Chapter 221: Everything is fine
Xie Hushan snatched a fried pancake from the little boy, ate it while walking towards home, and saw the old lady standing at the door from a distance, blocking the door like a door god waiting for him.

What mistake did I make again?

“Who’s here, Auntie?” Xie Hushan stuffed the last bite of pancake into his mouth, patted the residue on his hands, threw it all into his mouth, and asked vaguely.

Chen Chunxiang was relieved to see her nephew coming back, and whispered, “Your father-in-law and mother-in-law are here, and asked me to ask your second aunt to take me to that courtyard.”

“Didn’t we agree that I would pick them up this afternoon? Why did you come here this morning? You must have come on a tractor. Where’s Taozi? She’s staying in the house with my grandma.” Xie Hushan was a little confused, but he didn’t think much about it and walked around the aunt into the yard.

During the entire Spring Festival, except for the time he spent with Taozi when he brought gifts to Jin Mancang and his wife to wish them a happy new year, Xie Hushan never found the time to go to Yakou and spend time with Taozi. He felt very uncomfortable in the absence of Taozi.

For example, with regard to shoes and socks, if Taozi lived at home, it would basically not be the aunt’s turn to take the shoes and socks back to help Xie Hushan wash and dry them. The aunt took them back to wash and dry them because she was worried that after washing and drying them by the fire at the team headquarters, Xie Hushan would sleep so deeply that he might not pay attention and damage his cotton shoes.

Taozi must have been at the team headquarters helping Xie Hushan wash and grill the food, and then went back to sleep.

If Taozi was there, why would he have to take two sesame cakes as reward the next morning? He would have asked the child to help go home and get the cotton-padded shoes back. Although he ate one himself, he still lost one after all.

“Don’t go in if Taozi isn’t here. Your grandma doesn’t know!” The aunt grabbed Xie Hushan and said in a low voice.

Hearing this, Xie Hushan’s face darkened, and he subconsciously turned his head to look at the aunt: “What do you mean?”

The aunt subconsciously let go of her hand when Xie Hushan glared at her. She thought that her nephew had become the captain, and his authority had grown. The glare frightened her, and she felt that if she didn’t deal with the next question, he would turn hostile: “What are you going to do?”

“I’m not doing anything… I’m missing my wife. I was shocked when you said Taozi didn’t come.” Xie Hushan immediately laughed and his expression changed.

“Your father-in-law and his wife were brought here in a small car this morning. Luckily, I came here to help your grandma light the stove, and your second aunt brought your grandma food. We ran together. I asked your second aunt to take them to my hospital. Your uncle is on duty at the veterinary station, and there is no one at home.” The aunt whispered to Xie Hushan, “Did you do something to offend Taozi outside?”

Xie Hushan shook his head: “No, definitely not.”

“The couple is here to break off the engagement.” The aunt stared into Xie Hushan’s eyes and said word by word: “Tell me the truth! Did you do anything to make the girl unhappy?”

Judging from the old lady’s expression, if Xie Hushan said yes, he would be slapped in the face immediately.

“Okay, I get it. The other party has figured out my background and is setting the stage for Taozi’s parents to perform.” Xie Hushan took out a cigarette, stepped back two steps, lit it, and looked around:
“Okay, Auntie, you stay with grandma, I’ll go to your yard. Otherwise, I want to take Taozi back, so I have to find them to settle this matter. I didn’t expect that they would come to your door first.”

“What on earth did you do? Let me first hear if our family is right!” The aunt held Xie Hushan tightly and asked in a low voice. Xie Hushan took a deep breath and said, “It’s nothing serious. Before the New Year, Taozi kept it a secret from me, and with the help of Lao Yang, she changed my birthday and got a marriage certificate with another woman. The woman’s mother must have taken the opportunity to blackmail me and find out my background. She will not let me go until she has given me enough benefits.”

Maybe this sentence contained too much information, and the aunt couldn’t figure it out for a moment. She let go of Xie Hushan and tried to figure out with her own hands what Taozi meant by asking Lao Yang to help change her nephew’s birthday and get a marriage certificate for her nephew with another woman…

Why does this relationship sound even more complicated than that of the previous generation of the Xie family?
After being freed, Xie Hushan turned around, holding a cigarette in his mouth, and walked towards the old man’s house.

It was just past six o’clock and the sky was still quite dark. There was a faint glow in the east. Apart from the diligent old people and children who were used to getting up early and picking up manure, there were basically no people on the road. When Xie Hushan entered the house of his uncle Xie Qimao, he saw his second uncle and aunt talking to Jin Mancang and his wife in the house.

Second uncle stuttered as he asked anxiously, “Brother, sister-in-law…this matter…this…you…you can tell me whatever you want. Did our Hu Saner let Taozi down? Did he bully her behind our backs? Just tell me. If so, I will hang him up and beat him to vent Taozi’s anger first! We can’t just talk about breaking off the engagement. All relatives and friends know that the two children’s wedding is in the next two months. If it gets out…gets out…”

While he was talking, Xie Hushan came in from outside, and when he saw Xie Hushan, the honest and simple second uncle said nothing, but stepped forward and kicked Xie Hushan to the ground, almost roaring out from his chest:
“What the hell did you do! Are you flirting with other girls behind Taozi’s back?!”

Xie Hushan was kicked and fell, which made Jin Mancang and his wife jump up immediately. Jin Mancang stopped Xie Qifeng who was about to chase him and said, “Brother, brother, this has nothing to do with Hu Saner!”

Li Qiaozhi hugged Xie Hushan on the ground, crying, “Please don’t hit my brother-in-law. What if you hurt him? Get up quickly, get up quickly, Hu Saner!”

Xie Qifeng’s kick was very powerful, but he was his nephew after all, so he couldn’t be too careless. He just kicked him in the thigh, so although he staggered, he was not seriously injured. Li Qiaozhi helped him stand up.

Second aunt Zhou Hongmei crossed her arms and did not say a word when her second uncle beat her nephew, but her eyes were always fixed on Jin Mancang and his wife. She had no idea why the two of them came to her house and said they wanted to cancel the engagement, so she was forcing herself to endure it.

Now seeing that the couple is protecting Xie Hushan, it doesn’t seem like Xie Hushan has done anything to offend Taozi. That is to say, the nephew is not at fault. Since he is not at fault, then the other party is wrong.

Going to the Xie family in Zhongping to cancel the engagement is going to ruin the reputation of the Xie family. If these two people don’t explain clearly today, they will scratch their heads and faces!
And all the people had to be detained, and then my uncle Xie Qimao would come forward to call for the people from the brigade, and a group of people would take the couple to the Yakou Brigade to find a place to confront them and ask them clearly, my nephew did nothing wrong, who gave you the courage to cancel the engagement!
Li Qiaozhi helped Xie Hushan carefully clean the shoe prints left by his second uncle on his pants. Xie Hushan then helped Li Qiaozhi up, motioned for her to sit back on the kang, and asked with a smile as if nothing had happened:

“Aunt, sit down. I’m not in pain. Everything is fine at home.”

Upon hearing what her uncle said, Li Qiaozhi couldn’t hold it in any longer and she covered her face and started to cry: “Everything is fine…but my uncle is gone…”

“I’m still alive. Your cry made my second uncle’s face turn pale. If outsiders heard it, they would think that my second uncle kicked me to death.” Xie Hushan sat down next to Li Qiaozhi and said with a smile:

“You didn’t beat Taozi, did you? Let me make it clear first, this has nothing to do with her. It was all done by me. If you two beat Taozi because of this, I will go back to the cliff and punish your entire village again.”

(End of this chapter)