Splendid peasant girl busy farming

Chapter 11957

When Mai Lao Er heard Tie Shi's words, his eyes lit up immediately.

But soon, the light in his eyes went out.

"You still want money from the Luo family? You must have lost your mind, woman!" Old Mai shook his head vigorously.

Tie pinched him hard and cursed through gritted teeth, "You good-for-nothing! Just think of it as selling the two girls to the Luo family. Let the Luo family do whatever they want with them as slaves or maids. As long as we get the money, we won't lose out!"

Mai Lao Er still shook his head, "Come on, stop it! Don't you even think about why we're locked up in this dark room? It's because we sold our daughter! And you, you actually dare to go and buy from the Luo family? You're tired of living, but I'm not. I still have to live!"

Mai Lao Er lay down on the haystack, pulled the quilt over himself, and said, "Someone is helping me raise my daughter. What a bargain! I couldn't be happier!"

"You good-for-nothing, you've lost everything!" Tie Shi pinched Mai Lao Er again.

This time, Mai Lao Er wasn't so good-tempered. He directly shook off Tie Shi's hand: "Do you know how hard it is for me? I still have to raise two daughters for you! There's so little food at home. You starve my daughters and secretly stuff food into your daughters' mouths. Do you really think I'm blind?"

Tie was dumbfounded, her finger trembling as she pointed at Mai Lao Er: "You, you, you heartless bastard? What do you mean by that?"

"Whatever you think it means, that's what it means! I'm not explaining!"

"Well, you heartless Mai Lao Er, have you forgotten what you promised me when you asked me to marry you?" Tie Shi pounced on him, scratching Mai Lao Er's body all over with her hands.

"You swore an oath that you would treat my two daughters as your own. Do you even have a word with me, you bastard!" In the chaos, Tie's hand scratched Mai Lao Er's face, leaving several bloody marks.

Mai Lao Er was also furious. He shoved Tie Shi aside and roared, "I kept my word! Ever since you came into the family, your two daughters have had better food, clothes, and other necessities than my two daughters!"

“The room they live in belongs to my daughters. I kicked my daughters out to the woodshed. Twice when we were starving, we were thinking of selling wheat, but we didn’t sell your daughters. Haven’t I been good enough to your daughters? I’ve done more than enough!”

Tie was stunned, not only because Mai Lao Er had pushed her with all his might, causing her back to hit the wall hard and painfully, but also because of Mai Lao Er's 'truthful words'!
"Mai Lao Er, you and that bastard, you lied to me!"

"What are you trying to fool me for? You're old and faded, what's there to fool? Would I swindle you out of your money or your body?"

"If it weren't for the fact that your belly was so fertile and gave me a son, I would have sold you and the three of you to that widower Li!"

boom!
Tie was as if struck by lightning, so angry that blood rushed to his head, and his lips trembled, unable to utter a complete sentence.

Finally, her eyes rolled back and she fainted.

Because the small dark room only had a small hole, about the size of a palm, at the very top of the wall for ventilation and to let in a little light, Mai Lao Er did not notice in time that Tie Shi had fainted.

He lay there, continuing to vent his frustrations, "I've been supporting six or seven of you all by myself, I'm exhausted. Now that someone's finally willing to take in those two sisters, I'll have two less mouths to feed, what a great thing! I don't have to sell my own daughters for food anymore, and the villagers won't gossip about me. My daughters will have a way to survive too, what a great thing! You wicked woman, you're even trying to get me to go find the Luo family for medicine money, do you want me to die?"

"Say something, you damned woman! Stop pretending to be dead!" Mai Lao Er shouted twice, but Tie Shi didn't react at all.

Mai Lao Er kicked her twice more, but Tie Shi remained motionless.

Mai Lao Er quickly groped his way to Tie Shi's side, picked her up, and saw that Tie Shi's eyes were crooked, her mouth was drooping, and she was foaming at the mouth, unconscious.

"Help! Help! Someone's dead..."

……

When Yang Ruoqing returned to the backyard of the Luo family home, she immediately saw Mai Li'er playing with Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan in the yard. Every time Yuan Yuan tried to get close to the pond, Mai Li'er would come over and stop him.

"I want to play in the water, move aside." Yuanyuan started to throw a tantrum.

Mai Li'er stood in front of Yuan Yuan, stretching out her arms like a little adult.

"Water and fire are merciless, no playing in the water!"

"Who are you? This is my pool, I can play in it whenever I want!"

