Northeast: My Absurd Woman

Yang Wuni, who was following behind, shouted loudly, which stopped the few people who were about to enter the house.

"Wu Ni, you have no manners. It's the same to talk about things inside."

Zhao Xiulan approached with a forced smile, trying to pull Yang Wuni into the house.

"Dad, can either you or Aunt Xiulan tell me what's going on?"

If you don't tell me, I'll go to the town and find the police station right now.

"Didn't you say the chestnut horse was stolen? The thief is here too, we can just arrest him without checking."

Yang Wuni twisted her body to avoid Zhao Xiulan's arm.

"Wu Ni, your father and I are doing this for your and Chang Yao's own good."

Think about it, our chestnut horse is so old it's practically toothless, how many more years can it live?

If we trade for two sturdy donkeys, we can make a profit.

If it weren't for my cousin being the one who swapped the donkey with us, we would have had to give him some extra money, wouldn't we?

Zhao Xiulan held Yang Wuni's hand, looking as if she had been taken advantage of.

"Aunt Xiulan, that's not what you and my father told us."

You mean our chestnut horse and foal were stolen, and you bought a donkey yourself?

It now appears that these two donkeys were obtained by trading my chestnut horse and foal.

In other words, both donkeys belong to me and Zhang Changyao.

Whether you suffer a loss or gain the benefits, we need to discuss this with you, my cousin.

If he feels he has been cheated, he should return my chestnut horse and foal to us.

We don't like taking advantage of others, especially acquaintances.

Yang Wuni blushed with anxiety and went around Zhao Xiulan to touch the mane of the chestnut horse.

The chestnut horse hadn't forgotten Yang Wuni, and affectionately nuzzled its head against her.

The foal imitated the chestnut horse, coming over and nudging Yang Wuni's leg with its head, asking her to stroke its fur.

"Young man, you need to control Wu Ni. There are outsiders here. How can she talk to your Aunt Xiulan like that?"

It's our own family matter; we'll handle it ourselves at home from now on.

"The changes have already been made, so there's no reason to bring up other issues later."

Zhang Kaiju scolded Zhang Changyao with a stern face, blaming Yang Wuni for being ignorant.

"Father, it's not that I don't care about Wu Ni, but what you and Aunt Xiulan did was really wrong."

You can keep this from us and even trade our two horses for two donkeys.

But you can't say the horse was stolen, and the donkey was bought by you and your sister-in-law's family.

This whole mess has turned our horse into your two families' donkeys.

Think about whether what you did was too much.

I'm your son, so I can't go against you, but you can't treat me like a fool either, can you?

We can let today's events go, but the donkey belongs to our family and no one can take it away from us.

If Aunt Xiulan's relative feels she's been cheated, she can return our chestnut horse and foal to us.

My chestnut horse is so old it has no teeth, but Wu Ni and I don't mind at all.

Zhang Changyao did not blame Yang Wuni for being immature; instead, he fought for his own interests just like Yang Wuni.

"Brother-in-law, sister, I finally understand. You two old folks are really dishonest in your dealings."

How could you steal the children's livestock and exchange them for donkeys, without giving the children one?

I can't deal with people like you.

The dark-skinned, thin man feigned anger and pushed Zhang Kaiju away from behind him.

Pushing aside Yang Wuni, who was standing in front of the chestnut horse, he got into the carriage, cracked the whip, and left the courtyard.

"Zhang Changyao, you...you stop him right now, my chestnut horse..."

Before Yang Wuni could react, the chestnut horse and the foal had already disappeared with the dark-skinned, thin man.

"Wu Ni, the chestnut horse is no longer ours. They took advantage of us and won't give it back."

From now on, our family will have just two donkeys. I'll buy you a horse when we have more money.

Zhang Changyao pressed down on Yang Wuni's raised arms and pulled her to look at the two donkeys.

"Xiulan, I told you not to trade with someone you know, but you wouldn't believe me. Now look what happened, you've wasted your time."

