Chapter 5: The Liang Family

 Chapter 5: Liang Shi 

Shu Yu had just taken a stroll around the area and had become quite familiar with the several shops nearby. She went into a pastry shop and bought two bags of pastries before heading over to the next stall to buy a piece of meat.

Carrying her two bags of goodies, she returned to the ox cart exactly half an hour later.

To her surprise, there was now another woman on the cart, making it even more crowded than before.

Well, at this time of day, it's not surprising that the horse-drawn carriages wouldn't want to take the road to Dashicun. After all, the carriages came from the county town and had to return there after dropping off their passengers. 

But the ox cart belonged to an old man from the village who was both taking Shu Yu to her destination and returning home afterwards.

Shu Yu had only been on the cart for a short time when the old man driving the cart was preparing to leave. Just then, another woman ran over to them, sweating profusely, calling out, "Uncle Hu, wait!"

The old man frowned when he saw her and Shu Yu could see that he was ready to leave immediately. However, the woman was faster and had already grabbed onto the edge of the cart, refusing to let go.

Uncle Hu sighed in resignation and told her, "The Lu family already took the last spot on the cart."

Liang Shi's eyes widened in shock. "What do you mean there's no more room? Uncle Hu, this isn't right. We agreed earlier that you would save a spot for me on your cart for my return trip. I need to go back to Shishi Village on your cart."

Uncle Hu couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You said earlier that you weren't going to take my cart back."

"That's nonsense! I'm carrying all this stuff on my back. Am I supposed to walk back to Shishi Village on my own? You must have misheard me, Uncle Hu."

Liang Shi gestured towards the bamboo basket on her back.

"You..." Uncle Hu was so angry he could barely speak.

Shu Yu couldn't help but glance at the woman So, she's from Shangshicun?

Liang Shi pointed at Uncle Hu and said, "You're so unprofessional. I already told you I wanted to take your cart back, and now you've taken on an extra passenger. What are we supposed to do now? It's already so late, and I can't find another ox cart."

Shu Yu looked at her and then at the other passengers on the ox cart.

It seems that these women all followed Uncle Hu out in the morning, and she is the only newcomer. The person Liang Shi referred to as "extra" is her, right?

Shu Yu didn't want to continue squeezing on the cow carriage and said, pointing to herself, "How about I get off the carriage?" Thinking about it now, it seems more convenient to go tomorrow.

Who knew that Uncle Hu didn't say anything, but the woman waved her hand and said righteously, "No need, it's not your business. This is a problem between Uncle Hu and me. You can just sit there."

Shu Yu was taken aback by this unexpected answer.

Uncle Hu was obviously not good with words, and seeing that the villagers on the cow carriage were becoming impatient, he became a bit impatient and asked Liang Shi with a stern look, "What do you want?"

"What else can I do when the carriage is already full? Do you want me to squeeze with you at the front of the carriage?"

Other people laughed after hearing this.

Uncle Hu's face turned even redder. Liang Shi continued, "Forget it, forget it. I'm generous and won't hold it against you. I'll just walk back. But my basket is too heavy and I can't carry it. So, can you take the basket back to my house and give it to my husband?"

What could Uncle Hu say? He couldn't sit down, but there was no problem with the basket being tied to the side.

He nodded, "Okay."

"Let's be clear, you did something wrong, so I'm not paying for the travel expenses." Then she looked at the other women on the cow carriage and said, "I remember your faces. If there's anything missing from my basket, I'll come to each of your homes to find it."

(The end of this chapter.)