Chapter 9 Tang Ying's Enthusiasm

"Okay." Liu Xiaoyu also agreed to lock the kitchen door.

Tang Huai's gaze fell on the face of the little sister who was nursing, "Mom, let's name our little sister."

"What name?" Liu Xiaoyu asked, while eating a pumpkin cake.

"Tang Zihan, how's that?"

"If you think it's good, that's fine." Liu Xiaoyu had no objections.

"Then let's go with Zihan," Tang Huai said with a smile, reaching out and gently poking Tang Zihan's face.

Tang Zihan's cheeks were soft and tender, softening Tang Huai's heart. She smiled and said, "Zihan will definitely be very beautiful when she grows up."

In her past life, Tang Zihan was indeed beautiful, a rare beauty.

"I've finished eating." Liu Xiaoyu was hungry, and soon she had devoured two pumpkin cakes.

"Do you want more?" asked Tang Huai.

"No more," Liu Xiaoyu refused, wanting to save some for Tang Huai and Tang Li to eat.

"I'll take the bowl out to wash, Mom, you should rest well."

"Okay."

Tang Huai took the cleaned bowl back to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, she saw a few toads hopping out.

Tang Huai looked at them, her eyes moving—Toads?

She remembered that in her previous life, some villagers caught toads to sell to the drugstore, fetching eight or nine dimes a pound.

After learning this information, Tang Huai also caught a few pounds to sell, making two dollars.

Tang Huai's eyes twinkled. Wasn't it this time in her past life when the villagers started catching and selling toads?

Feeling elated, she immediately put down the bowl and caught the hopping toads.

She wanted to make a profit before the villagers received the news that toads could be sold for money!

——

At dusk, Tang Huai said to Tang Li, "Tang Li, take good care of Mom and our sister at home. Your older sister is going out to catch toads."

"Catch toads for what?" Liu Xiaoyu didn't understand as she lay there.

"Today, while selling snakes, I saw someone bringing toads to the drugstore to sell, and when I asked the boss, he said toads could be used as medicinal herbs and he would buy them in large quantities," Tang Huai lied.

With that, she left the house with a burlap sack and a flashlight.

In the summer night, toads love to roam, especially in vegetable gardens.

Tang Huai intended to catch them in her own vegetable garden and could also weed the garden at the same time.

——

The village chief's house was a three-story Western-style building, very grand.

In this era, to be able to build such a house was considered luxurious.

He also had a very large front courtyard, where star fruit trees and wampee trees were planted, and there was a fish pond at the front of the house.

The fish pond was not used to raise fish. Although some lotus roots were planted, the water was very clear.

Opposite, there was a road leading straight to the entrance of the village.

Tang Huai would pass by the village chief's house on the way to the vegetable garden.

At this time, the village chief's house was bustling with practically the whole village gathered here.

The wild boar that Jing Xuan had injured was about to be slaughtered, and the village chief decided to distribute the pork to the villagers.

A crowd of men, women, and children huddled together, watching the village butcher killing the wild boar.

Thinking they would have pork to eat that night, everyone was very happy.

Tang Huai saw Jing Peng!

The evening sun was like a stroke of orange light, illuminating the entire earth.

Jing Peng lazily leaned against the star fruit tree.

The orange light filtered through the tree leaves, speckling his body, making him, with his tall and slender figure, appear like a handsome man who had stepped out of a painting.

Tang Ying stood beside him, making small talk and occasionally flashing a sweet smile.

Jing Peng's expression remained indifferent as he sometimes glanced at her and curled his lips into a faint smile.

Remembering their betrayal from his past life, Tang Huai's expression darkened.

Tang Ying turned around unintentionally and saw Tang Huai.

The sight of Tang Huai made Tang Ying involuntarily think of the pig's trotters she had eaten at noon, suddenly feeling a wave of nausea.

Frustrated, she felt an urge to scold Tang Huai and so shouted his name without thinking, "Tang Huai!"

The moment she shouted, she regretted it. Damn it, how could she reprimand Tang Huai in front of Jing Peng and the villagers?

She was supposed to be the obedient girl.

But she had shouted too loudly, and Jing Peng along with some of the villagers were all looking at her.

Left with no choice, Tang Ying's expression instantly changed, and she ran towards Tang Huai with a beaming smile.

Tang Huai frowned, a slight smile touching the corners of his lips as he watched Tang Ying approach.

Looking at Tang Ying's smiling face, Tang Huai thought of a saying: A weasel paying New Year's visit to a chicken is up to no good.

Deception.

When Tang Ying reached him, she affectionately wrapped her arm around Tang Huai's, "The village head's family is slaughtering a wild boar. Go take a look, they'll be distributing the pork soon."

Not only was Tang Ying fair-skinned and beautiful, but her voice was also pleasant, crisp like the singing of a cuckoo.

Yang Hongxing, who was watching the butcher slaughter the wild boar, saw Tang Ying hugging Tang Huai and her expression shifted slightly.

That foolish girl, why get so cozy with Tang Huai and embarrass herself?

Though Tang Huai felt some aversion to being embraced by Tang Ying, she deliberately acted timid as if she were afraid of trouble.

She asked softly, "Will there be a share for my family?"

Tang Ying laughed, "How could there not be? Aren't you a member of Shuanglong Village?"

"One pig, can it be divided among so many households?"

"It doesn't matter if it's enough or not. Just go have a look. That wild boar is quite big, half a pound per household should be enough to go around."

Tang Ying pulled Tang Huai over and stood next to Jing Peng.

Tang Huai gave Jing Peng a cursory glance and then turned her gaze away.

She thought that seeing Jing Peng in this life would be heartbreaking.

Unexpectedly, standing next to him and looking at him, her heart felt no ripples at all, calm as still water.

"The wild boar will soon be ready. Brother Jing Peng, how about asking Jing Bo to save half a pig's trotter for Tang Huai's family?" Tang Ying said, smiling at Jing Peng.

The setting sun cast fragmented light on Tang Ying's face, veiling it in a hazy sheen that made her look even more attractive.

Especially standing beside the plainly dressed, sallow and thin Tang Huai, she looked even more charming.

Jing Peng found it hard to look away from such a beautiful smile, and his pleasant, mellow voice responded, "Okay."

Tang Huai observed everything around her with an air of nonchalance but was secretly thinking that Jing Peng had taken a liking to Tang Ying so early on—

Meanwhile, Yang Hongxing, who overheard Tang Ying's words, hatched a plan!

She raised her voice purposefully as she approached, "Tang Huai, wasn't your mother planning to cook pig's trotters in her own urine? Perfect, let Jing Bo reserve some for you."

Yang Hongxing's comment caused an uproar among the crowd.

The villagers all looked at Tang Huai, casting various gazes filled with contempt, disgust, ridicule, and mockery...

Tang Huai hung her head, appearing both self-effacing and fearful, unable to meet anyone's eyes.

Jing Peng gave her a look, his eyes deep and carrying a hint of puzzlement.

"Liu Xiaoyu wants to cook pig's trotters in her own urine after giving birth? Did she have another daughter that impacted her so deeply she started mistreating herself?" Liao Xiaoxiao, a close friend of Yang Hongxing, said incredulously.

"Another daughter, and a husband lost. Could she have gone mad from grief? Who would use their own urine to cook pig's trotters if they weren't insane?" Another woman said with a tone delighting in another's misfortune.

"Who knows?" Liao Xiaoxiao said.

Yang Hongxing had already reached Tang Huai, looking at her with a benevolent smile, "Tang Huai, is it true that women use their own urine to stew pig's trotters to increase milk supply after childbirth?"