If Changguang's wife asks, what am I, as her father-in-law, supposed to tell her?

Zhang Kaiju entered the house and, fueled by alcohol, started bringing up old grievances with Zhao Xiulan.

"Zhang Kaiju, you can't blame me for this. My cousin hasn't been around for ages."

How was I supposed to know he'd come over for a visit after changing the livestock?

I figured my aunt had been good to me, and I figured I should keep the good stuff within the family; no one benefits as much as my own relatives.

If I had known it would end like this, I wouldn't have messed with this bastard.

Instead of becoming a good person, he ended up being treated like a scoundrel.

Zhao Xiulan was also full of grievances, and after she finished speaking, she started to cry.

"Xiulan, don't cry. I was wrong. I shouldn't have blamed you."

It was all my fault for not thinking things through that I messed things up.

Tomorrow morning I'll go with Guan Shu to help others with their clay pottery making.

"Let's earn money to buy two donkeys, one for our family and one for Changguang's."

Zhang Kaiju's tone was gentle, and it was clear that he was trying to coax Zhao Xiulan.

"Zhang Changyao, did your father dig you out of a cesspool?"

Why is he nice to everyone else but not to you?

Hearing Zhang Kaiju's words from inside the room, Yang Wuni looked up and asked Zhang Changyao.

"I had the same idea as you at first, but I finally found out by asking my aunt."

My voice and mannerisms are just like my mother's, and my fair skin is also like my mother's.

Seeing me reminds him of my mother, which is why my father dislikes me.

Zhang Changyao looked dejected as he spoke, it was hard to tell whether he was thinking of his mother or feeling sorry for her.

"Zhang Changyao, I regret it a little. I shouldn't have gotten so angry that I scared that person away."

I didn't even tell him that chestnut horses can't eat hard grass; they need to be soaked in warm water to soften it before eating.

Yang Wuni looked up at the direction the chestnut horse and the foal had gone.

"Wu Ni, you don't need to worry about that. I see that the chestnut horse hasn't lost weight, and the foal has grown a lot taller."

Just from this, you can tell that the person did not mistreat the chestnut horse.

From now on, this is our own donkey, so you need to take good care of it.

Next year or the year after, it might become three, four, five...

Zhang Changyao opened his palms and counted, trying to make Yang Wuni happy.

Yang Wuni was no longer angry. She hugged the corn stalks for the donkey and went into the house with Zhang Changyao.

"Wu Ni, there's no work at the grain depot right now. How much money do we have left?"

Zhang Changyao sat cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed), picked up his large tea mug, and took a big gulp of cold tea.

"What do you want to do?" Yang Wuni didn't say how much money.

She was afraid that Zhang Changyao would covet the money she had painstakingly saved.

"I want to go to the brigade headquarters to find Hu Xianfa and ask him to approve a housing site for us."

Since we have nothing to do now, let's dig out the foundation first.

Unlike those rich people, we can't hire people to build houses.

If you want to do it yourself, you have to start making arrangements and getting started right away.

By autumn, the house frame will be almost completely stacked.

Once the grain is harvested and sold, we can then put up the roof beams, cover the fields, and compact the soil.

Zhang Changyao was calculating that he didn't want to stay in this courtyard for even a day longer.

"Zhang Changyao, building a house is the important thing, you go and make the arrangements!"

We'll do as much as we can with the money we have. If we run out of money, we'll stop. If we can't finish this year, we'll start next year.

When Yang Wuni heard that a house was going to be built, her eyes lit up.

The next morning, after breakfast, Zhang Changyao went to the brigade headquarters to find Hu Xianfa.

Hu Xianfa had no reason not to approve the housing site, it was just that the location of the housing site was a bit remote, on an open space on the westernmost side of the village.

Zhang Changyao doesn't care about the location; he just needs to have it.

He happily took the land permit and walked back in the drizzle.

As soon as I turned into the village, I saw a dark green 212 car parked in front of my house.