Chapter 101: Extreme Joy Begets Sorrow

  They bought the land quietly and didn't dare to tell others, only found Ye Shiwei, told him about buying the land, and asked for his help in finding laborers to cultivate it.

  Ye Shiwei heard that Zhen'er bought so much land and was tongue-tied. That cost one hundred taels of silver, how did she get her hands on it?

  Because Ye Baiji bought a piece of land that was not easy to say, but also needed to find someone to cultivate it, Zhen'er told outsiders that it was her who bought the land, so Ye Shiwei calculated that she owed about 100 taels of silver.

  Zhen'er asked Ye Shiwei for help when Old Man Ye was also present. Ye Shiwei saw that his father's expression didn't change, knowing that he too was aware of the matter, so he didn't ask where the silver came from and just kept it in mind.

  Actually, the few helpers from his own family are not bad. His family doesn't need to have two younger brothers work in the fields anymore, and they really don't need that many helpers either. He wants to introduce them to Zhen'er, but he's not sure if they'd be willing. After all, Zhen'er is still a young girl. Moreover, he told them long ago that he doesn't need so many helpers and asked them to go find another master, but first, he needs to ask if they've found one yet.

  At night, Zhen'er and Ye Baiji went to see Ye Qiu again, telling Ye Lufang about their land purchase for the second time, making Ye Lufang's eyes wide with surprise. These two little girls are really too bold!

  However, he still had a subtle admiration in his heart. He believed that this matter was absolutely initiated by Zhen Er, and Bai Zhu didn't have such foresight. In fact, even if it were him, he wouldn't have the courage to spend so much money to buy land, let alone Zhen Er, who was four or five years younger than him.

  Jian'er and Ye Baiji were constantly discussing how to plant and what to plant, and Ye Luyuan couldn't help but admit that he was also moved, wanting to own his own private property.

  On the way back from Ye Luoyan's home, Ye Baiqi and Zhen'er were still in high spirits, chattering non-stop. But there is a saying that goes "extreme joy begets sorrow". When the basket hit Zhen'er on the head, all she could think of was these four words.

  Here is the translation:

  Things were like this, they were happily discussing whether soybeans or corn are better. As they passed by one of the households, they vaguely heard some scolding sounds coming from inside, but none of them paid attention. Who knew that as soon as Zhen'er walked in front of the half-open door, a basket flew out from inside and hit her on the head, making her feel dizzy at once. Immediately after, a sharp cry came, "Murder!"

  Zhen'er thought it was about her, and said to Ye Baiji who cared about her: "I'm fine. I just feel a bit dizzy." But the screaming didn't stop, and the quarrel inside the door grew louder.

  Ye Baiji saw that they had hurt someone and no one came to apologize, so she thought of Lotus Auntie who was injured by Ye Qiushu and ran back to her mother's house without a word. Originally, there were three points of anger, but now it was a full-blown explosion of rage. Just as she was about to shout for someone, she was knocked over by a person rushing out from the door and fell to the ground, with her buttocks and hands pressed against the ground in a sharp pain.

  The person who knocked down Ye Baiji didn't apologize, rolled on the ground twice, got up and ran away quickly. Ye Baiji was so angry that she scolded and cursed at his back.

  "Get out! If you have the guts to leave, don't come back!" Another voice came from inside, and Ye Baiji and Zhen'er both heard it clearly. They thought it was just a child from some family having a conflict with their parents, got beaten up and ran away in anger. Then they saw a woman rush out, staring at the place where that person had disappeared, wailing uncontrollably, her mouth constantly calling out: "Shitou, come back, come back!"

  "This voice is different from the sharp one just now. Zhen'er and Ye Baiji are both unclear about what's going on, but first Zhen'er was innocently hit, then she was knocked over, Ye Baiji got angry, covering her arm, and rushed to the door saying: "What's going on? You hit people and knock them down without even saying a word, do we deserve to be hit just by walking in front of your house?"

  Ye Baiji was a young girl, she couldn't say anything too unpleasant, so she could only repeat what happened, no matter if it was someone inside or outside the family, they would all know what had happened and couldn't blame them for being unreasonable.

  As soon as her voice fell, the scolding and cursing from inside the door also stopped. Except for the sobbing and low calls of the woman who had fallen at the entrance, there was a sudden stillness at the doorway, just like the sharp voices that had just come from inside had never appeared before.

  There were loud noises coming from this house, and almost every household nearby had someone peeking out to see what was going on. However, since it was a domestic matter, they didn't dare to intervene and could only watch from behind their doors. Now that they heard the little girl's voice speaking reasonably, they all poked their heads out to watch the commotion.

  More and more people gathered at the door, and those inside could no longer pretend to be deaf and dumb. Before long, a slender and pretty woman came out, first gently pushing against the door, then tucking her hair behind her ears. Although her face already showed signs of wind and frost, she still looked delicate and charming, making Little Jing feel a chill run down her spine, while the men couldn't help but stare at her with wide eyes.

  "I'm really sorry, it was my nephew who accidentally hurt the young lady just now." A clear voice came over, completely different from the sharp tone just before, making those who heard it feel that they couldn't blame her at all.

  Zhen Er and Ye Baiji exchanged a glance, and simultaneously shuddered. This drop was just too great.

