Chapter 161 - 161 Here to Apologize
161 Here to Apologize
Xie Yunjin gaped at Xie Erzhu. For a moment there, he decided that he wanted to get his second brother out of here. He wanted to buy his brother a little shop in the city and make him a businessman.
Now that his brother had stated his desire to stay in the village, he let go of that idea. Xie Yunjin had no intention of forcing anything onto his second brother. His brother was born and raised here and could barely read. Him leaving this place of comfort would cause him much anxiety. He would only remain peaceful if he stayed.
It was great that Lu Jiao was willing to teach Xie Erzhu leech keeping. Once Xie Yunjin could walk again, he will build a giant home with a big yard on this piece of land. Then, he will ask his second brother to keep an eye on this property. When he moves into the city, he will ask his second brother to move in. In the future, he’ll find a way to buy some land for him. After all that, his second brother should have a less exhausting life.
As Xie Yunjin planned, Xie Erzhu had already emotionally thanked Lu Jiao.
“Thank you, sister-in-law. Thank you.”
Xie Erzhu was very satisfied.
Lu Jiao continued, “I will teach you the life cycle of leech keeping, from reproduction to tending to them. You can then delegate tasks to the villagers. Remember, don’t ever teach others what I teach you. That way, the villagers will always respect you. Years down the line, you can choose an apprentice to pass this down to. Pick someone who’s nice to you.”
Xie Erzhu continued to thank her, “Thank you, sister-in-law, thank you.”
Lu Jiao chuckled, “It’s no trouble.”
This whole leech keeping business was going to benefit her anyway. To pass down this skill to Xie Erzhu was because she didn’t want to see him so tired.
Xie Yunjin watched Lu Jiao and once again silently vowed to treat her well in the future.
Lu Jiao didn’t think too much. She was happy that Xie Erzhu was here tonight because that meant she was off wiping duty.
“Second brother, stay and talk with Yunjin. I’m going to boil some water. Can you help wipe down Yunjin later?”
Xie Yunjin was both relieved and disappointed. In the end, he chose to say nothing.
After Xie Erzhu helped Yunjin clean, he left. Lu Jiao washed up the four little ones and told them a bedtime story before they slept.
The next day, while the family was still deep asleep, the dogs inside the yard started to bark aggressively.
After the previous period of feeding and adjusting, the puppies finally gained some useful skills – when strangers came, they knew to bark now.
Though their voices were still quiet, it was enough to alert the family.
Both Xie Yunjin from the east bedroom and Lu Jiao from the west bedroom jolted awake. They opened their eyes and looked outside.
Since Xie Yunjin couldn’t move, Lu Jiao crawled out of bed to see what was going on.
Outside the trellis stood several men. When they saw Lu Jiao walk out, they awkwardly greeted her.
The Village and Clan Leaders smiled, “Yunjin’s wife, you’re up?”
Lu Jiao instantly yawned to show them that she wasn’t up. She was woken up because of them.
The Clan Leader shamelessly said, “We were going to wait until you were awake but then your dogs started barking.”
So it was the dogs’ fault?
The Clan Leader, Xie Fugui, added, “Why don’t you go inside and sleep longer? We can wait here.”
Lu Jiao was speechless. They already woke her up, how was she going to go back to sleep now?
Since the leaders and the elders were behaving rather carefully, Lu Jiao decided to be nice, “What’s the matter?”
The Village Leader glared at Xie Laogen and Lady Ruan, who stood on the side.
At this very moment, they wanted to die. They were so senior yet they had to come here to apologize to their daughter-in-law.
This will make them the joke of the village.
Xie Laogen stared down Lady Ruan. This was all because this old woman provoked this daughter-in-law. If she didn’t do that, their family wouldn’t be like this right now.
It was no wonder everyone says a wife needs to be virtuous. Plus, back when they were young, his parents objected to their marriage, telling him that Lady Ruan was not virtuous and may cause havoc at home. Back then, he didn’t believe that saying. Now, he learned his lesson.
Lady Ruan was originally going to yell at Xie Laogen for glaring at her. However, the leaders were here and she didn’t dare to make a scene. No matter how dumb she was, she knew the consequences of being kicked out of this village.
Lady Ruan looked towards Lu Jiao then lowered her head, “Lu Jiao, I was wrong before. However, you’re my daughter-in-law and you shouldn’t blame your mother-in-law.”
Even now, Lady Ruan was still trying to get away with it. Terrified that another fight will break out, the leaders howled, “So you really do want to leave our village.”
Lady Ruan’s face froze. Xie Laogen then announced at the top of his lungs, “Third daughter-in-law, we were wrong before and we shouldn’t have caused you trouble. We won’t do that anymore. Can you forgive us?”
If Lu Jiao still fought back, she would appear unreasonable. After all, they were her seniors.
Lu Jiao instantly grinned, “You’re my parents, you deserve everything. As long as you stop causing us trouble, we will treat you well.”
The leaders started chuckling, “I knew Yunjin’s wife had a big heart.”
“Yeah, this child has helped our village so much. She’s our savior.”
Lu Jiao’s mood was better now, “Then, let’s flip the page on this matter.
She remembered to remind Lady Ruan and Xie Laogen, “Mom, dad, stop being so strict with the second brother. He’s such an honest and nice man.”
The Village Leader answered on their behalf, “They won’t be. They promised us that they will stop giving Erzhu a hard time.”
“That’s great.”
Lu Jiao was satisfied and asked the leaders to go inside and chat.
The leaders shook their heads, “That’s okay. We will get back now.”
Then, they carefully peeked at Lu Jiao, “Then, Yunjin’s wife… about leech keeping…”
“We can talk about the details later.”
This meant she was willing to teach the villagers leech keeping. This time, the leaders and elders finally laughed out of happiness.
The Village Leader went up to Lu Jiao and gave her the contract Xie Laogen and Lady Ruan signed with their thumbprints.
“Your in-laws stamped this with their thumbprints. This means they are no longer allowed to cause your family trouble. If they do, we have the right to kick them out of this village. They agreed to this.”
Xie Laogen and Lady Ruan kept their eyes on Lu Jiao, hoping that Lu Jiao was generous enough to give the contract back to them.
Pity, Lu Jiao pretended she didn’t notice the attention on her and immediately put the contract away.