Chapter 89:
The next morning, Li Sanmao was called up early by Old Li Tou.
Luo Zhi’er heard the movements outside but didn’t get up…
She didn’t plan to make breakfast this morning. She came back late last night and didn’t want to set this precedent, since it would become her job once it turned into a habit.
In this home, no matter how much she did, it was thankless. After doing the work, she would still be scolded by Zhou Shi for wasting food and causing trouble for them.
Besides, there weren’t any extra ingredients at home for them to make breakfast, so she lay in bed a bit longer…
Old Li Tou paced back and forth at the doorway dejectedly, grabbed the hoe, grabbed the dustpan, had Li Sanmao look for the raincoat. Seeing she hadn’t gotten up, his stomach growled for a while, and then he left!
He had originally wanted to tell her to just acquire it from the village!
Since she hadn’t gotten up, he would talk about it when he came back in the afternoon! Let him think about it too!
In the middle of the night, it rained a little, and the morning fog and dew were quite heavy!
After they left, Luo Zhi’er tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
She casually threw on a loose outer garment. She didn’t know if it was just in her mind, but this clothing seemed a bit looser than before.
She got up when the western sky was slightly bright. First, in the yard, she held her breath and concentrated, took deep breaths, and exercised her body for a while.
Because she had gotten up to exercise yesterday morning and felt refreshed.
Her body felt quite light all day, without dizziness, so she felt this training was good for her body.
Looking outside at the misty fog, with little birds chirping, faint sounds of people driving cattle in the fog, and the murmur of the small river flowing…
Luo Zhi’er stretched her muscles, practiced Five Step Fist for a while, and her eyes lit up when she saw the stone stool under the big tree used for cooling off. She casually picked it up.
This stone stool was really good, but it felt like her strength was a bit lacking!
She lifted another one with one hand. This action nearly scared Zhou Shi to death, who had just gotten up and squatted in the backyard latrine for a long time before coming back!
She had originally planned to yell at the young wives to get up and work.
Looking up, there was a big black post standing in the yard, holding a big black hunk in each hand. Looking closely, how was it this fat hoof?
It turned out she was holding a stone stool in each hand, scaring people in the yard. She was so frightened her eyes nearly popped out!
She screamed and ran into the main hall, pounding on Li Zhenzhu’s door with thuds, “Zhenzhu! Open the door quick!” Zhenzhu let out a dry wail: “What is it?”
She was furious.
With disheveled hair, she got up, opened the door, and said angrily, “Mom! What are you doing this early in the morning? I still want to sleep a bit more!”
“The sky is already bright, what sleep! Oh no, Zhenzhu! Come with Mom to see outside quick!”
Zhenzhu was extremely displeased!
Her heart was on fire. It was rare to come home and get a good night’s sleep.
Mom was actually making trouble out of nothing, asking her to go look outside!
“I’m not going! I want to sleep!” Zhenzhu closed her eyes, groggy, planning to go back and burrow into the quilt.
Sleep!
“You girl, when I tell you to come, you come!”
She grabbed her arm and pulled her to stand at the main hall doorway, looking outside…
At this sight, Zhenzhu’s eyes suddenly widened, “This… this… Luo Zhi’er? What’s she gone crazy for?”
Mother and daughter nearly fainted.
Luo Zhi’er in the yard, though her body was fat, was nimbly practicing various moves!
She was heard shouting hey ah ha from her mouth, and the big stone stool spun and switched hands.
Suddenly, the stone stool in her right hand slipped, and one accidentally fell. Mother and daughter cried “Ah!” and covered their eyes!
They thought it would smash her foot, but unexpectedly, she just slightly lifted her foot, and her toe could hook it?
This stone stool was specially made by the village’s old stonemason, at least fifty or sixty pounds each, right?
And she could lift it like this?
Li Zhenzhu felt she couldn’t even move it…
She had an idea in her heart that this Luo Zhi’er would probably be hard to deal with from now on. How did she have such great strength?
She just lightly kicked the stone stool on her toe and caught it back in that hand, raising it over her head, continuing hey ah ha, spinning it over her head in circles, one after another…
Just like a street performer doing magic tricks…
It was simply too shocking!
If they had known, they could have had her perform chest-breaking big stones. Maybe she could even earn some silver!
This fat hoof, was she afraid of being discovered by them and sent out to earn silver, so she had been hiding it all along?
“Mom! That’s Luo Zhi’er?”
Li Zhenzhu rubbed her eyes, thinking she had seen wrong!
It was indeed that fat one! The familiar back!
“Besides her, who else?”
“What’s suddenly wrong with her? Has she gone mad?”
“…This fat hoof, who knows when she got such great strength? Why didn’t we notice before?”
Zhou Shi said furiously that she had been pretending to be weak all along, when she actually had such great skills.
What to do now?
Guilty, afraid, a bit of relief flashed in her mind. She had done so many bad things before, luckily she hadn’t been angered and dealt with her!
She had thought her actions were flawless, having Xiao Zhou Shi secretly watch her every move, but how had she not discovered it?
Could Xiao Zhou Shi be in cahoots with her? Deliberately hiding it?
If these two sisters-in-law teamed up against her, what then? Too hard to control!
Suddenly, she remembered the kick that sent her flying yesterday. She said it was unintentional!
Given this situation, this strength, it really might have been unintentional.
Otherwise, could Zhou Meizhen still be standing here fine?
Although Li Zhenzhu was also puzzled, sleepiness overpowered everything.
“Mom! Alright, I’ve seen it. You can go back to your room now. I still want to sleep some more!”
Zhenzhu yawned nonstop, patted her mouth with her hand, turned, and walked away, starting to chase her out!
“You girl, all you know is sleep. Your mom didn’t even eat yesterday afternoon, hungry with my front sticking to my back. Don’t you know to get Mom some food!”
Li Zhenzhu’s eyes darted around, “Oh, Mom! You have two young wives to order around. Why bother me with this!”
She shook her arm,
“Mom… you know how bad my cooking is!”
“Bad is still better than nothing!”
What made Zhou Shi even more depressed was that Old Li Tou had taken away the key to her room before going to the field this morning!
Apart from the grain left for Oldest Brother and Third Child’s Family, there was none for her! Nor for Zhenzhu!
He said both mother and daughter had to be punished!
She thought once he left, she could have a little private meal with Zhenzhu!
This old man, after one night, forgot what he said last night about punishing her, just like always!
Who knew, when he got up, he was glaring fiercely, hating that she wouldn’t advance the capital, and sternly and viciously called her up too!
After chasing her out, he locked the door to the room where they slept and took the key.
This old man was too mean. She had no door to sneak food now!
Luo Zhi’er, Xiao Zhou Shi, and others’ arrangement today was to go to the mountain to pick mushrooms. If there were acorns, bring some back too!
Only Zhou Shi and Li Zhenzhu were left at home to watch the house and do housework. Sure enough, Zhou Shi was still thinking of having a little private meal with her daughter.
Who would have thought he would pull this move?
Anxiously, she woke Zhenzhu, only to see this even more dizzying scene. With nowhere to go, Zhou Shi followed Zhenzhu back to her room to sleep some more!
Zhenzhu had a face full of displeasure…
Luo Zhi’er finished exercising, went inside to wash up, called Miaomiao to get up, gathered the things to bring up the mountain, and prepared to leave. In a bit, the sun would come out and it would be hot. Now was just right!
She didn’t call Xiao Zhou Shi. If she went, fine; if not, she didn’t care. She even said she was finding things for her to do!
