Chapter 6 Going to the market tomorrow

Li Guang was covering his cheek when he suddenly became angry.

"Don't you usually like me coming?"

Song Chunxue gripped the stick tightly and slammed it hard into his forehead.

"You bastard, who likes you? I was stupid and didn't want to offend you, you scoundrel, and you still want to take advantage of me?"

"Eating my family's meat sauce, isn't it shameful if word gets out? My family relies on me to feed everyone, how can you be so shameless?"

She used all her strength, cursing and whipping him forcefully.

Li Guangzheng clutched his head, crying out, "Stop...don't hit me!"

"Shameless! I feel disgusted just looking at you and want to kick you out. And you're eating minced meat sauce? You have such a thick skin!"

"I have so many children in my family, I'll beat you to death!"

Li Guangzheng ran into the yard, clutching his head, yelling, "Song Chunxue, what's wrong with you... Aww!"

Song Chunxue grabbed a sheep shovel from the side and lashed it at him.

"You shameless old scoundrel, I have plenty of pig and sheep dung from my house, do you want some?"

"Get out! Don't let me see you again, or I'll kill you if I ever hear you spouting nonsense again!"

She stood barefoot outside the gate, holding a sheep whip in her hand, cursing Li Guangzheng more and more fiercely as he ran away.

The eldest, second eldest, and third child all came out of the house, looking at Song Chunxue's cursing with great surprise.

When Li Guangzheng came before, my mother was afraid of offending him. She would say things like, "The Li family is a big family, and we should stick together, otherwise they will be taken over."

But today, contrary to her usual behavior, she beat and scolded Li Guangzheng and threw him out.

Looking at the children, Song Chunxue remembered telling them when they were little not to mess with the Li family, lest they upset herself and the children.

"You don't listen when you should, but you're very obedient when you shouldn't. If you let this kind of scoundrel into our yard to bully your mother next time, you'll all be going to beg for food!"

After saying that, she went outside in the yard and cried for a while.

After reflecting on my past self, I realized how pathetic I was.

If someone had taught her, she wouldn't be so stupid and hateful.

After a while, as soon as Song Chunxue entered the courtyard, she saw Sanwa changing his shoes, preparing to go to the mountains to herd sheep.

He changed out of his old shoes and put on an even older pair, with his big toe sticking out.

"You're still wearing such old shoes?" Song Chunxue stood in front of him. "Take them off, let me see."

Sanwa was a little embarrassed and hesitated before taking it off.

When Song Chunxue took it in her hand, she saw that her heels had also been worn through.

Song Chunxue felt a pang of sadness. "Your shoes are so worn out, why didn't you tell me?"

At this point, she felt a pang in her heart.

Sanwa might have mentioned it, but she wouldn't have taken it to heart before. She would even point to his shoes and say, "These can still be worn for a while. Anyway, the mountains are all yellow soil, so they won't hurt your heels."

"Keep those shoes on. We'll go to the market tomorrow and buy you two new pairs." Song Chunxue handed him the shoes he had worn that morning, which were already faded.

At this moment, the second son came out of his room and stretched.

"Mom's going to buy new shoes for the third child?" the second child asked, somewhat discontented. "I'm leaving next month, isn't Mom planning to pack my bags?"

"When have I ever mistreated you?" Seeing the second son, she felt a chill in her heart and didn't want to argue with him anymore. "You two come with me to the market tomorrow."

The second brother chuckled and walked over to look at the third brother's tattered shoes.

"You're still reluctant to throw away these clothes, even though they're worn like this. Everyone says you're the most filial. You've gone to great lengths to prevent your mother from making you new shoes."

"..." At this moment, Song Chunxue wished she could kick the second son out, and was even more annoyed by her own indulgence.

"Second brother, are you even speaking human language?"

The second brother paused for a moment, his cheeks flushed, and he turned and went outside.

Song Chunxue suddenly remembered that she had made new shoes for her three sons before the New Year, but not for her youngest son.

She wanted to slap herself.

Although she didn't have any herself, making new shoes was time-consuming and laborious.

She used to think that a child who studies shouldn't be looked down upon.

But this wronged the mother and son who were the poorest in the family.

Watching Sanwa put on his shoes, pick up his sheep whip, and leave in silence, Song Chunxue stood there, unable to come back to her senses for a long time.

As usual, she took her tools and went to the field to weed.

Food was her lifeline; with food, she and Sanwa wouldn't have a bad life.

The wheat is growing very well this year, but the weeds in the field are growing even better.

She hoeed the weeds for a while, then went to the wasteland to dig up wormwood and dandelions.

This season is a good time to dig for wormwood. The villagers don't care about that little bit of money. After all, taxes aren't that heavy these days, there's enough food to eat, and family members can go out and earn some money.

Song Chunxue's family had more wolves than meat, and many expenses, so she was always more diligent than the others on the estate.

Although there are other families in this village with eleven children, their children are obedient and sensible, and they all know how to share household chores with their parents.

In previous years, Song Chunxue had been raising her child alone.

If Sanwa hadn't taken over the shepherding job after her father's death, she probably would have been exhausted just trying to support her children's education.

Whenever she thought of this, her guilt towards Sanwa deepened.

When they got home in the evening, Chen Feng was cooking, and the eldest son was feeding the livestock.

Song Chunxue continued to separate the wild vegetables from the herbs and dry them separately.

The meal was ready, and as usual, the eldest son and his wife wanted to eat early.

Song Chunxue stopped them.

"From now on, if Sanwa doesn't come home, none of us are allowed to eat."

The eldest brother's face was grim, but he didn't object.

"Also, if you two don't want to squeeze in with us, you should go find some land outside and start your own estate as soon as possible."

"You two are both at home, leaving your old mother to work in the fields alone. Aren't you ashamed? Don't give me any of that nonsense about taking care of me in the future. With your current cunning and only-listening-to-your-wife attitude, you won't treat me any better in the future."

"Don't keep complaining to me about why I'm suddenly being nice to Sanwa. It's because Sanwa understands me. After you all leave, I'll still have to rely on Sanwa to feed me. When I'm too old to walk and can't even take care of my own bodily functions, the only person I can rely on is Sanwa."

These words silenced the room completely.

Even Chen Feng, who usually winks and makes faces, didn't dare to say anything.

After all, she got married, and before she separated from her family, her maternal relatives wouldn't support her.

Although I don't know why the old woman suddenly became like this, her sudden assertiveness must mean something happened.

In the afternoon, they overheard the villagers discussing how Song Chunxue had chased Li Guangzheng away. They said that Li Guangzheng's head was bleeding from the blow, and that the widow of the Jiang family had finally stood up for herself.

She thought to herself, "This old woman is more than just tough; she's become a shrew."

He used to be a quiet, hard-working person who was easy to talk to. I don't know what suddenly happened to him.

If I hadn't heard that this old woman had a good temper, would she have married into this family?

After Sanwa returned, Song Chunxue handed him the chopsticks before everyone started eating.

After the meal, Song Chunxue didn't move. The eldest looked at Chen Feng, and Chen Feng looked at the second eldest.

The second child couldn't sit still under their gaze, so he picked up his bowl and stood up, saying, "I'll go wash the dishes."

The next morning, Song Chunxue cooked soup, and the second and eldest sons got up to drink the soup and eat steamed buns.

The second son told the eldest son that if they didn't drink the soup on time today, tomorrow's soup would only be for her and the third son.

"Sanwa, don't go herding sheep today. I threw some corn stalks in the sheepfold. Come with me to the market."

Just as Sanwa was about to refuse, he heard his eldest daughter-in-law, Chen Feng, say, "I want to go too."