CHAPTER 338: CHAPTER 315: INFERIORITY COMPLEX

Although Mrs. Sun doesn’t have to work every day, the two little ones are enough to keep her busy. Even though there are many servants at home, Mrs. Sun always personally takes care of the two little ones and rarely relies on others.

Whenever Sun Erji is mentioned, his wife starts crying. Over time, Mrs. Sun doesn’t dare to mention the name Sun Erji in front of her anymore.

Moreover, Mrs. Sun doesn’t have the time or energy to comfort Sun Erji’s wife. Her days are already filled with taking care of the little ones and tending to other matters.

Recently, for instance, Sun Manyang and Sun Manliang have been busy looking at prospective brides. For some reason, every time a family comes to the Sun Family to check out the house and family situation, Uncle Sun always asks Sun Dalin’s wife to call Sun Chunfang over, saying he wants Mrs. Sun to oversee things and help them pick out a good wife.

Besides helping with this, Mrs. Sun has another concern, which is Yu Xiaolian’s marriage.

To be honest, many families have inquired, but neither she nor Yu Changhe have approved of any; if the family isn’t too poor, then their child isn’t ambitious.

There was one with good family conditions and the child was ambitious, but he was too short.

In Yu Changhe’s words, "This shorty isn’t even as tall as my daughter."

Too short, not acceptable.

Yu Changhe doesn’t like anyone too tall either.

Yu Changhe: A tall guy, walks swaying, lacks any sign of steadiness.

Mrs. Sun can see clearly that Yu Changhe is reluctant for his daughter to get married, delaying it as long as he can.

Mrs. Sun shares the same sentiment with Yu Changhe, so whenever a matchmaker comes calling, the two of them are in complete agreement to politely turn them away.

Apart from these, quite a few villagers pop by every few days, and since they all live in the same village, Mrs. Sun can’t perpetually refuse to see them, so every few days she has to make some time to meet with the neighbors and maintain relationships.

As for the matter of planting chili peppers, Yu Changhe and Yu Xiaolian have come to an agreement to sell them to the villagers at a price of five hundred coins for half a pound.

Anyone who wants to plant them can buy them under a voluntary basis.

But giving them away for free is definitely not possible.

As for the chili peppers harvested in the fall, it’s up to the villagers whether they want to sell them individually or in batches to the Yu Family, also on a voluntary basis.

Yu Xiaolian has long since known that these chili peppers can only fetch a good price in the first year; if in the second year only their family has them, the chili fields would definitely be ruined by someone.

No choice but to let everyone plant them together if there’s money to be made.

Moreover, chili planting is tiring, and harvesting them is tiring too.

Chili peppers don’t mature all at once, they ripen in many batches. Once a batch turns red, labor is needed to pick them, which is hard on the back.

Their own family’s planting can’t meet the market demand, so extensive planting remains very necessary.

Even though the chili seeds cost money, at five hundred coins for half a pound, which isn’t cheap, almost every household in the village has bought them.

After all, the Yu Family’s wealth is well-known, so following their lead wouldn’t be wrong.

"Mom, does that Xun person still go over to my uncle’s place to cadge meals?" Yu Xiaolian asked with a smile.

On this matter, Mrs. Sun laughed out loud, "You have no idea how fierce Sun Hongmei is, Xun is scared of her and seldom goes over to your uncle’s place now."

Yu Xiaolian tidied her clothes, "That’s good. Mom, I’m going to wander around the workshop in the backyard."

Mrs. Sun nodded, "Go ahead."

Yu Xiaolian pushed open the door, tightened her clothing, and walked quickly toward the backyard, only to bump into someone just before crossing the arched gate.

Yu Xiaolian initially thought it was some servant being careless, but it turned out that the one who bumped into her was actually Sun Manxi.

Since being brought back by Sun Sillin last time, Sun Manxi hasn’t returned to Luocheng.

