Ugly girl only wants to farm

Chapter 181 Return

Meng Jiuhe wouldn't listen to anything Zhang Xuyang was saying, and dragged him into the street, almost tripping and falling along the way.

Although Zhang Xuyang was also very worried, he was calmer than Meng Jiuhe and comforted him several times along the way.

When the two finally arrived at their usual train station, they asked around but found nothing.

The vehicles that came back from the county town said they hadn't seen them before. There wasn't much business at the moment, and a few old men were sitting on a cart, puffing on their pipes.

An old man shook the ash from his pipe before slowly speaking: "Young man, you need to be patient. Wait a couple more days, and they'll be back. It was windy and rainy in the county town the other day, so the roads must have been bad, which caused them some delay. Three grown men can't be lost, so why are you in such a hurry? You look like a scholar, yet you don't even bother to smooth out the wrinkles in your clothes; they look so unsightly."

Meng Jiuhe then noticed his somewhat disheveled clothes. He had been in a hurry to leave, and blushed slightly as he straightened them.

Only after asking them carefully did I learn that two days ago, the weather in the county town was bad with thunderstorms, and I heard that some cars couldn't even get through.

Zhang Xuyang quickly comforted him, saying, "Brother Meng, why don't we go back first and come back tomorrow? You heard what the old man said; there are no buses coming from the county town today. The number of buses going to the county town each day is fixed, and not many people usually travel that far. At most, there are one or two trips a day. We'll come back early tomorrow morning."

Meng Jiuhe reluctantly walked home with Zhang Xuyang.

Meng Jiuxia was busy feeding the chickens in the yard and cleaning the chicken coop. When she saw her older brother come back, she frowned and said, "Brother, look at your disheveled sister-in-law. She'll definitely laugh at you when she comes back. I already told you she would come back. Are you worried she'll run away? Look at you, a grown man, don't you know how to be ashamed?"

Meng Jiuhe silently picked up a shovel and began tidying up the ashes. Xu Chaoyan used to like collecting the ashes left from cooking fires, saying they were very useful. He wasn't in the mood for anything else right now, and since his clothes were all dirty, he helped tidy up the yard. He also had to cook for the craftsmen later. His little sister had been working so hard these past two days, and it was his own fault for losing his composure.

The steamed buns that Xu Chaoyan had left behind were definitely not enough for the next two days, so Meng Jiuxia kneaded some more dough that night, planning to steam some and keep them for tomorrow.

Meng Jiu and Meng Jiuxia, who were helping out, couldn't help but roll their eyes at him several times. Finally, they couldn't help but complain, "Big brother, don't make things worse for me. Look at these strange things you've made. If we wait, those uncles and elders will think my skills have deteriorated. Just keep an eye on the fire for me and throw in a few sweet potatoes. We can make do with a bowl of hot soup later."

Meng Jiuhe was somewhat absent-minded as he helped her start the fire. Before he knew it, sparks flew out of the stove and almost set the house on fire. Startled, Meng Jiuxia quickly chased him out.

"You're just making things worse for me. I know you're worried about my sister-in-law, but at least the three of them can look after each other. I'll definitely go with you to check on her first thing tomorrow morning. Maybe she'll be back by then. For now, focus on your studies. I'll light a charcoal fire for you. I'll call you when the food is ready. Don't cause any trouble right now."

Before leaving, Meng Jiuxia slammed the door shut, afraid that her older brother would sneak out and cause her more trouble.

The next day, Meng Jiu and his younger sister called each other early in the morning to go to the street and ask the people rushing to catch a ride if they had any information.

While feeding the chickens vegetable leaves, Meng Jiuxia muttered, "Can't you wait for me to rest and catch my breath? I haven't even had a bite to eat yet, what's the rush? Your wife isn't going to run away, you can't let your own sister starve to death for your wife, can you?"

Meng Jiuhe's face flushed slightly as he spoke gently, "I'm sorry, it's my fault, brother. Let's finish our meal before we go over. I was too hasty. It's just that after our parents went missing, it's just the three of us living together. Suddenly, your sister-in-law is not here these past few days, and I feel empty and uneasy."

