Ugly girl only wants to farm

Chapter 272 The Calm Lake (12)

With their help, Qi's mother stood up. Tears still streamed down her face, and her voice choked with sobs: "Fortunately, Qi Yu has the help of you all, otherwise I really wouldn't know what to do."

Meng Jiu and the other two took Qi's mother back and boiled some hot water for her. Seeing that there was no food in the house and the stove was cold, they chopped some firewood for the old woman and brought her some simple food, enough for her to get through a few days.

The two were somewhat relieved. Before leaving, they asked a woman in the courtyard to look after them and tell her to come to the front courtyard to find them if anything happened.

As Meng Jiu walked, he pondered what to do. They were newcomers and didn't know anyone. How did Qi Yu get involved in this cheating scandal? There must be some misunderstanding. With Qi Yu's knowledge and talent, he had no need to cheat at all.

Zhang Xuyang also looked bewildered: "You know, we haven't seen Qi Yu for very long, and he's already gotten into this mess. We have no clue what to do."

At this moment, Meng Jiuhe also felt a surge of helplessness and despair. What kind of people could poor students like them possibly know? He had only been trying to put Qi's mother at ease.

Seeing his worried expression, Zhang Xuyang roughly understood what was going on and tried to suggest, "How about we go find Shen Siheng? He's at least one of the locals, and he knows a few playboys. Maybe we can find out some information. It's better than us wandering around like headless flies."

Meng Jiuhe nodded and said, "You're right. We'll keep it from her for now. We'll bring her some food in a few days. Judging from how shaky she looks, if something really happens to Qi Yu, she probably won't be able to hold on."

Zhang Xuyang glanced back at the old woman and saw her sitting in the courtyard, watching them leave and waving goodbye. But the sadness and helplessness on her face were undeniable.

He couldn't bear to watch any longer, so he waved to the old woman, signaling her to go back first. These past few days, the mornings had been chilly, but by noon the temperature would suddenly rise again. He feared the old woman wouldn't be able to endure it like this.

At this hour, Shen Siheng is either at home or out fooling around with his cronies. Judging from his tone, he did quite well on the recent quiz, so he's taking a rare break.

The two of them had been to Shen Siheng's house once or twice, but they never went inside. Shen's mother's shrewish nature frightened Zhang Xuyang so much that he would wave his hand and back away. They had only watched from outside the yard once or twice.

Before the two even reached the edge of the courtyard, they heard a commotion coming from that direction. Meng Jiuhe thought to himself, "Could it be that the family is arguing again?" They'd just happened to witness it again. As the saying goes, every family has its own problems; it's quite normal that Shen's mother and daughter-in-law don't get along.

Just as the two were hesitating about whether to continue looking for Shen Siheng, the courtyard gate was suddenly slammed shut with great force, creaking and rattling a few times.

Shen Siheng patted his chest and said, "My goodness, I was scared to death! I almost lost my soul. It's true that women and petty people are hard to deal with. I think it's best to stay away today and not go over there to cause trouble. Judging from the sounds coming from there, my mother and sister-in-law are probably arguing about something again."

Meng Jiuhe nodded: "Then let's go to the county government office first and see if we can get in and investigate. Finding Qi Yu in person will at least give us some details. This situation, with no clues, is not a solution."

Just as the two were about to turn and leave, Zhang Rongrong stormed out of the house. It took her a while to react when she saw them.

"You two came to see your brother-in-law today, but unfortunately he went out to fool around with some bad friends." Meng Jiuhe bowed to her.

He then politely asked, "Is your injury serious?"

Although Zhang Rongrong often went to chat with Xu Chaoyan and the others or brought them food, Meng Jiuhe and Zhang Xuyang were not very familiar with her. In this world, a woman's reputation is highly valued, and if any bad rumors were to spread, it would ruin her reputation, so they tried to avoid her as much as possible.

Zhang Rongrong quickly pulled down her rolled-up sleeves. She patted the dust off her clothes, looking somewhat embarrassed, and said, "I'm so sorry you had to see this. My mother-in-law is throwing another tantrum. She argued with me a bit; she's so old, yet she threatens to kill herself at the drop of a hat. I don't want to give in to her. If I can't win an argument, can I just avoid her? I thought I'd go to the shop with you to see your wife. I got a bottle of ointment the other day; I heard it helps with her acne scars. I'll give it to her to try."

