Chapter 45: Holding Her So Tight, It Felt Like He Wanted to Merge Her Into His Very Bones and Blood

The opening was tied shut with hemp rope, and there were bright, glistening grease stains on it!

Good heavens!

Doesn’t this mean the whole sack is full of meat?!

Has Old Second Xie struck it rich?

His wife was famous in the village for being stingy, a real penny-pincher!

Yet today she actually bought so much meat?!

She was both surprised and suspicious, her eyes constantly darting toward the sack. Tian Xiufen felt a bit uncomfortable, so she chatted for a few more moments and prepared to leave.

However, Xie Tian suddenly poked her head out from behind her.

“Auntie Liu, why didn’t Tiezhu come today? Didn’t he say he was going to buy a slingshot today?”

Well, there it was.

As soon as she said this, Liu Cuihua’s face darkened instantly.

“That little brat! Buying a slingshot! I don’t know where he stole that money from, and he refused to say a word even when beaten half to death! Luckily, I searched his pants pockets last night and found it. Otherwise, if he spent it, how would I pay it back?”

Xie Tian’s eyes widened.

“Why did you beat him? Tiezhu earned that money himself!”

Xie Tian said loudly, “Sister-in-law Cuihua, you’ve wronged Tiezhu!”

What?

Liu Cuihua was stunned.

He earned it himself?

That little brat was only twelve. Where could he earn that much money?

Seeing that Liu Cuihua clearly didn’t believe her, Xie Tian added, “He really earned it himself! There were seven or eight kids yesterday. They all gathered river snails and sold them to my brother. Erhu sold some too! Quite a few kids did! How could you beat him without asking first? Tiezhu must feel so wronged!”

Liu Cuihua’s eyes widened.

No.

Wait a minute!

Could what the little brat said actually be true?

In fact, last night, when she dragged Zhao Tiezhu out of his blankets and gave him a beating, he had cried and told her exactly that.

But how could Liu Cuihua believe him?

Old Second Xie’s family had just gone through a household division, and their own home was dirt poor. How could they have the money to buy river snails?

What kind of cosmic joke was that?

So she was convinced the brat was lying. She and Zhao Delong had grabbed the fire tongs and teamed up to give him a double thrashing.

It was a whole yuan!

That was no small amount!

To dare to steal so much, he absolutely had to be beaten to a pulp!

As a result, early this morning, Zhao Tiezhu’s backside was swollen so badly that he couldn’t even get out of bed.

Liu Cuihua had taken the money, planning to ask around door-to-door to find out who lost it after she returned from the market.

“Didn’t my dad and eldest brother go around the village to announce it yesterday? Didn’t you all know?”

Xie Tian asked, looking at Liu Cuihua innocently.

Liu Cuihua: “…”

How was she supposed to know it was true?!

Her face turned pale and red with embarrassment. She no longer had the heart to buy anything and turned to run straight back home.

“Hey!”

Just as Liu Cuihua turned around, she suddenly remembered something and looked back at Xie Tian and Tian Xiufen. “Second Sister-in-law Xie, is it true that your family is buying river snails? Do you still want them?”

Xie Tian said loudly, “Of course we do!”

Her eyes sparkled, and she grinned so wide her eyes squinted shut. “My second brother said he’ll take as many as people can bring!”

Tian Xiufen smiled helplessly and nodded in agreement.

Liu Cuihua left in a hurry.

And half an hour later.

Under the big willow tree at the entrance of the village, she gathered a few mothers of the kids who usually played with Zhao Tiezhu. After talking it over, they realized that Old Second Xie’s family really was buying river snails!

And at fifty cents a jin, they would take as many as they could get!

Heavens above!

This was practically free money!

“No wonder! I was wondering what my oldest boy was sneaking around and hiding in the yard when he got back! After he fell asleep, I went to check, and it was actually money!”

“That brat! He said yesterday he wanted to buy a slingshot today! I didn’t take him seriously! He must have made quite a bit!”

