Xu Lanyin and her three siblings resembled Qin Shi more, and their height all took after the slender Xu Qingyan. Their current body was about 1.6 meters tall. The original owner had already started her period two years ago, so she probably wouldn't grow any taller.
His mother, Qin, was exceptionally beautiful, with fair skin, picturesque features, elegant manners, a petite figure, and a soft southern accent. She was clearly not from the countryside. The villagers secretly said she was a vixen, perhaps from a poor background, or else why would she follow Xu Qingyan, who was "making money from the black market."
Qin was also very knowledgeable. Several of her children had learned to write, read, and draw from her since childhood. She had even mentored Gu Wangchen a few years earlier. Villagers also rumored that she might be a skinny horse or the most popular person in the building, someone who had undergone special training...
None of the Xu family believed these lies. Qin was gentle, virtuous, dignified and steady, not at all like the women in the building. Besides, Xu Qingyan didn't have that much money to redeem the first concubine. However, these rumors still made Old Lady Xu very unhappy, and she always felt a little uncomfortable with Qin.
Xu Lan, with her original owner's memories, was incredibly skilled at combing her hair. She wore her hair in a double bun. She didn't have any skincare products at home, so she put up with it. Luckily, there were soapberry trees in the mountains, and she brought home plenty to wash her hands and bathe with. Now, if she dared to buy luxury items, Xu Lanzhou might hit her again.
That little violent boy, when I gain prestige in the future, I must discipline him well.
After combing her hair, she looked in the mirror again. It wasn't entirely true to say the original owner was completely heartless. Perhaps she knew she was handsome, so she dressed respectably when meeting Gu Wangchen. But when she left the village or went into the mountains, she would dress shabbily, wearing not only tattered clothes but also a headband that covered almost half her face.
Xu Lanting got up. After Xu Lanyin washed him up, she went to the kitchen to serve him some food. The siblings each received a bowl of cornmeal with wild vegetables and a sweet potato. She also scooped out a large bowl of cornmeal for Huazi. The little boy, small and weak, ate half, and he gave the rest to Huazi.
After dinner, Xu Lanting took out an egg from the east room and said, "Brother asked you to steam it for mom."
These two brothers were always on guard against her and hid precious things like eggs.
Xu Lanyin went into the kitchen to steam egg custard. The little boy was afraid that she would take it to the Gu family, so he stood at the kitchen door as a door god, watching her vigilantly, which made Xu Lanyin laugh and cry.
After steaming, Xu Lanyin first took a basin of water to the east room.
The light was bright, and she could finally see Qin clearly. Her face was pale, thin, and wrinkled around her eyes. She was nothing like the beautiful and gentle woman she remembered. Her husband's death and her daughter's financial ruin had nearly broken her.
The original owner must not have taken a serious look at Qin in the past two years, otherwise how could Xu Lanyin suddenly notice that Qin had changed so much.
A feeling of sadness welled up in Xu Lanyin's heart, and she said, "Mom, I was wrong before. I shouldn't have done that." Even her eyes were red. It must be that the original owner's feelings still remained in her body. The original owner's love for her family was also sincere, but she was blinded by Gu Wangchen.
Qin looked at her and sighed softly, "I'm angry not only because you sold the land, but also because you don't understand people's hearts at your age and do stupid things. I'm afraid you will suffer in the future."
Xu Lanyin was deeply moved. Even though the original owner had done such a terrible thing, she still only cared about her daughter's happiness. She said, "Mom, I'll always discuss everything I do with you. And Gu Wangchen, I know he's unreliable. I've been wondering these days. He knows our family situation. If he truly cared about me, how could he have let me foolishly sell the land and accepted so much money with such a clear conscience?"
Qin was stunned. She hadn't expected her daughter to doubt Gu Wangchen. If a few acres of land had truly helped her see through people's hearts, it wouldn't be entirely a bad thing. She sighed again and let her daughter help her sit at the table.
Xu Lanyin helped her wash her face and rinse her mouth, then combed her hair, simply tied it into a bun at the back of her head, and tied it with a wooden hairpin.
He helped Qin to sit down in the main hall, and then brought a bowl of egg custard, half a bowl of cornmeal, and half a sweet potato to the table.
Qin wanted Xu Lanting to eat half of the egg custard, but the little boy was too embarrassed to accept it and ran to the yard.
After Qin had finished eating, she helped her back to the house to rest. Then Xu Lanyin took the large wooden basin and went to the north end of the village to wash clothes. There was a large shallow beach connected to the Baisha River there, and the women in the village washed clothes there.
Mornings in the countryside are beautiful, the rising sun blazing brightly, the azure sky so clear it's enchanting. Distant, dark green hills, vast expanses of fields crisscrossed with green and yellow, and the small courtyard behind... This place is unfamiliar and poor, and her family isn't close to her, but if she manages well, there's always hope.
Arriving at the river, several people were already washing clothes. Xu Lanyin went over and squatted down to wash clothes. The original owner had few friends in the village, and many people disliked her. Elders, in particular, would use her as an example when scolding younger generations for being wasteful, or when scolding girls for being outgoing. In the eyes of the villagers, wasting money was unforgivable, and a girl who only wanted a man to move her family's belongings before getting married was not only disgusting, but also shameless.
The women chattered and laughed, cursing the original owner, saying how pitiful Qin and the two children were, and that when winter came, they didn't know if the youngest child would survive...
He didn't care whether she could hear him or not. The original owner's sale of the land had caused public outrage. It turned out that his reputation was already very bad.
Some people still say that if Gu Xiucai passed the imperial examination and married her, the family would have a good life.
The others disagreed with this statement, saying that Mrs. Gu was so stingy and mean, she only took in money and never gave out, and would not care about her daughter-in-law's family.
…
It seemed that most villagers saw through Gu Wangchen's character and sympathized with the Xu family. The original owner, however, foolishly failed to see the truth, believing that as long as Gu Wangchen passed the imperial examination and married her, her family would be better off, even without land. Gu Wangchen's intentions were well hidden, and the villagers considered him a learned and virtuous young man, completely unlike his mother.
Xu Lan pretended not to hear, and after washing the clothes, she got up and left alone.
Back home, the little boy sat on a small stool and wrote on the ground with a small stick. He now knows more than 20 characters and can write his own name. He would practice with the stick on the ground when he had nothing to do.
He didn't know yet that in the eyes of others, he might not survive this winter.
After hanging the clothes on the line, Xu Lanyin combed the little boy's hair into two new buns. His hair was fine, yellow, and soft, combed down on either side of his head in curls that resembled two small, curled chrysanthemums. His face was as white as rice paper, so thin in the sunlight that you could see the blood vessels. His eyes looked larger and rounder because he was so thin.
Xu Lanyin held his little face and kissed him twice, then smiled lovingly and said, "You're so beautiful, like a little girl."
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