Meeting Again

"Sigh, isn't that the Zhou family's jinx and her silly father?"

"Who else could it be?"

"I heard that their family was chased out by the Zhou family. Where did they stay last night?"

"I heard she's staying with the Liu family."

"Liu family?"

The village women who were washing clothes saw Zhou Yu and his daughter from afar and started to openly gossip about them.

"Hey, isn't this Mrs. Lin? Mrs. Lin, did you really take in the eldest son of the Zhou family and let them stay in your second uncle's courtyard?"

Lin Xiujuan didn't say anything.

"Ah, no way. Mrs. Lin, what were you thinking? Aren't you afraid of being jinxed by them? You're really bold!" The old woman continued.

"From now on, I won't dare to get close to your family. I don't want to be tainted by bad luck."

"That's right, that's right."

…

When Lin Xiujuan and Liu Yuanyuan heard those women's words, they immediately felt that their words were very ear-piercing. Liu Yuanyuan glared at Zhou Xiaoli and beat her clothes angrily.

Lin Xiujuan wasn't any better. She immediately scolded the old woman who cursed her family. "Pfft, what unlucky? You're the unlucky ones. Your entire family is unlucky!"

"My man is loyal. He helped Zhou Yu because he had helped him before. This is a good deed. It's loyalty. What do you know?!"

"You're afraid of being jinxed? Alright, we've used the water in the Little Clear River. Don't use it anymore!"

As she spoke, she deliberately slapped the water with the clothes rod.

The old women pursed their lips. Although they were angry, none of them said anything. Lin Xiujuan was famous for being shrewish in Boyu Village. In terms of quarreling, not many people could beat her at it.

Zhou Xiaoli acted as if she did not hear the conversation between the old women. She led Zhou Yu straight to the reeds in front of them.

The reeds here were very lush. After finding a location at random, the two of them started cutting the reeds.

Zhou Yu used to cut the reeds for the family when they were still living with the rest of the Zhou family, so there was no need for Zhou Xiaoli to keep an eye on him.

As they wanted to prepare more thatch, the two of them cut reeds for a longer time than usual.

They cut reeds from morning till noon. The women who were washing clothes by the river had also changed by then.

During this period, Zhou Yu carried the thatch back home twice. When he returned, he would carry the last load back.

However, Zhou Xiaoli waited for a long time but Zhou Yu did not return. Zhou Xiaoli was worried that something would happen to Zhou Yu, so she stopped cutting reeds. She stood up, and used some weeds to tie the remaining thatch together. Then, she prepared to go home.

Just as she picked up the thatch, she realized that there was blood beside the grass patch. Following the blood trail, she saw a rabbit.

The rabbit was covered by the grass. If one did not look carefully, they would not have noticed it. The rabbit seemed to be injured and was lying motionless inside the grass.

Zhou Xiaoli walked up to the rabbit and picked it up. She found a hole in the rabbit's neck, and its body was still warm. It seemed that it had just died.

It was a stroke of good luck. Everyone in the family needed nourishment. Moreover, the rabbit skin should be able to sell for a few coins too.

Thinking of this, Zhou Xiaoli wrapped the rabbit with thatch and hid it behind the pile of thatch that she had just tied. She picked the bundle up and walked towards the village.

As soon as she walked into the village, she heard the laughter of children from afar, and the word "idiot" from time to time.

Zhou Xiaoli immediately guessed what had happened, and she could not help but to quicken her pace. When she got closer, she realized that Zhou Yu was surrounded by the children in the village. He was in the squatting position to gather the scattered thatch.

Some of those brats stomped on the thatch, while others deliberately threw it far away.

Zhou Xiaoli was about to rush forward to stop him when a man's voice sounded. "Move aside."

The children suddenly screamed and scattered like frightened birds.

After the children ran away, Zhou Xiaoyu saw the strange young man from last night again. Same as last night, his amber eyes were emotionless.

"Well, thank you." Zhou Xiaoli was stunned for a moment before thanking him.

The young man had wanted to leave, but after hearing Zhou Xiaoli's voice, he stopped and raised his head to look at her. He pursed his thin lips and said, "There's no need. They're just blocking my way."

At this moment, Zhou Xiaoyu called out to Zhou Xiaoli and jogged over with Zhou Junjun.

The two little fellows ran to Zhou Xiaoli's side. When they saw the young man, they were somewhat afraid of him.

Zhou Xiaoyu tugged at Zhou Xiaoli's clothes nervously. She looked at the young man timidly and whispered, "Sis…"

The young man did not say anything else. He only nodded at Zhou Xiaoli and walked out of the village.

Zhou Xiaoli withdrew her gaze from him and said to the two little fellows, "Alright, help Dad to pick up the thatch quickly. We're going home."

The few of them tidied up the thatch and rushed home.

After setting the thatch in a pile in the courtyard, Zhou Xiaoyu followed closely behind Zhou Xiaoli and spoke to her in a childish voice. "Sis, he's so scary."

Zhou Xiaoli was confused. "Who? Who are you afraid of?"

Zhou Xiaoyu then continued. "He will eat children."

Hearing this, Zhou Xiaoli was even more confused.

Zhang Lan happened to hear their conversation and said, "Third Sister should be talking about Wei Chiyu who lived at the end of the village."

After hearing his name, some vague memories of the young man came to Zhou Xiaoli's mind. They were all bits and pieces that she heard from others such as he was vicious and had a bad reputation.

"He doesn't walk around the village often so you probably don't know him." Zhang Lan then asked, "Did you meet him?"

Thus, Zhou Xiaoli briefly told Zhang Lan what just happened.

Zhang Lan nodded and said, "We should thank him."

Zhou Xiaoyu blinked and asked, "But, Sis, Cousin Anfu said that he's a bad person. He sets fires and eats children."

Zhou Junjun nodded, affirming his sister's words.

The cousin that Zhou Xiaoyu was talking about was Lai Jinniang's eldest grandson. He had mentioned this at home, and Zhou Xiaoli had some impression of him.

It was said that Wei Chiyu was the child of a relative of the Lu Family. He had been fostered in the Lu Family since he was young. He was rebellious and refused to be disciplined. When he was unhappy, he set fire to the newly harvested wheat of the Lu Family.

Just a few days before Zhou Xiaoli entered this body, he captured the youngest son of the Lu family and asked them to give him twenty taels of silver. Otherwise, he would eat the child.

At that time, he had tied the child to the rack and nearly lit a fire. That frightened many children in the village.

Although Zhou Xiaoli had only met the young man twice, she felt that it was inappropriate to judge a person's character based on these comments.

Hence, she smiled and asked, "Then let me ask you this. Everyone outside says that I'm a jinx. Do you think so too?"

The two little fellows immediately shook their heads furiously.

"No, no, Sis is not a jinx."

Zhou Xiaoli smiled and said, "See, if what others say about me is wrong, would what they say about others be right then?"