"My name is Mai Li'er. You can call me 'sister.' My job is to be your playmate and keep you safe."

"I don't need your guarantees about my safety! Get out of my way!"

"No way! You're not allowed to play in the water right under my nose!"

"Are you going to move or not? If you don't, don't blame me for hitting a girl!"

Yuanyuan put on a fierce look, but Yang Ruoqing, who was hiding behind the artificial hill, knew very well that although her son seemed aggressive on the surface, he always had good manners in his bones.

That is, you can't hit girls; boys should have gentlemanly manners.

Unless the girl has really done something that crosses the line, or even endangers the lives and property of others, then there is no need to tolerate such a girl.

“Then let’s have a fight. If you beat me, I won’t stop you from playing in the water,” Mai Li’er said again.

Yuan Yuan was stunned. This was the first time in his three years of life that he had encountered a girl's challenge to a fight.

He turned to his older brother, Tuan Tuan, for help, "Brother, she's challenging me to a fight. Should I accept?"

Tuantuan pinched her chin, sized up the two, and shook her head. "I don't recommend you fight her. She's three years older than us. You can't beat her!"

Yuanyuan, however, was unconvinced. "Even if we can't beat them, we have to fight. A real man doesn't back down."

“That’s well said, that’s got guts!” Mai Li’er said crisply. “Come on, I’ll give you a handicap with one hand.”

"Hmph! No need!" Yuanyuan's fighting spirit was now fully ignited.

He stepped forward and launched a direct attack on Mai Li'er.

Since the beginning of this year, Tuantuan and Yuanyuan have been practicing horse stance every day under Yang Ruoqing's firm attitude.

Later, whether it was Zuo Jinling or Xiao An, every time they came over, they would teach them some basic boxing routines.

Especially recently, since Luo Fengtang returned, he has focused on improving the two children's martial arts skills.

Practicing martial arts requires a gradual approach and time to hone one's skills, so the two little ones certainly don't know any martial arts techniques at the moment.

However, because they had practiced the horse stance for a year, their lower body was much more stable than that of children of the same age.

In addition, Yuanyuan has a big appetite and is quite strong, like a little tiger cub. If he were to combine this with basic boxing techniques, Maili, who is three years older and skinny, might not be able to beat him.

Six-year-old Mai Li'er is not much taller than Tuan Tuan because of long-term malnutrition.

Yang Ruoqing watched from afar as Yuanyuan charged towards Maili'er like a little tiger cub, her fists already poised in a fighting stance. She couldn't help but feel a chill for Maili'er, knowing that the pool was right behind her and she might get knocked into it.

Just as Yang Ruoqing was about to stop her, she saw Mai Li'er put one hand behind her back and use the other hand to grasp Yuan Yuan's fist.

With a gentle twist of her wrist, she not only dissipated the force of Yuanyuan's fist but also twisted his arm, easily pinning him to her side. "You lost, Yuanyuan. Don't play in the water, okay?" Mai Li'er asked with a smile.

Yuanyuan was clearly very surprised by the result. He struggled in Maili'er's arms, "I'm not convinced! I'm not ready!"

Mai Li'er immediately let go of Yuan Yuan, "Okay, let's do it again. If you lose this time, you can't cheat!"

The second time, Tuantuan clearly dared not underestimate her opponent again, and she no longer held back her strength just because Mai Li'er was a girl.

However, the result was still the same, without any change.

"Yuanyuan, you lost again." Mai Li'er chuckled.

Her round little face turned bright red, as if she had suffered a great humiliation.

Beside her, Tuantuan also came over with a look of surprise, circled around Mai Li'er, and exclaimed in amazement, "Sister Mai Li'er, you are so amazing! You can easily hold Yuan Yuan with one hand?"

Mai Li smiled but didn't say anything, her gaze remaining fixed on Yuan Yuan in her arms.

Tuantuan then sidled up to Yuanyuan and said, "Hey, Yuanyuan, you're so lame! The girl gave you a handshake."

"Shut up!" Yuanyuan suddenly yelled at Tuantuan. He struggled to break free from Maili'er's arms and punched Tuantuan in the face.

The blow caught Tuantuan completely off guard, causing her to fall to the ground.

Although Tuantuan also practiced horse stance and boxing with Yuanyuan, he did it out of necessity to improve his health. Unlike Yuanyuan, who was very interested in martial arts, Tuantuan's interests lay in literacy, music, chess, calligraphy, and painting...

