Mu Lianrong wouldn't let Xiao Yunying leave the house, but she didn't stop anyone from going in to see her. Luo Xin finished her meal in the main room and then came back to keep her company.
Xiao Shanhai came over and said that the people in charge of building the house came yesterday afternoon, but she was asleep and didn't have the heart to wake them. So she took it upon herself to have her mother give them twenty taels of silver so that they could prepare the bricks, tiles and timber for building the house, and then come back in a couple of days to discuss it further.
Xiao Yunying scratched her face. Well, the twenty taels of silver she had just given her had already been spent, and her parents had even had to pay more than ten taels.
In front of her father, she opened the cabinet and took out a small wooden box with a lock. This box contained the dowry money and jewelry that the original owner had brought when she got married. She pretended to take out a one-hundred-tael silver note and handed it to him.
Upon seeing such a large banknote, Xiao Shanhai hurriedly said, "Your mother manages all the money matters, not your father. Go talk to your mother about it."
He left after saying that.
Xiao Yunying smiled. It's true that women managing money is something that has existed in every dynasty.
When her mother brought her lunch in the morning, Xiao Yunying used the excuse that she might need to buy other materials later to slip the silver notes to her mother. Mu Lianrong didn't want her daughter to worry about building the house, so she accepted the silver notes and said she would manage them for her.
Xiao Yunying was confined to the room for three days straight. Except for relieving herself, Mu Lianrong wouldn't let her step out of the room.
If it weren't for her insistence, all her physiological needs would have to be met indoors.
After Xiao Yunying repeatedly assured Mu Lianrong that she was better, Mu Lianrong also felt that her daughter's fever had subsided, and only then did she agree to let her go out.
Basking in the warm, gentle sunshine, Xiao Yunying finally felt alive again.
"Finally, I don't have to lie down anymore. My bones are so weak from lying down all the time."
Except for the first day when she was really delirious with fever, her mother forced her to stay in bed for the next two days.
Just as Zhang was about to pick up her basket to gather pig feed, she added, "Yunying, you can't take advantage of your youth and ruin your health in the future. This time you really scared your mother."
"I understand, sister-in-law. It won't happen again. What about Xin'er and the others?"
"He went to gather pig feed with the boys in the family. Don't worry, your two older brothers went too. They're at the foot of the mountain, so it's not dangerous."
"Sister-in-law, are you going too?"
"Our two pigs eat three or four baskets of food a day, and there are also chickens to eat. The children play around and are slow, so I carry a basket back first to prevent the pigs from getting hungry and squealing."
Can I come with you?
"You've got to be kidding me." Mu Lianrong emerged from the kitchen at some point, peeling garlic in her hand. "I'm already being lenient by letting you leave the house. Don't even think about leaving the yard, let alone going up the mountain. Dream on."
"Mom, I'm all better now. Please let me help my sister-in-law gather pig feed. I can't just stay at home eating without doing anything."
"No need. There are so many people in the family, we won't miss you doing the work. You can either sunbathe in the yard or go back inside and lie down."
Given the two options, Xiao Yunying naturally chose the former.
"I'm sunbathing in the yard."
Mu Lianrong entered the kitchen with satisfaction.
Zhang smiled, pursing her lips, as if to say, "It's not that I don't want to take you," and went out with her sickle.
Xiao Yunying dragged a small stool to sit by the wall and sighed.
In her memory, Mu Lianrong had never spoken to the original owner of the body so seriously before. She always had a smile on her face, and even when she was angry with others, she would never show her displeasure towards the original owner. This time, she was truly frightened.
I closed my eyes, tilted my head back, and basked in the sun. The morning sun wasn't too strong; it was warm and comfortable.
The light footsteps grew closer, and a timid voice called out to her.
"stepmother."
It's Luo Li.
During the three days she was in the house, none of the three brothers, except for Luo Xin, came to see her. What are they here for now?
Xiao Yunying opened her eyes and sat up straight: "Don't call me stepmother anymore. Didn't your older brother tell you that I've already signed the divorce papers? From now on, I have nothing to do with your father or any of you."
Luo Li knelt down with a thud, hugged Xiao Yunying's leg and cried, "Stepmother, I was wrong, please don't abandon us."
Hearing the noise, Mu Lianrong came out with a kitchen knife in hand: "What's wrong, daughter? What happened?"
Xiao Yunying was speechless. She tried to stand up, but Luo Li pulled her sleeve and hugged her legs, preventing her from straightening up.
She could only bend over slightly and say, "Mother, you go about your business. I need to talk to the child about something."
Mu Lianrong, her face dark, said, "You're only just getting better and I'm already making you suffer. You heartless wretch." Then she went back to the kitchen.
Xiao Yunying didn't want her family to hear about their relationship: "Get up and come inside with me."
Luo Li didn't cry or make a fuss. She obediently got up from the ground and followed Xiao Yunying into the house.
While she was closing the door, Luo Li knelt down again.
Xiao Yunying awkwardly avoided him: "You're not allowed to kneel anymore, stand up and talk."
What's wrong with you? You kneel down all the time. Don't your knees hurt?
Luo Li kept her second brother's words in mind: she must not anger her stepmother. She stood up and lowered her head.
"Did your older brother tell you that I'm going to divorce Luo Sheng?"
"No."
"Didn't you say?"
Xiao Yunying frowned. She had made all her thoughts clear to Luo Chen, to the point that they had practically broken off relations. What did it mean that Luo Chen was still keeping quiet about it?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
