Chapter 36 - A Two-Pronged Attempt Backfires...

Lin Chunxing hesitated for a moment, then said softly, "You can ask my sister about this tomorrow."

Lin Qingqing thought that Lin Chuntao had someone do it, so she nodded.

Lin Chunxing followed Lin Qingqing to the kitchen and found Aunt Guizhi. After she told Aunt Guizhi what Lin Chuntao had asked her to do, Aunt Guizhi smiled and said, "Come on, I'll take you to write it down."

On the way there, she asked Aunt Guizhi in a low voice, "Auntie, how many of these should we send?"

Aunt Guizhi turned to look at her, "Didn't your sister tell you?"

"She said she gave me six coins."

Aunt Guizhi smiled upon hearing this: "That's about right. In this rural area, everyone gives a few eggs, a couple of pounds of grain, or even two coins. It's just a token gesture."

Aunt Guizhi said this because she knew that Lin Chuntao and the others had just separated and lived independently, and did not owe anyone any favors. So, she could give them whatever amount she wanted, and they would repay her according to the account book later. It was not a big deal.

Although the gifts from the neighbors were not many, they still had to be recorded in the ledger. The eldest son of the village head had beautiful handwriting, and every family would ask him to record any happy events.

Lin Chunxing greeted the person obediently upon seeing them.

"Uncle."

Lin Changzong recognized her and asked with a smile, "Didn't your sister come?"

"No, she and my brother-in-law went to the county town and asked me to bring my sisters."

As soon as she finished speaking, Aunt Guizhi

Aunt Guizhi looked at Lin Changzong and said, "Brother, Chunxing will be in charge of the accounts."

As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Chunxing pulled open her sleeve, revealing a small hidden compartment. She took out the copper coin from inside and handed it over.

"Remember my sister's name, Lin Chuntao."

The person next to him tapped a copper coin and said to Lin Changzong, "Six coins."

Lin Chunxing thanked him only after she saw Lin Changzong write it down.

Aunt Guizhi was busy checking on the food on the fire, as the feast would be starting soon. She smiled and said to Lin Chunxing and Lin Qingqing, "You girls can sit at the table away from the kitchen in a little while."

The girls nodded vigorously, their eyes shining.

In typical village feasts like this, whoever helps out will prepare extra treats for their own children, and they'll eat several extra pieces of crispy pork dumplings.

Lin Chunxing followed Lin Qingqing to see Qiao'er. She was wearing a red wedding dress, her hair was tied up, and she was wearing a red flower. When she saw them go in, she stood up and smiled as she offered them melon seeds.

The younger sisters were all saying congratulatory and auspicious words.

Qiao'er's mother was also there. She was taken aback when she saw Lin Chunxing's outfit. Then she saw Lin Duo'er and Lin Chunhe following behind her and felt a little displeased. She just said politely, "Lin Chuntao really brought all three of her younger sisters with her."

"Hey, Chunxing, where's your sister and brother-in-law?"

Lin Chunxing smiled and said, "Auntie, I'm sorry, my sister and brother-in-law went to the county town and didn't have time to come, so they asked me to bring my sisters."

Qiao'er's mother paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Then you all stay here and chat with Qiao'er. I'll go and get busy."

Once outside, she walked to the bookkeeper's office, asked the person in charge, and learned that Lin Chunxing and the others had given her six coins. Only then did a smile return to her face.

The sisters were quite happy today. Their new clothes looked great, and although someone occasionally made a sarcastic remark, it didn't affect their good mood at all, because they no longer saw ridicule in other people's eyes.

When the banquet started, I squeezed to the front with Lin Qingqing and the others. Aunt Guizhi came out to serve everyone rice, and there were indeed crispy pork balls hidden in their rice.

It's called Crispy Meat Dumplings, but there's actually not much meat inside. It's just cornmeal and wild vegetables mixed together and deep-fried until golden and crispy. It's a favorite among the village children.

