131. Mrs. Lu’s plan
131. Mrs. Lu’s plan
"I knew it. This kid has been smart since he was young. He must be able to study."
"Yeah, this kid is smart."
"Qi Lang took the top spot in the exam last time, so he will definitely pass this time."
"Maybe our village will really produce a top scholar in the future, and we can also share in the glory, haha..."
“…”
When the people of Shihua Village learned that Lu Mingfei had passed the provincial examination successfully and ranked third, most of the villagers were happy about it.
However, the happy people here do not include the two elders of the Lu family and the people from the Lu family's first wife.
Especially since the younger grandson passed the exam successfully time and time again, while the older grandson failed time and time again, and after failing the exam again this time, a sharp contrast was formed between the two grandsons.
After learning that his grandson had passed the provincial examination, Old Man Lu sat at the door of his house with a sullen face, smoking his pipe without saying a word.
Old Mrs. Lu had already begun to regret having separated the third branch's family. Otherwise, everyone in the village would have come to their house to congratulate her and compliment her on having such a good grandson. It was not like this now, where no one in the village came to their house.
Thinking of this, Old Lady Lu was so angry that she started to scold her third daughter-in-law, Liu. "It was that bitch Liu who led the third son astray. She also taught Qilang and the little one born later to disown us relatives."
"If I had known that bitch Liu was so evil, I shouldn't have let the third son marry her. I should have let her starve to death on the street!"
When Old Lady Lu scolded her third daughter-in-law, she had apparently forgotten how they had forced her family away in the first place. This had nothing to do with her third daughter-in-law. However, she herself did not think so, and instead blamed all the mistakes on her daughter-in-law.
In the eyes of the old lady, her son was her own, her grandson was her own, and only her daughter-in-law was someone from another family. And her granddaughter would marry into another family and become someone else's daughter-in-law, so she would naturally belong to another family. It was for this reason that she had scolded her daughter-in-law and granddaughter at home over the years, but never her son or grandson.
Even for the third branch of the family that had already been separated, she believed that the reason why the third son became alienated from her was because Liu had been whispering in their ears, causing the mother and son to be in this situation.
"Click—click—"
Old man Lu puffed at the pipe in his hand and didn't say anything.
Old Mrs. Lu on the side cursed for a while, and when she saw that no one paid any attention to her, she stopped talking with an embarrassed look on her face.
Thinking about their family's current life, ever since the second and fourth rooms separated, they saw that their lives were getting better and better, while their eldest son and eldest grandson's life was getting harder and harder. The old couple had chosen to live with their eldest son when they separated, and now that their eldest son's family was having a hard time, their life was naturally getting harder and harder as well.
It is just the beginning of summer and the rice in the fields has not yet sprouted. The autumn harvest is still several months away, but their rice jar is almost empty.
Furthermore, ever since her eldest grandson brought his second wife home, the two granddaughters-in-law in his room have been quarreling all day long, the noise never stopping. If it were her granddaughters, she would have taken up her stick and beaten them. But those two were granddaughters-in-law, and she was afraid that beating her eldest grandson would make him angry, so she didn't hit them.
When she heard today that her grandson had passed the exam again, Old Lady Lu thought of her third son and grandson, so she discussed with her husband sitting beside her: "Head, we haven't been to the city for a while, why don't we go in and visit the third son and his family?"
"The rice jar at home is almost empty, and it will take several months for the new grain to arrive. The third brother and his family are living a good life now. You can't let your dear mother, brothers, and nephews starve to death, right?"
"Click—click—"
Old Man Lu took two puffs of his pipe in silence before he said, "You are not allowed to go."
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Lu had a sullen face and was not very happy.
Everyone in the other three branches of the Lu family's old house knew that their nephew Lu Mingfei had passed the second provincial examination. With a scholar in their family for so many years, and with him taking the imperial examination every other year, it was hard for them not to understand these things.
When Boss Lu and Mrs. Sun learned that their nephew had passed the provincial examination, and compared it with the fact that their eldest son had failed again, both of them had silence on their faces.
When the second and fourth branches of the Lu family learned the news, Lu Er and Lu Si were very happy for their nephew.
Since getting guidance from their nephew, the two brothers have partnered to open a barbecue stall in the city. The business is getting better and better. Although it is a bit hard work, they really make a lot of money.
However, they only set up their stall in the city in the afternoon, and their business was done at night. When they went to the city, their third brother's stall had already closed up and gone home, so even though they were setting up their stall in the city, they hadn't seen their third brother (third brother) and nephew's family for a long time.
Hearing that his nephew had passed the exam again, Fourth Brother Lu came to discuss with his second brother, "I heard that Qilang passed the exam again this time. We were short of money last time and couldn't give anything as a gift. How about we each buy a chicken this time, make a pair, and send them to Third Brother's family?"
"Well, just give it to us. Last time, our third brother lent us money, so we should use that money to pay him back." Lu Lao Er said.
