FID – Chapter 399

Chapter 399: Irreconcilable Feud, No Solution

  ”Aigoo, that sounds great. When I’m drained later, I’ll come to the compound and pull your horses and experience how to ride a horse in this lifetime. I’m sure others’ eyes will be red from jealousy once I relate it to them.”

  ”Go ahead. You’ll probably loath using one after you’ve pulled it, anyway. Later, you’ll probably personally cut grass for it for fear of starving it!”

  Laughter once again filled the field.

  The women of the Liu family did not have to work in the field, so the few of them stood on the roadside ridge, loosened moved and piled straws, and set them on fire.

  In an instant, the roadside was filled with black smoke with the fragrance of straw.

  Kang Ziyu and Li Junyue arrived last, and their eyes rounded upon seeing this picture. “How do they burn things here? With such a huge fire, isn’t it a bit dangerous?”

  It also stank and was especially suffocating.

  Liu Yusheng was standing in front of them, and when she heard this question, she turned around and replied, “This is burning straw ash. After the field is plowed, the straw ash will be scattered to fertilize the field.”

  Seeing Kang Ziyu’s frown, she smiled and then turned her head away.

  ”Man, I like the smell of this smoke the most. It’s so refreshing.” Over somewhere, Qian Wanjin took a deep breath and ran after the dark smoke, floating from the haystacks.

  You would feel suffocated if you weren’t used to the smell, but once you’ve got used to it, you’d savor the fragrance, too.

  Liu Yusheng also liked to smell that fragrance. The smell of burning straw, the smell of burning firewood, she liked them all.

  This could only be found in the countryside.

  It was the taste of her hometown, the taste of  home.

  Regardless of where she was, smelling this smell could evoke nostalgia and instantly made her heart well up with warmth. 

  In the fields, men plowed and loosened the soil; on the ridge, women burned haystacks and sometimes handed sweat towels to the men in the fields to wipe their sweat. Ordinary nagging could be heard everywhere, but it all showed peoples loving care for each other.

  While working, they chatted and laughed loudly with the villagers around them.

  Backbreaking work here developed into a jovial activity. Time passed quietly, but the passage of time went unnoticed by happy people. Their work was almost finished.

  At the end, the cooled straw ashes were sprinkled on the plowed field, and the process was completed.

  Kang Ziyu and Li Junyue always stood aside. They wanted to extend their help, but they didn’t need to intervene at all. They listened to the villagers’ chat the whole time and heard a lot of gossip inside and outside the village for the entire morning.

  Kang Ziyu did not respond much, but Li Junyue listened with gusto.

  Meanwhile, people began to tidy up their farm equipment to go home. Qian Wanjin walked to tan unburnt haystack on the other side of the road and kicked the snoring person there. “Get up. It’s time to go home. Look at you, you came but was of no help. You just came here to bask in the sun. You might as well have stayed at home and guarded the door.”

  ”Get lost.” Xue Qinglian rolled over and got up, chasing Qian Wanjin and kicking him back. “Do you think I’m a dog guarding the door?!”

  ”Otherwise, what else are you here for? If you’re not a dog, you can also be a pig. You’re damned too lazy!” Qian Wanjin ran, and while running, he screamed at the top of his lungs.

  The shadows of the two instantly disappeared with the run and chase, leaving the Liu family laughing for breath.

  It was a bright spring day over Xinghua Village. Unbeknownst to them, Xiapo Village welcomed some special guests.

  ”Village Chief, Village Chief!” An Cai was still in the field and was just knocking the mud off his shoes and ready to go home, when someone came running down the path, panting.

  ”What’s all the shouting about?” An Cai frowned.

  Nothing bad had happened in the village presently. Since the opening of the new winery, the villagers had seriously devoted themselves to their work in the winery. A rare prosperous picture could be seen in Xiapo Village. Almost everyone who was seen along the road were smiling, their eyes overflowing with hope.

  It was poles apart from the cynicism of the previous years.

  ”Village Chief, some people arrived at the entrance of the village and asked our villagers about the Blessed Doll the moment they entered! From the sneaky way they’re acting, they’re absolutely no good guys! What should we do, Village Chief?” 

  ”Someone’s asking about the Blessed Doll?” An Cai was originally triangle-eyed. When he was emotionless, he exuded a gloomy aura, and coupled with his droopy eyelids, he appeared more ferocious. He could often scare people into silence. “Lead the way, I’ll take a look.”

  ”Let’s go. Right in front of Dafu’s house by the village entrance! I asked Dafu to hold them back and investigate them!”

  After An Cai left, the villagers in the field looked at each other. Without An Cai, that sense of oppression dissipated, but after listening to what was said just now, everyone still frowned slightly.

  ”Xinghua Village is just across the street from our village. If they really want to inquire about the Blessed Doll, they should go directly to Xinghua Village. Why did they run to our village instead?”

  ”Could it be that they are here to seek medical attention? The Blessed Doll’s medical skills are first class, and people who are seeking her are everywhere. This isn’t uncommon.”

  ”Doesn’t sound like it. They came here. If they really want to seek medical help, they should have gone directly to the door. Why did they come to ask us?”

  ”Why don’t we go along and take a look?”

  ”No, the Village Chief has already gone, and he did not leave orders. If we go and join in the hustle and bustle, won’t we get a bloody scolding later on?”

  Everyon shivered. They bowed their heads, packed up, and went home respectively. 

  Not far from the entrance of the village was the villager, Dafu’s, home. Nobody was in front of his house, but the sound of conversation could be heard inside, so Dafu must have invited the people to his house.

  ”Village Chief, he delayed them,” the man, leading the way snickered. Dafu was quite reliable.

  An Cai gave him a sidelong glance and took the first step into the house. “Dafu, didn’t you go to work in the field?”

  ”Village Chief, why are you here? I came back to leave my iron rake and just happened to meet a guest, so I invited him in for a seat.” Dafu, a forty-year-old honest-looking man, saw An Cai come in and got up to bring him a stool.

  An Cai went forward and sat down, and then looked at the men, who didn’t turn a hair and soundlessly sizing him up.

  The two men, both around thirty years old, were dressed in ordinary clothes, and their faces were ordinary. There was nothing special about them.

  An Cai asked casually, “Are they your family’s relatives?”

  ”No, we also just met. Village Chief, these two younger brothers were just asking me about the Blessed Doll of Xinghua Village.”

  ”The Blessed Doll of Xinghua Village is just across the road. If you want to know anything about her, you’d better ask the villagers there directly. We aren’t familiar with the Blessed Doll of Xinghua Village.” An Cai lowered his eyes and took off one shoe. He just came timely, and the mud on the edges of his shoe wasn’t knocked clean.

  Seeing his actions, the two men frowned, and then smiled again. “Are you the Village Chief of Xiapo Village?”

  An Cai nodded: “An Cai.”

  ”When we first entered the village, I found that your village is only separated from Xinghua village by a river, but the environment is worlds apart.”

  ”Our villagers aren’t that capable, and they can’t climb up to the people across the river. Hence, we can only live in misery.”

  ”I heard that even during this snowstorm, Xiapo Village helped all the surrounding villages, but did not extend help to Xiapo Village…Village Chief, An Cai, don’t you resent them deep inside?”

  An Cai raised his eyes and coldly answered, “If you want to sow discord, that’s totally unnecessary. Nobody in ten miles and eight villages doesn’t know about the relationship between my village and Xinghua Village. We have an irreconcilable feud. There is no solution.”