Chapter 7 Where Did the White Face Go?
Song Chunxue understood perfectly well that Chen Feng wanted to go with her because he wanted to spend her money.
She used to love everything about him, treating the eldest brother well and tolerating Chen Feng repeatedly.
"Okay, but I didn't bring any extra money. Don't make a trip with such a big belly and not even bring a penny."
Now, she's unwilling to spend a single penny on them.
The eldest brother, Jiang Yeming, clenched his fists in anger.
He couldn't understand why his mother had suddenly treated him so badly.
He said to Chen Feng, "Let's go, I still need to hoe the broad beans."
Song Chunxue ignored the eldest brother, went inside to grab a hat, and headed to the fields.
There is no greater sorrow than a broken heart; she doesn't necessarily need her eldest son to be filial to her.
She used to lie on the kang (a heated brick bed), and even her excrement and urine had to be taken care of by Sanwa's wife. When Sanwa was not at home, the eldest son would sneak into the room to see her and sometimes bring her a little something.
But it was all leftovers from the eldest son's family; the fruit his son bought had already wilted before he brought it to her.
Moreover, the eldest son did not come to see her willingly; he came because the people on the estate were gossiping about him, and he did so to avoid being talked about behind his back.
What's even more outrageous is that she said she didn't want to be buried in the ancestral grave after she died, but the eldest son listened to the geomancer and insisted on burying her in the ancestral grave because the location of the ancestral grave was auspicious for his family...
Whenever she thought of this, she felt so angry that she could hardly breathe.
The eldest brother pulled Chen Feng into the west room, his face full of anger.
"You're heavily pregnant and walking such a long way, what if you hurt the baby?" he said irritably. "Our money still has uses. If you don't particularly want to buy anything, you should keep it for now."
Chen Feng stomped her foot and plopped down on the stool.
“I have a really strong craving for food while I’m pregnant, and I want to buy some sour things to eat. Your son will want some too.”
“But my mother is determined not to separate the family. If we want to eat something good, we have to eat with everyone. You have to bear with it for now.”
Chen Feng wiped away her tears in anger, "It's all your fault. You didn't apologize to your mother properly, or at least try to appease her. We can talk about it after we separate the family."
*
Sanwa hadn't been out for a long time, and Song Chunxue insisted on taking him to the market, which he didn't refuse.
Song Chunxue then led her second and third sons on foot for more than ten miles to reach the market in Taiping Township.
She planned to buy a lot of things and took five hundred coins with her when she left home.
The second son volunteered for military service. The border was relatively peaceful and there was no need for fighting for the time being, so the selection criteria were very high.
The second son was selected and will stay in the military in the future, which is definitely more promising than staying at home to farm.
If there is a war in the future and soldiers need to be conscripted, their family will not need to be conscripted again.
That's why he felt so at ease and didn't do any work.
After the children got married, the second child was the most successful.
Unfortunately, he didn't care about her, his mother.
Having been given a second chance at life, she no longer held any expectations for her second son.
The bond between mother and child is built up over generations.
In about twenty days, he will be joining the army. He needs to bring clothes and shoes, as well as some necessities such as tinderboxes and water belts.
This time, she didn't want to give her second son a chance to complain about her for not preparing this or that for him.
She didn't mind spending the money and bought him everything she could think of.
Finally, they went to the shoemaker's shop and bought two pairs of shoes for Sanwa and Lao Er.
She tore off a few more feet of cloth, intending to make clothes for Sanwa.
His clothes were old and tattered.
At first, the market was crowded with people, making it difficult to move forward.
But as noon approached, the crowds at the market gradually dispersed, leaving only a few scattered people.
After buying some malt candy, Song Chunxue was about to go home when she saw Lao Si on the street.
The second son also saw it. "Why is the fourth son on the street? Shouldn't he be studying at this time?"
Song Chunxue knew that the fourth brother often skipped school, didn't study properly, and even picked up bad habits from his classmates.
