Chapter 160 The Yellow Iron Lump
Before long, they arrived at the ditch and sat down to rest by a spring.
Song Chunxue took out a large flatbread from her bundle and handed it to her third sister.
"I made this for you, you and your mother can eat it."
The third sister's eyes widened. "Such a big flatbread, what a waste of flour!"
She took the guokui with both hands, and the aroma filled her nostrils, making her swallow hard.
"Auntie, this guokui smells so good! You're really generous with yourself."
Cui Cui kept swallowing, her eyes fixed on the pot-shaped flatbread, and she raised her hand to protect it from falling crumbs when her mother broke it open.
“Give it to my own sister, how could I be reluctant?” Song Chunxue said sadly. “We might not see each other even once every seven or eight years. Once a woman gets married and has children, it’s like her life isn’t her own anymore. It’s very unfair.”
The third sister handed the first piece she had broken off to Song Chunxue, her nose stinging with tears. "What's the point of fairness? Everyone wants to have a son, but what good is it if I have one? I can't rely on him. Maybe when I get old, I'll be kicked out of the house."
At this point, Song Chunxue's nose tingled with sadness. She remembered that her third sister had been kicked out of the house, injured her leg while working, and passed away after only three days in bed.
She raised her hand to wipe away her tears. "Third sister, you should take better care of yourself from now on."
The third sister, Song Chunmei, choked up as she took a bite of the guokui (a type of flatbread), and started crying as she ate.
At first, she cried in a suppressed manner, but later she started to wail loudly.
At noon, the river bend was so quiet that there wasn't even a breeze; even the poorest people had gone home for lunch.
Song Chunmei felt that she was living a very stifled life, and now that her own sister had seen it, she felt that her life was meaningless.
She's clearly a human being, yet she's not even as good as Zhao Liu's dog.
She often envied Zhao Liu for speaking gently and kindly to his wife, and for always trying to bring her something back from the mountains.
Springtime brings wildflowers in the mountains, summer brings pea pods and wild apricots, and autumn brings even more.
Even in the dead of winter, when the dust is everywhere, he would still catch a rabbit from time to time.
In the years when wolves were rampant, Zhao Liu would take his wife with him wherever he went.
Zhao Liu would always speak to their gatekeeper with a smile, pat its head from time to time, and throw it bones to eat.
Her husband would either punch and kick her or hurl insults at her, pushing her to the brink of death.
“Mother,” Cui Cui cried as well, wiping away her tears while holding the guokui (a type of flatbread), “Why don’t we abandon my father and go out to make a living? It’s better than suffering at home.”
“I’d rather marry a stranger, even if I’m sold into a wealthy family as a maid, than be married off to He Laizi by my father. I hate my father.” Cui Cui pleaded, clinging to her mother’s arm. “If you marry me off to He Laizi, I’ll hang myself.”
Song Chunmei wiped away her tears and glared at her angrily, "Don't talk nonsense, I will not let you marry He Laizi."
Song Chunxue comforted her, "Third sister, there will always be a way. As long as you stop tolerating him, even a small act of retaliation will stop him from bullying you like this."
“If all else fails, find someone else.” Song Chunxue lowered her voice. “My second sister insists on setting up a matchmaker for me. Finding someone else would be better than finding Zhao Qian.”
The third sister slapped her in annoyance, "Don't talk nonsense, Zhao Qian would kill me."
“Zhao Qian wouldn’t dare. He’s the kind of person who bullies the weak and fears the strong. A truly ruthless person wouldn’t throw a tantrum and hit someone. You don’t believe me? Try it next time. Find a kitchen knife and test it against his neck every night, talking crazy about taking his life. See if he still dares to hit you. He’ll definitely want to kneel down and worship you.”
Song Chunxue said, "You said it yourself, Zhao Qian is a bully within his own circle. If you don't want Cuicui to end up like you, being bullied for the rest of her life, you'd better make plans sooner rather than later."
