." Mrs. He's expression was not very good, "But I met your aunt two days ago, and she said it was because my son said he had a sweetheart, that this marriage was not possible."

Li Qinghe raised her eyebrows, "Isn't it?"

"Yes." Mrs. He's expression was ugly, "So I came to your house today because I want you to say my apologies to your mother-in-law on my behalf. I didn't know that bastard still could not let her go, and ah, now that the girl has married, your family ......"

Li Qinghe interrupted when she wanted to ask for another chance, "My sister-in-law's wedding date is March 15 of next year." The wedding date was set, and there was no reason to change it.

Mrs. He sighed slightly, "That's right, the boy from the Zhao family also liked the little witch from the Yang family at the beginning. My son frankly said he liked her, but the one surnamed Zhao didn't... I just came to kindly say a word."

When compared to He Hoe, who bluntly admitted to having a sweetheart, the Zhao family member didn't say anything. If what Mrs. He said was true, he must have ulterior motives.

"I'm not going to hide it from you, the Zhou family used to be bad, but after a brother married their wife, they led a good life in the village.

"I won't lie to you. The Zhou family was not good in the past, but after a few brothers married your daughters-in-law, it was a good life in the village. It is especially evident with you in the Zhou family, as your pond alone makes a lot of money, and several people want to be a part of your family. In the beginning, I also thought the same…" Mrs. He looked calm, "I believe the Zhao family should think the same when they choose your sister-in-law."

"These words came out of my mouth and entered your ears. Be kind, don't betray me." Mrs. He instructed, and before leaving, she left a sentence, "Make your own decisions."

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