The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 524 - 522 Stirring Up Trouble

Chapter 524: Chapter 522 Stirring Up Trouble

Dozens of men, in this weather, worked in the heat until sweat soaked through their backs; not even their padded jackets could withstand it, all stripped down to just their undershirts.

Some of those robust in physique even went bare-chested on purpose, showing off the muscles and sinews on their bodies.

Especially with so many men working together, crude jokes never ceased, leaving the younger men blushing and burning with embarrassment.

Sun Shitou’s Wife finally managed to find the right place, but among the dozens of men, which one was her husband?

She stared and stared but couldn’t find him, seeing nothing but a sea of muscle and flesh.

Sun Shitou’s Wife was getting desperate. It was a matter of life and death! Stamping her feet, she had no choice but to shout at the top of her lungs, "Shitou——Shitou——"

But her voice, amid the men’s roaring laughter over a dirty joke, was drowned out so completely that it couldn’t be heard at all.

Still, someone with sharp eyes spotted Sun Shitou’s Wife and casually remarked, "Hey, whose little bride is this? Looks unfamiliar but sure has the guts, running down here."

The men with silver tongues called out, "Hey little bride over there, are you looking for your darling hubby?"

And the ones who loved a racket chimed in, "Your darling hubby is right here——"

After all, if she wasn’t from their village, the village men enjoyed their verbal fun without fearing any consequences.

Although Sun Shitou’s Wife had been married for several years, Old Lady Sun kept a tight watch, forbidding the women from speaking to men outside the family. Add to that Sun Shitou’s own restrictions on her going out, she had never encountered such a situation before.

Instantly, she was both embarrassed and scared, her legs went weak, and her face turned so red it looked like it could bleed.

This only egged the men on even more: "Aww, she’s blushing! You must have seen your darling hubby, huh?"

With such commotion, more and more people took time out of their work to come and see which family’s bride was so ignorant of the rules that she would run down here.

In Qilidun, families with daughters or young wives were all warned: with the Wang Family building a large house, and men aplenty, they should walk around the area. Otherwise, if the men took verbal advantage of them, they would have no place to seek justice.

So aside from those who were helping out, there were hardly any spectators near the new house, and even children were cautioned not to go, lest they take a fall or bump and find themselves in an unclear situation.

The sudden arrival of an unfamiliar little bride stirred extra enthusiasm in the men to tease and make a commotion.

Over there, Sun Shitou, his father, and his uncle had arrived at the construction site, looking for Wang Yongfu, claiming they were there to help.

Wang Yongfu, being an honest man, truly believed that his brother-in-law had come to help with sincerity and was happy to see his nephew.

He thought, he’s family after all, and if he were to help at a relative’s house, he would definitely choose the toughest, most exhausting, and dirtiest tasks.

If one’s own family did not lead by example, how could they expect others to do a good job?

Thus, without giving it much thought, he directed the three of them to dig foundations. Most of the foundations had already been dug by then; only a section at the back courtyard remained, where there were rocks underground, which was tough work.

Upon arriving at the back courtyard spot, the three men were dumbfounded.

But with so many eyes on them, they couldn’t just stand there doing nothing, so they reluctantly began to work.

With each thrust of the spade or hoe, they were in luck if it was just soil, but if they hit a rock, the shock would send a painful shudder all the way up to their wrists.

Sun Laoer hadn’t dug for very long when he started complaining that his wrist hurt, and Sun Shitou also claimed that the work was too exhausting to handle.

Seeing his brother and son looking like they were about to drop their spades and hoes and rest, Sun Daming hastily whispered, "There are so many people watching, if we’re going to pretend, we should make it look realistic. Just go through the motions without exerting too much force, alright? We can switch to another spot in the afternoon, and no one will be able to tell."

Only then did Sun Laoer and Sun Shitou reluctantly pretend to work again, turning their heads to look at the others who had already started picking out small stones from the river at the foot of the mountain to fill in the foundation.

Sun Laoer, seeing the other men working with ease, couldn’t help but grumble, "Eldest brother, your brother-in-law isn’t being fair. Why does he give the easy tasks to outsiders and leave us with the grunt work? Isn’t that bullying?"

Sun Shitou’s face darkened as well, his spade moving intermittently: "Dad, why do we have to come here and suffer? Can’t we just wait at the Wang Family’s place for dinner? Besides, it’s my first time visiting, shouldn’t they give us some sort of welcoming gift? Instead, we come here to eat dirt and do the dirtiest and most tiring task. I don’t want to do this anymore."

As he spoke, he flung his spade aside and ran off to sit and rest.

Seeing Sun Shitou drop his work, Sun Laoer also hurriedly followed suit, lying down on the ground with a sense of relief.

Sun Daming, noticing the looks from the other men around them, felt his back burn with embarrassment but forced a smile, "Kids don’t know their own strength, used too much force just then. Let’s rest, let’s rest..."

He managed to smooth things over, barely.

After a while, when Sun Daming noticed that no one was paying attention, he also sat down, glancing left and right, unable to help but admire the size of the foundation. The plot alone was huge, how big would the house be?

The Wang Family really was getting rich!

Just as he was contemplating, he heard a commotion ahead with people calling out about a young wife and a love-struck lad.

Sun Shitou, being young, couldn’t sit still once he heard the jeering and wanted to see what the fuss was about.

Seeing that it was nearly noon, Sun Laoer thought it was a good time to check out the commotion and then dawdle around until mealtime, so he got up and followed.

But as soon as Sun Shitou got close enough to see, he felt like he was about to explode. The one being teased was his own wife?

Unable to save face, he strode forward and, lowering his voice, he barked at Shitou’s Wife, "Why aren’t you staying put at the Wang Family’s home? What are you doing here? A decent woman making a spectacle of herself, what are you trying to do?"

Shitou’s Wife, already feeling embarrassed and scared, saw Sun Shitou and clutched his hand as if she had found her savior, "Shitou, quick, we must go back. The Wang Family, they’re going to kill our grandma—"

"What?" Both Sun Shitou and Sun Laoer felt they must have heard wrong.

Sun Shitou touched Shitou’s Wife’s forehead with his hand: "Yuzhen, are you confused? Why would the Wang Family want to kill our grandma?"

Shitou’s Wife was so anxious she started stamping her foot: "It’s true! Grandma criticized your grandmother-in-law, calling her a stepmother, heartless. Your younger aunt heard it, slapped grandma with a washcloth, and then forced grandma to apologize. Grandma wouldn’t stand for it, tried to scratch your aunt, and then your younger aunt grabbed a knife... I, I saw things going south and ran out to warn. We must go back quickly, that younger aunt really dares to use the knife!"

Sun Laoer and Sun Shitou exchanged a look. Although they were still somewhat incredulous, seeing Shitou’s Wife’s state, they had no choice but to believe her and hurriedly turned back to find Sun Daming.

The men who had come to help noticed that the young wife belonged to someone and that her husband was calling the host ’Eldest Uncle.’ Those who were sharp-eyed and sharp-eared suddenly felt embarrassed, having directed their teasing toward a family member of the host...

For a moment, pulling and looking at each other, everyone showed an awkward expression.

Sun Daming was also coming over leisurely when he heard the commotion up ahead suddenly stop, then he heard his younger brother’s voice: "Brother, this is bad, the Wang Family’s going to kill our mother—"

As the words rang out, the surrounding area fell silent.