  Before Zhen'er and the others could speak, Ye Luyuan rushed over upon hearing the commotion. Without even glancing at the woman, he asked in a low voice what had happened between Zhen'er and Ye Baiju. After learning that they were unharmed, he said a couple of words loudly before leading them away.

  Back home, Mrs. Mao and Mrs. Sun were just cooling off in the courtyard, looking at them with a surprised expression, asking what was going on. Zhen'er and Ye Baiji told the story again, Mrs. Mao listened with a straight face, while Mrs. Sun's eyes turned red.

  "From now on, keep away from that family. Even if you have to pass by their house, take a detour." Madam Mao sternly instructed them.

  Zhen Er and Ye Baiji stared at each other, that woman was so terrifying, she could even make Mao Shi give such an order, but they still nodded in agreement.

  At night, Ye Baiji said that Zhen'er was afraid and insisted on going to accompany Zhen'er to sleep. She often came over, so Ma Shi didn't pay much attention and let them go.

  On the way, Ye Baiji pulled Ye Luyuan and asked about the reason behind it.

  "That woman is the wife of Ye Mingyi in our village, she was married from the city and is quite vain. I've only heard my mother say that her reputation isn't good, the women in the village don't like to play with her, but those young girls seem to like hanging out with her." Ye Luyuan didn't know much either, "But I do know about that nephew she mentioned, his name is Cao Wei, he's the son of Ye Mingyi's younger sister. His uncle-in-law made some money doing business outside and became a bad person, he hooked up with a 17-year-old girl next door, got her pregnant, and the doctor in the city said it was a boy, so Ye Mingyi's brother-in-law divorced his wife, she had nowhere to go so she brought her son and daughter back to her parents' home."

  "For no reason, he divorced his sister, and Ye Mingyi didn't even bother to look for him?" A family member was divorced, the whole family lost face, and Ye Mingyi let her brother-in-law off like this?

  "How come you can't find it!" Ye Luyuan said: "I've looked for it twice and was beaten back, later Ye Mingyi's wife somehow went on a trip, when she came back Ye Mingyi never left again. The villagers guessed that his daughter-in-law took Cao Wei's father's silver."

  Zhen and the others thought this guess was close to the truth. Otherwise, why would Ye Mingyi let them off so easily?

  "Although Ye Mingyi is Cao Wei's uncle, he still loves Cao Wei and her sister, but he doesn't take care of the family. Cao Wei's aunt is a sharp-tongued and cruel person who never gives them a good face and scolds them for eating free meals. Cao Xing has a strong personality and was scolded by her aunt until she ran away to work in the city, doing laundry and washing clothes. One winter, she came back with her hands frozen and cracked, and when she returned home, she gave her mother her wages without even drinking a sip of water from her uncle's house." Ye Luyuan said this was what he heard from villagers' gossip, and as a young man who is almost an adult, he felt a bit embarrassed talking about these things, especially since he had never seen the little girl's hands before. If it weren't for Zhen'er and Ye Baiji asking him, he wouldn't have repeated the villagers' idle chatter.

  That woman looked soft and weak, but unexpectedly she was ruthless. She accepted the hush money from someone's father, not only did she not seek justice for them, but also drove their sister to desperation.

  "Ah, I just heard that the one who knocked me down was Ye Mingyi's nephew. Isn't that Cao Wei?" Ye Baiji asked in a daze.

  So does that mean Ye Mingyi's family drove away both her nephew and niece?

  The three of them thought about it and knew they couldn't interfere with other people's family affairs. Today, being beaten and scolded, they could only admit to their own bad luck.

  After seeing Ye Luyuan off, Zhen'er and Ye Baiji were boiling water in the kitchen to prepare for washing up. Before Zhen'er could even finish giving Hu Zi a bath, they heard a commotion outside.

  Ye Baiji loved to join in the excitement, and her hands and feet moved quickly. Before long, she came back panting heavily, took a sip of water and said: "It's the village head gathering all the men in the village to find someone. Cao Wei ran away and hasn't come back yet, his mother has cried herself unconscious several times. His uncle knew it was another one of their family members causing trouble, scolded him for a while, then went out to look for Cao Wei. Who knew that after searching for half a day, they didn't even see a ghostly figure, so they had no choice but to come back and ask the village head for help."

  Where did that big boy run to be so easy to find? Zhen'er thought, thinking of Cao Wei's sister, said: "He might have gone to his sister's place, has anyone gone to look for him?"

  Ye Baiji waved her hand and said, "What are you looking for? I just heard that Cao Wei's sister, Cao Xian, has been missing for two or three months. Her mother went to the silk factory to look for her, but they said she had already quit her job and gone to enjoy life. Where can he find his sister?"

  This saying is really hard to find anyone who can understand it now.

  The villagers are simple and kind-hearted. Although Cao Wei himself is not considered a person from Yushu Village, his mother is still counted as one. Moreover, his uncle went to ask the village chief, so the villagers were quite righteous. Even though they had been tired all day, they still insisted on finding him for a whole night.

  But those big kids are so agile and nimble, they almost strolled through several nearby villages, by the time they rushed to the city to watch the city gate was closed, where can you find them?