The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 198 - 187: Incident (Additional update with 165,000 recommendation votes from Yunqi)

Chapter 198: Chapter 187: Incident (Additional update with 165,000 recommendation votes from Yunqi)

The Winter Solstice holiday lasted three days, and this day was the last.

Manbao put on her best set of clothes and happily held her mother’s hand as they headed to Dali Village.

Ever since Ms. Qian’s health had deteriorated, she rarely left the village, but walking wasn’t difficult, as long as she took it easy and didn’t walk too fast.

The matchmaker had already communicated with the Fang family and waited at the entrance of Dali Village. Seeing the mother and children of the Zhou family, she approached them and said with a smile to Ms. Qian, "Lady Fang is at the meat stall today. Madam, you can take a look later, and also let the Fang family see Silang."

Ms. Qian agreed.

The matchmaking encounter still had plenty of excuses lined up; only if both parties were satisfied would they formally continue to see each other.

Because they were meeting outside this time, Zhou Silang didn’t have the courage to prioritize appearance over warmth, so he wore his own clothes.

However, he had washed his hair, and early in the morning, he took care to wash his face thoroughly; at that moment, he looked quite the part.

Not to mention Manbao, even Ms. Qian couldn’t help but give her son a few extra glances.

She had six sons, and the best-looking among them were Four and Sixth.

However, everyone in the Zhou family was good-looking; after all, hadn’t she fallen for Zhou Jin’s face back in the day?

Cough cough, Ms. Qian’s face turned slightly red, leading her son and daughter towards the meat stall.

Today, there were also a lot of people at the Fang family’s meat stall. Not only was Butcher Fang there, but his wife, Ms. Cheng, was there too, as well as his eldest son, Fang Dalang, and the main subject, Lady Fang.

Therefore, those who came to buy meat were curious, "Old Fang, why are there so many people from your family here today?"

Butcher Fang coughed uneasily and said, "Isn’t it the festival? There are more people buying meat, so I asked them to come and help."

A lot?

It was only slightly more than usual, wasn’t it? There was no need for so many people to be here, right?

Before he had time to ask, Butcher Fang suddenly "smack" thrust the boning knife deeply into the wooden board, startling him greatly.

It wasn’t just him who was startled, but also Zhou Silang, who had just taken out his money to buy meat.

Startled by Butcher Fang, he stiffened, then under his piercing gaze, he bravely stepped forward, "I...I’d like to buy two pounds of meat."

Butcher Fang looked him over from top to bottom, side to side, and then finally pulled out the boning knife and asked, "Which cut of meat will you buy?"

Zhou Silang eyed the knife and swallowed hard, saying, "I’ll buy the shank meat."

Ms. Qian, holding Manbao’s hand, stood by and watched with a smile.

Butcher Fang sliced the meat slowly and asked, "Which village are you from? You look so familiar."

Before Zhou Silang could reply, a person waiting to buy meat laughed and said, "Old Fang, what kind of memory do you have? This is Zhou Si from Qili Village. He’s a regular customer at your stall, coming here every three to five days to buy meat. How can you not remember?"

Butcher Fang: ...

Zhou Silang: ...

Blushing, Lady Fang stepped forward, snatched the knife from her father, and said, "Dad, let me do the cutting."

She efficiently served the meat to another customer, collected the money, and when it was Zhou Silang’s turn, she also started to dawdle and didn’t immediately cut the meat for him.

Only then did Ms. Qian, leading Manbao by the hand, step forward to chat with her, "Young Lady, you’re really capable. Do you often mind the stall for the family?"

Finally, Ms. Cheng found her place to shine; she quickly nudged her husband to one side and approached Ms. Qian to chat, "Indeed, our family is small, with just one son and two daughters. Her elder sister married off early, so when we’re too busy, she comes out to give us a hand."

Ms. Cheng laughed and said, "I was even mad at her father before, a fine girl watching over a meat stall, it might impact her reputation going out, and which family’s boy would want to discuss a marriage with her?"