Cui Cui is fifteen years old this year. If she hadn't gotten married and there wasn't one less person to do the housework, Zhao Qian would have married her long ago.
Third Sister ate her flatbread without saying a word. Song Chunxue took out her water bag, filled it with spring water, and handed it to her.
"You two drink first, I'm going to relieve myself."
She found a secluded spot and resolved the important matter.
The river bend here is deeper than the one below Lijiazhuangzi, and the dry riverbed is full of silt and sand.
After relieving herself, she washed her hands by the gentle river water.
Just as she was about to get up, she noticed a yellow object in the sand beneath her feet.
She turned back, squatted down, and used her fingers to pick through the sand to take a look.
They are yellow bumps about the size of broad beans, and they shine brightly in the sunlight.
Before she realized what it was, she dug around and found another piece, slightly larger than a soybean, that was golden in color.
Golden?
Song Chunxue's eyes widened, and with a sudden flash of inspiration, she looked at the thing in her hand.
No way, this is gold!
The ones I dug up in the cemetery last time weren't this bright, but these two are really eye-catching.
She heard that gold was soft, so she couldn't help but bite it with her teeth.
Haha!
It's so soft; the small one has turned from a soybean into a broken soybean.
Song Chunxue stomped her feet excitedly, stuffed the larger one into the inside pocket of her clothes, and ran to her third sister's side with the smaller one.
"Third sister, third sister, look what treasure I found!"
Song Chunmei was talking to Cuicui when she saw her run back like a rabbit and felt a little envious.
It's better to be younger; she can't run anymore.
"Look, what's this?" Song Chunxue opened her palm, and a piece of gold the size of a soybean appeared in front of them.
"What is this?" Third Sister had never seen gold before. "It's a yellow lump of iron, and it's quite pretty."
Song Chunxue laughed uncontrollably, "Hahaha, I also thought it was a yellow lump of iron, but how can iron be yellow? Third Sister, have you ever heard of people panning for things in the sand?"
"Gold panning, but there's so much sand..."
Song Chunmei froze, staring at her in disbelief. "This...this can't be gold, can it?"
"Yes, try taking a bite if you don't believe me."
Song Chunmei picked up the gold, put it in her mouth and bit it. "Hey, it's really soft."
"Mom, let me try." Cui Cui took it and bit down hard. "It's not that soft."
“Silly child, if it’s too soft, then it’s fake.” Song Chunmei was overjoyed and quickly stood up from the ground. “Where did you find it? Dig again, maybe there are more.”
"Over there," Song Chunxue led the way, "It's right here. I saw it when I was washing my hands."
Song Chunmei squatted down and carefully searched around the spot where Song Chunxue had dug out the gold.
The sand mixed with soil was soft, soaked by the fine river, and emitted a faint fragrance.
Song Chunxue watched as her third sister dug with great enthusiasm, and before long she had even sifted through the sand on the opposite side, finding only a grain the size of rice.
Song Chunmei got hooked on digging and pointed to the riverbank above, saying, "Let's try over there. If we find a nugget of gold, we sisters will never have to worry about food or clothing for the rest of our lives, and we'll never have to depend on men again."
Song Chunxue nodded, "Okay, let's dig together."
Although she felt that once she dug these out, it was impossible to dig out anything else, she thought, "What if I do?"
If her third sister wanted to dig, she would dig with her.
Half an hour later, they had only dug up a few nice-looking stones.
"Alright, let's call it a day. This is more than enough," Song Chunmei said breathlessly from the side. "Looks like you're destined to be rich."
"Third sister, actually I found two. Here, take this big one. It can be exchanged for a lot of silver. If you want to go anywhere in the future, you can use this to exchange for travel expenses."
Song Chunxue softened her heart when her third sister didn't ask for it. After all, she was already lucky enough, while her third sister was still stuck in the quagmire.
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