Ye Panjiu forcefully pulled her hand away. "Yesterday I saw that Ling'er was starving to death. She was your child, a human life! You may not care, but I do."
She walked quickly toward Widow Dong's house.
Widow Dong rolled her eyes inwardly with disdain. What kind of human life is this!
If that good-for-nothing starves to death, it's just that the family will be one less person to do the work; she won't care at all.
But she will not give up until she gets the money today!
Widow Dong grabbed Ye Panjiu's sleeve again, "You can't leave! Look at my grown son! How can you sleep at night!"
Unable to bear it any longer, Madam Tian snatched Widow Dong's hand away, demanding, "What exactly do you want!"
Aunt Wang, who was standing nearby, also said, "Sister-in-law, this has nothing to do with Pan Jiu's family. Stop making a scene here!"
Widow Dong slapped Aunt Wang's hand away, "I don't want your hypocrisy here!"
Aunt Wang was so angry that her face turned ashen.
Ye Panjiu looked coldly at Widow Dong.
Widow Dong gritted her teeth, "Ten taels! I want ten taels for a grand funeral for my eldest son!"
Ye Panjiu took out her box and unlocked it.
Inside was all the silver she had left over from today, exactly ten taels.
"Here are ten taels. I can give them to you, but from now on, Ling'er will be my goddaughter, and she will have nothing to do with you anymore."
She couldn't bear to watch Ling'er's life end. Even if she could keep her from starving to death with a bowl of porridge today, what about in the future?
As long as Ling'er stays with Widow Dong, she will starve to death sooner or later.
They would either starve to death or be beaten to death by Widow Dong and her good son.
Widow Dong grabbed the box, and in her excitement, she stretched out her hands, causing her eldest son's body to fall from her arms.
"No problem! I've wanted that money-losing girl for ages, she wouldn't leave even after being beaten like that!"
Unable to bear the sight, Liu took a straw mat and wrapped the child's body in tears.
Ye Panjiu didn't waste any more time, and she and Sun, who was carrying a lunchbox, walked quickly.
Old Mrs. Ye looked at Widow Dong with disgust. "A daughter is not a money-loser. It's Ling'er's misfortune to have a mother like you!"
Originally, Tian felt sorry for Widow Dong, but after seeing all this, she despised her greatly. "How can there be a mother like you in the world! You'd rather die for money!"
Widow Dong ignored him, clutching the box tightly in her arms, and slowly walked home.
Let her curse all she wants; she has ten taels of silver now!
Ten taels of silver—enough to buy so much gold and silver jewelry, so many gorgeous clothes! It could even be enough for her to eat at Xiangweifang every day!
So what if I get scolded a few times?
A man spat directly in the direction she left, yelling, "I've really seen something amazing! People like this are a menace to Ye Family Village!"
"The third brother is right, we should drive this woman out of Ye Family Village!"
The people of Yejiacun all chimed in.
Village head Ye Dayi looked at the straw mat on the ground and sighed, "Bajin really married a terrible wife. She really can't stay in Ye Family Village anymore, but Bajin has a son. What should we do with this son?"
Everyone looked at each other and then fell silent.
Aunt Wang said, "Let Widow Dong take it back to Dongjia Village."
Ye Dayi looked in the direction of Aunt Wang, "Qi Jin, that's your only nephew."
Ye Qijin's face turned bright red.
He and Bajin were biological brothers. Their parents had passed away a few years ago. The following year, when they were conscripted into the army, Bajin, who was older than him, left behind Widow Dong and three children, and never returned.
“In the years since my elder brother left, I have never wronged my mother and her three children. I give them two hundred coins every month and also give them grain when the harvest is done.”
“When I received the news of my brother’s passing, I told my sister-in-law that I would raise the three children, but she refused.”
Aunt Wang's face turned all sorts of colors when she heard this.
Not only was she unwilling, that slut even tried to seduce her man right in front of her.
This is her brother-in-law!
So later on, it was always her who gave money to Widow Dong.
Aunt Wang said, "It would be better to let my sister-in-law go back to Dongjia Village. We will still give money to my nephew and Ling'er."
She has two children at home, one of whom is currently studying at the academy, and another is a young daughter. She simply doesn't have the energy to take her nephews and nieces home to raise.
Ye Dayi sighed, "This is the only way."
Ye Family Village has a good reputation in several nearby villages, and he didn't want to ruin that reputation because of Widow Dong.
After their reputation is ruined, who would want to marry their daughter to Ye Family Village? And who would want to marry a girl from Ye Family Village again?
Old Man Ye walked straight to the straw mat, sighed, and picked up the child. "Everyone, lend a hand and let's bury this poor child."
Ye Qijin stretched out his hand, "Uncle Xingchao, let me do it."
Old Man Ye handed the child to him, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Please accept my condolences."
The people of Ye Family Village all followed Ye Qijin's lead and buried the child next to Ye Bajin's cenotaph.
Ye Qijin knelt on the ground, looking at the family's grave, silently shedding tears in the wind.
He has let down his older brother, and he has also let down his parents.
On the other side, when Ye Panjiu arrived, Ling'er was barely breathing and was lying in the corner, swollen from hunger.
Ye Panjiu hurriedly lifted her head, "Ling'er, don't sleep, Second Sister-in-law, feed her porridge."
Ling'er remained motionless, but her closed eyes twitched slightly.
She felt as if she had walked into a dark fog, with a river in front of her.
The rich aroma of food wafted from the other side of the river, and she was very hungry.
I'm so hungry.
But she could hear people talking in her ear.
Her voice is gentle and pleasant to listen to.
She really wanted to know who it was.
Looking at the porridge dripping from Ling'er's mouth, Madam Sun's voice trembled with anxiety, "She can't eat!"
Ye Panjiu became even more anxious, straightening Ling'er's head and turning it to one side, "Second sister-in-law, feed her thin rice soup!"
Sun's hands trembled slightly as she used a spoon to feed Ling'er thin rice soup.
The warm rice porridge had a slightly salty taste, and Ling'er swallowed it without realizing it.
She smacked her lips in a daze.
"She swallowed it! She swallowed it!" Mrs. Sun was so excited she almost cried.
Ye Panjiu's tense body relaxed a little, and she slowly exhaled.
"Just swallow it."
After feeding Sun half a bowl of porridge, Ye Panjiu stopped her, saying, "That's enough for now, let's take her home."
As she spoke, she prepared to pick up Ling'er, but her arms trembled uncontrollably.
Although Ling'er was extremely thin from hunger, she was still a seven-year-old child.
Sun put down the porridge and took the child from Ye Panjiu's hands.
"Sigh, this is too light."
Ye Panjiu picked up the porridge, pushed open the door, and walked outside.
As the two reached the door, they encountered Widow Dong, who had returned home.
Widow Dong looked on with a mocking expression, "Oh dear, there are still people willing to hug a worthless burden!"
Unable to bear it any longer, Ye Panjiu slapped Widow Dong hard across the face.
Widow Dong covered her face, her eyes wide with disbelief as she stared at her.
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