Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

Li Gengtian said to Zheng Changhe, "We’re a bit late planting this bamboo. They take root more easily when they’re planted earlier. The shoots are already sprouting now, so who knows if the ones we planted today will survive!"

Zheng Changhe comforted him, "This stuff is pretty hardy. In previous years, it grew just fine even with no one looking after it. What we planted today will definitely survive. And even if it doesn’t, it’s no big deal. We’ll just plant some earlier next year."

Li Gengtian nodded.

After a busy day, everyone shouldered their hoes, carried the harvested bamboo shoots, and headed down the mountain back to the village.

Li Changming, Li Changxing, and Big Mouth Zhao were heading down the mountain together when they ran into Meizi and a few other girls digging up wild chrysanthemum seedlings at the base.

When Meizi saw them, she called out enthusiastically, "Changming, Changxing, Big Mouth, are you done planting the bamboo?" After all, Li Changming and Big Mouth Zhao had saved her.

Li Changxing teased, "Meizi, you’re still out here digging for chrysanthemum seedlings? This tall grass is the perfect place for snakes to hide."

Meizi leaped to her feet. "Really?" she yelped. "Oh no! I’ve already dug several baskets and sent them home!" She frantically glanced all around, checking the ground near her feet.

Li Jinxiang and the other girls all burst out laughing.

Li Changming shot Changxing a glare, then said to Meizi, "He’s just teasing you! Don’t listen to his nonsense. Still, you should be careful. It’s best to carry a stick and rustle the grass with it before you start digging. Don’t wander off too far, and stay away from where the grass is thickest."

Meizi nodded again and again. She gave Li Changming a huge, sweet smile full of gratitude, then shot Li Changxing a glare. "Xingzi, you just keep scaring me! We’ll see if I don’t go tell Auntie on you!"

Li Changxing suppressed a laugh. "It was just a joke. Why are you so scared? If you’re that afraid of snakes, maybe you shouldn’t come out here."

Big Mouth Zhao laughed. "And how would that work? She can’t just stay inside her whole life and never go out to the fields, can she? The smart thing to do is what Changming said: carry a stick and be sure to poke around everywhere. Aren’t you all heading home? They’re about to divide up the bamboo shoots in the village."

Jinxiang said quickly, "Let’s go! We need to get back early, we still have to plant these seedlings."

And so, the group headed back to the village, talking and laughing along the way.

Li Changming felt his heart race and his face grow hot as Meizi walked beside him. Afraid someone would notice something was off, he kept quiet and stared at the path ahead, letting Changxing and Big Mouth banter with the girls.

Meizi, however, was truly grateful to Li Changming for saving her. Although her mother had already visited his home with plenty of gifts, she hadn’t yet had the chance to thank him in person.

Seeing him walking with his head down, not saying a word, she decided to start a conversation. "Changming, how many pigs is your family raising? Did you get an extra one this year?"

Hearing her ask this, he smiled and replied, "Three. There isn’t much to feed them during the first half of the year, or else we would’ve gotten one or two more."

’He had made up his mind. If he didn’t work harder, was he really going to be a bachelor his entire life?’

Li Changxing laughed. "It’s like that for everyone. Aside from Qingmu’s family, nobody in the village has spare pig feed right now, so no one dares to get too many piglets. But that’s probably for the best. Piglets are hard to come by now, and the price has gone up! I bet a lot of families will be raising sows this year. Things will be better next year. There won’t be a shortage of piglets, and we’ll have acorns to feed them. Life will be much easier!"

Big Mouth Zhao nodded in agreement, saying his own family was planning to raise a sow.

In the beautiful countryside, the group of young men and women walked toward the village, their talk and laughter filling the air. Their conversation wasn’t of moonlit nights or the four scholarly arts, but of raising pigs and feeding chickens, of wheat and rice. Set against the evening glow, the gentle breeze, the green mountains, and the verdant fields, the scene was one of perfect harmony.

********

With the wheat harvest beginning, Qingmu had taken another day off to help at home. He went out to the fields with Zheng Changhe early in the morning to reap the wheat, while Yang Family and Juhua rushed to get the housework done at home.

Yang Family figured she would help wash the clothes and then head to the fields after breakfast. That would lighten Juhua’s load; otherwise, the household chores were simply overwhelming.

Just then, He bustled into the courtyard, carrying about twenty green-shelled salted duck eggs for the Zheng Family.

She smiled. "These are from Huai Zi’s grandmother. She said you could use an extra dish during the busy farming season and told me to bring some over. She wanted to thank you for the acorn flour you sent last time. Her whole family loved it."

Yang Family accepted them happily. "Your mother is far too kind. In that case, I’ll accept them. I won’t keep you, then. You should hurry home to your wheat. I feel bad making you run all the way over here when you’re so busy."

He waved her hand. "Don’t even get me started. It just makes me angry to talk about it. We can’t even harvest our wheat today. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow."

Yang Family quickly asked, "What happened? Why aren’t you harvesting right away? What’s the point in waiting a day? This weather is so hot and humid, I’m worried it’s going to turn bad."