Chapter 767 - 768: The Difficult Tenant
"Mom, listen, listen, you worry too much all day." Yang Chuxia helplessly said to Ruoqiu, "If that were my mother-in-law, I would be under so much pressure. You don’t know how she has said this three times in a month."
"Pfft..." Ruoqiu couldn’t help but laugh after hearing it.
Chen Yazhu didn’t know why the adults were all laughing, but he followed suit and giggled as he nibbled on his snack.
"It’s all because of you, little one, bringing up this topic, and you’re still laughing." Yang Chuxia pinched his little nose, but he laughed even more.
Struggling to get down from Ruoqiu’s arms, he ran to Yang Chuxia with a snack in his hand and called out, "Auntie eat, auntie eat, baby eat too."
"If auntie eats, does that mean baby has eaten too?" Yang Chuxia asked in surprise.
Who would have known that the little rascal would nod his head repeatedly, his eyes squeezed shut in laughter.
"What have you been teaching your son? How does he even know this?"
Ruoqiu cleared her throat and explained, "You don’t know, this child used to be very stingy with his things. Once he had something in his hand, he wouldn’t give it back. I was afraid he would develop a stingy temperament, so sometimes when he was eating fruit, I would coax him into giving some to his little sister. He would give it to me, but there was never any little sister - it was just me who ate it. As soon as he saw me eating it, he would get upset, and I would coax him by saying that if mom eats it, then sister has eaten it too."
"Wow, you’re good at this." Yang Chuxia laughed, pinching Chen Yazhu’s small cheeks, "I wonder what will happen when he gets older and looks for a real sister."
"What can we do? If necessary, we’ll just have another child."
As they teased Chen Yazhu, Mingcui came over and announced that lunch was ready. The family didn’t bother with separate tables, and everyone went back to their houses after a short sit-down following the meal.
Originally, only Ye Zi’an’s family would have known about him failing the exam, and Chen Sheng and Ruoqiu wouldn’t have spread the word. But somehow, by the time Yang Chuxia came back from Land Officer Yang’s house the next afternoon, it seemed like the whole village knew.
One after another, people came up to console her, saying things like how young Brother An was and that he could try again for the exam in the future.
Although the words were meant to comfort, hearing them repeatedly was getting annoying. It wasn’t such a big deal, but everyone was making it out to be as if the sky had fallen.
Of course, these well-intentioned words of concern could be dismissed, but some people’s words were a different story.
For example, Auntie Li. Ever since Yang Chuxia didn’t marry Li Anshun according to her wishes that year and the Yang family’s status grew increasingly prominent, while her own family had been getting worse, with her son marrying that troublemaker Yang Lichun. Through these comparisons, she harbored even deeper resentment towards Yang Chuxia.
Every time there was something unpleasant happening on Yang Chuxia’s side, she would definitely chime in. If it weren’t for Uncle Li coming to apologize every time, Yang Chuxia would have dealt with this gossip-loving woman long ago.
Passing by the old house, she saw Auntie Li, Ms. Luo, and Li Junior all huddled together. Yang Chuxia figured there would be some gossip coming her way. Ever since Old Lady Hua and Ms. Hua Junior were gone, these three had become the most troublesome households in the village.
"Xiaxia, I heard that your Brother An didn’t pass the exam this time?" Auntie Li eagerly approached when she saw her.
"Who did you hear that from?"
Truth be told, she didn’t know how this news got out.
"Who else could it be? Your fourth aunt, of course!" Li Junior chimed in, "Your fourth aunt was just being concerned for you and your husband, worrying that you’d be too heartbroken and lose your appetite. She even asked Auntie Li if she had any pickled chili at home, saying she’d take it to you to help with your meal."