The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 256: Unresolved Old Feelings?

Chapter 256: Chapter 256: Unresolved Old Feelings?

"Valiant and heroic? I simply didn’t want my efforts destroyed by their hands! Since they expect me to lead them to prosperity and their future wellbeing depends on me, I will make absolutely sure they have no other ideas in their heads! There’s a saying that goes, ’Eat from someone’s bowl, abide by their rules!’ The mountain goods business could be very profitable."

"If I don’t wake them up now, should I wait for something to go wrong once we start the business? Xiao Tiantian, you don’t really believe that I would toil away for the Wang Family without expecting anything in return, do you?"

The last sentence, said with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, immediately shriveled the Xiao Tiantian System.

"Host, whatever you do is right! You’re surely just and honorable!" Then it silently lit a row of candles for every member of the Wang Family, except for Old Granny Zhang!

"It’s certain that Li Jinzhi harbors resentment towards the Wang Family, only my Fourth Brother’s eyes are smeared with filth—he either can’t see clearly or doesn’t want to face the truth! That’s not a problem for me! What I find strange is that Li Jinzhi seems to have come prepared, so directly and accurately ruining the dye!" Wang Yongzhu was somewhat puzzled.

Could it have been Wang Yongping who leaked the information?

Impossible, Wang Yongping didn’t even know what he was doing.

It couldn’t be her or Old Granny Zhang, so maybe Song Chongjin?

But Wang Yongzhu immediately dismissed this option as well, knowing Song Chongjin, he wasn’t that despicable.

The matter remained a mystery for the time being.

Wang Yongzhu stopped thinking about it, as it was pointless.

"Xiao Tiantian, Li Jinzhi’s sabotage has indeed inspired me. What do you think..." Wang Yongzhu’s eyes brightened as she consulted.

The Wang Family searched the entire Qilidun but found no trace of Li Jinzhi.

Wang Yongping went even seven or eight miles into the mountains and still didn’t spot her. Pregnant, she couldn’t have gone far.

Although the Wang Family were unwilling to give up, the sky had darkened, making it impossible to find anyone, so they had to return home.

Wang Yongping had no choice but to head back.

On the way, he ran into a cousin from the Wang Family Clan who was just returning from town. It was a bit scary to walk in the night; hearing something up ahead, he called out twice. Recognizing a familiar voice and approaching, he saw it was Wang Yongping.

He breathed a sigh of relief. Walking in the mountains at night could be frightening even for a big man, and encountering someone he knew made him feel braver.

"Laosi, you’re back from town too? If I’d known you were going today, I would have come back with you!"

Wang Yongping, distracted and gloomy, just grunted in response.

The talkative cousin, spurred on by the darkness to keep chatting for courage, was scraping up conversation: "Did you happen to come across... who was it... on your way back?"

"Who?" Wang Yongping was preoccupied, still considering where Li Jinzhi could have hidden.

"You know, the one from the Li Family, Li Jinzhi?"

"Li Jinzhi? You saw her?" Wang Yongping stopped in his tracks, grabbing his cousin’s hand: "Where did you see her?"

The clan brother still thought that Wang Yongping had not forgotten his old feelings for Li Jinzhi, "I say Laosi, why are you still hung up on this woman who cuckolded you? The good days for your family are yet to come. When the time comes, won’t you find plenty of women better than Li Jinzhi? Listen to your older brother, stop thinking about her!"

"Where is she——" Wang Yongping couldn’t listen to any of it, at that moment he just wanted to catch Li Jinzhi.

"Alas, I’m telling you, on the way back, near Eagle’s Gap, I ran into a carriage. It was so late at night, and although there were torches, it was moving quite fast. I nearly collided with it. As I brushed past the carriage, the curtain fluttered open and I glimpsed inside. I saw Li Jinzhi in the carriage; she seemed to be in a great hurry. I don’t know if something happened? Speaking of which, why would she go back to Qilidun? With no family left, she has no place to return to!" the Wang Family Clan brother rambled on.

Wang Yongping shook off his clan brother and turned to rush toward the town.

His clan brother held him back with all his might: "Have you lost your mind? It’s the middle of the night and you don’t even have a torch. If you’re not careful on these mountain roads, a fall could cost you your life! Can’t whatever it is wait until tomorrow? Besides, she was in a carriage, which has four legs and two wheels, can you outrun that with just your two legs? Listen to your brother, go back for today. Whatever it is, we can talk about it when it’s light tomorrow, okay——"

He dragged Wang Yongping, who suddenly seemed to have lost his fighting spirit, back home.

The rest of the way, the Wang Family Clan brother did not stop talking, babbling all the way about how young men need to see things clearly, and how there are plenty of good girls in the world. He insisted that Wang Yongping should marry another wife quickly and he would forget Li Jinzhi; or he advised Wang Yongping to let go, as the Wang Family and the Li Family were now sworn enemies, and Wang Laozhu and Old Granny Zhang would definitely not agree.

Moreover, Li Jinzhi already had another man’s child; she was nothing but a worn-out shoe, so why pick her up again, wouldn’t it disgust you?

Are you so eager to be a cuckold?

Wang Yongping kept silent, clenching his teeth so hard that his gums bled and his throat was filled with a metallic sweetness.

When they reached the entrance of the village, the Wang Family Clan brother was still worried. He personally took Wang Yongping home and saw the Wang Family members with their grim faces. He discreetly left with his belly full of gossip.

As soon as Wang Yongping entered the house, without saying a word, he knelt in the courtyard with a thud.

He had no face to speak, nor to enter the house.

When Old Granny Zhang heard the commotion, she wished she could grab a broom and beat him to vent her frustration.

Wang Yongzhu held her back and avoided looking in the direction where Wang Yongping knelt, only asking, "Do you regret it now?"

Tears smashed onto the ground as Wang Yongping replied, "Little Sister! Fourth Brother is sorry for you! Fourth Brother is a bastard! It’s all Fourth Brother’s fault; that slut Li Jinzhi, she tricked me! It was all deception; she didn’t come here by herself, she came in a carriage, and now she has gone back in one too!"

Wang Yongping was consumed with shame and hatred!

Hearing this, Wang Yongzhu became even more certain that Li Jinzhi had come prepared, even arranging her escape in advance—she really was determined!

Seeing that Wang Yongping seemed calmer now, she pressed him on when he had been in contact with Li Jinzhi.

Wang Yongping honestly started with what happened yesterday, like how Li Jinzhi cried saying she had regrets and couldn’t go on living, and the incident where she tried to pull the wool over Wang Yongzhu’s eyes.

As Wang Yongping spoke, it didn’t take long before Old Granny Zhang burst into cursing, unable to be held back! She said he must have water in his brain to not realize she was deceiving his sister, sowing discord—and he couldn’t pick up on it?

She called him a fool, saying that with just a couple of sweet words, he spilled everything like a sieve, and she cursed Li Jinzhi as a vile woman, worming her way into his confidence with cruel calculation.

Being scolded and evaluated like this by Old Granny Zhang, Wang Yongping’s mind became clearer and clearer, and he felt increasingly ashamed, wondering how he could have been so bewitched at the time.

He had forgotten the hatred between the two families, forgotten the rage he felt when he was cuckolded, and only wanted to prove himself a man before Li Jinzhi, to make her regret! And so, he had done such foolish things.