However, she originally planned to deal with the second son after sending him away.
"Let's go, let's follow them and see."
The second brother, realizing what was happening, quickly tried to stop him.
"Mother, he probably has something to do with his classmates. Let's go back."
Song Chunxue ignored him and walked straight ahead.
"Mom, let's forget it. He's running so fast, we can't catch him." The second son, Jiang Yehui, rubbed his stomach. "I'm so hungry, let's go home for dinner."
To save money, they never eat on the street when they go to the market.
Song Chunxue walked quickly and stopped in front of a mutton restaurant.
The third and second brothers followed her and saw the fourth brother in the direction of her gaze.
He was chatting and laughing with a few rascal-like classmates when, before long, the waiter brought out a steaming bowl of mutton soup and placed it in front of them.
If I'm not mistaken, it was the fourth brother who paid the bill.
"Mother," the second son said nervously, "has the fourth son been led astray? What should we do now?"
This brat is even more extravagant than when he was in school; a bowl of mutton soup is worth several bowls of noodles with meat sauce!
No wonder he often made excuses to ask his mother for money. His mother thought he was the youngest and didn't have any guile, so she always gave him money.
He paid to treat others to mutton soup; he's just putting on airs!
"Mother, let's go back. Fourth Brother is getting along well with his classmates. Going there now will only make him lose face." Sanwa had little education and had never attended the village school, so he didn't understand these things.
He looked away from the envious gaze and gently advised Song Chunxue, "Mother, let's go home. If you want to eat mutton soup, we'll kill a lamb tomorrow. Anyway, Second Brother has to kill one to see him off before he goes to war."
Song Chunxue turned to look at her, her heart aching as if pricked by needles.
So that's why the third brother was so concerned about his younger brother's feelings.
After dealing with the fourth child, let him switch with the third child to go to school!
"Okay, let's go back." Song Chunxue turned and left. "I'm getting a little hungry. Let's have wheat noodles with minced meat sauce for dinner."
Although it's not as delicious as the wheat flour version, it tastes good no matter how you eat it with minced meat sauce.
With that thought in mind, Song Chunxue quickened her pace to go home.
They returned home in less than an hour.
They thought Chen Feng had prepared a meal and was waiting for them, but it turned out they had already finished eating and were taking a nap.
Song Chunxue was furious and banged on the door of the west room.
"So you two are eating alone now? From now on, you'll cook your own meals and don't expect me to serve you!"
She kicked the door twice, yelling, "Hurry up and finish building your yard and move out! Seeing you two brings me bad luck!"
The eldest brother and Chen Feng had just fallen asleep when the eldest brother was so frightened that he climbed off the kang (a heated brick bed), but dared not utter a word in response.
Feeling extremely hungry, Song Chunxue decided to eat her fill before scolding.
But when she got to the kitchen, she noticed that several eggs were missing, and the pots and pans were very clean, indicating that they had eaten well that day.
Upon opening the bag of flour, we discovered that a significant portion of it had been emptied.
Two people wouldn't use this much flour for a meal.
Song Chunxue strode out of the kitchen and then kicked open the door to the west room with a loud bang.
"What did you eat today? How come I ate so much flour?"
Song Chunxue's tone was not loud, but it was frighteningly deep.
"Boss, have I ever needed you or been short of your time? Now you've done something so despicable. Do you want me to treat you like thieves from now on?"
"It's one thing to eat all the food yourself, but you also took so much of the flour. Did you waste your education?"
The eldest brother, Jiang Yeming, was a little dazed by the scolding and sat up from the kang (a heated brick bed).
"Mother, we did eat white flour today, but it shouldn't have come to this, right? Feng'er is pregnant." The eldest son said dismissively, "Mother, why have you been so mean to me these past two days?"
Song Chunxue walked directly to Chen Feng's dowry chest and sniffed it.
The aroma of white flour pancakes is incredibly fragrant, but that can't fool a nose that regularly eats whole grains.
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