After hearing him say that, Meng Jiuxia didn't continue to scold him, but quickly fed the chickens some vegetable leaves.

They went to the kitchen and got two steamed buns. The two ate a simple meal and then went with Zhang Xuyang to check out the place in town where they could catch a bus.

When the uncles driving the carts saw them arrive, they greeted them from afar.

“Young man, you’re here again. I’ve already told you the road conditions are bad, it’s normal to be delayed for a whole night. Besides, the car won’t be here this early, it will be at least around noon. It’s so cold, you might as well go home and wait, or you might make the girl catch a cold.”

Zhang Xuyang glanced at the sky, rubbed his hands which were red from the cold, and advised, "Brother Meng, why don't we find somewhere to take shelter? The wind is stinging our faces; we don't want the girl to get cold."

The three of them found a sheltered spot in town and sat together. Although it was a sheltered place, it was still quite cold in the dead of winter.

Meng Jiuxia rubbed her red hands and looked at Meng Jiuhe, who had a determined look on his face: "Big brother, you and Brother Zhang can wait here for now. I need to go back and heat up the food. I also need to deliver it to Uncle and the other elders later, so I won't stay here with you."

Zhang Xuyang noticed the hesitation in Meng Jiuhe's eyes. He stood up and patted him on the shoulder: "You wait here for me and my sister to go over and deliver the food to the people. Then I'll come back to keep you company."

Meng Jiuhe nodded and thanked him, saying, "Then I'll have to trouble you."

When Meng Jiuxia got home, she reheated all the food she had prepared beforehand, filled several hot water bottles, and brought a clay pot of soup so that her sister-in-law and the others could have some hot soup to warm themselves up when they came back.

As Meng Jiuxia and Zhang Xuyang pushed their cart past the place where the carriages were being caught, they saw Meng Jiuhe still looking towards the intersection not far away. She quickly handed him the hot water bottle: "Brother, warm yourself up and have some hot soup first. This is for my sister-in-law and the others. You can take it and I'll come back later."

A small black dot suddenly appeared at the end of the road not far away. Meng Jiu pointed to the distance and asked the two of them to look: "Look, isn't there a car coming from ahead? I think I can hear a sound from afar."

Meng Jiuxia squinted and looked for a long time, but she still couldn't see very clearly. She said with a suspicious look, "Big brother, did you not eat lunch? Are your eyes blurry? Have some soup first to warm yourself up. I'll come back to keep you company in a while."

As the small black dot drew closer, Zhang Xuyang exclaimed in surprise, "Sister, look, it really is a donkey cart coming! I can see your brother too, I'm not seeing things. Once the donkey cart is here, we'll ask around. Come on, let's take this food over first, then we can come back to meet them later."

Hearing his surprised voice, Meng Jiuxia squinted and looked ahead. Sure enough, a car was coming. She quickly pushed the car and said anxiously, "Brother Zhang, let's hurry over and deliver these meals so we can come back and pick up my sister-in-law and the others."

As the car drew closer, Meng Jiuhe saw Xu Chaoyan and the other two sitting together, covered by a thin blanket, their faces red from the wind with cloth covering their heads. He couldn't help but feel sorry for them. If he hadn't been holding a hot water bottle and an earthenware pot, he would have rushed over long ago.

When the donkey cart stopped in front of him, he quickly went up to it and said with concern, "You're finally back. I've been very worried about you these past two days. Did you encounter any trouble on the way that delayed you?"

With Zhang Yueniang's help, Xu Chaoyan got off the donkey cart, and then helped Uncle Zhang down as well. The three of them stretched their limbs a little before speaking: "The weather in the county was bad a few days ago, which caused some delays. I'm sorry to have worried you all."

Meng Jiu quickly handed each of them one of the hot water bottles he had been holding in the basket: "Warm yourselves up first, or you'll catch a cold."