Their family slaughtered a pig, and there was meat on the table as well. There was a bowl of meat soup with slices of meat in it, but they were sliced ​​so thin that you couldn't see the meat underneath unless you used chopsticks. There was also an offal platter with a few slices of intestines, lungs, liver, and even pig's blood, served with dipping sauce.

The dipping sauce was a little spicy but not very salty. Lin Duo'er picked up a piece of liver and asked Lin Jiaye, "Brother Jiaye, what is this?"

Lin Jiaye frowned. "Pig liver."

Do you eat pig liver?

Thinking of the pig liver Lin Chuntao had made, Lin Duo'er nodded vigorously, "I love eating pig liver."

Lin Jiaye didn't quite believe it, and neither did the others at the table. They watched as Lin Duo'er dipped the piece of pig liver in water and fed it into her mouth.

This tasted completely different from what Lin Chuntao had made for them, and they suddenly felt nauseous and almost threw up.

But since they were eating out, she looked at Lin Chunxing pitifully with the food in her mouth.

Lin Chunxing frowned as well. Lin Jiaye, who was standing next to her, saw that there were no adults around and chuckled in a low voice, "Didn't you say you would eat? Do you want to throw up? Take advantage of the fact that no one is around and throw it up quickly."

Lin Duo'er was actually a little conflicted. After all, it was meat. How could she eat meat and then spit it out? Besides, this was a banquet. It would be very impolite for the host to see her spitting out food. After struggling with this thought for a long time, Lin Duo'er suppressed her nausea, stopped chewing, and swallowed it directly. But the moment she swallowed, her stomach churned and she suddenly felt a wave of dry heaving. Lin Jiaye quickly poured her a bowl of melon soup, which she gulped down half of before she felt a little better.

The meat on the table was eaten by others, and the meat broth was used to make rice porridge. The vegetables, beans, and other vegetables were all eaten clean. However, the offal platter was left untouched, except for the piece of liver that Lin Duo'er ate and two pieces of pig's blood that others ate.

The banquet continued, and the guests kept eating. Lin Chunxing and her friends, along with Lin Qingqing and the village children, played in the threshing ground.

Having no other work to do today, Lin Chuntao went to the butcher shop after selling the mushrooms.

There were still many people queuing to buy meat at the butcher shop, and Pei Ying and He Lan were busy enough, so she sat down to rest.

Not long after they sat down, Helan's daughter, Xiaolingdang, arrived. Seeing Lin Chuntao sitting there, she thought there was more matsutake mushrooms and rushed over.

"Sister Chuntao, have you found any more termite mushrooms?"

The child's voice was crisp and clear, and as soon as he said this, even the people buying meat nearby looked over.

Lin Chuntao quickly replied with a smile, "No, I didn't see any termite mushrooms today."

"I'll bring it to you next time I find it."

The little girl stared at her with wide, expectant eyes: "Really?"

"Of course it's true."

"Great! I can eat matsutake mushrooms again."

The little girl looked even younger than Lin Duo'er and was quite the chatterbox. She kept pestering Lin Chuntao with questions and conversation. When she got bored, she ran back into the house and brought out her toy—pebbles—and asked Lin Chuntao to play with her on the floor.

The child wouldn't leave her alone, so Lin Chuntao squatted down and played with her until the butcher shop finished its work and Pei Ying could go home.

She got up, washed her hands, cut two pounds of pork leg meat, and then packed her things to go home.

Little Bell clung to her sleeve, reluctant to let go.

"Sister, will you come again tomorrow?"

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "They should come again, it depends on how busy they are at home."

"Sister, if you come tomorrow, I'll call Little Gourd too, and we can play together."

Lin Chuntao reached out and patted her head, saying with a smile, "Okay, then I'll be leaving today."

They walked quite a distance, then looked back and saw the child still standing there watching. Lin Chuntao smiled and asked, "Doesn't Xiaolingdang from Shopkeeper He's family usually play with other children?"

