Chapter 528: Chapter 528: Disheartened Chapter 528: Chapter 528: Disheartened “Mother, from now on, don’t mind what the people in the village say. Those people just have nothing better to do than spout nonsense. If you’re free, it would be better to go and chat with Aunt Li. She’s lonely by herself, and you could learn embroidery from her too.”
Aunt Li was famously skilled in embroidery in Mo Family Village, and since she had become good friends with Madam Xie, she’d surely be willing to teach. Though Aunt Li was somewhat reclusive, she wasn’t like the gossip-mongers in the village.
After they had stayed at Aunt Li’s place for a while, their relationship had become very good, feeling almost closer than family.
Even though they had moved back into their new house, if Madam Xie didn’t visit the Li Residence for a few days, Aunt Li would make the effort to come over to see them, chat for a while, share a meal, and then head back.
Upon hearing this, Madam Xie’s heart skipped a beat; the rumors from the village had been overheard by Xuexue, who asked with concern, “Xuexue, are you alright?”
“What could be wrong? I’m fine.” Xuexue headed towards the kitchen, having finished breakfast, she still had to go pick watermelons from the field! She had no time to bother with gossip, and if it annoyed her, she might just go and beat someone up.
Having toughed it out her whole life, she refused to demean herself again. She’d rather be fierce than let anyone push her around.
Xuexue didn’t seem to care, and Madam Xie finally felt relieved, following Xuexue and chatting, “I’ll go send a watermelon to Aunt Li before heading to the field.”
“Ah! You go ahead.”
Xuexue had a good impression of Aunt Li, so she had no objections to Madam Xie bringing her a watermelon.
“Xuexue, should we also send some to your dad?” Madam Xie asked tentatively.
In reality, Old Lady Mo had been secretly pushing her to send two watermelons a day to the Mo family for the past few days, but she dared not tell Xuexue to avoid adding to her troubles.
Xuexue shook her head and said, “Absolutely not, their family is terrible – insatiable and greedy. If they know we’re easy to talk to, won’t they come every day? It would be so annoying that we wouldn’t need to sell our watermelons at all, just give them everything.”
Madam Xie’s expression changed; Xuexue was right. Old Lady Mo had gradually become dissatisfied with just two watermelons a day and, with Big Bull gone, she had become more brazen. Just yesterday, she had even demanded silver from her, and Madam Xie, having no choice, had given her the only gold hairpin Xuexue had bought for her, to appease her.
Madam Xie shared this with Xuexue, not wanting to secretly keep sending watermelons to the Mo family anymore.
“Alright, mother will listen to you,” Madam Xie said with a troubled expression as she walked into the kitchen.
Xuexue reached the stove, lifted the lid, and found a pot of hot porridge and a small dish inside. She took them both to the main hall to eat.
“Mother, have you and Chuner eaten yet?” Xuexue asked while grabbing bowls and chopsticks.
“…”
Hearing no response, Xuexue turned back and saw Madam Xie absent-mindedly standing in the middle of the kitchen, head down, lost in thought.
“Mother?”
“Huh?”
Madam Xie looked up, bewildered, “What’s up?”
“What’s up with you? I called you and you didn’t even hear me. You’re so distracted.”
“Nothing… I was just wondering how many watermelons to take to Aunt Li.”
“How much could one old lady eat? Just take one.”
“Right, right, it’s just her there,” Madam Xie said, turning to leave. She reached the door before realizing something was amiss. Looking at her empty hands, she remembered she hadn’t picked up any watermelons yet. She turned back, went to a corner of the kitchen, lifted a watermelon from a basket, and then turned to leave again.
Watching her leave, Xuexue stood puzzled, “What’s with mother today? She seems so out of sorts.”