Traveling through the 1970s: The young wife loves to make trouble

Chapter 321 The Cooked Rabbit Meat Flew Away

Watching Huang Hao flee in disarray, Tao Qiuyi's lips twitched, speechless for a moment.

What left her speechless was Huang Hao's speed; it was as if a venomous snake or ferocious beast was chasing him.

Turning her gaze away, Tao Qiuyi went back to Wei Jingyuan for advice. Unexpectedly, Wei Jingyuan was standing right next to her, and she instinctively raised her leg and kicked him.

Wei Jingyuan had just washed his hands and came to Tao Qiuyi's side. He hadn't expected her reaction to be so strong, and his body reacted immediately by moving away.

Realizing she had done something foolish, Tao Qiuyi lowered her head in embarrassment. She stammered, "If I said I didn't mean it, would you believe me?"

"I believe you," Wei Jingyuan replied earnestly, his chest rising and falling slightly.

He believed it? How could he believe such a lame excuse? Tao Qiuyi looked up at Wei Jingyuan, and their eyes met in the air.

"If you don't laugh, I'll believe you," Tao Qiuyi muttered, then changed the subject, "Huang Hao ran away in a panic, what about the money?"

Huang Hao just said twice that he wouldn't accept wages, then put five ten-yuan bills on the low cabinet... and ran away.

They really ran away, without even looking back.

As the saying goes, it's easy to repay a debt of money, but difficult to repay a favor. Tao Qiuyi didn't want to owe anyone a favor.

“Easy.” Wei Jingyuan walked over, picked up the money, and folded it in half. He walked back and handed it to Tao Qiuyi, saying, “He’s gone, so be it. You keep the money.”

"After we move into this courtyard, we'll go to town to buy some gifts and then visit the old Party Secretary to express our gratitude."

"That's all we can do." Tao Qiuyi sighed, took the money Wei Jingyuan handed her, and casually put it into her cotton coat pocket.

Suddenly remembering something, Tao Qiuyi looked up at Wei Jingyuan, her eyes slightly narrowed.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Wei Jingyuan's heart skipped a beat when she looked at him.

"To be honest, did you already guess that Huang Hao wouldn't accept our wages?" Tao Qiuyi asked. She remembered that when she told him that she would calculate Huang Hao's wages, he hesitated.

His hesitation likely stemmed from his guess that Huang Hao wouldn't accept payment.

It turned out she had misunderstood. Wei Jingyuan explained, "I just remembered Huang Hao saying that he doesn't charge wages."

"Did he say something like that?" Tao Qiuyi frowned and tried to recall, but after a few seconds she gave up trying, since she couldn't remember anyway.

“He did say that,” Wei Jingyuan nodded.

"Why didn't you remind me when we were discussing paying Huang Hao's wages?" Tao Qiuyi didn't doubt Wei Jingyuan's words; if he said Huang Hao had said it, then he must have said it.

Sensing a hint of reproach in Tao Qiuyi's tone, Wei Jingyuan gently patted her back. He said softly, "It's my fault. I should have reminded you."

Seeing him take the blame upon himself, Tao Qiuyi suddenly felt that she was being a bit unreasonable.

Wei Jingyuan explained, "I don't object to you saying you want to pay Huang Hao his wages, but I think it would save us trouble if Huang Hao accepted them. If he doesn't accept them, we can go to town and exchange the wages for gifts."

It turned out he had two plans in mind; if the first one didn't work, he'd try the second. Tao Qiuyi gave him a thumbs up, praising him generously, "Thoughtful, you really thought of everything."

"Of course." Wei Jingyuan accepted her praise graciously, his smile as warm as a spring breeze.

Xiao Huai and Qiu Si looked at each other, unable to bear to look, truly unable to bear to look.

One person directing three people to work was quite fast; they finished three fireplaces in just one afternoon.

The four returned to the Wei family home. As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw Pear sitting on the threshold, crying. It wasn't a loud, wailing cry, but rather silent, quiet tears. Tao Qiuyi quickly ran over, squatted down in front of Pear, and asked, "Pear, what's wrong? Why are you sitting on the threshold crying all by yourself? If you're going to cry, you should go inside."

"It's warm inside, but it's so cold to cry at the door."

Wei Jingyuan looked at Tao Qiuyi, speechless.

She has to find a warm place to cry; probably only she could do that.

"Sister-in-law." Seeing Tao Qiuyi, Li Zi felt even more wronged and sad. She got up and threw herself into Tao Qiuyi's arms, bursting into tears.

The person who would support her has returned, and she can finally cry out loud with peace of mind.

Oh dear! What kind of injustice must she have suffered to sit on the doorstep in this freezing weather, silently shedding tears? Tao Qiuyi felt extremely sorry for her, as she only dared to cry out loud after seeing her return.

Holding the pear, she asked softly, "What's wrong? Why are you crying? Tell your sister-in-law who bullied you, and she'll help you get revenge."

Seeing Pear crying so sadly, looking like she had been wronged, Wei Jingyuan frowned.

Xiao Huai's brows were furrowed tightly, and a hint of fierceness shone through his eyes.

"Pear, who bullied you? Tell Brother Qiu Si, and Brother Qiu Si will go and beat him up for you." Qiu Si also came over to comfort Pear. He had been in this house for several days and had never seen Pear cry so sadly.

Tao Qiuyi frowned, her hands as cold as popsicles as she touched the pear. How long had she been crying outside? How could her hands be so cold?

"It's cold outside, let's go inside and talk," Tao Qiuyi said to Wei Jingyuan and the other two. Then, ignoring them, she put her arm around Lizi's shoulder and led her inside.

Wei Jingyuan and the other two followed closely behind the two into the house.

Pear hugged Tao Qiuyi and cried for a while before slowly stopping.

She gently withdrew from Tao Qiuyi's embrace and hastily wiped away her tears with her sleeve. Pear lowered her head, her face full of guilt, and said, "Sister-in-law, I'm sorry, it's all my fault."

She's useless; she can't even keep an eye on things.

"Don't rush to admit your mistake. Tell me what happened." Tao Qiuyi led Lizi to sit on the long bench by the table and glanced at Wei Jingyuan.

Wei Jingyuan immediately understood, picked up the thermos, poured a glass of water, and handed it to Tao Qiuyi.

Taking the water glass, Tao Qiuyi handed it to Pear, saying, "Drink some water, calm down, and then slowly tell us what happened."

Pear obediently responded, took the water glass, and sipped half of it. Holding the glass tightly in both hands, she recounted the events of the day to the others.

Xiao Huai and Qiu Si went to help out at the new courtyard, while Li Zi studied alone in the room. Nothing happened all afternoon.

As usual, Pear estimated the time and went to the kitchen to cook. Today's dish was braised wild rabbit with radish.

After cooking the rabbit meat, seeing that her elder brother and sister-in-law hadn't returned yet, and worried that the meat would get cold, Li Zi kept it warm in the pot before going back inside to get some dried wood ear mushrooms.

She plans to make another cold dish of wood ear mushrooms.

When I returned to the kitchen with the wood ear mushrooms, I discovered that the rabbit meat that had been simmering in the pot was gone.

After recounting the strange incident, Pear emphasized, "When I left the kitchen, the rabbit meat was clearly warming properly in the pot. I went back inside to get some wood ear mushrooms and returned to the kitchen, and they were gone."

After hearing what Li Zi said, Tao Qiuyi was speechless, and Wei Jingyuan and the other two also fell silent.

The cooked duck… no, the cooked rabbit meat flew away. Tao Qiuyi suppressed the urge to laugh and asked, “Pear, is anything else missing from the kitchen?”