70s Delicate Girl: A Guide to Being a Rich Woman-Chapter 87: Laundry Encounter

"You just wash your own clothes, that’s enough. Your dad and I work every day, and our clothes get really dirty, so we’ll wash them ourselves. Come back early for dinner, alright?" Li Caixia waved her hand; as long as her daughter only needed to wash her own clothes, sometimes she would even help out with that.

Xu Mumu’s clothes were slightly newer compared to the family’s, and they didn’t have any patches. The rest of their clothes were quite dirty; what if they ruined their daughter’s clothes by washing them together?

Xu Mumu didn’t mind. She carried her clothes in a wooden basin, grabbed a soapberry from the windowsill, and headed out.

Recently, the flooding had gradually stopped, and the river’s water level had dropped significantly. The paddy fields of the brigade had been filled with water, and the river had enough water now. There was no need for the reservoir to release more water.

Even so, there were still quite a few people doing laundry. During the day, everyone had to go to work, and not everyone had free time, so laundry time was squeezed into the evening.

"Mumu, you’re here to do laundry, huh?" A somewhat thin girl with two braids smiled at Xu Mumu.

"Yeah, Qiuling, that’s a lot of laundry!" Xu Mumu’s eyes widened as she saw the several large wooden basins Chen Qiu Ling had placed by the riverside.

Chen Qiu Ling was Zhao Qing’s cousin Zhao Hong’s wife, married for only two years.

Life wasn’t easy for Chen Qiu Ling in the Zhao Family. Brigade leader Zhao Guodong had split from his brother, and Chen Qiu Ling’s mother-in-law was quite formidable.

Married for two years with no news of a baby, Chen Qiu Ling naturally lived a life of submission in the Zhao Family.

"Yeah, it’s all the family’s clothes." Chen Qiu Ling wore a bitter expression as she looked at the basin Xu Mumu carried, which only held her own clothes.

"I see." Xu Mumu smiled faintly, found a stone, and started scrubbing on it.

Chen Qiu Ling didn’t mind whether Xu Mumu talked to her or not, she just rambled on about how hard her life was at her in-laws’.

Xu Mumu glanced at the bitter-faced Chen Qiu Ling, who was still complaining about her hardships. Xu Mumu raised an eyebrow; with the infamous reputation of Mr. Zhao’s family, this girl probably contributed a lot to it.

In these times, who had an easy life? Everyone was getting by the same way. In the brigade, there were even people skinnier than Chen Qiu Ling, living even harder lives.

"Mumu, I heard you get along well with Zhao Qing." Chen Qiu Ling switched the topic as Xu Mumu wasn’t responding.

"It’s alright." Xu Mumu replied indifferently. She knew Zhao Qing’s thoughts, but she didn’t want to lead Zhao Qing on, nor did she think Zhao Qing was right for her.

"Zhao Qing is quite good, you know." Chen Qiu Ling probed Xu Mumu, seeing that she showed no sign of bashfulness when mentioning Zhao Qing.

"Yeah, Qing has indeed helped me a lot." Xu Mumu smiled, glanced at Chen Qiu Ling, and began scrubbing her clothes, making some soap bubbles with the soapberry in her hand.

"Zhao Qing isn’t young anymore; once he graduates this year, he’ll probably start looking for a wife. Wonder which girl will be that lucky." Chen Qiu Ling chuckled.

"Who knows? Qiuling, are you meddling in Qing’s family affairs?" Xu Mumu looked at Chen Qiu Ling and felt she wasn’t a simple character.

"Haha, I’m just saying." Chen Qiu Ling quickly caught on to Xu Mumu’s meaning, a flash of embarrassment on her face.

Changing the subject, Chen Qiu Ling started talking about the young talents from her own family. Xu Mumu rolled her eyes silently; what was Chen Qiu Ling up to? Trying to set her up?

She remembered that Chen Qiu Ling’s family was particularly poor. They couldn’t even afford a dowry at the wedding, only bringing two sets of clothes when joining Old Zhao’s family.

Yet here she was, constantly boasting about her family’s brothers. Could she really be targeting her?

Since when did she become so desirable? Considering her family’s conditions, they were actually quite good in the brigade, at least they wouldn’t go hungry.

Tired of hearing Chen Qiu Ling’s brainwashing, Xu Mumu quickly finished scrubbing the clothes. She bade Chen Qiu Ling goodbye and headed home.

Back at home, while hanging laundry, Xu Mumu smelled the aroma from the kitchen. There was a hint of meatiness to it, and she instantly recognized the scent—it must be from fried bee pupae. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Impressive as the aroma was, knowing it came from bee pupae, Xu Mumu instantly lost her appetite.

"Sis, the pupa is fried and tastes great, come and try some!" Xu Minghui excitedly said to Xu Mumu, holding a fried pupa from the bowl and taking a bite.

The crunch, followed by a burst, of that sound unnerved Xu Mumu.

"Go ahead and eat, I don’t like that." Xu Mumu waved her hand frantically, begging off.

"Mumu, this is really delicious." Li Caixia looked at her daughter, bemused, that she wouldn’t eat something so good.

"Mom, I really don’t want any." Xu Mumu replied helplessly.

"Tsk tsk, this is so delicious, you’re really missing out by not eating it." Xu Minghui tossed a couple more into his mouth, thoroughly enjoying them.

"Let it be a loss then." Xu Mumu’s mouth twitched as she headed back to her room, out of sight, out of mind.

Back in her room, Xu Mumu still smelled the fried bee pupae, making it a bit hard for her to concentrate on reading.

Once most of the family had eaten, Li Caixia put away the rest of the bee pupae, planning to save them for later.

"Mom, when I went to do laundry earlier, I ran into Qiuling, and she kept talking about her family’s brothers." Xu Mumu said while eating radish from her bowl of porridge, mentioning her encounter during laundry time.

"Chen Qiu Ling? From Zhao Hong’s family?" Li Caixia frowned.

"Yeah, she kept telling me how diligent and capable her brothers are. Mom, do you know anything about their family?" Xu Mumu asked curiously.

"Don’t listen to such nonsense. Her brother is just a troublemaker, always scheming and stealing, not a good person. Chen Qiu Ling’s older brother even beat his wife to death and spent two years in jail." Xu Minghui, more informed, shared.

"Exactly, exactly. Chen Qiu Ling is bold, huh? Trying to swindle my daughter. Just wait, tomorrow I’ll see her and tear that mouth of hers." Li Caixia was visibly upset.