Chapter 11: A Widow's Door is Full of Trouble
The sky gradually darkened.
The moon was already hanging in the sky, and its clear light shone into the courtyard.
Cheng Wanwan sat in the chair and spoke calmly, "Ergou, Sanniu, do you two have anything to say?"
Zhao Ergou lowered his head: "We shouldn't have gone to Chengjia Village..."
Despite saying that, he didn't regret it at all. His mother had completely broken ties with the Cheng family because of him and San Niu.
From now on, no matter what good things our family has, Mother will never send them to the Cheng family again, and the Cheng family will never be able to bully Mother again.
Zhao Sanniu lowered his head and said, "Mother, I was wrong..."
“You were indeed wrong,” Cheng Wanwan said slowly. “You shouldn’t have been so reckless before you were fully prepared and before you had a chance of winning! Er Gou, you’re sixteen years old this year. I know you’re smart, but only a little bit. If your older brother and I hadn’t gone today, you and San Niu would have been tied up in the yard all night. Without food or water, you would have lost half your life!”
“And San Niu, you have a lot of strength, but you never think before you act.” She said irritably, “No matter how strong you are, you’re only fourteen years old. Even if ten of you were tied up, you still wouldn’t be a match for your uncle. Don’t be so reckless in the future.”
Zhao Ergou and Zhao Sanniu were both a little stunned.
Surprisingly, Mother didn't blame them for causing trouble at the Cheng family's house; instead, she blamed them for going without being prepared.
Has Mother truly given up on the Cheng family completely?
Cheng Wanwan continued, "If you do something wrong, you must be punished. Your punishment is to each of you go and fetch two buckets of water right now."
Zhao Ergou looked up, his eyes filled with astonishment. In the past, when his mother punished them, she would either make them kneel all night or not eat for a day. Carrying water was a chore that they were supposed to do, so how could it be considered a punishment?
Zhao Sanniu had already picked up the bucket: "Let's go fetch water!"
The two of them went out one after the other.
Cheng Wanwan got up and went to the kitchen to ask Wu Huiniang to boil water: "Everyone is tired today, and everyone needs to take a bath."
She searched through the original owner's memories but couldn't recall the last time she had taken a bath. She only washed her hands and face every day, and was always drenched in sweat, stinking up to the bone... She knew water resources were scarce, but she still couldn't stand the stench of herself and her family...
As evening fell, Dahe Village gradually quieted down.
The farmers, having worked all day, were preparing to rest. There was no one at the well where people lined up to draw water. Zhao Ergou and Zhao Sanniu each carried back two buckets of water.
There was a large wooden tub at home that had been sitting unused for a long time. Cheng Wanwan took the tub out, poured in some hot water, then added a little cold water, and then grabbed Zhao Sidan: "Wash yourself, or do you want me to wash you?"
Zhao Sidan's face turned red: "I...I'll wash it myself..."
As far as I can remember, my mother never bathed him. Oh no, I should say, he never took a bath naked at home. Before the drought, he would just swim naked in the river and that was considered clean...
The child is filthy; mud comes off with every rub. Washing him like this won't do.
Cheng Wanwan searched in the mall for a long time before finally spending three coins to buy a small, inconspicuous bar of soap. She said, "This is a top-quality soap that I just swiped from your uncle's house. It smells wonderful after a bath."
The Zhao family had never seen or even heard of soap before, and Zhao Sidan was reluctant to use even a small bar of it.
Cheng Wanwan taught him how to use it, and he covered himself in bubbles, happily rubbing them in the yard.
Zhao Ergou said irritably, "Can you hurry up and wash?"
Zhao Sidan blinked innocently: "Mom said I have to wash myself clean, otherwise I can't go to bed."
Zhao Ergou beckoned with his finger: "San Niu, the two of us will help him wash!"
"Second brother, third brother, no... Eldest brother, come save me!" Zhao Sidan quickly dodged. "Hahaha, don't tickle me, it's so itchy... I'm done washing, I'm not washing anymore!"
Hearing the cheerful laughter coming from the courtyard, Cheng Wanwan also smiled.
As darkness fell, the Zhao family members lined up one by one to take a bath. The courtyard was filled with the scent of soap, and everyone looked much fairer.
That night, Cheng Wanwan finally got a good night's sleep.
As dawn broke, Dahe Village awoke.
When Cheng Wanwan woke up, the three children next to her were still sleeping like little pigs.
She tiptoed out of bed, where Wu Huiniang was already busy in the yard, washing the dirty clothes that the family had changed out of the night before.
Zhao Dashan picked up a hoe and prepared to go down to the field to weed.
"Dashan, you're coming to town with me." Cheng Wanwan turned and instructed, "Huiniang, you stay home and pack, don't go up the mountain."
Yesterday, Wu Huiniang almost fell while going up the mountain, and she dared not let a pregnant woman take the risk again.
Wu Huiniang hurriedly said, "But Mother, if we don't go up the mountain, where will we dig for wild vegetables?"
The wild vegetables in the fields have been almost completely harvested, so we have to go deeper into the mountains.
“The wild goose lettuce is quite delicious,” Cheng Wanwan said. “You and Sidan can dig up more wild goose lettuce from your own fields, and have the second and third brothers go up the mountain to find some mushrooms and ferns. Dashan and I will be back before noon.”
Zhao Da's oxcart was waiting at the village entrance; a ride cost only one coin.
Cheng Wanwan paid two coins and got on the oxcart with Zhao Dashan. There were other villagers on the oxcart as well.
The mother and son both took a shower last night and looked clean. Although their clothes were still tattered, they looked different from the others.
Cheng Wanwan's fair complexion made the scar on her forehead stand out even more.
A woman who usually didn't get along with her sneered, "Where is Sister-in-law Zhao going? Why don't you go to Chengjia Village?"
Everyone in the village knows that Sister-in-law Zhao always tries to take the best things to her parents' home, but she got her head smashed by them. It's truly laughable.
Cheng Wanwan smiled and said, "Aunt Fugui and your husband are really the same kind of people. They always like to ask me where I'm going. What does it matter to you two where I go?"
Aunt Fugui's eyebrows immediately shot up: "What do you mean by that!"
Cheng Wanwan snorted coldly: "If Aunt Fugui has the energy to keep an eye on others, she might as well put more effort into her own man."
A few words almost made Aunt Fugui explode.
She wished she could jump out of the car right now and run back to ask her husband if he was having an affair with Cheng Wanwan.
But looking at Cheng Wanwan's calm expression, it didn't seem like she was having an affair... It must be that her man was entangled with Cheng Wanwan, a widow!
Aunt Fugui was so angry her heart ached, but she didn't want to lose face in front of so many people, so she said coldly, "We're all from the same village, I was just asking where you were going, and you're taking my kindness for granted..."
Cheng Wanwan closed her eyes to rest.
As the saying goes, a widow's door is always full of trouble. After the original owner became a widow and separated from her family, many old men in the village came to cause trouble.
Fortunately, the original owner of this body was a feisty person, and she scolded them all away. Only Zhao Fugui was still bothering her, coming over every few days, which annoyed the original owner to no end.
She mentioned this to remind Aunt Fugui that she wanted to keep a close eye on her husband, otherwise she was afraid she would lose control and smash Zhao Fugui's forehead with a brick.
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