Chapter 88: Shen Xiu Disappeared
Lu Jiao stopped acknowledging him and turned around to leave. The scalpel in her hand magically disappeared.
Scar face watched it disappear in terror and he retreated by dragging his body against the ground.
This woman was not ordinary. Not ordinary at all! She was a ghost!
Lu Jiao purposely did the scalpel trick to scare scar face. She wasn’t scared that he would tell other people since n.o.body would believe him anyway. After all, no second person saw her.
She was confident that her little trick would make sure this man’s lips were sealed.
Lu Jiao took her time to leave. Once she disappeared, scar face finally picked himself off the ground. Sweat dripped down from him and his legs quivered uncontrollably.
It was so unlucky of him to have encountered such a demon. This was all Shen Xiu’s fault! He will need to teach her a lesson. Ah wait no, he needed to sell her to the brothel, or else that demon will come back to get him.
Lu Jiao found her way to a noodle shop and had lunch there. Afterward, she went to meet up with the others.
At the oxcart, everyone but Lu Jiao and Shen Xiu was there.
Chen Liu was furious at the sight of Lu Jiao, “Third sister-in-law, what’s the meaning of this? You make all of us wait for you? We didn’t even get to eat lunch and had to wait.”
She then peeked into Lu Jiao’s basket and saw a bunch of kitchen utensils.
Lu Jiao hid the food she bought on the bottom so Chen Liu didn’t get to see it.
On the oxcart, Aunt Guihua spoke up, “If you’re hungry, why didn’t you buy some food? What is it, you don’t even have the change for food? I heard that your fourth brother is asking for 15 taels of silver to marry Du family’s daughter. On top of that, he needs to give her clothes and silver jewelry.
As his older sister-in-law, you are living a sad life. A little brother is asking for so much money to get married yet you don’t even have money for food. How pitiful.”
These words enraged Chen Liu. The Du family was straight-up greedy. Sadly, her mother-in-law agreed to all the requests. She was furious. The only reason she didn’t flip out was that her father-in-law slipped her 10 taels of silver in private. She wouldn’t have let it go otherwise.
In disdain, she said to Aunt Guihua, “That’s none of your business.”
Before Aunt Guihua could respond, she mocked, “You sure are shameless – coddling those who turned out to be capable.”
Aunt Guihua snapped her head towards Chen Liu, “That’s right. I coddle Jiaojiao because she is capable. We have no real beef between us anyway – only small matters. I don’t mind apologizing. No matter what, I am better than the Xie family. You obviously want to be friends yet you always act like you are better.
“Who do you think you are to only want the benefits? You act all mighty and wait for others to give you gifts while holding your heads up high. You should coddle those who are capable.”
The more Aunt Guihua talked, the more into it she got. She took out two pancakes from her own basket and shoved them into Lu Jiao’s hand.
“Jiaojiao, eat the pancake. I bought it just for you. Hurry and eat. I don’t want you to be hungry.”
Lu Jiao was speechless. What was this?
She shoved it back.
“It’s okay, you should eat it yourself.”
Aunt Guihua sadly stared at Lu Jiao, “Jiao, you haven’t forgiven me?”
There wasn’t anything Lu Jiao could say at this point. The aunty was old, and she apologized and was now even giving out gifts. If she didn’t forgive her, she’d get the reputation of having a small heart.”
“Aunty, it’s all in the past.”
Aunt Guihua beamed and then shot Chen Liu a snarky look. Chen Liu almost pa.s.sed out from anger.
She’s never met someone so shameless and so proud of her own shamelessness.
The look on Chen Liu’s face made Aunt Guihua happier. Since Lu Jiao wasn’t eating, she put the pancake into Lu Jiao’s basket.
“If you’re not hungry, give it to your children.”
Lu Jiao didn’t want to make a scene over this pancake so she let her. This made Aunt Guihua very happy.
“Jiaojiao, you came today to talk about Yunjin’s surgery? What did Dr. Qi say about the surgery?”
“I’ve already discussed it with Dr. Qi. Tomorrow, we will come into town for Yunjin’s surgery.”
Aunt Guihua slapped her own thigh, “I will accompany you tomorrow. The surgery is a big deal!”
Xie Xiaojuan also chimed in, “My father said he will go as well tomorrow.”
The Second Grandma’s youngest daughter-in-law, Changmei, joined in, “My husband said he will be going as well.”
Chen Liu glanced around darkly. This was her third brother-in-law. How was he related to any of these other people? They were all so shameless.
Since she had just been roasted by Aunt Guihua, Chen Liu didn’t dare to argue.
In the oxcart, everyone started to chit-chat about tomorrow.
The driver, Xie Tieniu, was getting impatient to leave. He hasn’t even eaten lunch yet.
He waited for Yunjin’s wife because he knew she had important matters today. His father had advised him that the whole purpose of today’s trip was for her and that he needed to wait for her.
In the end, Yunjin’s wife came but Shen Xiu still hasn’t. Did he need to wait for that woman as well?
Xie Tieniu was getting angry as he waited, “Just when is Shen Xiu coming? I will leave soon.”
Only then did everyone realize that Shen Xiu was still gone.
n.o.body seemed to be pleased with her late return.
Lu Jiao acted normal and didn’t mention at all what had happened. Perhaps, Shen Xiu had already been sold by that scar face.
Despite Lu Jiao’s silence, Xie Tieniu didn’t want to wait anymore. After a while, he said heavily, “Whatever. Let’s get back. It’s late.”
The oxcart then left town. n.o.body inside had asked to wait for Shen Xiu.
By the time Lu Jiao got home, it was pretty late. She hopped down from the oxcart with her basket and walked home.
Beside her, Aunt Guihua praised her endlessly, “Jiaojiao, you are slender now and getting more beautiful every day. Your skin’s getting paler and your eyes are getting bigger. You are so different from before. I barely recognize you.
If you lose more weight, you’ll be the most beautiful woman in our village. Ah, your skin, your eyes, ahh, how pretty!”
Lu Jiao’s face dropped. This entire trip, Aunt Guihua hasn’t shut up. She managed to invent so many different ways to compliment Lu Jiao. From her kind heart to her capable skills, to her losing weight, the compliments never stopped.
Lu Jiao’s ears were getting numb. Every time she stopped her, Aunt Guihua would gawk at her with puppy eyes as if sad that she hasn’t been forgiven.
Luckily, Aunt Guihua arrived.
Lu Jiao quickly interrupted, “Aunty, you are home.”
Aunt Guihua warmly welcomed, “Jiaojiao, come on in and have some sugar water.”
Lu Jiao declined immediately, “I have Yunjin and four children at home. I’ll visit another time.”