When the pears are green

Chapter 116 The dust has settled

Old Mrs. Li looked at the empty room in disbelief. She rushed back and forth between the three dilapidated thatched houses like a madman, but still found nothing.

"Where are the third brother's things? The bed, the quilt, the wooden box, the pot, even the chopsticks are gone." Old Mrs. Li lay on the ground and yelled.

Listening to the laughter and discussions of the villagers outside the courtyard gate, Boss Li quickly squatted down and held his head back, not daring to look.

Li Lao Da's wife looked at Li Lao Da's cowardly appearance. She cursed in her heart, then quickly walked to the gate of the courtyard, spat at the crowd, and closed the two tattered door panels with a "snap".

With a "click", the door panel fell to the ground.

Li Lao Da's wife's face flushed. She kicked Li Lao Da and asked him to pick up the door panel with her. Then she used her hands to put it into the shapeless door frame that had been eroded by wind and rain.

Song Li and Song Yue followed closely behind Song Changhe and Zhang, and she listened to the people talking about the Li family. A villager who arrived earlier told everyone that someone helped Li Laosan's wife to split the bed at home and asked Li Laosan's wife to take it over there to make fire.

There were constant "tsk tsk" sounds from the crowd, and everyone felt that it was better to light the fire than leaving it to Old Lady Li.

When Song Li and others returned home, Song Xing was already sitting at the stove, making a fire and cooking.

Zhang hurriedly asked Song Xing to go aside first. Song Xing smiled and said to Zhang: "Mom, try the meal I cooked later. Although my cooking is not as good as that of my elder sister, it is better than that of Qingye."

After Song Changhe heard what Song Xing said, he smiled and pulled Zhang out of the kitchen.

"Xiangxiang, as parents, you and I cannot be with our child all the time. Just let him do it. The more he learns, the more at ease we will be." Song Changhe counselled Zhang. Although Zhang was not as overly fond of boys as some families, she also held Song Xing in her hands.

Song Li and Song Yue were watering the vegetable garden in the yard. Song Li was telling Song Yue a story while watering.

……

"Sister, what happened next? Did he run away?"

"Of course, despite his injured thigh, he drove a donkey cart from Youzhou to Zhuozhou overnight. Later people called him the God of Carts of Gaoliang River."

Song Yue wanted to ask what the God of Cars was, but she heard Zhang calling her and Song Li to eat, so she took Song Li's hand and walked over. She thought that her sister would not leave recently anyway, so she could ask when she had the chance.

During the meal, Song Changhe and Zhang kept praising Song Xing, saying that the food he cooked was delicious.

Song Xing was very happy.

After Song Changhe finished praising Song Xing, he said to Zhang: "Xiangxiang, I will go to help Changrong's family grind wheat after dinner. You take the children to plant corn. Don't worry, wait until we finish planting before talking about watering."

Zhang nodded and looked at the sun outside the window worriedly.

The villagers do not have enough wood ash and farm manure at home. Most of them choose not to spread fertilizer when planting corn, and wait until planting wheat to transport the few fertilizers at home to the fields.

After dinner, Song Changhe went out carrying a four-pronged fork, and Zhang also led Song Li and her brother to the fields.

Wu Mingde returned home after running around for half a day. Without taking a rest, he went straight to the village head and told him the situation.

"Dad, after we sent Li Sansao to Renzhuang Village, I took Ren Qiao and Li Sansao to the government office in the town. We first registered the divorce letters between Li Sange and Li Sansao, and then registered the household registration of Ren Qiao and Li Sansao. Li Sansao's son seemed to like Ren Qiao very much. He called Ren Qiao dad the moment he saw him for the first time. Ren Qiao was very happy. He asked Li Sansao what the child would be called. Li Sansao said that there was no full name yet, so Ren Qiao asked me to help choose one. I named the child Ren Yongning." Wu Mingde chose this name tentatively at the time. Ren Qiao's eyes lit up when he said this name. He happily hugged the child and called Ren Yongning countless times.