Meng Jiuhe repeatedly thanked Madam Shen: "No, this ointment of yours was bought with money. I'll give you the amount right now."

Zhang Rongrong held the ointment in her hand, intending to give it to him, but when she heard him mention money, her expression changed and she became somewhat displeased: "How did we get onto the topic of money? Your wife and I get along well. I rarely have anyone I can talk to, and you're talking to me about money when I give her a bottle of ointment. It hurts our relationship if she talks about money."

Speechless after hearing this, Meng Jiuhe quickly apologized to the person.

Zhang Xuyang looked hesitant, but finally asked the question.

“Madam Shen, where exactly did Shen Siheng go? Can we go and find him? We do have something urgent that we need his help with.”

Qi Yu is currently in the county jail, and they know nothing about him. What if he resists to the death and they have to torture him? Although the county magistrate won't bend the law because of the presence of officials from the capital, if they can't find the culprit and directly target Qi Yu, someone will have to take the fall. These poor scholars have neither connections nor money. They will definitely be the ones targeted. This is why he hesitated for so long before finally asking the question.

Meng Jiuhe also noticed some red and swollen marks on Zhang Rongrong's forehead at this moment. He gestured for Zhang Xuyang not to speak yet.

“Madam Shen, my wife should be at the shop right now. Shall we take you there? I see you have some injuries on your forehead. Do you need to go to the clinic to get some medicine?”

Zhang Rongrong pointed out a teahouse not far ahead: "Shen Siheng and some friends often meet there, but it's uncertain whether he'll be there this time. Go and try your luck. Hurry up so as not to delay your business."

When Xu Chaoyan saw Zhang Rongrong coming to see her with a swollen forehead, she looked surprised and asked, "What happened to you? Who did you get into a fight with? Look how swollen your forehead is."

Zhang Rongrong plopped down on the stool, took the tea offered to her, and gulped it down. She looked sullen and said, "This is a long story. Let's not talk about it."

Xu Chaoyan looked at her swollen forehead with indignation and said, "Then let's get straight to the point. This person is really something. Even if you're going to fight, you can't just hit someone in the face. That's so unsportsmanlike."

Zhang Rongrong: "They are all just household chores, and there was no fighting involved."

Xu Chaoyan assumed that she had another fight with her mother-in-law and was too embarrassed to say it out loud.

"Your mother-in-law has gone too far. She actually hit your forehead like this this time. If you ask me, what's the point of having such a tiger-like mother-in-law? Keep her around for the New Year? It's better to stay single and childless for peace of mind. Why don't you just get a divorce?"

Zhang Yueniang happened to bring over some ointment when she heard Xu Chaoyan's outrageous words. She quickly scolded her, "Sister Xu, what are you saying? You can't just talk nonsense and sow discord between husband and wife."

Xu Chaoyan took the ointment from her and gently wiped the wound with a handkerchief.

"Sister, you're making a mess of things. If you can't live like this, you can't just make do for the rest of your life. You're arguing every three days and having small arguments every two days. What's the point of living like this all the time? Besides, Rongrong doesn't have any children. Wouldn't it be easier for her to get a divorce? We can just divorce her and find a gentle, sweet guy. As long as we have money, we can pick and choose any good-looking guy we want."

Zhang Yueniang quickly went over to cover her mouth. There were still several tables of customers eating in the shop. If they heard these outrageous words, they would definitely gossip behind her back.

Zhang Rongrong seemed unconcerned and even gave Xu Chaoyan a thumbs-up with great approval.

"Your idea is not bad. If I really can't live like this in the future, I'll get a divorce as you suggested. I can live a pretty good life on my own, running the shop. By the way, just now your husband and Zhang Xuyang came to my house looking for my brother-in-law. They seemed to be in a hurry, so I wonder if something happened?"

Xu Chaoyan was completely bewildered by his question: "There shouldn't be anything wrong, right? They were perfectly fine when they came back from the shop just now, weren't they?"