Translator: Flying Lines

  Xiao Baozhu was originally watching the game with the others but she somehow spotted Scholar Wong in the crowd.

  Scholar Wong was still with his friend. He did not cheer or shout but just stood there watching with a slight smile on his lips. So, Xiao Baozhu somehow moved across to Scholar Wong’s side little by little, but Scholar Wong did not notice her.

  On the pitch the game was raging like a fire. In order to attract Scholar Wong’s attention Xiao Baozhu shouted hard, “Xiao Baoshan, come on! Come on second brother!”


  Scholar Wong then turned around to look at Xiao Baozhu. “Ah, isn’t this……” Scholar Wong forgot Xiao Baozhu’s name.

  “Mr. Wong, my name is Baozhu, Xiao Baozhu.” Xiao Baozhu smiled.

  Scholar Wong immediately pointed at Xiao Baoshan and asked, “Is that your elder brother?”


  “Yes, he’s my elder brother. My second elder brother.”


  “So your sister-in-law……the one who sells cold jelly, is your second sister-in-law. Is that right?”


  “That’s right.” Xiao Baoshan smiled.

  She did not suspect that Scholar Wong fancied Ye Xiaoxian at all. After all Scholar Wong knew Ye Xiaoxian from the very beginning so it was reasonable for him to ask a little more about her.

  “Oh……” Scholar Wong turned around to observe Xiao Baoshan. His gaze was fixed on Xiao Baoshan this time.

  He was tall and mighty and he looked like a perfect spouse for the cold jelly lady.

  “My brother is strong, isn’t he?” said Xiao Baozhu proudly.

  She needed to find something to chat to Scholar Wong about otherwise she would lose his attention.

  Scholar Wong nodded. “Your sister-in-law must be very happy to have such a perfect husband.”


  Xiao Baozhu did not really agree. “They’re not as happy as they look. Their relationship is……so-so. They’re so polite to each other, almost as if they were strangers.”


  “Oh? What do you mean by this?” Scholar Wong looked at Xiao Baozhu with surprise.

  Xiao Baozhu then quoted some examples of what she had learned from the novels. “A pair of spouses are people who are married to each other. Happy couples should live, cook and eat together but my brother and sister-in-law are different. They even don’t live in the same room.”


  Scholar Wong was even more puzzled. “Aren’t they married already? How could they live in different rooms after getting married?”


  In order to chat with Scholar Wong some more Xiao Baozhu continued, “My brother actually did not want to marry my sister-in-law. He’d rather save face.”


  She then told the whole story about how Xiao Baoshan and Ye Xiaoxian got married to Scholar Wong.

  Scholar Wong was left furious once he’d heard the story. “That’s absurd! What your brother’s done was bullying! I am a scholar but I’m not pedantic, yet he turns out to be such a pedant!”


  Xiao Baozhu suddenly realized that she should not reproach her family in front of others so she added, “No, not like that. My brother is a very nice person and he treats my sister-in-law very well too. It’s just that they don’t live together.”


  “They don’t live together, which means that he doesn’t recognize your sister-in-law’s position, so isn’t that bullying? If others hear about this your sister-in-law’s reputation will be tarnished. It isn’t fair to your sister-in-law. She’s very good to you, Baofeng and your ma, and in order to make ends meet for your family she goes to a lot of trouble opening up a stand in town, yet your brother despises her!”


  When the very quiet Scholar Wong began to scold Xiao Baoshan he was very articulate and without mercy.

  At last Xiao Baozhu felt that her brother was in the wrong. “Well……well then, I’ll talk to my second brother when I get back home. Sir, you’re a scholar and scholars are sensible so you must be right!”
……

  Before long Daliang Village was shortlisted for the round robin. The final rival for Daliang Village was to be Wong Village, where Wong Mudan came from.

  Li Hongmei felt that she should go and tease Wong Mudan, asking her which side was she on.

  Weird, I saw Wong Mudan just now and she disappeared in the twinkling of an eye.

  Li Hongmei was not happy so she squeezed through the crowd in search of Wong Mudan and it turned out that Wong Mudan was chatting to Wong Zhu and Lan in the distance. After seeing Wong Zhu, Li Hongmei trembled with fury. It was no wonder that she found that Wong Zhu and Lan looked so familiar as they were actually Wong Mudan’s relatives. It was no doubt that little Ye Xiaoxian had said the cold jelly must be made by acquaintances, and the “hidden traitor” turned out to be Wong Mudan!

  Li Hongmei rushed over to them right away in a rage. “Tsk, tsk. You bitches, what are you discussing now? Is it about selling cold jelly in town tomorrow or making douhua? I tell you what, if you dare to make douhua tomorrow we’ll start making sweet and sour plum soup, then we’ll see how many you can make! How many recipes can you copy?”


  Wong Mudan had a hard time pushing through the crowd and finally got a chance to chat with her brother, however, they were found out and scolded by Li Hongmei, so Wong Mudan had lost her temper from the embarrassment.

  “Since when are you the only ones who can sell cold jelly? Huh? Since when? Do you have a record of this rule to show me? There’s only one way to make cold jelly, so is your little Ye the only one who can make it? Are you really saying you’re the only ones allowed to sell cold jelly at this festival? If so why don’t you kick other cold jelly stalls out!”


  “We’re not the only ones who can make or sell cold jelly, but your brother happened to know how to make it and chose to sell it right by my stand. Even an idiot knows that you’re behind it, am I right? Brother Wong?”


  Wong Zhu felt rather guilty and embarrassed, and his wife, Lan, had witnessed Li Hongmei’s capabilities, so Lan pulled on Wong Zhu’s sleeves. “Come here, the game is on. Don’t you want to see it?”


  Wong Zhu answered hurriedly, “Yes, yes, I’m going to watch the game. Sister, see you later.”


  Wong Zhu and his wife fled, leaving Wong Mudan and Li Hongmei to confront one another.

  Li Hongmei was here to demand an explanation, so she would not let Wong Mudan leave and stood in her way. “We’re at least sisters-in-law and your husband and my late husband were brothers. We used to share meals at the same table so do you think it’s proper for you doing such a thing? Is it proper? Huh?”


  Wong Mudan was left with no leeway so she said rashly, “I’ve done it so what do you want?”


  “.……”


  Xiao Baozhu was watching the game with Scholar Wong and saw Xiao Baofeng run to her in a hurry. “Baozhu, something terrible is happening. Ma and elder aunt were having a fight. Let’s go!”


  “.……” Xiao Baozhu was not willing to leave Scholar Wong and hearing that her ma was in a fight she hurriedly ran over.

  Li Hongmei and Wong Mudan were fighting and wrestling together. They were grabbing and scratching at each other’s noses and neither of them would give it up.

  Ye Xiaoxian was trying to stop them but it did not help at all.

  Li Hongmei and Wong Mudan were scolding and fighting each other with more and more people surrounding them as it looked more splendid than the tug of war contest.

  Here were two women having a fight so who was still interested in the game?

  Ye Xiaoxian could not stop them fighting and so stood aside and sighed.

  Xiao Baozhu had just arrived and did not expect that Scholar Wong had followed her. Seeing such a scene, Xiao Baozhu, for the very first time, felt that her mother was really embarrassing.

  It was the village head Mr. Zhu who finally came and shouted at them, “Stop fighting or I’ll deduct your grain and have you pay double taxes!”


  The moment they heard that their grain would be deducted, in a flash the two of them immediately loosened up on one another.