Chapter 199 Looking for a beating

The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is the Little New Year.

After dinner and washing the dishes, it's time to send off the Kitchen God.

In previous years, it was always the third child who burned incense and kowtowed, because the others didn't like to do it and thought it was superstition.

This year marks the birth of my third child.

Song Chunxue stood aside, watching him kneel in front of the stove, kowtow, and burn incense, and the more she watched, the happier she became.

But soon, a faint chill crept into my heart.

If the third son were to end up like the other sons...

Then Song Chunxue smiled and said, "It's all the same. Just cherish what you have now."

She has a way out now, and she doesn't need anyone to help her die peacefully.

Everything is preordained; why should she worry about the future?

Anyway, she was a mother, so she went ahead of them.

Who knows who will regret it and who will cry in the end?

Filial piety is passed down through generations. An unfilial person cannot have a filial son. The eldest son is a lazy man who relies on his parents for everything.

Thinking about it this way, God is already trying to be as fair as possible.

On the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, Song Chunxue began the spring cleaning.

Third Brother and Fourth Brother were also cleaning their own houses with him.

The two little wolfhounds were short and small. They would run behind one of them, wagging their tails, and then run behind the other. When they encountered steps they couldn't climb, they would turn back and chase each other.

Song Chunxue threw the old cotton wadding into the yard, stirring up a cloud of dust.

"Mother, don't you want this anymore?" the fourth son joked. "You always said it was left by my father's father, a keepsake. Now you're finally willing to throw it away?"

“Throw it away. There are plenty of memories to cherish. Every brick and tile in this yard holds memories. Why keep a worn-out cotton wadding? It’s all dirt.” Song Chunxue said, “Take it outside and burn it. Be careful not to burn the haystack.”

"Okay."

Song Chunxue was worried and called out, "Sanwa, you go with Lao Si."

The fourth brother is playful; who knows which words might catch his ear?

Sanwa put down the book in his hand and stepped out of the west room. "Okay, I'll go take a look."

"Mother, can I move the small bookshelf from my second brother's room?"

Song Chunxue was sweeping the headboard of the kang (a heated brick bed). Her bare feet were warm and comfortable on the bare kang.

Hearing this, she leaned out of the carved old wooden window and said, "You can use it, anyway, your second brother won't need it in the future."

"What if my second brother comes back..." Sanwa was actually worried that his mother would blame him for taking their things without permission. "Then I'll go get them. I've also moved my eldest brother's old books to my room."

Song Chunxue felt as if a small stone was pressing on her heart; it wasn't heavy, but it was still somewhat uncomfortable.

"Yes, just use it. Your eldest brother has already separated from the family and he doesn't want to study anymore. Your second brother is going to pursue his future and he won't care about the things in the family. And the fourth brother, he's not cut out for studying either. Just ask him for it. As long as he agrees to give it to you, I won't stop you."

She sighed with a half-smile, "Sanwa, be bolder from now on. Haven't you noticed that I love you the most right now?"

Sanwa lowered his head and kicked some old objects in the yard. "Mother, I don't want you to love me the most, and I don't want to become like my second brother. You're too good to me, and it feels like a burden to me."

As he spoke, he ran out of the yard, saying, "Just be fair, Mother has already been good enough to me."

Seeing his bright red ear tips, Song Chunxue smiled contentedly.

The little pebble in my heart vanished like smoke, turning into sweet cotton that filled my heart with joy.

She looked up at the clear blue sky and thought to herself, "What a beautiful day!"

The yard and surrounding area were all cleaned up, and there were no cobwebs on the old beams, which looked particularly pleasing.

On the 25th, we fried dough twists; on the 26th, we steamed buns; on the 27th, we made meatballs; and on the afternoon of the 30th, we pasted up couplets and door gods.

The fourth child sighed to the third child, "Everyone says that Mom is rich now, and I think so too. She's so generous now. Before, during the New Year, she wouldn't have bothered to make fried dough sticks, fried twists, or meatballs. She'd be lucky to have even one of those three things."

Sanwa said, "Even if there's money, it belongs to our mother. We're fine as long as we have food to eat. Don't even think about our mother's money. Did the eldest brother nag you about it?"

"Yeah, he asked me several times, saying that Mom went to the market more often this year, and he heard that Mom had money to buy satin for some of my aunts. He asked me why I didn't give it to him, and I scolded him for it," the fourth brother cursed. "Lately, people keep asking me for money..."

Looking up, he saw a figure at the entrance of the venue, and the fourth brother laughed and cursed, "Look, another one is coming, that dog-nose!"

Sanwa was standing on a stool, sticking couplets with paste on them to the earthen mounds on both sides of the gate, when he turned around and saw Niu Xiuhua.

He ignored him and said to the fourth brother, "Look, are they the same height now?"

The fourth brother took two steps back, hands on his hips, "Lower, oh no, a little higher, hey, yes, yes, just like that."

Niu Xiuhua walked up to them and said with a smile, "You're putting up couplets, so early?"

"Oh, who wrote this? It's really good." Niu Xiuhua smiled broadly and pointed to the couplet at the door, starting to flatter him. "This calligraphy is no worse than my cousin who teaches school."

The third and fourth children didn't respond.

Niu Xiuhua chuckled awkwardly, "Is your mother home?"

"No," the fourth brother said indifferently, looking at her. "On New Year's Eve, why aren't you home for the holiday? What are you doing at my house?"

“You child, you’re talking nonsense. How could your mother not be home on New Year’s Eve?” Niu Xiuhua said as she walked past them into the courtyard. “Song Chunxue, I’ve come to see you.”

Song Chunxue, who was mixing chicken blood noodles, felt a jolt in her heart when she heard this voice.

This ghost, how dare he come to see her?

“I knew you were in the kitchen,” Niu Xiuhua said, heading straight into the kitchen. “What delicious food are you making? It smells so good. Your cooking is still as good as ever.”

Yes, back then, Song Chunxue treated her like a sister, and when she saw that her family was struggling, she gave her her share of good food. But she turned around and slandered her, even telling other women that she stole things.

"Why are you, a mother, not home for the New Year? What are you doing here?" Song Chunxue said coldly, not even looking at her directly.

“You’re still angry with me because of what happened back then? I’d forgotten all about it. Why are you still holding a grudge?” Niu Xiuhua smiled and pulled out a pair of earrings from her bosom. “I apologize to you. I wronged you back then.”

Song Chunxue scoffed, "It's too late to apologize now. I don't need it anymore."

Niu Xiuhua shoved the pendant into her hands, saying, "Just take it... Hey, don't throw it away, after all, I paid for it."

Song Chunxue took out a rolling pin, her almond-shaped eyes narrowed slightly, and she looked at her sharply. "Speak your mind, or shut up. Give me the old earrings. My sister gave me several new pairs. Take your rusty ones back. I don't want them."

Niu Xiuhua's smile was stiff, and she was also a little annoyed.

"It's different when you have money; you speak with more confidence. I've come today to borrow some money, and I won't lend it to you for nothing. I'll pay you back an extra hundred coins later. I've run into some trouble and urgently need five taels of silver. I heard you..."

“I don’t have any money. I did have some money before, but I was afraid that others would covet it and I would have spent it all. You can borrow from someone else.”

Niu Xiuhua's face turned cold. "Don't be so stingy. You've already found a man to support you..."

"Smack!"

Song Chunxue pointed at her with her flour-covered finger and cursed, "Spreading rumors in front of me, do you still think I'm the Song Chunxue I used to be?"