A Good Country Wife
Chapter 345 - 339_1

Chapter 345: Chapter 339_1

"Dongjia Niangzi, I’m certain of it. The fresh vegetables were just pulled out of the ground this morning, and it was me who delivered them to the cart," Liu Aniu said with assurance, unaware of what Lin Yue was thinking in her heart.

"I understand, you may go now," Lin Yue said with a forced smile. If it weren’t for her casual chat with Zhang Chunhua, she would never have known that Zhao Erhu had been deceiving her. Why would he hide things and lie to her? Lin Yue recalled Zhao Erhu’s unusual behavior when he left. She hadn’t paid much attention to it at the time, but now she remembered that he had avoided eye contact while speaking to her, clearly feeling guilty.

Knowing that Zhao Erhu was lying to her, Lin Yue had no heart for anything else and kept pondering the matter but couldn’t come to any conclusion. If a man deceives a woman, it usually means he has a change of heart or something on the side, but Lin Yue couldn’t believe that Erhu would be involved with someone else; she felt the sincerity in his feelings for her. But what could it be that he needed to hide from her?

"Forget it, I’ll wait for Zhao Erhu to come back and then confront him. This old man actually dared to deceive me; I’ll show him when he gets back," Lin Yue muttered angrily. Glancing at the time, she saw that the dough had risen enough. Thinking of the red bean paste and red yeast at home, Sister Chunhua said she would make plain white buns since that was the only type she knew how to make. Since today was Wu Qiang’s father’s birthday, Lin Yue decided to make longevity peach-shaped buns instead—nice to look at and festive, and they wouldn’t take too much effort.

Having lived with them for so long, Lin Yue had some understanding of Wu Qiang’s family situation. Zhang Chunhua’s two younger sisters had married well, into prosperous farming families that were nosy and liked to show off. Zhang Chunhua didn’t like her sisters-in-law’s attitude and often competed with them. Despite her straightforward and generous personality, Zhang Chunhua, after all, was a woman with a sense of vanity. Making these peach-shaped buns would indeed add a lot of prestige for her.

Lin Yue finished making the longevity peach buns and placed them in the steamer. Thinking it over, she prepared a few cold dishes and a dish of braised pork with the ingredients she had at home, planning to let Wu Qiang take them to the birthday celebration—it would make for a perfect feast.

Usually, Wu Qiang would stop by Zhao Erhu’s home on his way back from the city. However, Erhu had instructed him that morning. Although Wu Qiang didn’t understand why his brother would want to keep something from Lin Yue, he would naturally help out when asked, so he drove the cart straight home, without stopping by Lin Yue’s place.

"Wu Qiang, why did you come straight home today?" Zhang Chunhua had been expecting Wu Qiang to bring back the plain white buns when he came over, but he didn’t show up.

"Today is dad’s birthday, so I came back earlier," Wu Qiang thought that it was a matter between men and chose not to discuss it with Zhang Chunhua. He didn’t mention Zhao Erhu’s request to avoid worrying his wife, not realizing that Zhang Chunhua had already spilled the beans.

"Then you need to make another trip to Erhu’s home. I..."

"Qiangzi, your two brothers-in-law have come over, and dad is calling you to the main room. Hurry up and go," someone called out to him.

"Alright! I’m on my way," Wu Qiang quickly responded, and he didn’t catch the rest of what Zhang Chunhua was saying. Today was his father’s birthday, and as soon as he heard his dad calling, Wu Qiang immediately headed to the main room.

Zhang Chunhua was about to ask Wu Qiang to fetch the white buns from Lin Yue’s home, but her sisters-in-law interrupted her, and hearing that his dad was calling, she felt it was inappropriate to keep Wu Qiang from going. If she asked Wu Qiang to leave now, his father and mother would likely be displeased, so she decided to wait and possibly find time to go herself.

Lin Yue finished steaming the longevity peaches, and the several cold dishes and braised pork were all ample in quantity. Not knowing how many guests there would be at Zhang Chunhua’s place, it was always better to prepare extra. Each dish had enough to fill two bowls. Seeing that it was about time and Wu Qiang still hadn’t returned, Lin Yue simply packed up the food and personally delivered it to Zhang Chunhua. Because there was so much, and it took up space in bowls, Lin Yue took two large baskets to carry it all, one in each hand.

"Oh! Erhu’s wife has come over, come in and sit down!" Grandma Chunhua saw that it was Lin Yue who had come over and quickly ushered her inside with more enthusiasm than she had shown her own daughter and son-in-law just earlier. Their son Qiangzi had earned quite a bit of silver working for Erhu’s family, and many in the village were envious. It was lucky that their son and Zhao Erhu had a good relationship since they were young and that their daughter-in-law also got along with Erhu’s wife; otherwise, such a good opportunity might have fallen into someone else’s hands. Now seeing Lin Yue arrive, they didn’t even have time to curry favor.

"Mrs. Wu, I come over often enough, so you don’t need to be so polite. Since you have so many guests today, I won’t go in, to save you the trouble of entertaining me as well. Here are two baskets; one contains the steamed longevity peaches, and the other has some cold dishes and braised pork. I saw Sister Chunhua was too busy, so I just brought them over myself." Hearing the bustle at Wu Qiang’s house, Lin Yue still didn’t want to join the commotion, considering Zhao Erhu’s matters, and handed the baskets to Grandma Chunhua to bring inside.

Seeing that Lin Yue had brought so much, and understanding from her words that it was her own daughter-in-law who had asked for the favor, Grandma Chunxi still insisted on being polite.

"How can we accept this? My son Qiangzi and his wife have benefited a lot from your family’s kindness. We’ve received so many things from you, and now, Erhu’s wife, you’ve brought over so much more."

"Grandma, there’s no need for formalities between us. Wu Qiang and my Erhu are like brothers. If you speak like that, it feels too distant. Wu Qiang and Sister Chunhua often help our family out too when we need it. I saw that Sister Chunhua was very busy, so I took the opportunity to make these and bring them over for her."

"If you put it that way, Erhu’s wife, I’ll shamelessly accept it, then. Since you’re here, come inside and sit down; join us for lunch." Grandma Chunxi’s invitation was very sincere; if she hadn’t been holding the baskets, she might have reached out to pull Lin Yue inside.

Lin Yue had no desire to join the hustle and wasn’t going to stay for lunch. "No, thank you, Mrs. Wu, I have things to attend to at home."

Wu Qiang, upon hearing Lin Yue’s voice from inside, quickly came out. "Sister-in-law has come by! My mother is right. You should stay for lunch."

"No need, Brother Wu, I just came to deliver some things for Sister Chunhua. I’ll be heading back now." Lin Yue said as she waved her hand and turned to head home.

As Wu Qiang watched Lin Yue’s receding figure, he turned to his mother. "Mother, did Erhu’s wife come just to deliver things? She didn’t ask you anything, did she?"

Mrs. Wu found her son’s question a bit strange. "No, she just brought some food over, probably because she knew your wife had asked her to. Qiangzi, why do you ask? You haven’t done something you can’t let Erhu’s wife know about, have you? Don’t be foolish."

"No, Mother, you’re overthinking it. It’s just some business matters that I hadn’t had time to explain to Erhu because I came back in a rush."

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