Chapter 448 Believe it or not

What's wrong with Cheng Laowu's wife? She's meddling in other people's business.

Her own husband, under the guise of selling goods at the small shop, flirted with other women every day. Despite his tall and strong physique, he didn't do any farm work, making a woman a head shorter than him carry manure buckets and plow the fields, doing all the heavy labor. She never felt angry about it.

Why do I find it so hard to stand by and watch other people's business today?

Song Chunxue wondered, "Could it be that she has too good a temper?"

Seeing that Song Chunxue didn't speak, Cheng Laowu's wife raised her voice.

"Don't think that just because you have a little money now, you can do anything. People say that a wife who has shared hardship should not be abandoned..."

"What, you want your son to marry a woman like Chen Feng in the future?" Song Chunxue interrupted her with a smile, "Then I wish that both of your sons will find wives like Chen Feng in the future."

"You..." Cheng Laowu's wife choked for a moment, her momentum weakening considerably. "Stop talking nonsense."

"You were the one who farted first. Aren't we supposed to reciprocate?" Song Chunxue asked leisurely. "Where's your husband? Did he go off to work for other women in other villages again? He's living such a pathetic life, like he's mute. Who gave you the audacity to interfere in my family's affairs?"

She didn't expect Song Chunxue to be so determined. She picked up the manure bucket and left. "No matter what, we should wait until the child is born. She has already given birth to a boy for Jiang Yeming. What you are doing is inhuman."

"Why don't you say that Chen Feng, a woman, is not obedient after marrying into her husband's family? She used despicable means and even bought rat poison to kill the eldest son. Shouldn't they divorce her or just wait to die?" Song Chunxue said irritably. "If Chen Feng were like you, the eldest son would definitely not divorce her. Why don't you divorce Cheng Laowu and marry my eldest son as a concubine?"

"..." Cheng Laowu's wife's face flushed red and then turned pale.

“My eldest son is younger than your man, and more importantly, he's very caring. He's built a big house and is quite well-off. Since you're pregnant, he can make you work less. As long as my eldest son doesn't mind, I won't stop him, how about it?”

"..." She gripped the rope of the carrying pole and quickly walked down the slope, not daring to say a word more, for fear that if such words were to reach Cheng Laowu's wife, she would surely be in trouble that night.

Seeing the others flee in disarray, Song Chunxue felt much better.

She picked up the firewood and put it in the basket. When she turned around, she saw her senior brother standing behind her with his hands behind his back.

"..." What did her senior brother's expression mean? Did he think she was too calculating or too sharp-tongued?

"Hmm, not bad. It's a good thing that you can't stand being taken advantage of by the younger generation. Your level of cursing is also very high. You've made those who are being unreasonable furious." The Taoist priest commented, "If you don't keep things to yourself, you might outlive an old turtle."

"..." What the heck?

Song Chunxue put one hand on her hip, looking at him with a complicated expression, "Senior brother, did you make this up on the spot?"

The senior brother turned around and walked into the courtyard, his tone light and leisurely, "Chopping firewood takes me slower than a turtle. I'm just waiting for your tea to wake me up."

"..." Well, tea is the most important thing then.

Song Chunxue placed the tea stove on the table in the north room with a disgruntled expression and took two small stools.

By the time the Taoist priest finished washing his hair and was wiping it with a clean towel, Song Chunxue had already started drinking tea.

A short while later, a person appeared at the gate of the courtyard.

“Song Chunxue, you’re home,” Zhao Yufang said as she entered through the door, dressed in faded clothes. “The Taoist priest is here too. I’ve come at just the right time.”

Song Chunxue looked at her indifferently.

The eldest son's courtyard is quite close to Zhao Yufang's house. She still hasn't paid back the money she borrowed three years ago. The eldest son said there are still 300 coins left, and he can't get them back.

She hadn't planned to ask for it, but she didn't expect her to come looking for her today.

But judging from Zhao Yufang's appearance, she didn't seem to be there to repay the money.

"Why are you here?" Song Chunxue asked indifferently. "Come and have some tea."

"I won't drink the tea, I just had some." Zhao Yufang sat on the steps to the side, with a flattering smile on her face. "I was too busy the past few days. I know you're busy but I couldn't find the time. I just went to your eldest son's house and they said you were here."

Song Chunxue felt that she probably still wanted to borrow money.

They say that if you borrow and repay, it's easy to borrow again. But Zhao Yufang hasn't paid off her previous loans yet.

Is there some good news in your family?

Surprisingly, the Taoist priest asked about Zhao Yufang.

Zhao Yufang nodded repeatedly, "How did you figure that out, Taoist priest?"

"Just a guess." The Taoist priest took out a talisman from his pocket and handed it over. "Wear it on your body, and your health will improve."

Zhao Yufang is even thinner than she was three years ago, and there is always discharge in the corners of her eyes, making her look like she hasn't eaten enough.

Song Chunxue looked at the Taoist priest in surprise. Could it be that Zhao Yufang was in trouble?

She doesn't remember much about her previous life, and because she lived far away, she doesn't know much about Zhao Yufang.

If times are too tough, it's okay to lend some out.

At most one or two ounces.

For farmers, one or two ounces is a lot.

"Oh, thank you so much, thank you so much, Taoist priest." Zhao Yufang accepted the talisman with both hands, her thin, bony fingers trembling slightly, her voice choked with emotion.

Song Chunxue felt as if her heart had been pierced, and she suddenly wanted to cry.

She knew Zhao Yufang was a pitiful person, but three years ago, when Zhao Yufang tried to renege on her debt, Song Chunxue's sympathy vanished.

"What's wrong? Are you sick?" Song Chunxue took out a tael of silver from her bosom. "Eat well, buy more wheat, and raise a couple of chickens to help you recover. You've become so thin; a gust of wind could blow you away."

Zhao Yufang nodded and raised her arm to wipe her tears with her sleeve.

Song Chunxue couldn't bear to look any longer and quickly turned her face away.

Isn't this her from her past life?

I remember one year, our family's stored grain was stolen. In addition, we encountered a year of famine. When she came back from the fields, there wasn't even enough noodles to cook a bowl of soup for the children.

She could only go to a very, very far village in the middle of the day to beg for some cornmeal, and then come back to cook soup for her child.

She couldn't bring herself to ask for food in the village, and might even be bullied, so she simply ran for an hour to beg for food in a place where no one knew her.

Song Chunxue back then was just like Zhao Yufang now.

"Has your eldest son been treating you well these past two years?"

Zhao Yufang nodded, "He can talk to me when we meet, but his stepfather treats me badly; he even hit me a few days ago."

"Then why do you still cook for him? How come he doesn't starve to death?"

Zhao Yufang sniffed. "He forced me to come. He said that if I couldn't borrow a few dozen copper coins, my second son's marriage would not go through."

Song Chunxue frowned; she had never heard that Zhao Yufang's man was so terrible.

But she didn't want to delve into it.

"Alright, you've got one tael of silver now. You can pay it back when you're better off." Although Song Chunxue didn't expect her to pay it back, the words "you don't need to pay it back" might cause trouble.

Zhao Yufang bowed deeply to Song Chunxue, saying, "Thank you, thank you, Sister Song."

Seeing her walk out of the courtyard, the Taoist priest gently shook his head, "It's no use. This kind of person can't save herself. No matter how much you try to help her or how soft-hearted you are, it will be of no use."

"If you give her one or two taels of silver now, believe me, even more people will come to you for loans tomorrow?"

Song Chunxue smiled faintly, "Even if I don't give it to her, someone will still come to me to borrow money. Someone will also try to find wives for the second and fourth sons. We'll see after we finish our tea."