Sun Sillin sent a message through Sun Mancang to Yu Xiaolian, saying that Sun Manxi and Qi Lizheng’s youngest son, Qi Shanbao, are preparing to get engaged, advising her not to work and to prepare for marriage from home.

Yu Xiaolian has met Qi Shanbao before; he’s a decent young man, not only looking energetic but with a lively personality, a good match indeed.

Plus, since his father is the Village Chief, the family conditions aren’t bad. Quite a few girls in the village fancy marrying Qi Shanbao.

Normally, Sun Manxi marrying him should be a joyous matter, but she isn’t very satisfied with the arrangement.

It’s not that she looks down on Qi Shanbao; she just thinks he’s a scholar and she can’t read a single word, making the two of them incompatible.

Sun Manxi knows it’s time to get married, and she can’t resist it, but she wants to marry someone she has her heart set on; between Qi Shanbao and Jiang Haiqiu, she prefers Jiang Haiqiu.

Her parents insist on marrying her to Qi Shanbao simply because the Qi Family’s conditions are better than the Jiang Family’s, and Qi Shanbao has the potential to become the Village Chief of Taohua Village in the future.

Sun Manxi feels that marriage is a crucial decision in a woman’s life, and she wants to marry someone she likes.

Initially, she thought about asking Jiang Haiqiu; if he agreed, she was prepared to make a scene to cancel her engagement with Qi Shanbao and be with Jiang Haiqiu.

But what Sun Manxi didn’t expect was that Jiang Haiqiu wasn’t interested in her, leaving her heartbroken.

Although Jiang Haiqiu promised her he wouldn’t disclose this to anyone else, Sun Manxi still feels ashamed.

Now, despite her insecurity, she can’t help but abide by her family’s arrangements and obediently wait to marry into the Qi Family.

"Manxi, why are you running?" Yu Xiaolian frowned.

Sun Manxi looked as if she’d been bullied, appearing flustered.

Sun Manxi stood hurriedly, nervously adjusting the hem of her clothes and stammered, "It’s nothing... nothing... I have something to do and need to go home."

Her gaze dodging as she spoke, Sun Manxi dashed away.

Yu Xiaolian stood puzzled, then continued walking toward the backyard.

She just passed through the arched gate and saw her father and Jiang Haiqiu talking at the corner.

They were discussing the acquisition of mountain hawthorn.

Now the canned food workshop no longer makes canned yellow peaches, only hawthorn, and these hawthorns are collected by Jiang Haiqiu from nearby villages.

Jiang Haiqiu mentioned that he has almost finished collecting hawthorns from nearby, and the batch he just delivered might be the last one.

Yu Changhe responded, "If there aren’t any, there aren’t any. The fruit canned goods are seasonal; we can always make more next year if they’re unavailable now."

After saying this, Yu Changhe instructed Jiang Haiqiu to go to accountant Yu Yi for the payment settlement.

Having nodded, Jiang Haiqiu turned around and saw Yu Xiaolian watching them, his expression turning awkward.

"Hello, Yu Xueguan!" Jiang Haiqiu greeted first.

Yu Xiaolian smiled in response, "Brother Jiang, you can just call me by my name."

Jiang Haiqiu spoke candidly, "Okay, when did you come back, sister Xiaolian?"

Yu Xiaolian replied, "Not too long ago."

Jiang Haiqiu nodded slightly, then addressed Yu Changhe, "If there’s nothing else, Uncle Yu, I’ll take my leave."

After Jiang Haiqiu left, Yu Changhe asked Yu Xiaolian, "On such a cold day, why are you outside?"

Yu Xiaolian replied, "Just taking a walk."

Yu Changhe urged Yu Xiaolian to go back inside, "Go back to the house quickly. It’s so cold, no need to be outside."

Yu Xiaolian initially planned to stroll around the workshop, but thought better of it, realizing there wasn’t anything interesting happening there, so she decided to visit her uncle’s place and check on her aunt, who was about to give birth.