The Peasant Wife: The Prime Minister's Beloved

"Soft? Do you mean to speak softly, put on the lowest posture, or even beg her with extreme grievance? But look, she even turned a deaf ear to the words of the old lady of the Chen family. Can we, who are insignificant people, expect her to be kind?"

Aunt Jiang recalled the embarrassing and fruitless situation at the Chen family yesterday, sighed inwardly and frowned unconsciously.

"Can we really move her heart by smiling and bowing our heads? What if she is still as cold as ice and doesn't show us any mercy? Then wouldn't we have worked in vain?"

Aunt Jiang's eyes inadvertently met with her man's, and the subtle complaint in the man's eyes made her heart tighten.

He had planned to go out to work today to add some money to the family, but his wife had a sudden idea and forced him to go up the mountain to dig herbs.

As a result, after following Chen Xi's butt and working hard for a whole day, he only harvested baskets of useless dry grass. The annoyance and resentment in his heart almost overflowed.

"Let's go back first. We have to go and discuss this with the village chief. If everyone joins forces, maybe she will give us some face. Let's also take those little items that we accidentally got from the Chen family yesterday. Maybe they can come in handy. Let's see what Chen Xi has to say."

Mrs. Xiong's words were like a spring breeze that blew away the gloom on everyone's faces. Everyone nodded in agreement and then dispersed, each driving their creaking ox carts and setting off on their journey home.

After returning to the familiar village, several people did not even bother to brush off the dust on their bodies or go home to drink some water and catch their breath. Instead, they ran straight to the home of the village chief Xu Gaoping.

As soon as we entered the door, we started talking to each other, our anxious and urgent mood was evident in our words, and we told the whole story to the village chief Xu Gaoping.

Village chief Xu Gaoping listened patiently, his brows gradually wrinkled into the shape of the Chinese character "川".

Aunt Jiang's man couldn't wait any longer, and he grabbed the village chief's arm tightly, almost begging, "Village chief, you have to judge this for us! We just want to improve our lives and learn a few tricks from Chen Xi secretly, who knows..."

His words were full of helplessness and bitterness.

Village chief Xu Gaoping sighed, his eyes revealing a hint of sympathy mixed with a bit of severity.

"Alas, this is not a easy matter to handle. You have imitated Chen Xi's skills privately without permission, which is already wrong in the first place. Now you want to ask for an explanation, which is like a dumb person eating bitter herbs, unable to speak out your grievances."

There was a hint of blame in his tone, but more of it was love for his fellow villagers and helplessness about the current situation.

But Chen Xi's behavior this time really made people feel that it was a bit too much.

In this closely connected small village, neighbors should support each other, share weal and woe, and enjoy happiness together.

However, she seemed to deliberately avoid this simple friendship. She was so indifferent and rejected the requests for help from her fellow villagers, as if she had an unspeakable secret in her heart. She only wanted to enjoy the benefits and achievements of collecting herbs alone, completely ignoring the expectations and hardships of others.

Several women sat together, talking to each other, dissatisfaction quietly spreading among them, and everyone's face showed a bit of helplessness and indignation.

"Yes, too selfish." These words came out of their mouths, not only with blame, but also revealed a hint of disappointment.

In their eyes, the envy and respect they once had for Chen Xi had quietly been cast into a shadow.

At this time, the village chief Xu Gaoping walked into the crowd. He was old and wise, and his eyes were full of calmness that came from seeing through the world.

Seeing everyone gathered together and the dissatisfaction revealed in their expressions, he had already guessed something.

Xu Gaoping did not rush to intervene, but chose to remain silent, waiting for the villagers to start talking on their own with an almost kind attitude.

Finally, Aunt Yuan couldn't hold back any longer. As she spoke, her eyes flickered with hope, as if she was asking for help or trying to please the village chief.

"Village Chief, we would like to ask you to come forward and let Chen Xi teach us the ins and outs of digging herbs. You are highly respected in the village, and she should listen to what you say."

After saying this, he took a few steps forward and personally poured tea for the village chief. His gesture showed concern and a hint of urgency.

However, Xu Gaoping remained unmoved. He shook his head slightly, with a faint bitter smile on his lips.

"She may not listen to me. Remember last time on the ox cart, I suggested that everyone follow Chen Xi to learn to identify herbs, hoping to share this gift of nature. But what was the result? She rejected it outright. I think she is determined not to teach you."

As soon as these words came out, there was another low sigh from the crowd.

"What should we do? She doesn't even listen to you, so we can't expect her to do anything about it."

A villager asked helplessly, his voice full of frustration.

Xu Gaoping sighed, with a hint of helplessness in his eyes.

"Craftsmanship takes root in people's minds. If Chen Xi doesn't want to teach, it is her freedom and right. We can't force her, right? We still have to think of other ways, or try to understand her position. Maybe there are difficulties behind it that we don't understand."

Although these words did not provide a direct solution, they were like a gentle sedative, relieving the anger in the hearts of those present.

When the villagers heard the village chief express his attitude in such a sincere and tactful manner, their hearts suddenly became clear, and everyone's eyes flashed with understanding yet disappointment.

They realized that the village chief was really unwilling to get involved in this complicated matter this time.

Then, the villagers exchanged a few tacit glances with each other, and their complaints and unfinished words turned into soft sighs. Then they turned around one by one, and with a bit of helplessness and heaviness in their steps, they each set out on their journey home.

……

Chen Xi hurriedly crossed the threshold, and the breath of home rushed towards her, bringing her a touch of warmth and comfort.

Without even having time to shake off the dust on her body, she walked straight into the kitchen. In the vegetable basket in her hand, ribs and pig intestines lay quietly, as if in silent anticipation of the upcoming delicious transformation.

She first rinsed the ribs carefully. The crisp sound of water was particularly pleasant in the quiet kitchen. The blood on the ribs was washed away, revealing the tempting light pink meat.

Next comes the pig intestines, which is no easy task.

Chen Xi looked at the winding pig intestine and couldn't help but frowned slightly.

This is a job that requires both patience and dexterity. She knows that although the process is tedious, the unique flavor of the pig intestines if cooked properly is enough to make all the hard work worthwhile.

So, she gently called Chen Rong to come and help, and the two of them worked together, one washing and the other flipping, with perfect coordination, they made this seemingly tricky ingredient clean and translucent little by little.