"Mom, that wicked woman ran away! She pushed me into the lotus pond and then ran. Despicable, I won't let her get away with it!"
Qian Yi was so angry that he jumped up and down.
"Son, who exactly is the wicked woman you're talking about?"
"Hmph, who else could it be? It's that wicked woman from the Li family, Li San Niang!"
...
Of course, Long Yue wouldn't stupidly stay there waiting for the mother and son to come after her. Once she had set them up, she took off, leaving without a trace.
After crossing the lotus pond, her feet were covered in mud, so Long Yue found a mountain stream to clean off with A Qiu.
The cuffs of her pants were stained with mud, making them hard to clean. Long Yue looked at her faded pants, deep in thought.
It's time to get herself a new outfit.
But the silver at home is scarce, with one part needed to supply food and necessities, another for Li Qingmu's travel expenses for the exam, and whatever's left squeezed out to buy herself a new garment.
In her past life at this time, she made a fuss to have two new outfits, and Li Qingmu shared some of his exam expenses.
Those years were hard on him... Thinking of this, Long Yue suddenly thought of her second sister-in-law, Mrs. Zhang.
She was reckless, and her family greedy. In her past life, after Li Qingmu passed the exam and was appointed a small local official, the Zhang Family took advantage of his position. They oppressed and bullied others while even seizing lands from neighboring villages, eventually driving a family's son to suicide.
This time, the incident became a big deal, arousing public outrage. Li Qingmu was implicated and demoted to Xinan, Boss Zhang was jailed for ten years, Mrs. Zhang was denounced by Old Li and forced to write a divorce letter.
Back then, Long Yue looked down on Li Qingmu, unwilling to suffer with him in Xinan, and mainly she felt she had married a useless man, and facing her grandfather was shameful, so she simply divorced him.
Thinking it over now, those were the times that tested the marriage, and if she had stuck it out, maybe one day she could avenge her sister.
Long Yue, lost in her thoughts, didn't realize she had arrived home.
A Qiu opened the door, seeing Long Yue motionless, thought she was daydreaming and was about to call her when Long Yue suddenly exclaimed, "A Qiu!"
"Huh?" A Qiu was startled, trembling, and saw her showing a big grin, feeling even more uneasy, "Third sister, what's up?"
"Let's go inside and find mom, just say we brought back some lotus roots, and want to trade several eggs with the Chen Family for glutinous rice."
"Huh, you want me to do it?"
"Who else? You're a kid, that kind of thing would carry weight if you said it!"
"Oh..."
Feeling tricked, A Qiu gloomily headed towards Mrs. Li Zhou's room, and after a couple of steps, wanted to ask if third sister would accompany her, but upon turning around, she saw third sister had dashed into Li Qingmu's room.
In the end, her own husband took precedence!
Li Qingmu was painting in his room when suddenly the door swung open, and his little wife charged in energetically.
"Dear..."
He was halfway through speaking when Long Yue assertively pushed him against the wall.
He was somewhat bewildered, looking at the petite woman with her cute little face just inches away from him. Li Qingmu felt his heart pounding as if it might leap out at any moment.
Helpless and innocent, he asked, "Yue'er... dear, what are you doing..."
"Li Qingmu! Stop playing the innocent rabbit!" Long Yue's skills were impressive as she held him in place, not letting him move, while glaring at him and asking angrily, "The other day, I was by the river flirting with Qian Yi, you clearly saw it, why didn't you react afterward? Tell me, what were you thinking at that time?"
His own wife flirting with someone else, as if a green hat had been placed on his head, yet he showed no reaction. He acted like every other day, eating and sleeping as usual, with no change in attitude towards her.
Before, Long Yue didn't care about him, and he didn't seem to care for her either, but things are different now, she has become his legitimate woman. If she still wasn't in his heart, she would definitely have ended things swiftly!
Seeing the adorable woman in a huff, even if Li Qingmu were slow, he understood, especially since he was shrewd.
Gently, he chuckled, his eyes filled with unprecedented tenderness, along with a hint of mischief. He leaned down, whispered in Long Yue's ear, "Dear, you deliberately provoked your husband. Why should your husband be angry?"
"You..." Long Yue's eyes widened in disbelief, "You knew all along?"
Li Qingmu nodded solemnly, and Long Yue was instantly annoyed to the point of wanting to hit him, realizing he had already seen through her intentions!
"Dear, why suddenly ask about this, did something happen?"
His sensitivity was startling, so Long Yue glared at him irritably, "Nothing really, just met Qian Duoduo on the road, irritating as always!"
A cold glint flashed in Li Qingmu's dark eyes, knowing that Qian Yi likely said something offensive, and recalling how he had previously teased Long Yue...
This matter won't end well!
"Mom, today third sister and I collected lots of lotus roots and seeds from the mountain and caught fish. I want glutinous rice lotus roots. Do you think we can trade a few eggs with the Chen Family for glutinous rice?"
Outside, A Qiu followed Mrs. Li Zhou like a tail, chirping away. Mrs. Wang, who was coming out to collect clothes, happily said, "Glutinous rice lotus roots, that sounds nice. About this, mom..."
She then licked her dry lips and looked pleadingly at her mother-in-law. Mrs. Li Zhou hesitated without saying anything, when Mrs. Zhang from indoors heard the conversation and dashed out.
"Why? Eggs are valuable, why trade them for glutinous rice? Does our family have to eat glutinous rice lotus roots? Besides, didn't you catch fish? Why not trade the fish?"
"Second sister-in-law, isn't fish more precious than eggs? We seldom have fish, it's nice to have a taste this time. As for the eggs... mom hasn't spoken, why are you making noise? It's not your call in this family!"
Long Yue came out of the room, cutting her off.
Mrs. Zhang was choked by Long Yue's words, stamping her feet in anger, "These chickens are raised by me! I say no and it's no!"
"Ridiculous, the chickens were bought by mom. What does that have to do with you? If you don't raise them, someone else will. Besides... huh, who doesn't know you often sneak eggs when others are away?"
"Bang!"
Struck at her weak spot, Mrs. Zhang was furious, wanting to kill someone as she hurled the wooden basin full of clothes at Long Yue, but Long Yue agilely dodged.
"You little brat, accusing me! I'll teach you a lesson!"
Missing her target, Mrs. Zhang was undeterred. She charged at Long Yue, trying to grab her hair, but Li Qingmu was quicker. Hearing the commotion, he dashed out, shielding Long Yue, and restrained her outstretched claws.
"Ah—ouch, hurting me! Let go, third brother, let go! I'm your sister-in-law..."
"Long Yue is my wife!"
He made his stance clear, pushing her unceremoniously to the ground!