"Sometimes she's with Xiao Hulu from Brother Zhang's family. It seems that because her father passed away, the other kids around the shop don't play with her."

Lin Chuntao nodded slightly, without asking for further details.

"By the time we get home, Chunxing and the others will have already eaten. What would you like to eat for lunch?"

The topic suddenly shifted, and Pei Ying was momentarily at a loss for what to eat.

Passing by a mutton rice noodle stall, Lin Chuntao thought about what the two of them were eating and decided to buy some rice noodles to cook at home. She also happened to have bought some meat, so she could cook a clay pot of rice noodles. She was also a little tempted.

Seeing her expression, Pei Ying assumed she wanted mutton rice noodles, so she asked, "How about we have a bowl of rice noodles before we go back?"

Lin Chuntao shook her head. "No, but let's go buy some rice noodles and cook them ourselves when we get back."

Pei Ying had no objections and went with her.

Lin Chuntao bought more than two jin of rice noodles and a clay pot from a general store. Just as she was about to go home, she suddenly remembered that she also needed to buy some linen.

Pei Ying went to the fabric shop with her. Zhang Qingqing was still in the shop when she saw that Lin Chuntao had already made clothes from the fabric she bought last time and was wearing them. She sweetly praised, "Sister, which tailor made these clothes for you? They are so beautiful."

Lin Chuntao replied with a smile, "I'm a tailor from our village. I've come to buy some linen today."

Zhang Qingqing took her to measure the fabric, paid for it, and then carried the things home.

The village was bustling with activity, and even outside the village entrance, there were people everywhere, laughing in small groups.

When Lin Chuntao returned home, Chunxing and the others had not yet come back, and the door was locked.

"Wait for me at home, I'll go get the keys from them."

Pei Ying nodded, and Lin Chuntao ran off.

There were still many people on the drying ground, and those who had finished their meal had not yet left, and were all standing on the side chatting.

Lin Chuntao grabbed a child at the entrance of the drying ground and asked, "Have you seen Chunxing and Duo'er?"

The child pointed in a direction for her: "They're playing over there."

"Oh, thank you."

After saying that, Lin Chuntao went in the direction the child pointed.

As she walked through the crowd, people greeted her, and Lin Chuntao responded with a smile. Some even asked her why she hadn't come to eat, to which she simply replied that she had gone to the county town and hadn't had time.

Someone else chuckled maliciously, "In our village, no one goes out when someone has a happy occasion."

Lin Chuntao looked at her without changing her expression, "If Sister Qiao'er asks me for help, I definitely won't go out. It's not that my younger sister is the youngest in the family, I can't just deliver the gifts and bring the whole family to the feast, can I? If I don't come, you'll scold me, Aunt. If I do that, won't you talk about me all over the village?"

The people around burst into laughter, and the woman blushed. Lin Chuntao was busy looking for Lin Chunxing and didn't bother to argue, so she left on her own.

Miao and her sisters-in-law, Zhang and Yang, stood not far away. Zhang and Yang glared at Lin Chuntao with grim faces, clearly disapproving.

"Look at her arrogant attitude! She really thinks that just because she's curried favor with the village head and his wife, she can look down on everyone else in the village!"

Hearing Zhang's words, Miao laughed and said, "It's not just the village head and his wife; she's also currying favor with Xu Guizhi."

As she spoke, Miao's eyes flickered, and she smiled, "But today I'm going to let her know that the people she's trying to curry favor with are nothing more than people who treat her like a nobody."

Zhang and Yang frowned and looked at each other, then looked at Miao with some confusion.

Perhaps in their eyes, Lin Chuntao had never offended the Miao family.

The two had doubts, but they didn't ask. Why not let someone stand up for them?

Just as she was pondering this, Aunt Guizhi came out from the kitchen and bumped right into Lin Chuntao.

"Auntie," Lin Chuntao called out.

