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The Green Lotus Peasant Girl

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Chapter 48: Accident

The family of two got up for breakfast. There was a lot of leftover food in the kitchen from yesterday. As soon as Zhou Chengkang saw this, he smiled and said, "You go rest, I'll do it."

When it came to cooking, Li Qinghe suddenly remembered that Zhou Chengkang told her he would cook after they were married, so she wasn't polite and turned around to go back to her room.

Zhou Chengkang heated the food and brought it back to the bedroom, and everyone in the house saw it.

Li Qinghe teasingly said, "Who said they would cook for me every day?" looking at the food on the table.

"I said." Zhou Chengkang handed her a steamed bun and smiled, "I'm sorry, I broke my promise. I will do my best to make it up for you in the future."

It was rare to find men who were willing to enter the kitchen. Although Li Fu loved Mrs. Qian wholeheartedly, he did not specifically request that she rest and he’d cook for her. He would at most help her light the fire.

Not to mention other families.

"A man who cooks for his wife and waits on her. What good luck!" In the yard, a bitter tone sounded. It was Zhang Haiyao, who took the quilt out to sun-dry.

The couple looked at each other, Zhou Chengkang said in a low voice, "Don't pay attention to her, she's jealous. My third brother isn't as diligent as I am."

Li Qinghe didn't really care. She was living her life as it was. If anyone wanted to talk about it, they could just talk about it.

As soon as they had eaten, they went to feed the fish in the pond. Since the two of them have been quite busy in the past six months, they do not see each other often.

After eating, they went straight to the pond to feed the fish. Over the past months, they didn’t get to properly clean the barn and feed the fish. Of the dozens of chickens they bought earlier, only half remained. They’ve started laying eggs recently.

Whenever they were busy, they did not feed the chickens. Instead, they let them find food on their own in the wasteland. Sometimes Li Qinghe fed them with fish feed. They didn't care much for them, except for when they were chicks.

Zhou Chengkang thoughtfully looked at the egg in his hand and said, "When we move here later, we will give it a shot."

When the two had finished feeding the chickens, they cleaned up the new house and went around. With every passing moment, the two became happier. The two looked forward to moving over to their new home.

As soon as they got home, it was supposed to be time to make lunch, but they had brunch already. They arrived just in time to see Mrs. Zhou carrying a hoe to the backyard to plant vegetables. Zhou Chengkang whispered to her and went to help his mother.

For the past few weeks, Li Qinghe needed to prepare meals for dozens of people every day. Not only did she pluck vegetables from her vegetable plot, but also Mrs. Zhou's and Eldest Brother Zhou's as well. She even went to Li Fu's house to pick vegetables.

As Li Qinghe thought about Li Fu, she remembered the buns in the kitchen. There were still dozens of them, and they couldn't eat them all. After sharing some with each family, there were about 20 left. She took the basin to fill some and then sent them back to the Li family.

The sun was high in the sky and no one was in the yard at that time. When Li Qinghe opened the door, she saw Li Fu snoozing in the shadow of the house. Mrs. Qian was nowhere in sight. Putting the bun into the kitchen, she went to Li Fu, but when she walked over, she found someone in the house.

It was Mrs. Qian and Zhao Wanwan, mother and daughter. These two had a very close relationship. On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, Zhao Wanwan met her mother. It was fair to say that Zhao Wanwan was also very busy as a restaurant helper. She had to go to work every day unless she was unable to get out of bed. Li Qinghe had done this before and hadn't taken leave for two years, and she felt normal after not seeing her in a long time.

She glanced at them. Since it would be the same as informing Mrs. Qian instead of Li Fu, she raised her step and entered the door. As soon as she entered, she saw Zhao Wanwan crying while hugging Mrs. Qian.

When Li Qinghe appeared at the door, both mother and daughter turned to see her.

This was a bit of an embarrassing situation.

There was no way for her to know that the mother and daughter were holding their heads and crying. Li Qinghe stepped forward and said, "Aunt Qian, I made too many steamed buns yesterday, so I brought you some."

"Oh, you just keep it for yourself." Mrs. Qian said, wiping away her tears. "Why are you being so polite?"

Li Qinghe knew that Mrs. Qian was not interested in this, so she did not intend to stay longer. "I put them in the kitchen. I have other things to do at home, so I'll go back first."

As soon as she turned around, Zhao Wanwan cried out behind her, "Sister."

Li Qinghe smiled, "Wanwan, I didn't even notice you were back."

It was not that Li Qinghe did not want to greet Zhao Wanwan, but Zhao Wanwan was crying too much, and even avoided Li Fu. As for her position as Li Fu's daughter, she would certainly not want Li Qinghe to see her cry as well. Li Qinghe was always clear-headed, thinking she didn't see it and made up her mind to forget about it.

Zhao Wanwan wiped her tears and said bitterly, "Sister, that bastard, he took a concubine!"

Li Qinghe: "..."

Li Qinghe had no idea what to say. As she thought about it, she asked, "Is it a girl from the county?"

"The girl sells cosmetics in the county. She always gave me a discount when I was there. I thought she was doing business, but I hadn't expected her to have thoughts on my husband," Zhao Wanwan looked angry.

"How did you know?" Li Qinghe asked tentatively, "Is anyone talking nonsense?" Seeing was believing.

Zhao Wanwan's tears fell more fiercely, "I also thought it was a misunderstanding, but that was what my uncle said."

"Your uncle is back?" Li Qinghe was curious.

The kind of person who has only ever known to eat, drink, whoring around, and gamble, can still think about going home after being in the county. How could she believe him so much?

"Grandma's sick, he just came back." Zhao Wanwan hiccuped and cried, "Grandma broke her hip a few days ago and has been bedridden ever since."

