Chapter 421 Ordinary People

Song Chunxue was lost in thought and felt agitated.

She stood by the window, looking at the bustling streets of Jincheng, paved with bluestone bricks, unlike the streets of Zhuanglang County, which became muddy and slippery after rain, resembling a donkey pen.

The people on the street were neatly dressed. At first glance, there were very few people in tattered clothes. They were either farmers hurrying along or beggars on the street. Everyone else was dressed smartly.

There was a time when she didn't even have the courage to stay at an inn in Jincheng; she only asked for a bowl of water from someone at a noodle shop when she was passing by.

She couldn't bear to part with the copper coins in her arms, and she wouldn't even take a bowl of plain noodles. Instead, she ate the steamed buns she had brought from home and swallowed them with water.

To this day, she dares not recall how she could have been so willing to spend the money she had saved up for so long from selling Artemisia capillaris, traveling thousands of miles alone to find Lao Si.

The fourth brother doesn't live in Jingzhou, but he lives closer than the second brother.

If she had seen things more clearly in her past life, perhaps she wouldn't have suffered so much.

She stayed at the fourth brother's house for a few months, but she didn't feel at ease there.

The fourth brother lives far away in Hamiwei, where many people grow cotton.

Cotton is precious, and the cotton here is better than anywhere else.

When the cotton harvest season arrives, many people with limited land who want to earn some money will go to pick cotton.

If it weren't for the fourth brother stopping her, she really wanted to pick cotton.

However, there were vehicles carrying cotton coming and going on the streets, and some that were not tied properly were blown off by the wind and rolled on the wide streets. They were blown together by the wind and few people picked them up.

Because most people here don't lack cotton.

Besides, the cotton that has fallen to the ground is dirty, and the locals don't even bother to pick it up.

Only Song Chunxue would pick it up. Such a soft thing, if it were placed in Li Family Village, everyone would definitely rush to pick it up.

Even the worst kind, if you pick and choose carefully, can be made into a very soft mattress, much softer than wool, and without the musty smell of wool.

At first, the fourth brother tried to stop her, but later he stopped caring, and Song Chunxue picked up the items even more enthusiastically.

Anyway, she has to be mindful of others' moods even when she's at home; the fourth son and his wife often argue.

Song Chunxue felt that perhaps it was because of her.

So she often goes out on the street to avoid staying at home and causing trouble for others.

Having come all this way, she wanted to spend more time with her fourth son, so she wasn't in a hurry to go home.

Picking cotton became her reason for staying.

She picked up bag after bag of cotton, but no one would buy it, so she took it to a cotton-fluffing shop and made two mattresses and two quilts.

Although she picked it up from the street, she cleaned it thoroughly, and the resulting quilt looked white and wasn't dirty at all.

If she had to do it all over again, she would never travel thousands of miles to see the fourth brother, nor would she ever demean herself by picking cotton.

"Knock knock knock".

The mist in Song Chunxue's eyes cleared. "What is it?"

The fourth brother's voice came from outside the door.

"Mother, I've brought you some food. Do you want some fried noodles?" The fourth son's voice was filled with laughter. "And some wine too."

"There won't be any left to eat soon, and it won't taste good if it gets soggy." The fourth son gently kicked the door. "Let me in quickly, I know Mom is hungry."

Before he could even say he didn't want to eat, the fourth brother started whining at the door.

Song Chunxue felt uncomfortable all over and opened the door, saying, "Speak properly to me."

"Hehe, I'm telling you nicely, Mom, let's eat." The fourth son pushed the wooden plate forward. "The fried noodles here are pretty good, Mom, would you like to try some?"

"Ugh..." Song Chunxue smelled the aroma of food, and her appetite was just starting to rise, but a wave of nausea made her unable to straighten up. "There's beef, bring it out quickly, I want a bowl of rice, and I'll just order a vegetable dish."

It turns out that she's fine if she doesn't eat, but if she wants to eat beef, it can make her vomit so badly she feels like she's dying.

"Then I'll share this bowl with my second brother, but I'll leave the pig's trotters and wine for you," the fourth brother said, handing her a bowl of pig's trotters.

Song Chunxue took the wine and pig's trotters, "Then I'll just have a bowl of rice, no side dishes, just the pig's trotters are enough."

"Oh? You only want meat? I'll get you some fried tofu skin."

"Okay, I mainly want to try white rice, I've never had it before."

The fourth brother nodded, "Okay, I'll go right away."

Seeing how well-behaved the fourth son was, Song Chunxue called out to him, "Don't pretend to be well-behaved, just be natural. You seem fine now, but you can be really ruthless when you're angry at me, and I won't hit you."

"Hehe," the fourth brother couldn't help but laugh so hard his eyes disappeared. "I can't help it, I just can't help it. The thought of you using your sword to cut someone's knife into a saw makes me want to become your lackey."

"..." Song Chunxue closed her eyes in disgust. "Then please stop laughing, it's creepy."

"I can't control myself. I'm overwhelmed by Mother's courage and can't calm down yet. Please bear with it, Mother. I should be better tomorrow or the day after."

As he spoke, the fourth brother forced a smile again, "I'll go get Mom's food."

Looking at his pathetic appearance, Song Chunxue couldn't help but facepalm. She couldn't believe that he would become a pot-bellied, steady, wealthy businessman many years later.

The fourth child is very thin now; he doesn't gain weight no matter how much he eats.

When he becomes rich, he'll be carefree and overweight, and he'll be out of breath after just a few steps.

I remember once when I went home, I helped her cut two bundles of alfalfa. I almost fainted, which scared her so much that she never dared to ask me to do anything again.

Suddenly, a relieved smile appeared on her face.

Actually, the fourth son often came to see her later, but at that time she was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) unable to move, and she was always sharp-tongued, so she and the children always parted on bad terms.

They came excitedly, on a whim wanting to take her away to enjoy a life of luxury, but after a few days they wished they would never come again.

They are mother and son, just like each other, they can't even have a proper conversation. Saying something heartwarming feels like it would take half their life.

Perhaps, seeing a mother like that in person would dispel any feelings of guilt and regret.

In reality, who is right and who is wrong between the mother and son?

They are all ordinary people, and from their own perspectives, none of them have it easy.

If it were an outsider, they would always want to get to the bottom of right and wrong.

But if you insist on determining right and wrong between your own son and your own mother, then who is to blame?

Blame it on not being born into a wealthy family, blame it on no one restraining me since childhood, blame it on having so many children, all of whom want to rely on me, yet none of them are reliable?

Is it because her husband died young? Or is it because her second uncle sold her to the Jiang family as a wife?

She's already complained, but what can she do?

My senior once said that true strong people never complain about their fate.

Since fate has already been decided, accept reality and reduce your pain and resentment.

Humans aren't plants or trees, how can they be without feelings? Even if she knew what the second son was like in his past life, and now that he has changed, would she act like an enemy?

There are mothers with hearts of stone in this world, but she wasn't one.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have been like that in her past life.

If you don't want to repeat the same mistakes, don't take it too seriously, just do what you should do.

When the time is right and she is truly able to let go, that will be the time for her to leave without any lingering attachments.

Once she stops being so attached and no longer feels bound by anything, none of that matters anymore.

After eating, she prepared to meditate in her room.

After breakfast tomorrow, they will go up Wuquan Mountain to clean the courtyard.

"Knock knock knock".

"Mother, I want to say a few words to you."