Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

Chapter 483: Chapter 253: Idle Gossip

In the evening, sure enough, after Qingmu and Zhang Huai finished their work, they set up a flat drying basket on the snow outside the courtyard. They scattered some corn kernels underneath and trapped dozens of sparrows. Even Zhang Dashuan and Zheng Changhe were beside them, acting as accomplices.

Juhua and Liu Xiaomei couldn’t bring themselves to do the cruel work of killing the little creatures, so they had Qingmu and Zhang Huai boil a pot of hot water. They prepared the little sparrows, gutting them, then coated them in a layer of seasoning and flour and began to roast them just like they did with fish.

Zhang Dashuan laughed heartily. "Good thing I was home today, or I would’ve missed out on this treat! You all roasted fish last night and didn’t even call for me and your father. So unfilial!"

Zheng Changhe chuckled. "If the two of us old geezers were to just sit there, the kids wouldn’t be able to have any fun."

All the young people snickered at his words.

Zhang Dashuan’s eyes widened. "That’s not it at all," he said. "Juhua, don’t think that just because your father and I are old, we don’t know anything. We’ve been playing since we were kids ourselves, and we know plenty of tricks you don’t. See, roasting sparrows this way isn’t ideal—one wrong move and they’ll burn. If you had a blacksmith forge some thin iron skewers, you could string up the sparrows, hold them to roast, and keep turning them. Wouldn’t that cook them more evenly?"

Zhang Yang immediately chimed in with praise. "Dad, you’re brilliant! That’s a great idea. Brother, when you go to Xiatang Market tomorrow, stop by the blacksmith and have some iron skewers made. From now on, we can use them to roast fish, rabbits, and sparrows." He was already addicted.

Zhang Huai smiled, glanced at Juhua, and nodded.

Sparrows took longer to cook than the small fish, making them more likely to burn. So, they carved several long bamboo skewers and threaded the sparrows onto them for roasting.

As they ate the fragrant, crispy roasted sparrows, everyone, young and old, praised them endlessly. Only He shook her head and said, "What a sin, killing so many little birds!"

This made Liu Xiaomei and Juhua feel a bit embarrassed. They smiled with pursed lips as they chewed on the sparrows. As for the men and the little boys, they couldn’t care less!

That evening, the whole family gathered around the fire bucket. Juhua seized the opportunity to tell Yang Family that she was ready to get engaged to Zhang Huai.

The whole family was instantly overjoyed!

While Yang Family was delighted, she also found it strange. "What happened? Didn’t you say you needed to talk to me about it first? How did you agree so quickly?"

Juhua hesitated for a moment, then told her parents about how she had tested Huai Zi, wanting to prevent any misunderstandings or problems from arising. This inevitably led to her mentioning the incident where Xiaonian’s wife had pulled off her face veil. She figured it was better to tell them so her family would be on guard and avoid dealing with that woman in the future.

Zheng Changhe flew into a rage when he heard this. "That damned woman!" he cursed. "Why can’t she keep her hands to herself!"

Yang Family’s face was grim. "What do you know?" she said. "She wanted to arrange a match between her own younger sister and Huai Zi, but his mother turned her down. She’s holding a grudge!"

It dawned on Juhua. ’No wonder something felt off.’ As a married woman herself, Xiaonian’s wife had no direct connection to Huai Zi, so Juhua hadn’t even considered jealousy as a motive. ’Turns out she was being jealous on her sister’s behalf.’

Qingmu asked, puzzled, "Does she think embarrassing Juhua like that will make Huai Zi want to marry her sister?"

Yang Family’s expression darkened. "People like her are just narrow-minded and stupid. She just wanted to spite Huai Zi. Seeing him unhappy would make her feel better. With a woman like her in the village, things are going to get ’lively’ again. Granny Hua has changed for the better, and now she’s here to take her place. It’s strange, though. Why haven’t we heard about her causing any trouble in the past two years?"

Qingmu reasoned, "Probably because it was her first year after marrying in, so she had to hold back a bit. Then she had a baby and didn’t have time to run around, so she never had the chance to stir up trouble."

Juhua remembered what the woman had said about Liu’er that day and nodded. "She’s definitely a troublemaker. She was gossiping about Liu’er today. It was only because Guizhi ignored her that she got embarrassed and stopped talking."

Zheng Changhe snorted. "Hmph. If she wants to stir up trouble, she’d better remember whose family she married into. Does she think the Zhou family is like Li Laoda’s? Shorty Zhou is a very strict man, and while his brother Zhou Baozhu is a little less so, he’s not a pushover either. If that daughter-in-law of theirs dares to cause trouble, those two brothers would divorce her and send her right back to her parents."

Qingmu said dismissively, "I don’t care what she’s like. If she ever dares to mess with our family again, we’ll do what Juhua said and march right up to their door. But let’s ignore her for now. Mother, when are you going to arrange the engagement for Juhua and Huai Zi?"

A smile spread across Yang Family’s face. "In the twelfth month," she said. "It’s almost the New Year, so it’ll be a festive time. Her father, go talk to Brother Dashuan and settle on an auspicious day. When the time comes, we’ll have her maternal grandmother and uncles come over, and we have to invite her grandaunt too. We didn’t invite her for Qingmu’s engagement, and the old lady was not happy."

Juhua felt a bit daunted. "Mother," she asked hesitantly, "it’s just an engagement, not the wedding. Why do we need to make such a big fuss?"