Chapter 73 My daughter, Chen Kangbo, is kindhearted
Ever since Chen Kangzhong was poisoned by eating raw kudzu root and Feng Lan refuted his claim, the West Courtyard had become a pariah in Pingjiang Village. The villagers shunned them, their isolated courtyard wall seeming to separate two worlds.
The East Courtyard had water and food, and the villagers' gratitude and respect. But the West Courtyard had only dried-up water jars, empty rice jars, and deepening despair.
They didn't dare touch kudzu root anymore. Although Chen Kangzhong had survived that time by being fed a large amount of stream water to induce vomiting, he had spent three days in bed before recovering, becoming emaciated beyond recognition. Old Mrs. Chen even regarded kudzu root as a scourge, becoming furious at anyone who mentioned it.
But what else can I eat if not Pueraria lobata?
The family's food reserves had long since run out. Qian and Liu's families had squandered most of the food they had sent them last time, and the rest had been stolen by Liu and returned to her family. Now, the West Courtyard had truly reached the end of its rope.
At first, they could barely survive by relying on wild vegetables and tree bark, but as the drought worsened, even the wild vegetables on the mountain died.
Hunger was the only feeling in the West Courtyard right now. The burning pain rising from the stomach all the way up the throat made everyone irritable and angry.
"Where's the meal? Why haven't you cooked yet?" Old man Chen was so hungry that he saw stars. He was banging the ground with his crutch.
Qian leaned weakly against the door frame and rolled her eyes. "Dad, what are you going to cook? There's not even a grain of rice in the pot, and the fire in the stove hasn't been lit for almost half a month. What do you want me to cook?"
"Useless! A bunch of useless!" Old Man Chen cursed angrily, "What's the point of raising you! You can't even get food for your stutter!"
Chen Kangzhong, who had been silent the whole time, was too hungry to bear it any longer. With red eyes, he grabbed Qian's arm and said, "Go back to your mother's house! Go and get some more food!"
"You go if you want to! I'm too embarrassed to go!" Qian pushed him away. "The last time I went back, my father and brother almost beat me to death, calling me an ungrateful idiot! They said we used our family's food to stew meat for show, and now we're starving, we deserve it!"
These words were like a slap in the face to everyone in the West Courtyard.
Chen Kangji also turned his gaze to Liu, who had just been released from the woodshed after being locked up for several days. "Fourth sister-in-law, how about... you go back to your parents' home and try again?"
Upon hearing this, Liu backed away in fear, crying, "I won't go! My brother is a gambler. He lost all the rice I took back last time, and he even beat me and told me to come back and steal again! If I go again, he'll beat me to death!"
For a moment, the yard was filled with crying, cursing, and quarreling.
Old Man Chen looked at his useless sons and daughters-in-law, shaking with anger. Finally, he slammed his cane and issued a death order: "I don't care what you do! If you can't get food today, you all get out of the Chen family!"
The sons were forced into a corner and had no choice but to bite the bullet and push their wives back to their parents' home. Through threats, bribes, beatings, and scolding, Qian and the other daughter-in-law were left with no choice but to leave the house in tears.
The result is predictable.
In less than an hour, the two women returned, each one looking more miserable than the other, their faces bruised, their hair disheveled, and their clothes torn.
"Wow, wow, wow... You have no conscience! My parents said they would just treat me as if I were no longer a daughter and beat me out..." As soon as Qian entered the door, she collapsed on the ground and burst into tears.
Another daughter-in-law also cried breathlessly, saying that her parents treated her like a thief and would not even let her enter the door.
The last hope was shattered.
"It's over... it's all over..."
Old Mrs. Chen, who had been sitting in the room silently, suddenly had a blank look in her eyes when she heard this.
She was also a powerful character when she was young. She fought and schemed all her life and never thought that there would be a day when she would starve to death.
The agonizing hunger and the utter despair were like the last straw that broke the camel's back. She felt her vision go dark, her body soften, and she slid off the chair, unconscious.
"Mother! Mother!"
The West Courtyard was in complete chaos.
The noise here naturally also reached the East Courtyard separated by a wall.
Daya and Erya were helping to dry kudzu powder in the yard. Hearing the crying and cursing coming from next door, the two sisters looked at each other and saw pity in each other's eyes.
Especially when she heard the news that Old Lady Chen had fainted, Erya clutched the corner of her clothes with her little hands and whispered to Daya, "Sister, Grandma...will she be okay?"
Daya also felt very upset.
Although the people in the West Courtyard were hateful, they were still blood relatives after all. Listening to the miserable noise, she couldn't harden her heart.
At night, when the children were all asleep, Daya tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. She quietly got up and saw Erya, also with her eyes open, looking at her in the darkness.
"Sister..." Erya called her softly.
Daya got out of bed and made a gesture to Erya to keep quiet.
She walked into the kitchen and, in the moonlight, scooped a small bag of rice from the rice jar and took a few sweet potatoes from the cellar and put them into a cloth bag.
Erya also came over and helped her tie the bag tightly.
The two sisters tiptoed open the courtyard gate like thieves and ran to the west courtyard gate. The west courtyard gate was closed tightly and there was no life inside.
Daya gently placed the cloth bag on the doorstep, pulled Erya, and ran back home quickly.
After doing all this, the two sisters felt both relieved and nervous.
When they returned to their room, they found the light in their parents' room still on. Feng Lan and Chen Kangbo were sitting under the light, watching them.
"Dad, Mom..." Daya and Erya were startled and lowered their heads, ready to be scolded.
Chen Kangbo looked at his two daughters. His usually serious face showed no trace of anger. He just sighed.
Feng Lan walked forward, touched her two daughters' heads, and said softly, "You did the right thing."
The two sisters looked up in surprise.
"Mom doesn't blame you?"
"Why should I blame you?"
Feng Lan smiled. "Your father and I can fight them and hate them, but you can't. Your hearts should be pure and kind. We didn't give birth to you to learn to hate."
She paused and continued, "Giving them a bite to eat won't starve them to death, and it won't make us poor either. This is what it means to have peace of mind. From now on, there's no need to be so secretive about this kind of thing. Just tell mother."
Chen Kangbo also spoke in a resounding voice: "I, Chen Kangbo's daughter, should be a kind-hearted person! But remember, our kindness must be sharp! Only give it to those who deserve it! This time, let it go, and it won't happen again!"
Daya and Erya listened to their parents' words, and the stone in their hearts fell to the ground, but their eyes were red. They nodded vigorously, thinking that their parents were the best people in the world.
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