“Oh my! Yesterday, Old Second Xie and his eldest son came to our door to buy river snails, and I didn’t believe them! Now look at this! We literally pushed away money that was handed to us! If you turn over the mud in my paddy field, you can find several of them at once! That’s all money!”

…

The women chattered excitedly for a while.

Finally, Liu Cuihua slapped her forehead and stood up abruptly!

“Go, go, go! What are we still standing around for? Whether it’s true or false, won’t we know if we just gather some river snails and go to their house to see?”

Liu Cuihua rubbed her hands together, her eyes shining.

Her family’s paddy field was closest to the big river, so it had plenty of water and plenty of river snails.

When plowing the fields in early spring, a single rake could turn up a whole bunch of them!

Usually, she would just pick them up and throw them to the ducks!

If they could actually be exchanged for money, how was that any different from picking up free money?

She ran the fastest, and the other women behind her also rushed back to their homes.

No joke!

They were picking up money!

Anyone who ran slow was a fool!

…

At two in the afternoon.

When Xie Youzhen, Xie Zhao, and Xie Cheng returned, Xie Tian and Tian Xiufen were cooking.

“Second Brother! Rest for a bit and have some water. Mom will cook the wontons in a moment!”

Xie Tian called out with a smile.

Xie Zhao nodded, took off his coat, changed into clean clothes, and quietly went back to his room.

Lin Muyu was sleeping.

Hearing the door open, she opened her eyes instinctively. When she saw it was Xie Zhao, she paused slightly.

“You’re back?”

She asked softly.

Xie Zhao nodded.

Holding the ledger in his hand, he sat down next to Lin Muyu with a smile, opened the book, and went through the calculations line by line for her.

“Here, these are today’s accounts. The fish didn’t all sell out at the hospital, so we took the leftovers to the State-Owned Restaurant. In total, we made eighty-two yuan.”

He pointed a bit further down. “This fifty-one yuan and seven mao here is the money we spent buying river snails today. But after subtracting the costs, the net income is twenty-eight yuan and two mao.”

“And these are the expenses. I gave Mom twenty yuan yesterday, and today I went to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to buy a few wooden buckets…”

He explained everything in great detail.

Although Lin Muyu was shocked, she still listened attentively.

“This is the remaining balance.”

Xie Zhao grinned at her. “I still have one hundred and sixty-eight yuan and seven mao in hand.”

Lin Muyu’s eyes widened in surprise.

“That’s so much!”

She murmured softly. A moment later, remembering something, she turned to look at Xie Zhao. “Why… why are you telling me this?”

Her eyes were very beautiful.

When she looked at Xie Zhao, they seemed to hold tiny, floating sparks of starlight. She pursed her lips slightly, looking a bit puzzled, her two small dimples faintly appearing and disappearing, making her look both cute and beautiful.

Xie Zhao’s gaze suddenly grew a little uneasy.

He did not know why, but his throat felt tight.

“Ahem…” He balled his hand into a fist and coughed slightly to mask his embarrassment.

“Because we are husband and wife,” Xie Zhao said softly.

He was thin-skinned.

Especially when it came to matters of the heart.

In truth, he had already developed feelings for Lin Muyu in his past life. Otherwise, he would not have felt such agonizing pain and regret after she died in childbirth.

Part of it was because of the child.

The other part was because of her.

She was kind, sincere, hardworking, and strong.

He had seen it all and kept it close to his heart.

Yet in the end, it was his pride that he could not let go of. He had refused to bow his head, ultimately leading to a terrible mistake.

But in this reborn life, Xie Zhao decided that in front of Lin Muyu, he could hold onto anything else, but pride was the one thing he would throw away completely.

And so.

In the next moment, Xie Zhao gently took her hand in his.

His palm was warm, with a thin layer of calluses.

He tightened his grip bit by bit, as if he wanted to meld her into his very bones and blood.