The May Day holiday was approaching.
Tourists had not only filled the new villages along the rural roads of Kushanli but also the homestays in the first and second villages, and the two villages before them.
The homestays in Kushanli village itself were already fully booked.
Tian Jing sat in the nursery, using the plants outside the courtyard walls of each household to monitor the tourists entering the village.
After so many days, the foreign supernatural ability families had still made no move.
She had been on guard for several days. With the May Day holiday arriving and the scenic area officially opening, she had found nothing.
Tian Jing was not in a hurry. The other side clearly wanted to use a strategy of waiting, so they would wait together.
While monitoring these tourists, Tian Jing noticed that the most discussed topic among them was the cattle in Zhonghe Village.
Although the calves were not small, their faces had a certain charm that appealed to people's hearts.
Whether adults, children, or the elderly, they were all willing to go to the clean cattle sheds to take a look and feed them.
The villagers of Zhonghe Village gave the tourists long, uncut feed (dried seedlings from the nursery).
The long strands had one end in the tourist's hand and the other in the calf's mouth. As the tourist pulled the feed, the calf would obediently follow the pull, eating as it walked.
Such greedy and docile calves looked even more adorable, making tourists even more eager to feed them.
For the second strand of feed, the villagers started charging, two yuan per strand.
The reason?
Of course, it was because, just like humans, calves could not overeat.
If they didn't charge, tourists would feed them endlessly, and even with four stomachs, the cattle would be overstuffed and become sick.
Upon hearing this news, Tian Jing chuckled. It was indeed a good idea. As long as the first strand was free and tourists weren't forced to buy the second, it worked.
Another topic of discussion among tourists was grape picking.
Naturally, this also led to discussions about the spring water and cow dung in Zhonghe Village.
When it came to cow dung and spring water, the tourists were no longer filled with disdain but looked forward to the grape picking season in June and July.
...
The beginning of the month was a new round of planting.
While planting, Tian Jing also kept an eye on the village's situation.
She did discover something.
She hurried to tell Sister-in-law Niu.
Sister-in-law Niu dropped the seedlings and tools in her hands and ran home.
Tian Jing asked Ouyang Meihua to follow and help. With Sister-in-law Niu's temper, it was best to avoid any incidents that might displease the tourists and affect Kushanli.
There were too many tourists on the village road. Sister-in-law Niu dodged them as she ran, but she didn't get very far.
Ouyang Meihua put her arm around her. With one hand, she casually gestured, and the tourists were pushed away by a gentle force.
Upon arriving at Niu family's Western-style house, Grandma Niu was arguing with her daughter-in-law over the great-grandson.
Sister-in-law Niu stepped forward and slapped her elder daughter-in-law.
The elder Niu's wife cried out in pain and let go.
Grandma Niu, who had been pulling back with all her might, took two steps back when her elder daughter-in-law released her and was about to fall.
The great-grandson she was holding onto was also flung out.
Ouyang Meihua's feet moved swiftly. She took two steps, bent down, and grabbed Grandma Niu by the back.
Then, she turned with Grandma Niu, pushed off the ground, extended her arm, and grabbed Niu Xiaoshui's leg as he was about to hit the old courtyard wall. With a gentle toss and pull, she held him in her arms.
"Clap clap clap."
The tourists who had witnessed this applauded Ouyang Meihua.
Sister-in-law Niu also patted her chest, feeling a lingering fear. If both the old and young had fallen, it would have been disastrous.
She raised her hand and slapped her elder daughter-in-law again: "If you want to leave, leave. But you're not taking my grandson with you."
"Mom~" The elder Niu's wife covered her face, her eyes filled with tears as she called out to Sister-in-law Niu.
"I just wanted to take Xiaoshui back to my mother's house for a visit. Grandma was being unreasonable and stopped me."
"You came at me without understanding anything and slapped me. How am I supposed to live?"
Sympathizing with the weaker party, the tourists began to criticize Sister-in-law Niu.
Falsely accused by her elder daughter-in-law, Sister-in-law Niu was so angry that she pointed at her and couldn't speak.
Could she tell the tourists that her elder daughter-in-law had long yearned for the big city? Had she not been guarding against her elder daughter-in-law for a long time?
Ouyang Meihua handed Niu Xiaoshui back to Grandma Niu and told them to return to the old courtyard.
Then, she went to help Sister-in-law Niu: "Elder Niu's wife, there are so many tourists in the village, and even more on the mountain."
"Your husband is working himself to death alone on the mountain. How can you still think of taking your child back to your mother's house at this time?"
"The wives in the village ask their own family members to come and help. When the husband's family is busy, the wife's family can also earn a few months' wages."
