Farm Tough Girl

Chapter 119 - 119 120 Uneasy Rainy Night_1

?Chapter 119: Chapter 120 Uneasy Rainy Night_1 Chapter 119: Chapter 120 Uneasy Rainy Night_1 “Auntie, just focus on embroidering this screen for the next month. In our village, no one else’s craftsmanship can match yours, and I wouldn’t trust it to anyone else either. Don’t worry about the Embroidery House affairs, Qinghe has been idle recently, so I’ll have her take care of it.”

“Mm, okay.” Madam Liu readily agreed, the embroidery work this time was very important and could not afford any distractions.

To ensure Madam Liu could concentrate on her embroidery, Muniang had arranged a quiet single room for her. The other embroiderers all worked together in one large room. Originally, Madam Liu had planned to take the piece home to work on, but she was afraid that her boys would mess it up, so even though it was more trouble for her to come here to find some peace, she dared not stay at home with it.

After a busy month, the screen was finally near completion. Muniang went specially to take a look. The exquisite craftsmanship was beyond reproach, and the master and disciples from Journey to the West seemed to come to life, charmingly lifelike. Muniang liked it at first sight.

“Auntie, this embroidery work is truly top-notch. Not to mention our Chatu Town, even Qinghua City might not have someone with better skills than you.”

“Don’t flatter me. I still need a bit more time to finish. I’ll get it done today, and tomorrow I will have someone deliver it directly to that lord to see if he’s satisfied,” Madam Liu said with a smile.

“He must be satisfied. With such fine embroidery work, anyone who sees it will be envious. Not only are we earning a thousand silver this time, but if the Noble Lady likes it, our reputation will also be on the rise, and then no one in Chatu Town will dare to look down on our Embroidery House again.”

Madam Liu was also delighted. Originally concerned that she wouldn’t be able to finish, her heart finally settled down now that it was nearly complete.

Muniang didn’t want to disturb Madam Liu any longer, so she said a few words and left.

The weather was now in the midst of summer heat, oppressively hot, but Muniang’s house was quite cool. A good brick-and-tile house made all the difference. If she were still in that thatched cottage, she would probably die of heat.

Muniang and Madam Liu had spent a lot of time together, and Muniang had learned some craftsmanship. Although her embroidery was still somewhat unattractive, she was good enough at mending clothes. Occasionally joining Li Cheng and Wang Qiang on hunting trips in the mountains, their clothes would often get torn, so Muniang took some clothes Chengzi had changed out of a few days earlier and started mending them when she had nothing else to do.

“The master is back.”

The voice of a young servant rang out in the courtyard, and Muniang looked up toward the door.

“Wife, I’m back.”

Chengzi strode into the house energetically, poured himself a big cup of cool tea, and gulped it down. He wiped the water from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, then headed for the kang bed. Thinking it over, he decided to sit on a chair nearby instead.

He chuckled, “I’m dirty, and I smell of sweat. My wife is fragrant.”

Muniang scolded with affection, “You still know you’re dirty, huh? Come over here and sit.”

As she spoke, she called out to the door, “Qingya, bring a basin of water.”

Chengzi sat down beside Muniang with glee, letting her dab at the sweat on his face with a handkerchief.

“Why are you back so early today? Don’t you usually not finish until dusk?” Muniang asked while wiping his face.

They didn’t go hunting very often, just every now and then, and each trip took nearly half a day. It was rare for him to return so early.

Chengzi mentioned that the oppressive heat was not normal, and with ants moving their nests outside, rain was definitely on the way. Afraid that a sudden downpour would make the mountain paths slippery and hard to navigate, they had decided to come back early.”

Muniang nodded, “That’s good, safety is the most important thing. Since it is going to rain, the weather will finally cool down a bit. I can’t stand it being so hot all the time. Go change your clothes; I’ve chilled some watermelon in the well for you. I’ll cut it for you to eat in a bit.”

When Zeng Gang was first asked to build this house, he also helped to construct a well, which made using water more convenient. In the summer, the well could even serve as a refrigerator; any fruits or vegetables placed inside for an hour would come out cool and refreshing.

At the mention of watermelon, ?Er Liang’s? eyes lit up, “Great!”

Muniang felt somewhat embarrassed by his gluttony.

The weather remained oppressive until the evening, when the rain finally started to pour down, the thunder rumbling noisily and shrilly. Though Muniang was pleased with the cooler weather, the thunderclaps kept her from sleeping.

Seeing Muniang frown and turn over, Er Liang quickly pulled her into his arms. Muniang’s heart skipped a beat. Could it be that he was feeling impulsive?

But then she heard Er Liang’s low voice above her head, “Wife, don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you; the thunder definitely won’t strike you.”

It turns out he thought she was scared of the thunder.

Muniang curled up in Er Liang’s arms, a smile rippling across her lips, and with a hum from her nose, a “hmm,” she fell asleep contentedly.

The formerly noisy rainy night now seemed unable to shatter the tranquility of this moment; Muniang nestled in Er Liang’s arms and drifted off to sleep peacefully.

However, in another corner of the village at this time, all was not so serene.

“Lianhua, rest assured, I will avenge you. Does Qiao Muniang think she can look down on us just because she has a bit of stinking money? She’s caused such a mess and brought you to this state. People like her deserve to be poor their entire lives!”

In the dark and stormy night, Qiao Dalang’s expression was particularly ferocious.

Qiao Lianhua, her eyes red, clutched at Qiao Dalang’s sleeve, “Brother, after tonight, she’ll be down and out for the rest of her life. Let’s see how she can continue to be so arrogant then.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than a flash of lightning, as quick as a spark off a flint, almost lit up the entire sky, quickly followed by a booming thunderclap, as jarring as a pot exploding.

Qiao Lianhua shrank her neck and then said, “I heard from a few of the village wives that Madam Liu’s embroidery was finished today and needs to be delivered tomorrow. I’ve heard if they can’t deliver the goods, they’ll have to pay ten thousand silver. Hmph, even if Qiao Muniang sold all her possessions, she wouldn’t be able to come up with ten thousand silver. Qiao Muniang, just you wait!”

Qiao Dalang patted Qiao Lianhua’s shoulder, “Look, even the heavens are helping us. With such a violent thunderstorm, we can make a clean getaway. Just wait and watch the show unfold.”

With that, he turned and dashed into the pouring rain.

The sound of urgent knocking, “Bang bang bang bang,” accompanied by a trembling voice, erupted, “Open the door, open the door, Muniang! Muniang!”

In the middle of the night, the sleepy doorkeeper was annoyed by the knocking, especially during this torrential downpour with the thunder roaring fiercely outside—who could be in a good mood?

“Who is it? Who isn’t asleep at this hour?” The doorkeeper grumbled impatiently, but then the knocking grew even louder, forcing him to rub his eyes, slip on his shoes, and run out to open the door.

The gate creaked open to reveal a disheveled woman, pale-faced and with lips so dark they were almost black. The doorkeeper was taken aback before recognizing her as Madam Liu and quickly said with humility, “You’ve come? In the middle of the night—”