Time Travel: My Comfortable Life After Going to the Countryside

Liu Xiangyang frowned slightly as he watched the two women still wrestling, neither willing to give in. His mind raced. In rural areas, these kinds of disputes often revolve around trivial matters, but handling them well demonstrates competence, while mishandling them easily leads to resentment.

He raised his voice, his tone somewhat stern: "Ladies! This is an office, not a place for fighting! If you keep pulling and shoving like this, I'll call the militia captain!"

Upon hearing the title "militia captain," the two women froze, glared at each other, and finally released their grip while cursing, but still glared at each other angrily, hurling filthy curses.

Liu Xiangyang gestured for Xue Bingbing to bring over two stools for them to sit down, and then asked the crowd of onlookers to disperse a little before asking, "What exactly happened that caused this commotion? We're all from the same village, we'll run into each other all the time."

"Inspector Liu, you have to be my judge!" The plumper Aunt Wang spoke first, pointing at the thinner Aunt Li across the way. "That sick hen of hers! It's always scurrying into my vegetable garden and pecking all my newly sprouted seedlings clean! I said a couple of words to her, and she turned around and accused me of stealing the cured meat hanging on her wall!"

"You're talking nonsense!" Aunt Li jumped up immediately, spitting almost onto Liu Xiangyang's face. "My chickens never go into your yard! It's your greedy son who climbed over the wall and stole my cured meat! When I caught him, he wouldn't admit it and instead accused my chickens! Your spinach vines were probably dug up by some stray cat or dog!"

"My son is only ten years old, how could he climb over such a high wall of yours? It was your diseased chicken that did it! You owe me my vegetables!"

"Your son is a pro at climbing trees and stealing bird nests, he's smarter than a monkey! Stealing a piece of cured meat is nothing! Give me back my cured meat!"

As the two were talking, they were about to stand up and fight again, but Xue Bingbing and several women who were watching the commotion quickly pulled them back.

Liu Xiangyang had a headache listening to this. This was a typical case of a trivial matter escalating into a Rashomon-like situation. The two families probably had a long-standing feud, and this incident was the catalyst for it.

He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Aunt Wang, on what specific day were your spinach plants pecked? Approximately how much did you lose?"

"Just the afternoon before yesterday! A whole patch of it, it must have grown at least ten pounds of spinach!"

"Aunt Li, when did you discover your cured pork was missing? How big was it?"

"It was the day before yesterday! I saw it hanging there at noon, but it was gone when I took in the laundry in the afternoon! It was a whole three pounds of hind leg meat, thoroughly marinated!"

The timing matched the afternoon before yesterday, and Liu Xiangyang had a general idea of ​​what was going on. He then asked, "Besides your two families, who else around here raises chickens? Or, did anyone see anything unusual the afternoon before yesterday?"

A buzz of discussion arose from the crowd of onlookers. Just then, a boy, about half a year old, timidly raised his hand: "Brother Liu, the day before yesterday afternoon, I saw a big yellow dog running past Aunt Li's house with something dark in its mouth, and then it went into the back hill."

Another woman said, "It seems so. I also vaguely saw a dog's shadow. There's a hole in the fence of Aunt Wang's vegetable garden that stray dogs can squeeze through."

The two women were stunned.

Liu Xiangyang looked at Aunt Wang: "Auntie, shouldn't you repair the fence around your vegetable garden? Stray dogs and cats could easily get in." He then looked at Aunt Li: "Auntie, hanging cured meat on the wall does attract cats and dogs, and also... ignorant children. But since someone saw a dog carrying something, it might not be what you think."

He paused, then continued, "Well, the situation is roughly clear now. Aunt Wang's vegetable seedlings were probably damaged by stray dogs, but if Aunt Li's chickens aren't kept strictly under control, they could indeed wander into other people's vegetable gardens. Aunt Li's cured meat was most likely taken by stray dogs, but we also need to go home and ask Aunt Wang's children if they've been misbehaving."

"My suggestion is: First, Aunt Wang should repair the fence around the vegetable garden. Aunt Li should store away any valuable food in the future."

"Secondly, if both sides suffer a loss, let's just let it go. After all, we're all from the same village. It would be a laughing stock for outsiders to see us fight so fiercely over something like this."

"Third," he said, looking at his two aunts, "your husbands are from the same clan, and it's not even the end of the first month of the lunar year yet. It's not a good look for you to make such a scene. Why don't you each take a step back? I'll be the mediator and have the two of you meet up for tea tonight, and then we can put this matter behind us."

"From now on, let's remind each other to keep the chickens locked up and put our things away properly. Wouldn't it be better to look out for each other than arguing all the time?"

Aunt Wang and Aunt Li exchanged glances. Although their anger hadn't completely subsided, they felt there was no point in continuing the argument. Moreover, Liu Xiangyang's words made sense, especially the part about being from the same clan, which made them feel a little embarrassed.

"Then... we'll listen to the inspector?" Aunt Wang muttered.

"Hmph, if it weren't for the fact that we share the same surname..." Aunt Li also pouted, which was taken as tacit agreement.

Liu Xiangyang laughed and said, "That's right. A close neighbor is worse than a distant relative. Bingbing, pour a bowl of water for the two aunties to calm them down."

The whole incident was thus resolved by Liu Xiangyang through a combination of deception, reason, and practical advice. The onlookers gradually dispersed, all agreeing that Liu Xiangyang was a well-organized, impartial, and articulate young man.

After seeing the two aunts off and closing the door, Xue Bingbing turned to look at Liu Xiangyang with a smile and a hint of admiration in her eyes: "Brother Xiangyang, you're amazing. You convinced them with just a few words."

Liu Xiangyang took a sip of tea and shook his head: "These kinds of things happen a lot in the countryside. You can't just listen to one side of the story; you have to find possible facts, save face for both sides, and find a way for them to back down gracefully. They're all small things, but if handled poorly, they can become big problems." He paused, looking at Xue Bingbing, "By the way, how's your studies at home? Has this been affecting you?"

"No, they're studying very diligently in the inner room." Xue Bingbing walked behind him and gently massaged his shoulders. "It's just..."

Liu Xiangyang tilted his head back, adjusting to a comfortable position: "What's wrong?"

"Qingqing and Sister Lan's foundation is too weak, so it may take them a little longer to catch up." She straightened her body so that he could rest more comfortably, and massaged his temples with both hands.

"There's still enough time. That's why I had you start reading now," Liu Xiangyang said, his eyes closed as he enjoyed her massage.

After massaging for a while, Xue Bingbing seemed to remember something and stopped the massage. "Xiangyang, are you sure reading books is really useful? It's been so many years since classes were suspended."

Upon hearing Xue Bingbing's words, Liu Xiangyang sat up straight, patted his thigh, and gestured for her to sit down.

"I'm not sure about other things, but I'm 100% sure this will work," Liu Xiangyang said, embracing her voluptuous body.

"Okay, I'll do whatever you say. I'd like Xiaowen to come with us tomorrow, is that alright?" Xue Bingbing hugged his neck and breathed softly.

Looking at Xue Bingbing's face, which so closely resembled Fan Bingbing's, and feeling her love and tolerance towards him, he said, "Bingbing, this family will listen to you, but now you have to take my sword."

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