Chapter 63 - 63 I Am Not Joking
63 I Am Not Joking
Xie Heng’s gaze turned cold as he started back at Zhao Chuchu, making her head itch a little.
“I-I was just joking.”
“It’s not funny.”
Xie Heng turned and walked outside.
Not expecting the man to get angry, Zhao Chuchu quickly chased after him. “Hey, the lady’s hungry. What should we make?”
“Why are you asking me? What can a blind man like me make?” Xie Heng asked.
“You…”
Zhao Chuchu was confused by Xie Heng’s sudden temper, but it only took her a few seconds to understand why.
He was simply putting up an act for the lady.
She immediately became speechless, thinking, “You don’t have to go so far. What makes you think she’ll fall in love with you?”
Her thought was written all over her face, and Xie Heng immediately saw through them.
He almost could not hold his chuckle back as he flicked her forehead. “What the heck are you even thinking about?”
“What was that for?” Zhao Chuchu scolded as she glared at him.
The conversation sounded like a couple arguing about something with Yuan Hui.
It made things awkward for her as she thought she was using the couple’s room.
Because of that, she felt even more grateful to her savior.
Zhao Chuchu dragged Xie Heng to the kitchen and whispered, “I really can’t cook! What if my food kills her? Wouldn’t that be a waste? Just help me out here.”
She even blinked, acting as if she was a weak girl.
Xie Heng wanted to refuse, but he couldn’t express it.
Clearly, the Zhao Chuchu in front of him was different than the one he knew.
Her activeness and liveliness made it seem like there was nothing in the world that could upset her.
In the end, he let out a sigh. Since he was the one who asked her to save the lady, he had no choice but to make some congee.
Zhao Chuchu returned to the room. “That was my husband. He has lost his sight, so his temper is a little weird. Don’t mind him,” she explained to Yuan Hui.
“I-it’s okay. I’m sorry for bothering the both of you.”
“Don’t worry about it. The congee will be done soon. Oh! And, someone will come here later in the day to work. Try not to alert them.”
“Okay.”
Zhao Chuchu left the room again after that and waited for Xie Heng to finish making the congee before bringing it to Yuan Hui.
She also helped the injured change her bandage. After the meal, Yuan Hui fell asleep right away.
Once the sun was high up in the sky, Niu Tongsheng and the rest arrived to work.
After what had happened the night before, they planned to finish building the wall as quickly as they could in case someone came to interrupt them again.
Zhao Chuchu did not head out that day too. Instead, she treated Xie Heng’s eyes in front of Niu Tongsheng and the rest.
She took an eye mask out of her carry-on storage and applied it around Xie Heng’s eyes. Since the mask was black, it made the man look a little scary.
Xie Heng felt a cold sensation around his eyes and didn’t know what to say.
“Will your eyes heal with this?” Xie Jun excitedly asked.
“Who knows? Let’s try it out first.”
“It’ll be great if your eyes can get better!”
Xie Heng’s eyes were now covered with bandages, and he couldn’t see a thing.
“Yes. I hope it will.”
Niu Tongsheng and the rest were talking about it. Although they weren’t loud, the place was small enough for Xie Heng to hear them.
The man asked his brother to take him back into the house as he didn’t want to hear their pity remarks.
Yuan Hui was woken up by the men’s talk as well.
She stayed still on the bed as she didn’t want them to realize she was there, which might cause trouble for the family.
Zhao Chuchu took the chance to talk to Niu Tongsheng about purchasing land.
“Why did you suddenly want to buy land on the mountain? You can’t even plant anything there.” Niu Tongsheng was confused.
Zhao Chuchu let out a sigh. “Our farm was sold, and I was in the worst stage of my life. I’m fully awake now, and I’m anxious since we don’t have anything that can make us money. We can’t rely on the mountain for the rest of our lives, can we?”
“But, you can’t even build a farm there.”
“We can try other things. I read something about planting on the mountain, and I want to try it out.”
“But…”
“Is it not possible?”
“Not at all. You don’t even have to buy it. According to the law, if you open up a piece of land yourself, you don’t have to pay the tax for the first three years. Whatever you plant on that land belongs to you.”
“Then, what if I take the entire mountain?” Zhao Chuchu pointed at the mountain behind her house.
The other people couldn’t help but laugh a little.
“Chuchu, how are you going to use the entire mountain?”
“He’s right. Farming is not easy as you think.”
“If you really want to farm, why not ask the Tang family to rent you their land? The husband had passed, and their child is still young. We can even teach you if you farm there.”
“I’m not joking here,” Zhao Chuchu said in a serious tone.
Niu Tongsheng was stunned for a second. “Do you seriously want the entire mountain?”
The lady nodded.
“If you want that much, then you’ll have to head to the government office,” Niu Tongsheng seriously replied. “You also need the imperial court’s approval for this. They’ll need to find out how big the mountain is, and you’ll have to pay a small fee.”
“Can you help me get those done?”
“You really want to buy the land?”
“Yes.”
Her option was not limited to planting vegetables. She had a lot of seeds with her, and she could try all of them out.
Everyone turned to look at each other, and some tried to talk her out.
“Chuchu, although it’s not going to be expensive to purchase the mountain, that money is still enough for you to buy a few plowed lands. It’s tough to grow something on this mountain.”
“It’s okay. I’ve already made up my mind.”
“Fine…” Niu Tongsheng sighed. “I’ll help you ask around in a couple of days. It’s almost the spring season. Even if you buy the mountain, you won’t have enough time or energy to plow the entire land. Why are you so stubborn?”
“You’ll never know until you try.”
Seeing how Xie Heng remained silent, Niu Tongsheng thought they had already discussed it.
The fence was finally built up when the sun was about to set.
Zhao Chuchu looked around and finally felt the safety she needed.
Since it wasn’t late, Zhao Chuchu asked Niu Tongsheng and the rest to dine with them as Xie Heng had hunted two rabbits the night before.
She had to ask Old Mrs. Chen and her daughter-in-law to help cook the meal.
Zhao Chuchu even bought chicken and vegetables to make the meal a feast.
When Madam Yang saw Zhao Chuchu going home with the grocery, she wanted to take them away from the young lady again.
However, just a step in, she recalled how hard the young lady had hit her, and she stopped.
Zhao Chuchu walked past Madam Yang as if the woman was not there.
That caused the woman to grit her teeth angrily, but there was nothing she could do about it.
While the Xie family was enjoying a feast, the Zhao family was in tears.
They knew about Zhao Xing leaving late at night the day before, and they were also used to him not coming back for a few days. Thus, they weren’t concerned about him not returning until a hunter carried Zhao Xing back home.
His legs, arms, and even his penis were broken from a fall, and he was barely breathing.