CHAPTER 146: CHAPTER 146 LIVING OUTSIDE TOGETHER (2)

Li Xing’an clapped his hands, "Third sister, you’re so clever, you guessed it right. By the way, how did you know it was him?"

Li Yuzhu smugly raised the corners of her lips, "Someone came looking for Da Niu, you were unhappy and looked furious, so it must be someone from the Hu Family."

"..."

"Hu Niangzi wouldn’t have found this place. She’s too temperamental to come looking, so it could only be Hu Shuangcheng."

Li Xing’an snorted coldly, "He’s quite clever to have found this place."

"A mouth under the nose, it must have been pried out." Li Yuzhu said.

"Will you let him see her? If not, I’ll chase him away." Li Xing’an didn’t like the Hu Family.

Li Yuzhu thought for a moment, "I’ll go see him."

Li Xing’an asked, puzzled, "You’ll see him? What’s there to see?"

"There are some matters I need to ask about." Li Yuzhu replied.

Li Xing’an frowned, "Alright, I’ll take you there."

The siblings didn’t let Hu Shuangcheng into the bamboo house; they met him outside.

Hu Shuangcheng peeked incessantly toward the door of the house, "Da Niu, is she okay?"

Li Yuzhu sneered, "What do you think? Put yourself in her shoes—you’re the woman, I’m the man, and I divorced you then had my own mother go to your house to curse you, ruining your reputation everywhere. How would you feel?"

Hu Shuangcheng looked sorrowful, "The divorce letter wasn’t written by me; it was written by my mother."

That was unexpected.

Li Yuzhu looked at him, "You didn’t write it?"

Hu Shuangcheng smiled bitterly, "Even though we were introduced by a matchmaker, Da Niu and I have known each other since childhood. I’m several years older than her, she has a nice temperament and she’s hard-working, why would I divorce her?"

Li Yuzhu snorted lightly, "You didn’t write the divorce letter, but you must have known when your mother wrote it, right? Why didn’t you stop her?"

"I could stop it for a moment, but not forever. She went into the village to have someone write it, who wrote it, when it was sent, I didn’t know. I only knew when she returned with it." Hu Shuangcheng sighed dejectedly, "You can’t blame me for this."

Li Yuzhu chuckled, "Indeed, you’re not to blame—others did it. But why did this ’other’ dare to do such a thing? Haven’t you thought about that?"

Hu Shuangcheng looked up, blankly staring at Li Yuzhu.

Li Xing’an sneered, "I mean, you’re quite big, but why do you have the brain of a wooden head? Why can’t you understand what my sister is saying? Your mother dared to do that, breaking your wife’s arm, writing the divorce letter, wasn’t it because you’re too incompetent? If you were a bit tougher, would she dare to treat your wife that way?"

Li Yuzhu also said, "If I were you, if my mother didn’t like my wife, I’d either divorce her and marry someone my mother approves of or live separately with my wife and ignore my mother."

"..."

"You’re letting both sides go unchecked, letting your mother and wife fight, what’s that about? Would your wife dare to confront your mother? If she wins, her reputation suffers; if she loses, she suffers herself."

"..."

"If you can’t even protect your own wife, then maybe you shouldn’t have one. You should just go back." Li Yuzhu waved her hand at him, "Da Niu is doing fine, she says she doesn’t want to see anyone right now, so you don’t need to come."

She finished speaking and went back inside.

Li Xing’an glanced at him, then also went into the house.

Hu Shuangcheng stood there, a look of dejection on his face, pondering the siblings’ words.

Pondering over them, he let out a long sigh and turned to leave.

Li Yuzhu didn’t leave, instead standing by the house door watching Hu Shuangcheng outside.

She noticed that Hu Shuangcheng hadn’t gone far, continuously pacing on the path ahead.

Her gaze flickered, and she walked toward the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Liu Da Niu began to feel dejected again.

Because the Second Princess had asked her about making a new stove, she didn’t know what to do.

Li Yuzhu walked over and asked, "Da Niu, does your family still have the old stove? Since no one is making a new one, let’s use the old one for now?"

These words reminded Liu Da Niu.

Liu Da Niu nodded, "There’s an old stove that’s been abandoned for years; it’s still usable if cleaned up."

Li Yuzhu smiled, "That’ll work, let’s go to your house and bring that old stove over."

The Second Princess was also pleased, "That’s great, Da Niu, could you bring the stove over now?"

With something to do, the gloomy expression on Liu Da Niu’s face faded quite a bit, "Okay, I’ll take you there."

Hearing that Li Yuzhu wanted to take Liu Da Niu to get the stove, Li Xing’an volunteered to go along with them, suggesting taking a small cart, "This will make it easier to transport the stove."

The Second Princess was afraid of walking, so she didn’t go.

