Chapter 134 – Wild Ducks in the Cornfield
“I’m fine, thank you Brother Dazhuang,” said Yan Shuqin, straightening herself and swiftly moving an appropriate distance from Tian Dazhuang.
Sitting behind the two, Yan Xiaosi had keenly noticed Yan Shuqin’s earlobes turn red when Tian Dazhuang supported her.
At sixteen or seventeen, a girl was at the age of budding romance. It seemed her eldest sister had developed feelings for Tian Dazhuang.
Seeing it but pretending not to know, she looked down at the cart and said to Tian Dazhuang, “Brother Dazhuang, it seems the cart’s wheel fell into a pothole.”
Below Four Sisters Mountain were several villages. This muddy path led straight to Daxing Town. Villagers from the mountain villages going to Daxing Town’s market all took this road. With so much traffic, the road surface was pitted with holes.
Tian Dazhuang jumped down to look under the wheel and indeed that was the case.
Yan Xiaosi said, “Brother Dazhuang, you lead the ox forward while my mother, three sisters and I push the cart from behind to see if we can get the wheel unstuck.”
If that didn’t work, they would have to unload the firewood from the cart.
Yan Xiaosi thought either way would be troublesome.
“Okay.”
Tian Dazhuang was most familiar with the old ox’s temperament. He nodded at Yan Xiaosi and strode forward to grab the reins.
Yan Xiaosi, Ms. Zhong, and the Yan sisters pushed with all their might from behind.
The six huffed and puffed with great effort, but the wheel was firmly wedged in the pothole. The old ox also refused to use any strength, so their combined might couldn’t even budge the wheel.
Yan Xiaosi, out of breath from exertion, stopped pushing.
“Mom, sisters, Brother Dazhuang, stop for now.”
Also out of breath, the other five stopped at her words.
Tian Dazhuang wiped his sweat and frowned at the firewood on the cart. “Xiaosi, it seems we’ll have to unload the firewood first.”
Yan Xiaosi walked to the front of the old ox, seeing it leisurely chewing its cud and looking arrogant.
“No need. I have a way to deal with this old ox.”
If the old ox used some strength, they could easily pull the wheel from the pothole.
“Brother Dazhuang, what does your ox like to eat the most?” she asked.
Without any hesitation, Tian Dazhuang replied, “It loves sweet potatoes the most.”
Yan Xiaosi’s eyes narrowed as she smiled.
It was sweet potato harvesting season right now.
“Mom, sisters, Brother Dazhuang, wait here a moment,” she said before dashing off in the direction of the sweet potato field they had passed earlier.
Somewhat understanding her intention, Tian Dazhuang grabbed her wrist to stop her and whispered, “Xiaosi, you can’t steal other people’s sweet potatoes.”
They had just passed a sweet potato field.
Yan Xiaosi also didn’t want to dig up other people’s sweet potatoes, but the situation called for it. Also, she wouldn’t take the potatoes for nothing.
“Brother Dazhuang, I’ll just take one potato. I won’t get caught,” she said.
Even taking just one was stealing. In these turbulent times, families had to fend for themselves. Getting caught would certainly cause a huge fuss.
Hearing their conversation, Ms. Zhong hurriedly stopped Yan Xiaosi. “Xiaosi, don’t go. Mom can unload the firewood.”
Yan Xiaosi said, “Mom, it’s already late. If we unload the cart then reload it, by the time we reach Daxing Town, the market may have ended already. I won’t take the potatoes for nothing. I’ll leave a couple copper coins in the field. The owner will certainly not make a fuss when they see the coins.”
Moreover, she would only dig up one potato. The field owner wouldn’t even notice.
Hearing her, Ms. Zhong, her sisters, and Tian Dazhuang no longer objected.
Tian Dazhuang, holding her wrist, said, “Xiaosi, I’ll go with you.”
“No need for you to come. I’ll be right back. More people will only draw attention.”
Yan Xiaosi shook his hand off and raced towards the sweet potato field they had passed.
Right before rushing into the field, a woman’s delicate moan entered her ears.
“Mm~”
Having lived two lifetimes, she was quite familiar with such moans.
Someone was having fun nearby.
“Mm~ Ah~”
Two more moans came. Listening carefully, the sounds seemed to originate from the cornfield in the distance.
Due to cultivating spiritual power, her five senses were much sharper than ordinary people’s. So despite the distance to the cornfield, she could still hear it.
After curiously listening to the moans for a bit, she didn’t want to bother with the ducks in the cornfield anymore. But just as she was about to block her hearing, a man’s voice sounded.
“Qingxia, you really are much prettier than my wife. I can’t believe Yan Bozhang can leave you alone.”
Hearing the name Qingxia, Yan Xiaosi immediately pricked up her ears.
She hadn’t expected Ms. Li to cuckold Yan Bozhang, openly fooling around with another man in broad daylight in the cornfield. How interesting.
Then Ms. Li’s moaning voice sounded.
“Isn’t it perfect that Yan Bozhang leaves me alone? It lets the two of us…”
Yan Xiaosi listened, her lips curling in a smile.
Over the years as a steward in the county government, Yan Bozhang seldom returned to Shaoyao Village. It was normal for Ms. Li in her prime to be unable to endure loneliness.
“Qingxia, you’re right. We haven’t met for so long, let’s go again,” said the man.
Ms. Li’s moans resumed.
Hearing the woman’s cries once or twice didn’t bother Yan Xiaosi much, but more made her somewhat nauseated. However, she was quite curious about the man in the cornfield who dared to cuckold Yan Bozhang. The Yan family had quite some standing in the area around Four Sisters Mountain, yet this man dared to cuckold Yan Bozhang. He was quite brave.
Thinking this, she stealthily approached the cornfield until she was several yards away and could finally see the man’s appearance clearly.
The man looked unfamiliar, not someone from Shaoyao Village.
Yan Xiaosi had an excellent memory and quickly memorized the man’s looks before hurrying away.
Engrossed in passion, the two in the cornfield were completely unaware anyone was near them.
Returning to the sweet potato field, Yan Xiaosi swiftly dug along a vine and unearthed a potato the size of a rice bowl. She took out three copper coins and left them in the field before hurriedly leaving.
Seeing her return clutching a sweet potato, the tense expressions on Tian Dazhuang, Ms. Zhong, and the Yan sisters finally relaxed.
Ms. Zhong hurried over and glanced at the potato in her hand, anxiously asking, “Xiaosi, why were you gone for so long? Were you discovered by anyone?”
Yan Xiaosi smiled easily. “Mom, don’t worry. No one discovered me. I dug up a potato and left three copper coins in the field. Three copper coins is enough to buy this potato.”
As for the scene in the cornfield, she didn’t plan on telling Ms. Zhong and the others.
Better not to pollute her mother and sisters’ ears with such indecent matters.
