The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 291 - 280: Contradiction

Chapter 291: Chapter 280: Contradiction

As long as there are neighbors, as long as your life is connected with a second person, conflicts are inevitable.

The Zhou Family was harmonious enough, yet Junior Ms. Qian would sometimes snap at her sisters-in-law. Zhou Silang often shirked work onto his brothers, and the elder brothers would occasionally bully the younger one.

Not to mention arguments, the brothers had even come to blows before.

And in Qili Village, despite its small size, villagers had their fair share of arguments over various matters throughout the year. Ms. Qian was as patient as a Buddha, yet the year before last, she blocked the entrance to Zhou Dalv’s house for half an hour, ranting about Manbao and even took the matter to the village chief.

Then there was Dali Village, a larger village by comparison.

This village had more than one hundred thirty households, more than double that of Qili Village.

With more people came more disputes, of course.

Unlike Qili Village, which was primarily populated by the Zhou surname, Dali Village had a mix of surnames, at least eight or nine, with three to four stronger surnames among them.

Different surnames meant even more conflicts.

Zhou Silang mentioned that the Jia brothers were well-known in Dali Village as well.

Because Dali Village had a large market, there were butchers and grocery stores, and plenty of people who did various small businesses.

Every two days there was a market day, and even if people were accustomed to bartering goods and could not directly earn cash, the items they exchanged could be sold in the county town for a decent profit.

Moreover, compared to other items, grain and cloth, used for bartering, were always in demand—even some places in the county town exchanged goods using these two items.

Therefore, the villagers of Dali Village generally lived better than those of other villages.

The Jia brothers started making charcoal seven or eight years ago. No one knew whom they had learned the skill from, but after their return, they dug two kilns next to the vegetable garden and began their charcoal business.

They tried burning various types of wood and eventually found that pine burned well and was preferred by city folks, so they especially targeted pine trees for felling.

They cut from their own mountain as well as from the mountains of others.

If this was just for gathering wood to burn for their own use, nobody would have objected, but taking the wood to make charcoal and then selling it was another issue.

There were also rules about felling trees. If you cut too many at once, you were expected to replant them. Otherwise, if everyone did the same, would there be any trees left on the mountain after a few years?

Not only would the owners of the mountains disagree, but the village chief and county officials wouldn’t approve either.

Therefore, the owners of a few mountains that were specially ’cared for’ by the Jia brothers stirred up trouble about seven or eight years ago. It was also because of this that the Jia brothers had almost used up the pines on their own mountain before they set their eyes on other mountains.

These other mountains were a bit distant from Qili Village and not close to Dali Village either, lying between the two villages and even slightly closer to Qili Village.

The pine trees there were the most numerous and best in the surrounding area.

Back then, the Jia brothers took people up the mountain to cut trees in secret, but they were caught red-handed by Zhou Dalv, which caused a ruckus.

In the end, no one knew how it was arranged, but the chief of Dali Village retracted the Jia brothers’ initial share of the fields and redistributed the mountains to them. After that, they allocated forty mu of mountain land to Qili Village to settle the matter.

This incident caused quite a stir that year. Qili Village, being poor and small, had the chief leading the young and strong villagers, carrying hoes to negotiate with the chief of Dali Village and the Jia brothers. The two villages nearly came to blows over it.

Zhou Silang was about the same age as Zhou Liulang is now. Though he didn’t have to go, he snuck in and joined the excitement.

So he knew all too well how unwelcome the Jia family was in Dali Village.

Now, in his utmost stirring up trouble, without a shred of shame, Zhou Silang lifted his clothes to show everyone his lower back.

It had been some time since his fall, and it was exactly when all the marks had started to show. His lower back was blue and swollen, with some areas a dark purplish-red—it looked seriously bad.

Meanwhile, the flesh at his sides was pale and tender. A crowd of aunties and young wives gazed intently, sympathizing while eagerly trying to peek at the part he hadn’t revealed.

Ms. Fang, who was talking with her mother, stepped forward and tugged his clothes down, seizing the opportunity to give him a pinch while expressing concern, "It’s cool in the evening. What if you catch a cold? Put your clothes right and come here."

The aunties reluctantly pulled their gazes away, and Zhou Silang chuckled without a hint of embarrassment. It was common for them to jump into the river for a swim when it got hot.

But now that he was married, he no longer acted with the single young men in the village.

After inspecting the injuries on Zhou Silang, the denunciation of the Jia brothers reached its peak. Some among them indeed had conflicts with the Jia family, and secondly, who could blame them when Zhou Silang was so handsome?

Mother Fang thought her son-in-law was handsome too, so she was somewhat bothered by him being "exposed" and, seeing that the conversation was over, started sending the guests away.

Of course, she didn’t say this outright but sent her youngest daughter to organize the room for Zhou Silang and Manbao to sleep in, using that as an excuse.

Once everyone heard and noticed the completely darkened sky, they bid farewell and went home. Indeed, it was time for bed.

But fresh with such gossip, they didn’t feel sleepy and decided to continue their chat elsewhere.

The Fang household was well off, and importantly, Ms. Fang’s eldest uncle had no children yet. So the rooms of the two Fang sisters were empty, readily available whenever they returned home.

Ms. Fang had only been married for two months and her attachment to her family home hadn’t changed much. She still saw it as her own place, so she confidently went into the kitchen to boil water for Zhou Silang and Manbao to wash up.

Mother Fang slipped into the kitchen to chatter with her, mainly asking about how things were going at the Zhou household.

Mother Fang had seen her youngest daughter’s actions and guessed things weren’t too bad; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to grab Zhou Silang so easily. But she still felt the need to advise her. "If you’re going to scold him, do it back in your room. Otherwise, what would outsiders think if they saw you? It wouldn’t look good in front of your mother-in-law either, would it?"

Ms. Fang’s face turned slightly red as she replied, "I know, Mother."

Mother Fang sighed contentedly. "This marriage really was the right choice. Marrying into Qili Village isn’t bad—it’s close by. Look, you didn’t even need our family to fetch you; you’ve been able to visit home three times already. Not like your sister who only comes back once or twice a year, and even then, just stays for a brief while before leaving."

"Mother, are you complaining about me coming back too often?"

"Nonsense, why would I complain? I wish you would come back every few days, as long as you’re not being chased back by the in-laws or running away after a fight." Mother Fang was quite comfortable with her daughter visiting home. And the Zhou family was considerate, never letting the child come back empty-handed, always bringing something like tofu or a couple of pounds of beans.

Like today, they had brought beans with them.

"However, I saw just now that Silang’s injuries seemed quite serious. What did the old doctor say? Is he really okay?"

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