Chapter 19 Sanwa's Wife

As mother and son, Song Chunxue could only provoke him in this way to make him struggle.

If he can't change his ways, there's nothing she can do.

The fourth son, being a child at heart, swore to the heavens that she had bet he would fail the imperial examination and become a scholar, making Song Chunxue believe that he could definitely change his bad habits and pass the examination.

As the sun dipped lower and the sky grew darker, Song Chunxue still chose to go home.

There was a relative living near the school, but she didn't want to stay there.

She walked alone on the winding, yellow earth, feeling no fatigue whatsoever.

It wasn't until the moon rose above the willow branches, and under the hazy moonlight, that Song Chunxue returned home.

When I passed by the thatched kiln, I heard the eldest brother talking to his wife.

As soon as the courtyard gate was pushed open, Sanwa stood up from the doorway and said, "Mom, you're back."

Song Chunxue smiled and said, "Yes, I'm back. Have you eaten yet?"

“I’ve eaten,” Sanwa said, turning to go to the kitchen. “I’ll get some rice.”

After Song Chunxue washed her hands and lit the oil lamp, Sanwa brought in steaming hot porridge and cold yellow mustard greens.

"You can make jiaotuan?" Song Chunxue asked, somewhat surprised. "Did you also make huangxucai?"

Sanwa smiled. "Yes, it's me."

"It looks pretty decent. Go to sleep, you have to get up early tomorrow."

"Um."

Sanwa, who had never heard his mother praise him before, suddenly felt a little embarrassed and quickly ran away.

Song Chunxue took a sip of soup and then a bite of the jiaotuan (a type of porridge). The broth was just right, not sour at all.

She was so pathetic; she teared up again.

Being able to eat her own son's jiaotuan again made her feel that God had been kind to her.

Even if she doesn't die peacefully this time, she will have no regrets.

No, she can't fall ill too soon; Sanwa hasn't gotten married yet.

Thinking of Xia Mulan, she needed to find Xia Yingcai as soon as possible.

There's no time like the present, so she'll go tomorrow at noon.

Luckily, she bought a pretty floral headscarf, so she wouldn't get hot even in the summer.

The next day, after lunch, while the second and third children were taking a nap, Song Chunxue quietly went to Aunt Xia Mulan's house with the things she had prepared.

After circling around most of the mountain, she arrived at a house by the main road.

The sun was shining warmly, and Xia Ying and Xia Mulan were washing clothes and their hair in the yard.

Xia Ying was still as talkative as ever. Song Chunxue could hear her rambling on about whose son was dividing the family property from afar.

As we got closer, the sound became much clearer.

"His godmother spoiled the eldest son rotten from childhood to adulthood, and look what happened..."

"They say the flowers they dyed don't turn out well, and their eldest son is cunning and lazy, but he's very good with words..."

As I listened, it seemed to be talking about Song Chunxue and the eldest brother, Jiang Yeming.

Song Chunxue quickly hid to the side of the gate, thinking that Xia Ying must not have said anything good about her.

If she didn't need something from her, she would definitely have rushed in and given her a good talking-to.

"Cough cough cough, cough cough."

Song Chunxue quietly turned back, and started coughing from a distance.

With her coughing so loudly, Xia Ying must have heard someone coming.

"Cough, cough."

She patted her chest as she walked into Xia Ying's courtyard and saw Xia Mulan combing her hair.

Her thick hair was slightly curly and yellowish in color, and her eyes were light brown, somewhat resembling her aunt Xia Ying's smile.

However, her aunt had a small frame and was tall and thin, while Xia Mulan looked very well-proportioned.

"Why is his godmother here? She was just talking about you," Xia Ying said with a warm smile, shaking the water droplets off her hands as she stood up. "Come inside quickly."

"It's been a long time since I've seen you, so I came to see you." Song Chunxue smiled, her gaze falling on Xia Mulan before quickly looking away.

