The resentment towards the original owner was not only towards this family, but also towards the eldest wife and the old couple of the Xu family. Ever since the original owner sold the land, Xu Lanyin never entered the eldest wife's door again.
Xu Lanyin wouldn't argue with a child, so she said with a half-smile, "I don't want to eat your meat either."
"Hmph, you can't imagine it." Xu Yuan raised his head, as proud as a crowing rooster.
The two brothers came out, Xu Lanzhou picked up Xu Yuan, and went out with Xu Lanting, and Huazi also followed them happily.
Xu Lanyin had originally planned to make sweet potato pancakes and steam a pheasant egg just for Xu Lanzhou. After they left, she didn't move. Previously, whenever the two brothers were invited to dinner by the eldest wife, they would bring back a bowl of delicious food for Qin. Of course, there was no portion for the original owner.
Sure enough, more than two quarters of an hour later, Xu Lanzhou returned with a large bowl of meatball soup and a mixed-flour steamed bun. He watched Qin finish her meal, then took the bowl and left.
After Xu Lanzhou left, Qin called Xu Lanyin from inside the house. She had half a mixed-flour steamed bun left and said, "Mom can't finish it, so you can eat this half." She added, "Don't be angry, it's really what you did before that was so infuriating."
Xu Lanyin nodded. If someone else had done something like that, they would have been beaten half to death or even killed. She heated up a bowl of corn porridge left over from lunch and ate it with half a steamed bun.
After dinner, she went to discuss with Qin again, "Mom, I'm going to Yefengling tomorrow to pick more herbs and sell them the day after tomorrow. I know I've caused a terrible disaster. It's made life difficult for our family and caused my brother to drop out of school. I'll find a way to make more money and buy back what I lost."
Yefengling, the highest and largest peak in the Oat Mountains, is nearly a quarter of an hour's walk west, where herbs are more plentiful. The hills behind Xiaozao Village are not high, but they have many trees, firewood, and people, but not many herbs. Xu Lanyin wanted to quickly go to the county town to see if there were any opportunities to improve her family's living conditions and her own predicament, and also to sell or pawn her meager dowry.
Qin looked at her daughter, still a childish creature, her eyes seeming calmer than ever. Their bond had been strong until four years ago, when she decided that Gu Wangchen was already fifteen and could earn some money by copying books or writing letters. Beyond what was necessary, she felt the family shouldn't pay any more. She then expressed her suspicions about Gu Wangchen. Her daughter was upset, crying and making a scene, refusing to listen to her reasoning. Since then, their relationship has been less than warm...
Now, why did the silly girl suddenly figure it out?
Qin said, "There are few people in Yefengling. You should take Huazi with you when you go. Don't go too far up the mountain, and don't go too deep. As long as you think it through, stop wasting money, and work together as a family, your life will gradually get better."
Xu Lanyin nodded. For the first time in all these years, mother and daughter had a peaceful conversation.
Originally, she wanted to talk to Gu Wangchen about breaking off the engagement, but she thought that she couldn't be too rash and the changes couldn't be too fast, so she had to find a suitable excuse.
The next morning, Xu Lanyin got up at dawn.
She opened a cabinet door and took out a small earthenware jar with a lid. After opening the lid, she saw that there was not much medicine powder left in it. If she used it sparingly, she could only use it for a dozen times.
Xu Qingyan had brought the powder home earlier. He had told his family that it repelled wild animals, insects, and snakes, and was extremely rare and precious, so they must use it sparingly. He also forbade anyone from telling anyone, including the first wife. The original owner also treasured it dearly, only using it when in the sparsely populated mountains.
Xu Lanyin grabbed a small handful and put it in a bowl, then diluted it with water and sprinkled it on the clothes and shoes that she would wear into the mountains.
Qin and the little boy were still sleeping. After she and Xu Lanzhou finished their breakfast, they took three roasted sweet potatoes and went to Yefengling with Huazi.
Hanako seemed to know where her owner was going and ran happily in front.
They walked north for a while and came to the small road behind the village, where they saw a middle-aged woman in her forties standing under a tree looking at her.
The woman, wearing a gray dress and a silver hairpin, had high cheekbones and drooping eyes. She was none other than Gu Wangchen's mother, Miao. The original owner had called her Aunt Gu. Ever since her son passed the imperial examination, the woman had become much neater and more refined, and her clothes had also become much better.
Xu Lanyin's impression of Gu Wangchen was that he was handsome, elegant, and tall, not at all like his mother. Perhaps he took after his father, or perhaps inherited it from the previous generation. It was said that the Gu family's great-grandfather had once passed the imperial examination. Whenever the original owner saw her handsome fiancé, her heart would flutter, and she would find his every word and action perfect and impeccable.
Xu Lanyin had no good feelings towards Gu Pozi. She was standing here waiting for her at this time, so it must be something bad.
She wanted to avoid Granny Gu, but Granny Gu called her first, "Yin'er, are you going to Yefengling to collect herbs again?"
Old Lady Gu knew that Xu Lanyin was going to Yefengling by this road, and she wished that the girl would go there every day so that she could make more money. She had been waiting here every day for the past few days, but she didn't know why the girl only went there today.
If Gu Po called the original owner "Yin'er" and smiled like a bun, it meant she wanted something. If she didn't want something, she would call her "Yin Yatou" and her attitude would be particularly arrogant.
Xu Lanyin immediately became alert, stood up and asked stiffly, "What do you want to talk to me about?"
Old Wife was stunned. This girl was acting out of character today. Normally, if she saw her, she would not only run towards her with her feet turned over her head, but also laugh so hard that she couldn't even straighten her back.
Old Wife still blamed her son for being too soft-hearted. She had only let the silly girl sell six acres of land when she should have sold all eight. But her son said that they had to leave them a way to survive. If people had no way to survive, they would easily cause trouble.
Her son had taken all the money with him, and she had been feeling light-hearted these days. She wanted to eat meat but had no money to buy it. But before he left, her son repeatedly warned her not to ask the silly girl for meat again, and to spread the word, hoping that the girl would find her some pears to eat.
The son didn't elaborate, but Granny Gu thought he was hoping for a good omen, one that would allow them to separate smoothly. Her son had become successful, so how could that silly girl be worthy of him? Granny Gu was eager for them to separate sooner rather than later.
Xu Lizheng's pears were just ripe and more expensive than meat, so she hurried to find the silly girl, insisting on getting her a few pears no matter what she did.
Mrs. Gu walked up to Xu Lanyin and said with a smile, "Yin'er, Wangchen has been in the provincial capital for nearly ten days. We took all the money from home with him. My throat has been dry these days, and I even had a nosebleed. Ouch, I feel uncomfortable. I want to eat pears." After saying that, she pounded her chest uncomfortably and frowned.
Is he asking her for money to buy pears? Xu Lanyin was furious. She and her family couldn't even afford to eat. Her younger brother went into the mountains to cut wood at such a young age. She gave all the money to them. How dare he ask her for money to buy pears?
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