The head of the village saw Wu Mingde's thoughts and said to him with a smile: Mingde, you picked a good name. He is Ren Qiao's son, so of course he should be called Ren Yongning, not Li Yongning or Wang Yongning. By the way, has the child's name been registered?"

Wu Mingde nodded.

"That's good. Even if the Li family makes trouble in the future, nothing can happen." The head of the village was very satisfied with Wu Mingde's approach. He told Wu Mingde that he and Wu Li had already found a matchmaker, and would send the matchmaker to the Song family early tomorrow morning.

Wu Mingde suppressed the upward curve of his lips.

"Laugh if you want to. I'm going out now. You take a rest first. We're going to grind wheat tomorrow. You like to work, so I can hire one less person. You can take over. Let Xiuying buy meat for you with the money you save." After teasing Wu Mingde, the head of the village went to the field with a smile.

Wu Mingde went to another house of the Wu family. He sat in his study with a book in his hand, without turning a page or reading a single word. He put the book on the desk and went to his room.

A gust of wind came through the window and blew open the Book of Songs on the desk. A page of paper was gently turned over, and it was "Zhou Nan: Guanju".

Wu Mingde tried to make himself fall asleep, but many images of Song Yue emerged unconsciously in his mind. From Song Yue who always protected Song Li behind her when they were young, to Song Yue who had a prejudice against him, to the quiet Song Yue now.

Wu Mingde thanked Li Yun'an again in his heart. If Li Yun'an had not asked him to teach Song Yue painting on his behalf, perhaps he and Song Yue would still be disgusted with each other.

Song Yue originally thought that Wu Mingde would take the opportunity to retaliate, but she didn't expect that he taught so seriously.

Wu Mingde had originally thought that Song Yue would constantly mock him by using the slightly fat body of the fat girl, but she never mentioned the little fat snake that Li Yunan mentioned again.

The two of them continued to change their views on each other, and slowly their relationship became more subtle.

When did it start? Did it start with Li Yun'an's random matchmaking? At the time, Wu Mingde thought that Li Yun'an was just joking. He thought that there was nothing strange between him and Song Yue because they were from the same village and saw each other more often.

Was it the New Year's Eve Nuo? Wu Mingde thought of the time when he took Wu Minghui, Song Yue and Song Xing to the Li's shop to buy things. Song Yue trusted him more than Li Yun'an, which made him feel extremely happy.

Wu Mingde couldn't figure it out either. Perhaps it was just like the saying goes: Love comes from nowhere, but it grows deeper and deeper.

Wu Mingde felt sleepy, and after thanking Li Yun'an again, he fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Wu Mingde got up early, dressed neatly and went to the courtyard where the headman lived.

Mrs. Wu Li, who was having dinner, glanced at Wu Mingde who was dressed formally. She smiled and asked Wu Mingde to find some casual clothes to change into.

"Mingde, you don't need to show up today. Go find a piece of clothing you don't like and change into it. Your father told you to go to the threshing ground to find him after dinner. The matchmaker can go by himself today." After Wu Li finished speaking, Wu Minghui beside her also laughed.

Wu Mingde tugged at Wu Minghui's buns, and Wu Minghui immediately protected her head. She threatened Wu Mingde loudly, "Third brother, if you do this again, I will tell Sister Xiaoyue. Sister Xiaoyue is very scary when she gets angry. Do you dare to do that?"

Wu Mingde pretended to be frightened, and he quickly clasped his fists and begged for mercy from Wu Minghui: "Please forgive me, Master Minghui. I will never dare to do it again."

Wu Minghui snorted complacently, and said loudly: "Then I'll let you off this time. Hurry up and eat, and then help Dad with the work!"

"Understood!" Wu Mingde quickly put the rice into his mouth.

Mrs. Wu Li looked at the lively couple, then she glanced at the sky and said softly, "The matchmaker should be here soon."

Here, the Song family had just finished breakfast when there was a knock on the door.

Song Xing ran to open the door. He looked at the woman in front of him with some confusion. She was wearing a blue and green cloth shirt and a red flower on her head.

"Excuse me, is this Song Changhe's home?" the woman asked with a smile.