Chapter 207 Can Mother Back Me Up?
Song Chunxue was surprised that the young man who entered the house first was quite kind.
“The Taoist priest left on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. He had nowhere to spend the New Year alone. Now that he has recognized my mother as his junior brother, he is practically family. He will come to my house to spend the New Year more often in the future,” Sanwa said lightly. “But he loves watching plays, so he should come back on the fifteenth. We can buy talismans from him then.”
The fourth brother jokingly asked the Taoist priest, "Since you two are both performing in operas, who will take care of the children?"
A young couple in their mid-twenties, wearing thick cloaks sewn from rabbit fur, were from a village on the other side of the mountain, and they spoke in a friendly manner.
“Of course, my in-laws take care of it. My husband and I both love to sing opera. At first, they didn’t want me to come, but I said my husband wasn’t allowed to come either, so they reluctantly agreed.” The young woman warmed herself by the fire pit. “There are also melon seeds and peanuts. It seems your family is really doing well.”
“You have all of these at home,” Sanwa replied sincerely, “but we are indeed living a better life, and I am even going to school.”
Song Chunxue was more than ten years older than them, so they couldn't have a conversation at all.
But hearing Sanwa and Lao Si chatting casually with them made her feel quite happy.
Many people arrived one after another, including some who had never been here before and couldn't find their way. They carried oil lamps and wandered around for a long time, complaining that the place was very remote.
Not long after, the village head Wang Defu arrived, along with Li Mengchun and his wife, who lived nearby.
Li Mengchun was a bit short, but he was handsome and had a very pleasing way of speaking and acting. His wife stood out in the crowd, wearing a red cloak with red agate stones that were particularly eye-catching on her silver hairpin.
After entering the house, Li Mengchun helped her take off her red cloak. She sat down directly on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), her phoenix eyes with upturned corners giving her a very heroic air.
"Aunt Jiang looks really good in that satin peacock blue dress. It makes her look much more elegant and makes me want to share in her good fortune."
Song Chunxue laughed and said, "You're joking. The peach-pink satin you're wearing is really beautiful. If I weren't getting older and insisted on having a new outfit made, I would be happy just looking at it at home."
"Aunt Jiang is so young, how can she be getting older? She's only thirty-six or thirty-seven, even younger than my mother. She's wearing a peach-pink vest and a maroon long skirt. You can't buy happiness with money, can you?"
Looking at her fair and rosy cheeks, Song Chunxue suddenly remembered her name.
If I remember correctly, Li Mengchun's wife's name was Nan Lihua.
Nan Lihua loves singing opera and can sing all the roles of Qingyi and Dan. It is estimated that Li Mengchun became the manager of this opera this year because she wanted to sing opera, which is why he took the lead in organizing the Shehuo (a type of folk performance).
As a woman, Song Chunxue was both puzzled and admiring of Nan Lihua.
How did she manage to seduce her husband's cousin, cause the death of his wife, and still maintain a loving relationship with her husband?
Song Chunxue used to think that everyone would comment on whatever she did, but Li Mengchun and his wife faced hundreds of times more gossip than she did.
If they were even slightly shy, they wouldn't dare to show their faces in public.
Before long, the veteran opera instructors arrived, and the room was packed with people. They began to learn the songs.
Song Chunxue found it too crowded, so she went to the north room alone and sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) to learn to read.
Time rewards those who persevere. No matter how busy she was during the day, she never neglected her studies and meditation at night.
Now that Sanwa is learning to sing opera, she asked Lao Si to teach a few.
In short, once she turned a page, she recognized most of the words.
With a little more effort, I believe that by this time next year, she will be able to read books for leisure.
Before long, the fourth brother came running over.
"Mother, is there something in the cabinet in your north room? Do you want me to keep an eye on it?" he said in a low voice. "I feel like there are several people sitting on the kang (heated brick bed), trying to rummage through the things in the cabinet."
"Yes, it's better to keep an eye on things. You can't be too careful, or someone might steal your money next time you go to the market."
She hid most of her silver in the potato cellar, but she had a few strings of cash in the cupboard, which would have been enough for her to go to the market for several years in the past.
Seeing her indifferent attitude, the fourth brother sat down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).
"I've already had Sanwa keep an eye on things, but Mother, why do you think I'm not angry at all when I hear people deliberately misunderstanding your relationship with the Taoist priest and Lord Xie?"
He tilted his head, completely puzzled. "If it were before, I would have been so angry that I would have told them to get out, but now when I see them deliberately twisting things, I not only don't get angry, but I can also eloquently retort. It's really strange."
Song Chunxue waved the notebook in her hand. "If this were in the past, you would not only think I was being silly if I learned to read like this, but you would also feel ashamed, thinking that I was doing something ridiculous in my old age, right?"
The fourth son pursed his lips. That's right, if his mother had done something like this a few years ago, he would find it laughable.
"After experiencing many things, some things that once seemed like a huge deal will become commonplace. Besides, now that we're being honest with each other, you can see for yourself what my relationship with the Taoist priest is like. Moreover, I don't care about what they say, and you won't be angry or ashamed for me, right?"
The fourth brother nodded, "That seems to make sense."
“Another possibility is that now that I am well-dressed and well-fed, people praise the softness of our quilts and the quality of my shoes. I no longer feel that the Jiang family is inferior to others in the village, as I used to do.”
Song Chunxue's eyes lit up, and she nodded vigorously, "That's right, our fourth son has changed too, he's smarter and more generous than before."
“Hehe, Mother has changed, so naturally I will change too. Mother’s back has gotten thicker, and I dare to walk with my head held high.” The fourth brother puffed out his chest and teased her on purpose. “I never thought that in this place that I dreamed of leaving, I could actually hold my head high.”
Song Chunxue felt a pang of sadness.
She must have been a coward her whole life in her past life, which is why the children are trying every means to escape this remote mountain village.
They would also feel that having a mother like her was a disgrace.
The fault doesn't lie with them, but with her, as a mother, lacking backbone.
"By the way, Mother, everyone in the village is saying that you bought a house in the county and will move there after the spring planting season. Is that true?"
The fourth son dejectedly traced the pattern on the quilt, saying, "Why didn't Mother discuss this with us?"
“It’s true. I was worried that you two are young and might get a little cocky in front of outsiders, which could cause trouble,” Song Chunxue quickly said. “However, I was overthinking it. You two are both very mature. Let’s discuss it properly after they leave.”
The fourth brother immediately beamed with joy and jumped on the ground twice.
"It's true, it's true! We're city people now!"
"..." All that praise I just gave you was for nothing.
The fourth brother chuckled happily for a while, then suddenly lowered his voice and said, "But I can still sense that there are many jealous people. The older ones always ask sarcastic questions, insisting that your money came from dubious sources and was given to you by some random man outside."
"Mom, if I hit someone later, will you stand up for me?"
"..." Is it because she's been getting physical lately and has corrupted the fourth brother?
"Hitting someone is the worst thing to do, especially in crowded places. If you hit someone, you're in the wrong. You can talk back, like I did to Niu Xiuhua."
The fourth brother lifted the curtain and said, "Alright, I'll have the third brother yell back."
Third brother?
At that moment, a shrill laugh came from the north room, followed by a burst of laughter.
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