The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 290 - 279: Idle Talk (Request for Monthly Tickets?)

Chapter 290: Chapter 279: Idle Talk (Request for Monthly Tickets?)

But even though he admired him, the old doctor still extended his hand and said, "Your wife’s consultation fee is also five coins."

This was the most basic fee for a consultation, which wasn’t much compared to what the attending doctors in the big pharmacies in the county town charged.

Things were better than he had expected, so Zhou Silang happily counted out forty coins to give to him, then went outside to check the darkening sky.

He glanced at the slanting sun rays that had yet to completely fade in the sky, leaned on his waist and crouched down to coax Manbao, "Manbao, would you like to sleep with me and your fourth sister-in-law tonight? I tell you, Aunt Fang’s house has a lot of tasty things..."

"Just say you don’t want to go home and that you want to stay over," Manbao wasn’t a fool; how could she not understand his intentions?

Even though Manbao thought her own bed was more comfortable, thinking that she would need to use Silang as an example in the future, she reluctantly nodded, "Staying over is fine, but Silang, why do we need to stay over?"

There was clearly enough time to return home, and even if it got a bit dark upon reaching home, she wasn’t afraid.

Zhou Erlang looked around and then hummed to Manbao, "Your fourth brother can’t just take a tumble for nothing, so I need to have a good talk with my father-in-law and mother-in-law."

Ms. Fang gave him a glare, "You better not use my parents as a tool. But it’s true that the Jia Family was too much. They’re our village kin, and they often go to the mountains behind my house to cut firewood and dig wild vegetables, don’t they? Has my family ever said anything? So why can’t we go look for some wild mushrooms?"

"Exactly, exactly, I wasn’t chopping down the good trees on their mountains. I was just looking for some game; it’s not like they planted them."

Anyway, their family was so stingy, he was definitely going to give them a piece of his mind, hmph, he was not without ties to Dali Village—his in-laws were here.

And so the couple, along with Manbao, turned a corner and headed toward the Fang family’s home.

The Fang family’s residence was just behind the meat stall, its location right in the middle of the busiest street, it couldn’t get any better.

Even though it was almost dark, the Fang family’s yard was still bustling, with quite a few villagers gathered to chat leisurely.

Seeing the young daughter of the Fang family bringing her husband back home, they were all stunned for a moment, "Why has ErNiu returned?"

Mother Fang, who had been laughing heartily, jumped in surprise upon hearing the news and hurried out to see. Seeing her daughter accompanied by her son-in-law, and with Zhou Family’s precious Manbao in tow, she immediately relaxed and beamed with joy, "Why didn’t you come back earlier? Have you had your meal? Mother will warm up some food for you."

Warming up food was out of the question, as there couldn’t possibly be any leftovers at home, but they could make some fresh.

Zhou Silang quickly said, "Mother, we’ve already eaten, please don’t trouble yourself. I just took a fall, and my parents were a bit worried, so after eating, they asked me to come over and see the doctor."

Only then did Mother Fang notice Zhou Silang’s limp and asked concernedly, "Where did you fall, and what did the doctor say?"

Manbao very sensibly moved a stool over for him, and Zhou Silang gave her an approving look. He then supported his waist and carefully sat down on the stool as gingerly as a pregnant woman eight months along, sighing, "I fell in the Zhong Mountains, and it’s a good thing I did fall, or else I might have been chopped to death."

The neighbors, who had thought to leave since the daughter and son-in-law had returned home, suddenly stopped, sat back down with renewed interest, and asked excitedly, "What do you mean by that, who would dare to chop you? Don’t they want to end up in jail?"

Ending up in jail was out of the question—who would report such a petty matter to the authorities?

They could sort it out among themselves.

However, the neighbor wasn’t wrong— who would dare to chop Zhou Silang? His family had six brothers, and there were quite a few folks on his uncle’s side as well. If someone really got chopped...

The crowd shivered with anticipation and stared even more eagerly at Zhou Silang.

Zhou Silang then sighed and recounted how he had gone to the Zhong Mountains to look for wild mushrooms that day and ended up being chased away.

He sighed, "I know, the Zhong Mountains belong to the two Jia brothers, and they don’t allow us to go up the mountain looking for game. Next time we just won’t go, but this time they didn’t let us off—they picked up their hoes and chased after us, and it really scared me and my Fifth Younger Brother."

Manbao squatted to one side, listening with keen interest. Although she had heard the story once already, she noticed that Silang’s version of events was completely different this time—it was like an entirely new story.

Manbao perked up with realization. This must be what Keke talked about—she had to judge whether patients were telling lies or the truth, right?

The version Silang told at home was definitely true, but not everything he said here was entirely false.

Zhou Silang wore a look of distress and, holding his waist, said, "At that moment, I was so scared. I thought I had committed some unforgivable heinous crime. I turned around to explain, but after just a few words, they were already upon us. In my panic, I ran a bit too fast, and since it had rained last night, the mountain was a bit slippery, and down I went."

"At that time, half my body was numb with fear. Ah, why couldn’t they just talk to me?"

Upon hearing this, Mother Fang became furious, slapped the table, and said, "Was it really the Jia Family’s people chasing you?"

Zhou Silang nodded affirmatively.

Mother Fang stared at Zhou Silang and asked, "You went there just to look for wild game?"

"Absolutely," Zhou Silang protested, "Mother, the Zhong Mountains mainly consist of various pine trees and some twisted, crooked trees. If I’m not looking for wild game, what else could I be doing there? Surely not stealing wood, right?"

He said, "Our family now has fields apportioned for five mouths, and we’re not short of wood. In the summertime, it’s impossible for me to be chopping wood. Besides, we can chop wood on the mountains at the entrance of our village if we need to. Everyone in our village is generous as long as it’s not the cutting of good lumber; the other trees are fair game."

On reflection, everyone agreed—it made sense. The Zhou Family had many members and a large share of the mountain land, and if they needed wood, they could easily find it on their own mountain.

Moreover, the Zhou family’s homes were already built, and they did not need wood at that time.

For everyone, their apportioned fields were a source of good timber; as long as no one was stealing the best wood, pretty much anything else done on the mountain wouldn’t breach local ethics and morals.

After receiving a clear response, Mother Fang became even more incensed and slammed the table, "Their hearts are just too poisonous. Every year, how much firewood is cut from our family’s mountain by them? Every spring, they go up our mountain to dig wild vegetables and I’ve never stopped them. So why can’t my son-in-law go to the Zhong Mountains to find some wild game?"

The other villagers also agreed, echoing her sentiments, "That’s way too miserly. Their mountain used to be near the village entrance and was only exchanged for the Zhong Mountains because of the pine timber there. Year after year, they take firewood in winter and wild vegetables in spring from our families’ mountains."

"Exactly, never mind spring, but in winter, when it comes to chopping firewood, can you believe a charcoal burner like him doesn’t use his own charcoal or the wood he cuts, instead going to our mountain to compete with us for firewood? How is that reasonable?"

"I’ve disliked them for a long time. Every year they make charcoal not far from behind my house, and no matter how many times I complain, it does no good. The smoke stinks terribly, and in recent years, my family has often fallen ill. I believe it’s because they burn charcoal."

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