Song Erhai has had nothing good happen to him lately.
He lost all his money, his son no longer recognized him, and even his wife treated him worse than before.
Now even his niece doesn't respect him anymore.
He came from a family stall, and he has to pay for his food?
Unfortunately, Song Ning wasn't buying it.
"Hey, Uncle, you didn't go gambling again, did you?"
No matter when, gamblers are always looked down upon, and Song Ning's words successfully changed the expressions of those around him.
"As the old saying goes, even close brothers should keep clear accounts. Besides, we're just uncle and niece. You can't expect me, your future niece who's about to get married, to support you, can you?"
"You!" Song Erhai immediately felt guilty.
It is only natural for children to support their parents; I have never heard of a niece supporting her uncle.
Song Ning kept a cold face and didn't shout loudly, because she was afraid of disturbing the guests who were eating, but Aunt Zhao couldn't stand it anymore.
"Hey Erhai, you haven't changed your ways, have you? Last time you gambled away all the family's money, threatened to sell your daughter, and even disowned your own son. Have you forgotten so quickly?"
"He's always loafing around, looking shifty, occupying my brother's house, and what? Can't make it in the village, so he's trying to act tough as an elder in town? Now he wants to freeload? Bah!"
Aunt Zhao is very popular in the village. She's good at everything, including arguing. Now she's got the air of someone who can intimidate people in the village.
Although Song Erhai was usually shameless, being spoken to like that in front of so many people still made him feel embarrassed.
Only then did everyone understand why Song Ning had this attitude.
The person selling wontons nearby whispered, "No wonder the little girl doesn't recognize people; she's taking advantage of the adults not being here to bully the child."
"Song Erhai, a grown man bullying a little girl, why don't you just smash your head against your mother's chest and die!" Aunt Zhao shouted.
Song Erhai retorted, "This is a matter for the Song family. What business is it of yours, you shrew? You old hag, you dare to mess with me? You're asking for a beating!"
He rolled up his sleeves and was about to step forward.
With a "bang," the cleaver struck the cutting board.
Holding a knife, Song Ning looked at Song Erhai expressionlessly: "Second Uncle, have you forgotten about my father hitting his head last time so quickly? If you piss me off, I don't know what I might do. After all, I'm still a child."
Like Li Guixiang, Song Erhai was a bully who preyed on the weak and feared the strong. Anyone who dared to risk their life against him would immediately cower and cry for their parents.
The knife gleamed in the sunlight; it was clearly a sharp and fine blade.
He couldn't help but swallow hard, watching Song Ning's legs buckle like a coward.
The scene of them trying to cut off his hand at the gambling den was still vivid in Song Erhai's mind, and he immediately felt uncertain.
"Er Ya, if your grandma finds out how you treated your own uncle, she won't let you off the hook!"
Song Ning laughed: "My grandma is like a withered tree coming back to life. Maybe my second uncle will have a stepfather in a few days. How can she take care of me? Second uncle should go back and practice how to call me 'father'. After all, my grandfather died early."
The implication is that this is someone who was raised by a mother but not taught by a father.
Song Erhai's face was extremely ugly. How come he didn't know about this?
No, even if I were to remarry, I would still have to ask that family for a dowry.
The thought of this made Song Erhai unable to stay any longer.
Once the person left, the onlookers also dispersed.
Song Ning turned to the guests eating behind her and said, "I'm so sorry to have disturbed your enjoyment."
Those people watched with great interest, and one woman even exclaimed, "This young girl is so young, yet she has such a silver tongue. Well done! She needs to be more capable so she won't be bullied."
"You have no idea how despicable this person is. He just bullies our Er Ya because she's young and honest!" Aunt Zhao chimed in from the side.
A customer nearby chuckled twice: "Auntie, you're something else! No one will dare to bully you anymore!"
Song Ning turned around and continued to greet the guests, looking at Aunt Zhao: "Thank you for speaking up for me earlier."
"Don't mention it, it's nothing. I've disliked Song Erhai for a long time too."
The cold noodles sold well today. After packing up, Li Daniu drove his cart and took Aunt Zhao to see his son.
The three agreed on a meeting place, and Song Ning began to act on her own.
The clothes their whole family is wearing now are patched up layer upon layer, with not a single patch in good condition.
The cloth in town wasn't expensive; you could buy several feet for ten coins.
Upon entering the fabric shop, Song Ning selected several yards of fabric, buying more than she needed for making clothes, bed sheets, and duvet covers.
She couldn't sleep in the bedding at home anymore, so she had to buy some cotton to fill the bedding.
But after running around for a long time, she couldn't find any shops selling cotton, and her dream of having soft bedding was shattered.
Later, they only bought some seeds and seasonings and left.
As Song Ning passed by a street, he turned his head and saw that the street was full of people begging, selling themselves to bury their fathers, and selling their children to survive.
Those children were all as thin as monkeys. They had been sold by their parents for a few hundred coins and were taken away crying and screaming.
And those who sold themselves into servitude, many of whom were bought back, ended up not getting three meals a day but getting beaten three times a day.
Song Ning didn't dare to look at the scene any longer and quickly turned and left.
After buying these necessities, Song Ning strolled around the streets again. Suddenly remembering that Liu Yuelan's illness was not getting better, she went to the clinic.
After explaining Liu Yuelan's condition, the doctor roughly understood.
"It's hot now, and it's not raining, so it's easy to get a sore throat. I'll prescribe some medicine for you to take with your fever reducer."
"Thank you, doctor."
When Song Ning came out of the clinic, he had several packets of medicine in his hand, which cost him nearly one hundred coins.
Song Ning sighed slightly. Money was really hard to earn. They could only earn three hundred coins a day selling cold noodles, and these few doses of medicine had already cost a third of them.
Life is tough...
On the way back, they happened to see a pastry shop. These past two days, Liu Yuelan had been taking medicine three times a day and kept saying that her mouth tasted bitter, so Song Ning went in and bought some.
Nowadays, brown sugar and white sugar are things that only wealthy people and high-ranking officials can afford. There are no sugar shops in their town that sell them.
The sweeteners in the pastries are all bought from elsewhere, boiled into water, and then added to the pastries to save on sugar.
After leaving the shop, I realized it was almost time to go home.
She encountered a young man dressed in coarse cloth, looking like a servant, walking towards her.
Song Ning was about to make way for the man, but he stopped in front of her and said, "Young lady, our boss would like to invite you to come over."
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