Li Qinghe heard about this matter vaguely. Even though it was not serious, old lady Qian should take good care of herself given her age, "Have you asked the doctor to examine her?"

"Yes." Mrs. Qian said, "I'm afraid she can't stand anymore, so my family needs to carefully take care of her. My elder brother has gone home, and her uncle is studying. As for my father, he is also old, so where is anyone to serve in our house?" She began to cry again as she spoke of this.

When Li Qinghe realized that indeed this was the case, she said, "Then you can go back every day to see ......".

After the words fell, someone outside the yard yelled, "Sister Qian, your mother is dying. Come and see her!"

Mrs. Qian was stunned, and forgot to cry. Li Fu also woke up over there, and quickly entered the door, "Didn't she just fall down? I just went to see her yesterday, how can she die?" Seeing that Mrs. Qian started crying, he urged her, "Hurry up!"

Then he saw Li Qinghe, and tentatively said, "Li Qinghe, could you come to see her as well?"

Mrs. Qian has been married into the Li family for many years. Although Li Qinghe and the Qian family had no interaction at all, it was only reasonable for her to go if the person was in a critical state.

The group of people hurried to Qian's house. The trip to the Qian house normally takes at least 15 minutes, but everyone sprinted and reached there in half that time.

As Li Qinghe entered the courtyard, she saw the You's family, as well as Qian Laiman, as well as some whom Li Qinghe did not know. These were probably relatives and neighbors of the Qian family. The courtyard was nearly full.

Mrs. Qian went straight to the inside room, and Li Qinghe also took a look. People were kneeling and crying around the bed in the room. There was no doctor or anyone in the room. This meant that the person had already died. If not, what else could have happened?

The people in the courtyard were talking, "Didn't they say she fell and broke her waist? How did she die?"

Another person replied, "Who knows. We can't tell what happened because she was too old."

"Who found her?" Someone else asked.

After listening for a while, Li Qinghe realized that old man Qian had gone to the backyard to plant vegetables. It was Mrs. You who came over to send food and sent it straight to the door, only to discover that the person was already gone. No one else was home.

What about money?

It wasn't just Li Qinghe who was curious, but all the people in the courtyard were curious. The people in the courtyard saw that Qian Wen had snacks in his hand when he returned. He seemed surprised to see so many people in the courtyard.

"Where have you been? Your mother couldn’t make it. Come in and see her." A group of people urged him to enter.

"Mother, your son bought snacks for you, yet you didn't have a bite......" Qian Wen cried particularly sadly.

The funeral was the next thing to do after the person passed away. After going there for two days, Li Qinghe sent funeral money and left.

The funerals in the village were quite normal. While some people secretly speculated what caused the old lady's death, no one pursued the issue further. Li Qinghe heard that Zhao Wanwan and Qian Laiwen went to the county together after the funeral.

Li Qinghe began fishing again with Zhou Chengkang and selling the fish. At this time, there were fewer people eating fish than during the Chinese New Year. Despite selling it for two days, only a third of it was sold.

She went to several restaurants in the town and sold the fish and also made a booking to sell them again in ten days.

Obviously, the price sold was cheaper, twelve cents per catty. She bought the fish again and stocked the pond.

As soon as they had the silver, they went to town again to buy furniture that matched the size of the house. Zhou Chengkang also made a stove and bought pots and pans. The new house will be able to be occupied as soon as the furniture arrives.

There was still a lot of time before the autumn harvest, so both the husband and wife started to chop wood on the mountain. By the time they moved into a new house, it would be winter. They didn't have much firewood except for the leftovers from building the house.

For a farmer, there will never be enough firewood, no matter how much there was. As soon as they move in, they will have to host a housewarming party for their guests, which will involve burning a lot of firewood.

And Mrs. Zhou Mu would not help prepare the firewood. Even if she were willing, Li Qinghe did not want to. If Mrs. Zhou brought out the firewood this time, she would also help prepare for the rest of the brothers’ banquets. She must be exhausted if she still has to help with everything even though her sons are married.

It was, therefore, best not to start from the beginning.

Every day, the two went up to the mountains to chop wood. It was getting closer to autumn, there were many people cutting wood. During the autumn harvest, there would be a delay in chopping wood for a month, and then the weather would not be so nice. Among the Zhou family's daughters-in-law, if anyone excelled at work, it was Li Qingmiao.

Li Qingmiao hurriedly descended the mountain carrying a bundle of firewood. Compared to her, Li Qinghe was a long way behind. Not only was the firewood she had on her body smaller than her bundle, but she was also slower than her. She couldn't help but say, "Qingmiao, slow down."

Li Qingmiao ignored her and went down so fast that no one could see her in the blink of an eye. After walking around the hillside helplessly, Li Qinghe saw Li Qingmiao sitting there on the ground. Li Qingmiao was unable to get up, and the firewood rolled to one side.

Li Qinghe quickly stepped forward, "What's the matter?"

Clearly in pain, Li Qingmiao clutched her stomach, "Qinghe, my stomach hurts."

Li Qinghe was initially suspicious. Li Qingmiao liked to joke with her the most, so she couldn't help saying, "Stop kidding. Can you move?"

It was no wonder she was surprised. A girl from a farming family can't stand up after falling. Who would be so fragile?

Li Qingmiao's face was pale, and her forehead was sweating as she tried to get up. Li Qinghe didn't know if it was painful. After helping her get up, Li Qinghe saw her shake her head, "No, it hurts too much."

As Li Qinghe saw her like this, she crouched down in front of her. Gritting her teeth, she said, "Let's go down the mountain and see the doctor."

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