"Yes, I do." Lu Laosi also wanted to return the money he borrowed last time to his brother.
When Xiao Wang from the second house and Chen from the fourth house heard their husbands say they wanted to send something to the third house, they did not object.
Both of them knew in their hearts that the reason their two families did not starve to death due to lack of food after the separation was because the nephew of the third branch gave them a barbecue recipe. This allowed them to earn money by doing small businesses in the city and take it back home to buy rice and salt.
The third wife's nephew was taking the imperial examinations, and each time he passed, he was more successful than the last. If he passed again next time, he would become a scholar. Although they had separated, if the nephew became a scholar, outsiders wouldn't dare bully them when they went out. Therefore, Xiao Wang and Chen knew very well that maintaining a good relationship with the third wife would only benefit them.
On the contrary, it was the first wife who really offended the third wife. Even if the first wife regretted it now, it was not certain that the third wife would forgive their uncle and parents-in-law for what they did back then.
Knowing that the man in the family was too tired to do business at night, the two sisters-in-law let him rest at home, and went to the village to buy chickens.
The family did have a few chickens, but they were raised by the mother-in-law. The second and fourth wives had no share, and they couldn't just give them away. Both Wang and Chen knew that if they dared to give the chickens away, the mother-in-law would scold them from morning till night for a month without a break.
It would be better to spend some money to buy one outside. They have enough money to buy chicken now.
On the way to buy chickens, Chen discussed with her sister-in-law, Xiao Wang: "Let's go see if any of the hens in the village have hatched chicks. We can take a few home and raise them. We'll have enough meat by the end of the year."
"Well, we'll ask about it later." Xiao Wang said.
***
Old Mrs. Lu, who was standing at the main house door, saw her two daughters-in-law go out. In the past, if she saw her two daughters-in-law not working and running out all day, she would have started scolding them.
But now that the family has been divided, she can no longer control her two daughters-in-law, so she can only shut up and go outside to find her eldest son who is working in the fields and tell him about going to the city tomorrow.
Boss Lu, who was weeding in the field, had his trouser legs rolled up high. He looked thinner than before the split, and his face was even more silent.
Seeing that her eldest son was as sullen and silent as her father, Old Lady Lu pushed him and asked, "Why don't you say something? Why are you just like your father, unable to say a word even after being beaten with three sticks? If you don't go, I'll go find them myself!"
"Let me tell you, the rice jar at home is almost empty. We have so many mouths to feed, and Dalang needs money in the city. I've used all my money for his education. Your father and I are getting older every year, and we won't be able to help you for many more years. You'd better find a way to make some money."
"Didn't the second and fourth brothers go to the third brother and learn how to do business in the city from him? I see them smiling all day long, so I'm afraid they're making a lot of money every day. Let's go ask the third brother too. I don't believe that if I, as his mother, ask him, he will ignore me and you, his biological brother."
"If you don't say anything, I'll take it as your agreement."
"It's settled. Let's go to the city tomorrow morning to look for Lao San and the others."
Seeing that her eldest son didn't say anything, Mrs. Lu assumed that he had agreed to go. Seeing that only her eldest son was working in the fields, and the other grandchildren were nowhere to be seen, she couldn't help but mutter, "Erlang, Sanlang, and the others are already so old, you should ask them to come to the fields to help with the work. How can a kid this old still run around outside all day?"
"It's so hot out here, I'm going to go home first. You should go home early after you finish your work."
After she finished speaking, the old lady blocked the sun from her face with her hands, turned around and left.
Boss Lu, who was in the field, looked at A Niang's departing back, took a deep breath, sat down on the edge of the field, and did not move for a long time.
On her way back, the old lady met her second daughter-in-law and fourth daughter-in-law. Each of them was carrying a big rooster and two baskets of chicks.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law met at the door, and Chen called out, "Mother."
"Mother." When Xiao Wang saw her mother-in-law looking at the things they were holding with a critical look, she was no longer afraid of her mother-in-law.
"Oh, it's different when you make money, right? You bring home a big rooster and a few chicks, but why don't you show some filial piety to your mother?" Old Mrs. Lu asked her two daughters-in-law, her greedy eyes fixed on the big roosters in their hands.
Chen smiled and said, "Mother, we bought these chickens to give to Third Uncle's family. Didn't Qilang pass the exam again? His father and Second Uncle agreed to send two chickens to Third Uncle's family to nourish Qilang. He's worked hard studying."
"Hey, Mom, I see you have a lot of chickens. How about you give us a couple of them? I'll have the child's father and Uncle Two send them over together?"
"Send, send, send, what are you sending? They haven't even given me half an ounce of meat! And they still want me to send them two chickens! There are already two handfuls of chicken shit!" Upon hearing this, Mrs. Lu glared at her daughter-in-law who had her eyes set on the chickens she raised, and hurried into the house.
Xiao Wang and Chen, who were standing behind, exchanged glances, and a smile flashed in their eyes.
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