Aunt Guizhi saw it was her and quickly asked, "Did you just get back? Have you eaten? Let me scoop you a bowl."

Lin Chuntao hurriedly waved her hand and said, "No, no, I'm here to get the key from Chunxing. Are you almost done with your work?"

Aunt Guizhi laughed and said, "It's still early. The wedding party hasn't left yet. We'll have to have a meal when they leave. We'll have to stay here all day."

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Then I'll come find you to play when I'm done with my work."

As soon as she finished speaking, someone came looking for Aunt Guizhi, and she was about to leave when she heard Miao Shi standing there call out, "Sister-in-law Guizhi! I have something to tell you."

Aunt Guizhi turned to look at Miao and asked in a loud voice, "What is it?"

Then, Miao slowly stepped out from among her sisters-in-law.

She looked at Lin Chuntao with a mocking smile and said, "Sister-in-law Guizhi is busy today. If you have time, you should keep an eye on your vegetable patch, lest it all be stolen."

Those who were chatting stopped talking upon hearing this and all looked over.

Stealing vegetables? Who's stealing vegetables? This is going to be interesting.

Aunt Guizhi hadn't considered that Miao was after Lin Chuntao; she thought that Lin Chuntao's vegetables had been stolen this morning because she hadn't gone to the field.

"Who stole my vegetables?" Aunt Guizhi asked.

Miao laughed and said, "It's right in front of you, sister-in-law. Some people are smiling at you while stealing vegetables from your field, basket after basket, with bamboo baskets in hand."

Aunt Guizhi frowned and looked at Miao Shi with a puzzled expression.

"Miao Feng, just say your name directly. Don't be vague."

After Aunt Guizhi asked that question, Miao looked at Lin Chuntao and said, "Lin Chuntao, are you still not going to admit it?"

Lin Chuntao looked at her with a complicated expression. Aunt Guizhi also suddenly realized what she meant and frowned, asking in return, "You're saying Chuntao stole my vegetables?"

Miao replied, "Yes, I passed by that day and saw her picking a basketful of radishes from your vegetable garden, and also cutting a lot of chives. I saw her a few more times after that."

The people around her hissed and all looked at Lin Chuntao.

But before Lin Chuntao could speak, Aunt Guizhi cursed, "What utter nonsense! What do you mean by stealing vegetables? Chuntao paid me for all the vegetables she took from my field! What are you spouting all this nonsense for?"

The words "I paid!" exploded in Miao Feng's mind.

In this village, everyone grows vegetables. If a family doesn't have enough vegetables, they ask their neighbors for some. Who in the village would buy vegetables to eat?

Lin Chuntao bought it! Where did she get the money to buy groceries?

Aunt Guizhi looked at Miao Shi and Zhang Shi, her sisters-in-law, and then at the crowd filling the drying ground. Now she understood. Why did these sisters-in-law choose this time to deal with Lin Chuntao? They saw it earlier, so why didn't they come to talk to her sooner? Why pick this moment?

The more she thought about the Lin family, all those adults, keeping a close eye on the children, the angrier she became.

He raised his voice and asked, "Miao Feng, what do you mean by this?"

Miao Feng awkwardly tugged at the corners of her mouth and said with a forced smile, "So it was a misunderstanding. I was just trying to help my sister-in-law."

"Who do you think you are to me? Do I need you to care about me? If you really care about me, why didn't you tell me when you first saw her picking vegetables? You were even watching her from behind, why didn't you call me to watch her with you? You're just a despicable person, just evil! You think you've got something on the little girl, thinking that with so many people around, you can let the whole village see them being bullied by you! And you call yourself an aunt? Don't you have any conscience?!"

Aunt Guizhi was so angry that her hand trembled as she pointed at Miao Feng. Trying to use her to kill someone with a borrowed knife? What kind of person is that!

Seeing that Aunt Guizhi was furious, Lin Chuntao quickly took her hand and said softly, "Auntie, don't be angry, it's nothing."