As a woman myself, seeing such a young face, and remembering how she had given birth to five children in a row, her figure had become stout, and her belly hadn't had time to recover, Song Chunxue suddenly felt very sad.

Does she want Xia Mulan to jump into this fire pit of the Jiang family again?

“What are you standing there for? This is my niece. My older brother asked her to come and shovel grass for me. My two donkeys eat too much, and I can’t keep up.”

As she spoke, Xia Ying instructed, "Mulan, go to the kitchen and bring some steamed buns and the potatoes we cooked at noon."

Xia Mulan responded and casually tied her hair back, her light brown eyes scrutinizing Song Chunxue.

Song Chunxue was unaware that she was standing at the door of someone's main room, staring intently at Xia Mulan.

Xia Ying could easily see through her thoughts.

She smiled and tugged at Song Chunxue's arm, "Let's go inside and talk."

Xia Ying's family has three children. The eldest and youngest are both girls, and the second child is a boy. However, he poked his eye while playing as a child and didn't find a wife until he was almost forty.

The daughter was born with a heart condition, and everyone said she wouldn't live past twenty-five...

Seeing Xia Mulan carrying a long wooden tray into the house, Song Chunxue came back to her senses.

“This child is quite handsome,” Song Chunxue said, no longer beating around the bush or putting on airs, but directly taking a floral headscarf from her cloth bag and handing it to her, “Don’t mind this headscarf, give it to the child.”

Xia Mulan was taken aback, then turned to Xia Ying for her opinion.

Xia Ying nudged Song Chunxue, "Why are you giving the child things? You don't mean you want her to be your daughter-in-law, do you?"

Song Chunxue took out a jar of lard and a jar of cracklings from her cloth bag; both were good things from home.

The people in the village only slaughter a pig once a year. The rendered pork fat and pickled meat are enough to last them a year, and they are reluctant to eat them on other days.

"Wow, you brought so many nice things. I already have all of those at home."

Xia Ying chuckled and said, "It seems you've really taken a liking to my Mulan. There have been quite a few people talking about making her their daughter-in-law lately, but it's rare to see someone as decisive as you."

Song Chunxue felt much more at ease. This time, she was more generous than in her previous life, and even brought Xia Ying a piece of blue cloth so that she could make shoe uppers for the child.

Xia Ying did not refuse.

It seems she doesn't think much about her niece; she'll accept any benefit offered.

But thinking of the third child, Song Chunxue pretended not to know.

She thought of Sanwa's children, whom she had taken care of.

Although they were all naughty and not very filial to her when they grew up, they were not unfilial either.

At least, of her ten grandsons, Sanwa's is the closest to her.

Xia Mulan, who was only fourteen years old, did not understand these things and acted according to her aunt's wishes.

When Xia Ying gestured for her to accept the floral headscarf, she simply held it in her hand, looking at it with a hesitant expression.

Song Chunxue didn't forget her purpose and said directly to Xia Ying, "I think she's about the same age as my third son. Why don't you talk to your eldest brother and ask her to be my third son's wife?"

Xia Ying hesitated; after all, this was her elder brother's child.

"Then I'll tell you next time, even though you have a lot of children and your third son doesn't have much education, he's raising a flock of sheep that's quite valuable."

At this point, Xia Ying couldn't help but ask, "How did you divide the property? You didn't want to split the sheep equally, did you?"

She glanced at Xia Mulan and said seriously, "Let me make this clear from the start: since you're looking for a wife for Sanwa, I'll definitely side with him. Besides, he's been herding those sheep all by himself for almost ten years, so even if we're going to divide them, he'll get the lion's share. Otherwise, my older brother definitely won't agree."

"You're so biased towards the eldest brother. His wife, Chen Feng, is so capable. If she marries the third brother in the future, Mulan will definitely be bullied."

Xia Ying's worries were not unfounded. After Xia Mulan married into the family, Chen Feng caused trouble every day, cursing Xia Mulan whenever she came in or out of the house.

Not only that, Chen Feng's child also secretly bullied Xia Mulan's child.