Ms. Qian replied with a smile, "Such a girl who knows to care for her family, how could no one want to propose? Minding a stall is like working in the fields for us..."

"Exactly, I also came to terms with it. My daughter has no other advantages, but she’s quick with her hands..." Ms. Cheng praised her daughter, then finally turned to Zhou Silang, "Sister-in-law, this must be your son, he’s quite handsome."

Otherwise, her daughter wouldn’t have taken a fancy to him, insisting on talking about him.

Ms. Qian laughed, "Yes, this is my Four, he’s just got a handsome face. We have many sons in our family, so things are a bit tough, but luckily, he’s not lazy, or else I’d be so worried..."

And, just like that, the conversation opened up.

Manbao was short, only as tall as the meat stand’s countertop, and standing next to Ms. Qian, only her little head was visible. So she just watched the two mothers talking back and forth.

Ms. Cheng: We have fewer children, so even though my youngest daughter is a girl, we really cherish her.

Ms. Qian: There’s nothing special about our family aside from having many children, and each one is not bad. Four isn’t particularly outstanding, but he’s not bad either.

Ms. Cheng: My daughter can grace a hall, manage a kitchen, sell meat, watch the stand, and farm.

Ms. Qian: My Four can farm, catch fish, do business, he’s sweet-talking, and can endure hardship and labor.

Ms. Cheng: My daughter is obedient.

Ms. Qian: My son is filial and polite.

Ms. Cheng: My daughter is not bad-looking.

Ms. Qian: My son is quite handsome.

The two mothers went back and forth, while Manbao’s little head twisted from side to side. Zhou SiLang, standing to the side, was so afraid she’d twist her head off that eventually he couldn’t help himself. He reached out and held her head still, preventing her from turning anymore.

Lady Fang had been listening with a blush on her face the whole time and was also stealing glances at Zhou SiLang. When Zhou SiLang reached out, she noticed.

Her gaze shifted downward, and that’s when she saw Manbao.

She blinked and asked, "Who is this...?"

Zhou SiLang immediately withdrew his hand and whispered, "This is my sister."

Manbao stood on her tiptoes to make herself look taller, "...Sister, I’m Manbao."

Lady Fang smiled at her, "Hello Manbao, you’re really cute."

Cute, but you didn’t notice me right away.

However, Manbao was a polite and good child, so she returned the compliment, "Sister, you are very beautiful too, SiLang, wouldn’t you agree?"

Lady Fang then looked at Zhou SiLang.

Zhou SiLang, under the gaze of the two girls, nodded with a flushed face.

The commotion, of course, did not escape the notice of Ms. Cheng and Ms. Qian nearby.

The exchange between the two came to a temporary end, with Ms. Cheng feeling somewhat irritated that her daughter was too eager, thinking even if she fancied someone, she should be more reserved.

Ms. Qian was also a bit annoyed with her son, for goodness sake, he’s a grown man, why is his face red? Your sister has already started the conversation for you, now is the time to praise the other party more.

However, they couldn’t continue their talk because they had been standing there too long, and people were beginning to take notice and head their way.

Ms. Qian took out money to pay for the meat, and Ms. Cheng also decisively took the knife from her daughter’s hand to slice the meat for them. With the transaction complete, the two mothers exchanged glances, smiled faintly, and then went about their own business.

Ms. Qian led the two children back home.

Zhou SiLang was itching to ask but didn’t feel it was right to start, so he kept casting glances at Manbao.

Manbao, still holding a grudge for him holding her head, pretended not to see.

Ms. Qian decided to have a thorough talk with Four back at home, so she glanced at him and said, "You’re an adult now, why are you still so restless? We’ll talk more once we’re home."

But as soon as they got back, Old Zhou bellowed at Zhou SiLang, "Kneel down!"

Zhou SiLang startled, jumped up about to argue back, but when he looked up and saw Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang already kneeling in the courtyard, it was like a thunderclap—he seemed to realize something, hesitated, and did not run away, ending up kneeling down with a thud.