Chapter 111 It's up to You
Subconsciously, Wu Xiyuan hid behind Su Jiuyue. He peeped at and stuck out his tongue at A Da, "My wife told me not to talk to you!"
Su Jiuyue did say it before, but Liu Cuihua didn't know it.
It frightened Liu Cuihua a lot for fear that Da would arrest his son because of his offense.
She immediately poured hot water into the bowl again and said with a flattering smile, "Sorry, officer. Please kindly forgive him. Have some tea, please."
Liu Cuihua winked at Su Jiuyue when speaking to Da.
Though hiding behind Su Jiuyue, Wu Xiyuan could still be seen because Su Jiuyue was too short. She knew why Liu Cuihua winked at her and also thought what Wu Xiyuan had said offensive. She then held Wu Xiyuan and said quietly, "It's wrong to say it. Even though Da had badmouthed you, you can't do the same thing. Understand? Otherwise, it will make him angry, too."
Actually, Wu Xiyuan didn't understand it but no matter what Su Jiuyue said was all right.
"Ok. I won't call him a bad guy. Do we still need to talk to him?"
"It's up to you," Su Jiuyue covered her mouth with her hand to lower her voice.
Da found it interesting when he saw them whispering. They thought they were speaking in a low voice.
But they didn't know people who learned martial arts had a good hearing.
Liu Cuihua didn't hear them. But she was worried Da would mind Xiyuan's offense as he was staring at them. So she simpered and drove them away.
"Jiujiu, go out and play with Xiyuan or you will make trouble here."
Su Jiuyue and Wu Xiyuan didn't want to stay there, either. They both said yes and ran away hand in hand.
Da drank the third bowl of tea. Liu Cuihua was about to pour more water but he immediately covered the bowl.
"No, thanks. I can't drink that much water like a buffalo."
Liu Cuihua stopped.
Da put down his hand and raised his eyes, "Madam, I won't search your house. But are you sure you didn't see a five-year-old boy?"
Su Jiuyue and Wu Xiyuan might feel nervous if they were there, but Liu Cuihua was old and experienced. She behaved quite composedly.
She frowned and pretended to recall. She then shook her head, "My mum was ill a few days ago. I was busy taking care of her, so I didn't pay attention to it."
Da believed her and stood up, "Ok. I won't bother you since you've never seen him. See you."
Su Jiuyue and Wu Xiyuan were playing at the gate. They turned away their face when Da went out as if they didn't see him.
Da said, "Naughty boy."
And then he left.
Two soldiers came to him when he stepped out and said "Sir."
"Any clue?"
"No."
"Go to next village," Da ordered.
Everyone in the village was relieved after Da and soldiers disappeared. They began to talk with each other quietly.
"What are they looking for? It really scared me. I thought they would force men to serve in the army."
"It seems that they are looking for a boy."
"Forget it. It's none of our business anyway. Go and call the men back. They don't need to hide."
"Cuihua, please lend me some rice again. We haven't eaten any food for two days."
...
People gathered in Liu Cuihua's house again. It was until she distributed a bag of rice that they were willing to leave..
As the saying goes, "Help the starving but not the poor." She couldn't stand to see them starving but did nothing. However, she couldn't provide them with enough food.
Villagers were understanding, after all, it was a bad year now. The rice was enough to support them for a few days, and they would have to get more food when they ran out of it.
Liu Cuihua asked all family members to gather together that evening.
"I ask you to come here to discuss something about growing vegetables. We earned two taels of silver by selling vegetables in Yongzhou that were grown by Jiujiu. The money we earned is nearly equaled to the income over half a year in our family. I think we can keep doing it, so I bought more seeds in Yongzhou."
Because Dacheng and Ercheng had told their wives how much they earned, they were not that surprised when hearing it.
But, it cheered them up when they heard Liu Cuihua had bought more seeds.
Although the money they earned would belong to their mother-in-law in the end, they would also lead a better life if there was more income.
"Mum, I'll listen to you," Tian Xiuniang showed her attitude first.
"Yes, mum. We'll listen to you," Chen Zhaodi said.
Liu Cuihua looked at Dacheng and Ercheng. They both nodded. She then continued, "Ok. I'll go on about it."
"Now that we've decided to grow vegetables in large volumes, there is one more problem to deal with. Where should we grow them? We need to find a place to supply proper temperature. Besides, it mustn't be open air. Do you have any idea?"
Every one of them was considering it. They knew it would cost a lot if building a shed over their own farmlands.
As everyone was silent, Su Jiuyue advised, "Dad, mum, our old house is empty. The rooms and brick beds are available. The most important thing is that there is a well. So the water is ready for us to water vegetables, and we don't need to fetch it from another place."
"Good idea. Why didn't I think of it?" Tian Xiuniang applauded.
Ercheng joked, "How can you get such a great idea?"
Tian Xiuniang rolled her eyes, "You couldn't, either."
Liu Cuihua thought it was a good idea. "All right. Zhaodi, Xiuniang, and Jiujiu, clean up the old house with me tomorrow morning. Da Cheng, dig some soil from the mountain with Xiyuan. In addition, we need some basins. But I think wooden boxes are also proper. Chuan, you can make some at home. It's not hard for you. Ercheng, help with your dad at home. There are some woods in the backyard."
After assigning tasks one by one, Liu Cuihua said, "OK, that's all. Go to bed and get up early tomorrow."
Everyone in the Wus began to work after breakfast the next morning. Villagers saw the gate of their old house open and they were busy cleaning the house. They even removed the weeds in the yard.
"Hi, Cuihua. What are you doing?" one of the villagers asked.
"We are tidying up the old house. As we are having more people now, it will be bigger and more convenient to live in," Liu Cuihua straightened her waist and wiped the sweat off her forehead.
Liu Cuihua would not tell villagers their methods to earn money.Even if they found it out, they were followers of their path.
[Liu Cuihua, "It is a right thing to do to adopt a low profile to gain more."]