"Second son, you can't make the decision yourself, so I won't force you anymore. You're married now, you're the head of the family, and you've made something of yourself. I can't say anything to you anymore, and I don't dare to say anything."
Lin Jianguo was also upset when he heard what Old Madam Shen said: "Mother, what are you saying? No matter what, you will always be my mother, and I will always have to listen to you."
“Since you put it that way, then let me say a few more words to you. You’ve become successful, but you should help your older brother a little. You can’t just eat and drink well every day while your older brother eats coarse food. You said you can’t help with the work, but at least give him some money so he can get through this hard period.”
Niu quickly chimed in from the side, "Yes, second son, why don't you give us some money for piglets? At least we'll have something to look forward to in the future. You're so rich now, you wouldn't be so interested in this little bit of money, would you?"
I already felt a little guilty for refusing my mother's offer to do business with my older brother, but now that I heard my mother and sister-in-law talking about it, I nodded and said, "Okay, I'll bring it to you tomorrow."
Having achieved her goal, Old Mrs. Shen began to shower you with compliments, saying, "I knew it! My second son is the most reliable. I could tell when you were a child that you were a filial son, and now it proves that I was right about you."
From childhood to adulthood, Lin Jianguo had never heard his mother praise him before. He was overjoyed to finally hear it, scratching his head and saying sheepishly, "It's getting late, Mom, you should hurry up and cook. Take this meat and make a good meal."
Before leaving, Old Mrs. Shen tried to play the victim again: "There's so little meat, we should eat it sparingly. Who knows when we'll have meat again?"
Lin Jianguo felt even worse after hearing this. He thought about how his big black dog at home ate meat every meal, while his mother had to save up for such a small amount of meat. He felt heartbroken and secretly thought that next time he bought meat, he would definitely think of his mother and give her more. Otherwise, with so many people in the family, his mother wouldn't get any.
They didn't consider at all that Old Mrs. Shen's words implied that she felt the meat was too little, she just didn't say it outright.
Only after receiving praise from Grandma Shen did Lin Jianguo firmly insist that the eldest son's piglets must be given to him.
When the villagers heard that Lin Jianguo's sow had given birth to twelve piglets, they were all astonished and said they would go to his house to catch two, and maybe they could raise them themselves and have just as many piglets.
Suddenly, more and more people started trying to curry favor with his family, all hoping to buy some piglets cheaply. They were all eager to take some vegetables from their own gardens and visit Er Ya's house.
Jiang's mother was exhausted after seeing off a group of people. She was so tired that she just sat down to rest for a while.
"Sister-in-law, are you home?"
Hearing someone calling at the door again, Jiang's mother sighed and was about to stand up when she heard Er Ya's voice: "Auntie, do you need to see my mother?"
The woman said with a smile, "These eggplants were just picked. I thought I'd bring some over to you and ask about your mother and piglets."
"Well, my piglets were just born, they're not even a month old yet. We can talk about it after they're a month old."
"I see..."
"Auntie, you have no idea, my mother is pregnant with my little brother and can't stand any hard work. We usually don't let her do anything, just in case she gets tired. She's probably sleeping right now, or else..."
The woman slapped her thigh and said, "Oh dear, I forgot about that. Well, your mother is pregnant, so it was my fault. Here, take this eggplant. You can take it back; it's the same thing. I won't go over there anymore, so as not to disturb your mother."
Er Ya happily accepted the gifts: "Thank you, Auntie. When my mother wakes up, I will definitely tell her that you brought these eggplants back for us."
"Okay, you go in now, I'll be going now, I have a lot of things to do at home."
"Okay, Auntie, take care. I won't see you off."
After seeing the person off, he took the two eggplants, hopped back into the yard, and saw Jiang's mother. He cheerfully held up the eggplants and said:
"Mom, look, we have ready-made dishes to eat. Let's have eggplant stew with green beans and rice for lunch."
"You silly child, just because someone offers it to you, you take it? Maybe it's a dish that even her family can't afford."
Er Ya had overheard the conversation between the woman and the man. The woman's name was Mei Zi, and she was from the next village. She had been married into Linjia Village for only a few years when her husband passed away, leaving her and her child in a difficult situation. That's why she said Er Ya shouldn't have taken her vegetables.
Upon hearing this, Er Ya was caught in a dilemma: whether to keep the eggplant or give it back. Giving it to the other person now would be an insult to their pride. Besides, which family in the village didn't have a vegetable garden? At this time of year, every household had more vegetables than they could eat. Surely they wouldn't be reluctant to eat two eggplants.
"Mom, I don't know about Auntie's family situation. I think Auntie is a nice person. She wants our piglets. Why don't we save two for her? It'll be a way of repaying her for the favor we did for Eggplant."
Jiang's mother nodded: "That's fine, that's the only way. She has a child, and her mother-in-law is not good either. She said she was a jinx and kicked her out, only giving her an acre of land. Now, if she wants to raise piglets, she probably has no other way. That acre of land is not enough to support the whole family."
So that's how it is. Since Er Ya came here, she hasn't had much contact with the people in the village. The only people she's familiar with are Li Taohua and the village chief's family, maybe Lin Xiao's father's family, and the rest she just greets when she sees them.
"Mom, do a lot of people want our piglets? Don't be fooled by their sweet talk. Our piglets are so plump, we can't sell them cheaply."
Jiang's mother chuckled and nodded at her head: "Your mother has been eating for so many years longer than you, how could I not be as capable as you? Don't worry, I didn't make any promises. Besides, we're family, there's not much left to divide among us."
Twelve piglets sounds like a lot, but there won't be many left after dividing them up. Li Taohua wanted two, and she was thinking of keeping two for her own family and giving two to the old house. They also agreed to leave two for Meizi, so eight piglets were already gone. How could they possibly give them away to others? They didn't know how successful the first batch of piglets would be. If a few of them didn't survive, there wouldn't be enough to go around.
That's good. She was afraid that if she didn't go back in time, she would be blamed again. Er Ya looked around the yard in confusion: "Where's Grandma? Isn't she home?"
"Your grandma isn't the kind of person who sits idle. As soon as you went out, she went out with a basket, saying that you like to eat those wild fruits, and she was picking some for you while she had the chance."
"It's so hot today, Mom, why didn't you stop her?"
To be continued!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com