"From after the New Year until the scenic area opened, you didn't visit even once. Now that it's so busy, you want to go back to your mother's house? You've really picked a good time."
The tourists also realized what was happening.
So, they had been tricked by this lazy and good-for-nothing young wife?
The tourists turned to criticize the elder Niu's wife, saying it was unreasonable for her, a young woman, not to earn money and to return to her mother's house while her husband was busy. Was she secretly taking money back to her mother's house?
The tourists egged Sister-in-law Niu on to search her daughter-in-law's pockets.
Sister-in-law Niu didn't believe the tourists.
She took out her phone and called her elder son, telling him to hand over the shop to the neighbor and come down the mountain to deal with his wife. She didn't have time to watch over his wife for him.
Even if Niu Da was busy, he had to resolve family matters: "Mom, watch her. I'll be down the mountain soon."
The elder Niu's wife, upon hearing that her husband was coming down the mountain despite his busy shop, became a little scared: "Mom, the mountain is so busy, why are you calling Niu Da down?"
Sister-in-law Niu waved her away: "Don't say such hypocritical things. If Niu Da doesn't come down..."
"Here's another one."
Tian Jing dragged a woman over. The woman had a large backpack on her back and was holding a four-year-old girl in her arms.
Upon seeing this woman, Sister-in-law Niu raised her hand and slapped her.
Tian Jing pulled the woman aside, dodging Sister-in-law Niu's slap: "Sister-in-law Niu, mothers-in-law can't control their daughters-in-law these days."
"Ask Er Niu to deal with it himself. Her leaving quietly with Xiaohui is definitely not a good thing."
Sister-in-law Niu's slap missed and she almost fell, but Ouyang Meihua caught her arm.
Sister-in-law Niu took out her phone and called her second son again.
Seeing this, the tourists thought Sister-in-law Niu was quite unlucky, with both her daughters-in-law being restless.
They advised her to take it easy, saying she had plenty of grandchildren, and to let the young people do as they pleased.
Furious, Sister-in-law Niu was too tired to answer the tourists' consolations.
Back then, she not only disliked the arrogance of her two daughters-in-law, who relied on their good looks? She also disliked the age gap between her two sons and their wives.
It was not uncommon in the village for the man to be significantly older than the woman.
Yuan Man and Da Mai had the largest age difference.
However, in those couples with a large age gap, the younger wife was sensible and well-behaved.
Her two daughters-in-law had shifty eyes, were young, and her two sons were not the type to discipline or even beat their wives.
Er Niu, who had opened a shop in the new village, arrived quickly.
Seeing the large backpack on his wife's body, his eyes grew cold:
"I said, if you want to leave, you can. After we go through the procedures, you can go wherever you want, but the daughter stays with me."
"Let's go. Since we're closed for business today, let's go to the civil affairs bureau."
Er Niu's wife disagreed: "I'm just going out to work and see the outside world. I'll be back for the New Year."
"Many wives from other villages go out to work, don't they all come back for the New Year?"
"Heh." Er Niu sneered: "Others are forced to because they're poor. Who wouldn't want to stay home with their child?"
"Your monthly allowance is more than what others earn from working. You still want to see the world?"
"I'll say it again, you can only choose one: the world or your family."
Er Niu's wife felt extremely wronged: "Er Niu, why are you forcing me?"
"Just consider it me forcing you." Er Niu's heart had grown cold. He no longer tried to hold onto this woman whose heart had already flown away.
"Today, whether you leave or not, we will go through the procedures. I don't have time to watch you."
Er Niu's wife looked at her sister-in-law.
The elder Niu's wife turned her face away. She didn't know what to do either.
She didn't understand why her mother-in-law and husband wouldn't let her leave, even threatening to go through with the divorce if she did.
Even her brother-in-law said the same thing.
She had agreed with her sister-in-law to leave quietly, planning to come back and beg for forgiveness after seeing the outside world.
Unexpectedly, they were caught.
Thinking of Lin Wan telling her to be careful, she knew that if Captain Tian was here, they would definitely not be able to leave. As expected.
She glared at Tian Jing: "Captain Tian, are you satisfied?"
"I am very dissatisfied." Tian Jing shook her head easily, a mocking smile playing on her lips.
"After you go out and see the world, I will organize my female subordinates to go out and see the world together, which is what is called a sponsored trip."
"I want to let them understand what the world truly means to a woman."
Tian Jing turned and cupped her fists towards the tourists: "Everyone, please disperse. They are just women with wild ambitions."
The tourists shook their heads and sighed as they left.
Tian Jing waved to Sister-in-law Niu and Ouyang Meihua and returned to the nursery first.