Aunt Guizhi turned around and looked at her, then took her hand in return.

"What do you mean 'small matter'? They've bullied you like this, and you still call it a small matter?"

After Aunt Guizhi said that, everyone in the drying yard looked at Miao Feng.

If someone's vegetables had really been stolen, and someone saw it just now, they would have run to tell the owner within 15 minutes. Who would be like Miao, enduring it and watching several times? And then choosing a time with so many people around to tell them? And she claims she's doing it for their own good? If it really was someone stealing vegetables, they'd already been stolen from several times already, so what's the point of doing them good?

"Yeah, what's wrong with the fifth sister's family? You've kicked those sisters out of the house and that's not all?"

Aunt Guizhi chimed in from the side, and Miao's face turned as red as a sunset.

She forced herself to say, "Auntie, this is all a misunderstanding."

Lin Chuntao chuckled and asked with a smile, "Misunderstanding? Miao Feng, do you think you can just brush it off with a few words?"

"I know why you're resentful and why you've been holding back until today, hoping to catch me off guard."

"Isn't it just that I pretended not to see you, didn't call you, and didn't greet you that day?"

"You're probably thinking, 'You haven't offended me, and my being kicked out has nothing to do with you. You're my elder, so why shouldn't I address you?'"

Miao gritted her teeth, trying her best to maintain a calm expression.

Lin Chuntao raised her voice and said, "You wicked seed, you offended me many years ago! My mother was seriously ill in bed after giving birth to Duo'er, what did you do? You went to the yin-yang remedy for her not being able to give birth to a son, and you were angry with her, you even went to sow discord between her and the old lady, saying that you don't know what my mother was thinking, that she hasn't given birth to a son in so many years, and that you have a folk remedy but my mother doesn't want it!"

"The old lady doesn't like my mother, and after what you said, my mother didn't even get dinner!"

"You bitch! I've wanted to curse you for a long time."

“Those of you standing in the back, do you think she only belittles my mother to elevate herself? She didn’t spare any of you sisters-in-law! The eldest daughter-in-law, as the old lady’s own niece, is not considerate of her at all, not even as good as her outsider daughter-in-law; the second son’s husband and wife are lazy, greedy, and irresponsible, and the children they raise will be useless; the fourth son’s wife is such a shrew, the matchmaker didn’t even want to marry her back then, how come the fourth son married her? She is not good enough for the fourth son at all.”

Lin Chuntao paused for a moment, then continued, "Actually, it's not just her. Everyone in our village who married in around the same age as her has been gossiped about by her. She not only gossiped to her mother-in-law, but also to your mother-in-law! One aunt was pregnant and ate two eggs a day, and she went to her mother-in-law and said that was too pampered. She said that when she was pregnant, she couldn't bear to eat them and had to save them for the baby!"

"There are so many examples like this, I could never finish listing them all!"

"Miao Feng, a scoundrel like you, I hate seeing you like seeing dog shit! Forget calling you, I have to take a shower before I walk past you, lest I get covered in your dog shit smell!"

Although the villagers are often bored and like to gossip, most of them are talking about things that have already happened, and once they've said it, it's over. Most people don't have bad intentions; people like Miao Feng are rare.

Lin Chuntao stood there quietly. She spoke fluently, and after she finished speaking, many of the women in the village who were about the same age as Miao Feng frowned.

Miao Feng glanced around and realized that all the familiar people seemed to have become strangers.

Her body trembled uncontrollably as she pointed at Lin Chuntao and cursed, "You little slut, you're talking nonsense!"

"Whether you're talking nonsense or not, you know it yourself, and everyone here knows it too. People will remember what you've said to them!"