The Great Princess also didn’t want to walk, "Li Yuzhu, please take good care of Da Niu, don’t let anyone bully her."

Li Yuzhu waved her hand, "Don’t worry, my third brother and I will accompany Da Niu, who would dare to bully her?"

Liu Da Niu felt very touched by the enthusiasm of the family, thinking to herself that if she continued to feel dejected and reluctant to eat or work, wouldn’t it be letting down their kindness?

Li Yuzhu and Li Xing’an accompanied Liu Da Niu back to Taohua River Village. They were not far from the Li Family’s bamboo house when someone suddenly ran out from the nearby wild grass, standing in the road to stop them.

The person was familiar.

Li Yuzhu and Li Xing’an were not surprised, but Liu Da Niu was startled, "You...you..."

"Da Niu, is...is your arm getting better?" Hu Shuangcheng walked quickly toward Liu Da Niu, looking at her arm and asking with concern.

"Still broken, but won’t kill me." Li Yuzhu said coldly.

Liu Da Niu looked at him, pursed her lips, and turned her head away, "What do you want?"

Hu Shuangcheng looked at her in surprise, "We are husband and wife, what else would I want? I...I was worried about you."

"Didn’t you write the divorce letter?" Liu Da Niu sneered.

Hu Shuangcheng sighed, "That wasn’t written by me, it was written by my mother."

Liu Da Niu suddenly raised her head to look at him, with an expression of surprise.

Li Yuzhu glanced at the two of them and pulled Li Xing’an aside, "Let them talk for a while, we’ll wait up ahead."

"Why do they have to be so wishy-washy?" Li Xing’an muttered, "They’re already separated, what’s there to talk about?"

Li Yuzhu chuckled with anger, Li Xing’an had never been in love, so he didn’t understand the tangled emotions between men and women.

She said, "After all, they were once a couple. It’s not something you can just cut off. Let them talk it out face to face; whether they continue or separate, they’re adults and can handle it themselves, so we shouldn’t interfere."

"Fine, we’ll wait." Li Xing’an pushed the cart a bit further away, stopping on the roadside, waiting for Liu Da Niu.

On the other side, Hu Shuangcheng saw Li Yuzhu and her brother wisely stepping away, feeling reassured to speak.

He held Liu Da Niu’s hand, "Da Niu, forget the divorce letter, I won’t take it seriously."

Liu Da Niu pulled her right hand back, looking at her injured left arm, spoke faintly, "But I’m afraid to go back to the Hu Family."

Before leaving, she was timid, afraid to step out of the Hu Family.

Once she left, she realized it wasn’t that scary.

On the contrary, the Hu Family was the truly scary place.

"Then don’t go back." Hu Shuangcheng reached out to hold her hand again.

Liu Da Niu didn’t understand, looking up suddenly at Hu Shuangcheng, "Wh...what?"

"I know you’re annoyed with my mother, I’m also annoyed with her, but she’s still my mother. She hit you, I can’t help you hit back. If you don’t want to return, then don’t return, I’ll also not go back, you live outside, I’ll accompany you outside." Hu Shuangcheng gazed intently at her.

Liu Da Niu’s eyes widened in surprise, "This..., let me think about it."

Hu Shuangcheng said, "I’ll come find you again tomorrow."

The resistance on Liu Da Niu’s face was noticeably less, Hu Shuangcheng breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Liu Da Niu wanted to say not to come looking, but Hu Shuangcheng released her hand and turned to leave.

Returning to Qingshui River Village.

Liu Da Niu stood there in confusion.

Li Yuzhu stepped off the cart, approaching her.

"Why do you have such an expression? Did he give you a hard time?" Li Yuzhu looked at Liu Da Niu’s face and asked.

The expression was no longer dejected, seemingly, rather pleased?

Did they talk about something happy?

"Nothing, let’s go, we’d better leave early and return early." Liu Da Niu said, lightly raising the corners of her lips.

.

Li Yuzhu and Li Xing’an accompanied Liu Da Niu back to Liu’s house.

Lady Liu was very surprised to see her daughter return, "Da Niu, have you been alright these past two days?" Not knowing if the matter of the divorce letter had reached the eldest daughter, but why was the corner of her eye still smiling?

"Still alright, Mom, where’s that old pancake stove at home? The Yu Zhu Family wants to make one, but it’s not easy to make quickly, so I want to move the old one over to them." Liu Da Niu said.

"It’s placed in a corner of the kitchen, the item itself is good, but it’s really dusty." Lady Liu said.

"No problem, it can be used once it’s cleaned up." Li Yuzhu smiled.

"It’s really troublesome for your family these days." Lady Liu spoke apologetically, calling for her second daughter to pour tea, while her eyes suspiciously watched her eldest daughter.