“Just go when I tell you to. Bitter greens aren’t very tasty. When I was digging for wild vegetables on the hill, I saw smoke coming from your sister’s house. The aroma was so good it wafted all the way up the mountain. Yesterday she ate dumplings, today she’s eating chicken. Haha, why hasn’t she shown any respect to her mother? I just ran into her, and she pretended not to recognize me. Remember, tell her to come home the day after tomorrow.”
Sun Yingyun calmly went back to his room.
"You even know what Yan Xia eats, why are you asking me? You've been talking nonsense your whole life."
Yan Chun muttered a complaint under her breath.
His own mother was clearly keeping an eye on Yan Xia, but she pretended not to know anything.
They all live in the same village; how big is Baihua Village?
It only takes the time it takes to drink a cup of tea to walk from one end of the village to the other, how could he not know about his own daughter's situation?
That's enough.
His mother has always been like this. She used to force him to study, and then she forced his son to study. Could it be that she wants to borrow money from Yan Xia to force her grandson to study?
I have to say Yan Chun is right.
Once back inside, Sun Yingyun acted completely differently.
She pulled a sealed box from under the bed. Since she couldn't open it, she used scissors to pry it open.
Inside were the clothes she wore before she got married.
The outer layer is made of light gauze, and the inner layer is made of silk. This one piece alone is worth several tens of taels of silver.
Back then, my father loved my mother and would secretly visit them at their private residence every month.
Upon arrival, he showered her with various gifts, including jewelry, expensive rouge, and clothes.
Unfortunately, Sun Yingyun's happy life ended at the hands of his father's first wife.
Her mother was sold off.
She was also randomly married off to Baihua Village.
Although her father gave her one hundred taels.
But what use is this little bit of silver?
It couldn't even be exchanged for two light gauze garments.
She fantasized about regaining her life as a young lady through her son, but Yan Chun was not good at studying and she was about to give up when her eldest grandson turned out to be exceptionally intelligent.
But who could have known? Rats can't give birth to dragons.
Zhiqiang is just like his father.
Sun Yingyun sealed the box shut from then on. Inside was only this one piece of clothing; the rest of the clothes had been sold for Yan Chun.
Over time, the gauze tears easily with a breath, and the silk has faded from pink to beige.
Even if I were to sell it, I'm afraid no one would buy it.
After closing the box, Sun Yingyun regained her usual demeanor.
At least she still has her daughter, doesn't she?
If the son is no good, and the grandson is no good, then there's the great-grandson.
She'll be able to go back to her old life sooner or later...
The mother here is indulging in wild fantasies.
Yan Xia, on the other hand, had just returned home.
It's getting late.
It's time to go to bed early.
I need to get up earlier tomorrow to get to town.
Because we need to make a new product.
Walnut shortbread!
"Quack quack quack—"
Soon, accompanied by the croaking of frogs outside, the family drifted off to sleep.
However, none of the Chen family members were in the mood to sleep; they lay on the bed with their eyes wide open.
"Husband, what are we going to do? All the silver has been stolen, and it looks like we'll never get it back. How are we going to live? And Xiaohua, she always acted so well-behaved, but she secretly saved up so much silver. Now it's all gone. Serves her right!"
Chen Li was both angry and relieved.
He was angry that his own money had been stolen, but pleased that his daughter-in-law's money had also been stolen.
"What's so good about it? The money you saved is meant for your son and grandson. What good will it do you if it gets stolen, you stupid woman!"
Chen Duoliang scolded with a stern face.
"This silver either came from one's own family or was stolen by the Yan family and a few others. I suspect it was that girl, Lamei."
Lamei was the most mischievous of Yan's children, and she loved to cheat and shirk her duties, even when it came to chores.
I've seen her loitering in front of her house several times.
"Really? That good-for-nothing dared to steal my money! I'll beat her to death tomorrow!"
Chen Li was so angry that she flew into a rage.
"Alright, do you have any evidence? Have you forgotten what the official said today? Give her a good beating. What if Yan reports it to the authorities? If you end up in jail, I'll divorce you immediately, so you won't bring shame to the Chen family!"
"What can we do? Are we just supposed to accept that our silver was stolen? That's over thirty taels! Even the life-saving money for defending the country is only thirty taels! If it weren't for the money we used to pay for our sons and grandsons' weddings and our daughters' dowries, we wouldn't have this little bit of silver left. You know what it was like a couple of years ago, when grain prices were as high as gold. We only have this much money left."
“Oh, what a tragedy! We married this jinx, and our son died because of her. We’ve raised a bunch of ungrateful grandchildren, and now our money has been stolen. No, you have to talk to our eldest daughter-in-law tomorrow. The two of you go and apologize to Yan Shi. We have to coax her back. Our Tian Gui needs to start his education now, and we can’t do without money. Once we get Yan Shi back and the money in our hands, you can do whatever you want to her.”
Chen Duoliang relented.
These words struck a chord with Chen Li.
She had long been envious of Yan Xia's new house. Today, she heard her say that she had sold a wild boar for thirty taels of silver and a grizzly bear for even more. Wouldn't that mean she had seventy or eighty taels of silver in her hands?
They spent some money building a house and helping Jinfu get married.
There's at least half left.
Once we get our hands on it, the amount will be about the same as the stolen silver.
And what if that slut Yan Xia finds another prey?
That silver is like money falling from the sky.
It all ended up in her pocket.
"Okay, I'll take care of it tomorrow."
"Well, go to sleep early. Yan is going to town every day. I don't know if she wants to remarry. We need to nip her idea in the bud. When you come back tomorrow night, go to her house to find her. Don't make a scene at the village entrance, or you'll make a fool of yourself."
"Okay, honey, go to sleep, I'm sleepy."
The two talked until midnight before finally falling asleep.
Chen Shoujia and Zhu Xiaohua on the opposite side were in similar situations.
They were all eyeing the money in Yan Xia's pocket.
It's truly a situation where we're caught between a rock and a hard place.
Nighttime always seems to fly by.
Yan Xia opened her eyes; her children outside had been up for quite some time.
The daughters-in-law and daughters are cooking and doing laundry.
The sons were chopping wood and sweeping.
"Mom, I've packed everything. We're just waiting for Uncle Dali to come so we can load it onto the oxcart."
Jin Fu saw his mother get up.
He quickly replied.
"Okay, Mom will go wash up first."
With the money, Yan Xia bought toothbrushes, one for each of her children.
Although the workmanship is rough, it is much better than willow branches.
She didn't buy toothpaste.
The toothpaste here is too expensive; they say it's made from dried and ground powder made from expensive medicinal herbs.
A small box, worth as much as five taels of silver.
It was exclusively for use by high-ranking officials and nobles.
She doesn't deserve it.
Just scrub it with coarse salt.
After washing up, Yan Xia ate the porridge her daughter-in-law brought her.
It's no longer hot; it's warm and easy to eat.
Just as they finished eating, Zhao Dali drove the oxcart to his doorstep.
Yan Xia took Guihua and Jin Fu to town again.
It was only a little past 7 a.m. when we arrived at the shop.
They drove here at night.
Zhao Dali parked the oxcart at the entrance of her shop's backyard and went alone to the city gate to find odd jobs.
Since waiting is pointless anyway, I might as well earn some more coins to take home.
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