"Perhaps in many people's eyes, we sisters lost our mother and were kicked out of our home, so we are pitiful and easy to bully; we are having a hard time right now, but we have hands and feet, we won't starve to death, we don't need pity, and those who think we are easy to bully are even more ridiculous. I have the ability to sign a severance agreement, and I have the ability to lead my sisters to live a life without begging for food. I will not offend others unless they offend me!"

Sun was standing not far away. She had rushed over after hearing Aunt Guizhi scolding her, but Lin Chuntao didn't give her a chance to speak.

Whispers arose from the surroundings. Miao glanced back at her sisters-in-law, whose faces were also grim. They seemed to have believed Lin Chuntao's words and would not help her at all.

Miao Feng felt that if she hadn't fainted, she didn't know how she would have gotten out of the drying field today. Her body went limp, and she collapsed.

Lin Chuntao snorted coldly, "Trying to kill yourself?"

She turned around and saw the dishwater that hadn't been poured out. She bent down, picked it up, and walked towards Miao Shi. In front of the Lin family, she poured the dishwater directly onto Miao Shi's head.

Lin Xian'er and the others, afraid that the dishwater would splash onto their clothes, quickly took a few steps back.

She sneered, looking at Miao's trembling eyelashes, and said in a low voice, "If there's a next time, I won't just throw dishwater at you!"

After she finished speaking, she took the pot and turned to leave.

Today is a happy occasion for others. After Miao finished her business, she pretended to be dead and didn't care anymore, but she couldn't just leave like that.

She looked at Qiao'er's mother, who was sitting diagonally across from her and didn't look too good, and said loudly, "Auntie, I'm so sorry! Today is Qiao'er's big day. Chun Tao wishes her and her husband a loving and happy marriage, and that they have a son soon and live a long and happy life together!"

As Lin Chuntao finished speaking, someone next to her suddenly clapped and said, "Well said!"

Qiao'er's mother's complexion improved slightly, and she smiled at her, saying, "Then thank you Chun Tao. Your little sister Qiao'er is in the room over there. Go and play with her for a while."

Lin Qiao'er was, after all, the bride, and Lin Chuntao readily agreed to her mother's suggestion.

She still had money on her. When she entered the house, she saw some discarded red paper. She took a small piece, wrapped two copper coins in it, and gave it to Lin Qiao'er.

Lin Qiao'er refused to answer, repeatedly turning down the offer.

When a girl gets married here, her family gives her dowry items, including some copper coins as a last resort, but no one will give her money anymore. Even very close elders will give her shoes, socks, or cloth, but no money.

Lin Chuntao handed over the copper coin. It wasn't much, but since their two families weren't exactly close, even two copper coins surprised her.

"Sister Chuntao, I can't accept it, really, please take it back."

Lin Chuntao refused and forced the gift into her hand, saying with a smile, "Congratulations on your marriage, little sister. You must accept this gift; don't think it's too little from your older sister."

Holding the red envelope, Lin Qiao'er could only say, "Then I thank Sister Chuntao."

Seeing that she accepted it, Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Then you go ahead and do your work, little sister. I have to go back and feed the piglets first. I'll come back to play later."

After Lin Qiao'er agreed, Lin Chuntao came out.

The Lin family members had already left the threshing ground. The others were either working or chatting.

Lin Chunxing and the others were already waiting for her outside, and they went to greet her as soon as she came out.

Lin Chuntao looked at them and asked with a smile, "Have you had fun? Want to keep playing or come home with me?"

"I'm not playing anymore, I'm going home," Lin Chunxing replied softly.

Lin Chuntao nodded slightly. "Then let's go."

As the sisters crossed the threshing ground, the villagers, gathered in small groups, remarked, "Chuntao's tongue has become quite sharp."

Those listening nearby laughed and said, "What can you do if you're not good at it? Look at what Miao did today. If she hadn't been good at it, she would have been labeled a thief for good."

Another person chimed in with a laugh, "Chun Tao's words are well said. Miao really tried to steal a chicken but lost the rice instead. I wonder if her sisters-in-law will give her a good look when she gets back."