So when Yuanyuan threw that punch, the older brother didn't even have the strength to defend himself.

Tuantuan covered her face and sat on the ground, crying loudly.

Yuanyuan remained silent, her little brows furrowed as she stood to the side, glaring at Tuantuan on the ground.

Mai Li'er was also stunned by this sudden turn of events. Just then, several figures came over at the same time, all drawn by Tuan Tuan's cries. Among them were Yang Ruoqing, Rong Gu, and Mai Sui'er...

……

Inside the bedroom, Yang Ruoqing sat on a soft couch, with Tuantuan standing in front of her, looking up at her. Yang Ruoqing was applying ointment to Tuantuan's wound with a cotton swab.

Seeing the bruises and swelling around Tuantuan's eyes, Yang Ruoqing applied medicine while nearly biting her back teeth to pieces.

That brat Yuanyuan really hit hard! That punch really hurt Tuantuan.

That brat! He can't beat Mai Li'er, so he takes out his anger on his older brother. That little rascal, I'll teach him a lesson later!

However, Yang Ruoqing said something different in front of Tuantuan.

"Don't cry anymore. I saw everything that happened today."

“It’s definitely wrong of Tuantuan to hit you. I’ve already made him kneel in the outer room as punishment. I’ll give him a proper reprimand later.”

“But as the older brother, you shouldn’t have stirred things up. You clearly know that Yuanyuan lost to Sister Maili’er and is already angry. Yet you still said those things. Aren’t you just adding fuel to the fire and asking for trouble?”

Tuan Tuan's eyes were already red from crying earlier. Although she dared not cry anymore, tears were still welling up in her eyes, and her eyelashes were wet.

Especially since Yang Ruoqing was still scolding him, he looked so aggrieved, like a pitiful little deer.

So much so that Yang Ruoqing couldn't bear to say what she was about to say.

"But, Mom, it really hurts so much," Tuantuan said, her voice filled with grievance.

"Let me blow on it for you, it won't hurt anymore." Yang Ruoqing sighed, pulled Tuantuan into her arms, and gently blew on the wound on his forehead.

Oh, this injury is truly heartbreaking to see. If it had been someone else who did it, Yang Ruoqing would probably have beaten them to a pulp by now.

However, the perpetrator was her other child, which put this elderly mother in a difficult position.

After comforting Tuantuan, Yang Ruoqing asked him to stay inside and took out a set of writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones that she had secretly prepared beforehand and planned to give to him during the New Year.

"I'm giving you this set as compensation."

"Wow!"

Tuantuan loved these things, and his little body immediately climbed onto the high armchair behind the desk, which was relatively tall for him.

"Shall we start practicing calligraphy now?" Yang Ruoqing asked.

Tuan Tuan looked at the set of writing implements, which also included calligraphy copybooks containing poems he had never learned before.

Tuantuan was attracted by these things, her eyes sparkling, and she temporarily forgot about the grievance of being punched earlier.

"Mom, I'm itching to practice calligraphy! Is that okay?"

“Of course,” Yang Ruoqing said, affectionately patting Tuantuan’s head. “I’ll go call your brother to come in and help you grind the ingredients.”

Tuantuan tilted her head and looked at Yang Ruoqing: "Is this... my brother's apology to me?"

"Yes. But don't say it out loud. Your brother cares about his reputation, so can we just not point it out?"

Tuantuan smiled and winked, "Okay, as the older brother, I should be broad-minded and not hold a grudge against my younger brother."

"That's more like it!" Yang Ruoqing smiled and turned to go to the outer room.

There's a stubborn donkey waiting for her to 'deal with' in the outer room!

In the outer room, near the door, on the cold, hard floor, Rong Gu and Wang Cuilian had wanted to place a prayer mat, but Yang Ruoqing stopped them.

Why make Yuanyuan kneel like that, instead of putting her on a soft cushion?

As for saying that it's freezing cold and the ground is hard and could hurt a child's knees...

Yang Ruoqing wanted to punish him, to make him feel the pain so that he would learn his lesson next time.

As for how long to kneel, Yang Ruoqing knew exactly what to do to achieve the purpose of punishment without hurting the child's tender knees. She would never allow her child to suffer physical damage or develop any hidden illnesses.

So at this moment, she came to the outer room, ready to see how guilty and scared the little guy looked.

But instead, I saw him kneeling on the ground, his butt sticking out, his little mouth breathing on the dark blue floor tiles, his fingers using the steam to write and draw on the tiles.