Yun Tiankuang happened to come out as well, and said, "Let it climb the tree and pounce on the birds, just ignore it."
Jiang Youchen, however, hung her head, "My mother told me to catch it and continue feeding it..."
Yun Tiankuang asked curiously, "I remember last time when my little cousin was watching it eat, she was also called away by a big yellow dog. Why didn't my aunt ask her to go and find the kitten?"
Jiang Youchen lowered his head even further, "Well, maybe I was picked up by my mother..."
Yun Tiankuang: ...
...
With her immediate food and clothing needs met, Zhou began to think about the long term. She asked her family and fellow villagers more than once whether it was possible to grow fruit trees and grains on the mountain, and the answer she received was always that it was quite difficult.
Especially since they have absolutely no ability to cultivate a mountain by relying on just a few elderly, weak, women and children.
But the embroidery skills of the sisters-in-law alone couldn't support this large family.
Without sustainable income, we'll eventually run out of money.
Moreover, for the long term, the four boys in the family should continue to study at the academy and take the imperial examinations.
Going to school costs money, right? Where will the money come from if there's no future in that place?
Also, my daughter will be of marriageable age next year, and my second daughter, Yun Manyin, is thirteen years old. She should be of marriageable age too. I can't really let them all marry into this mountain village.
Just thinking about these upsetting things gave Zhou a huge headache.
The worst part is that there's a woman in the village called Aunt Hua who always hangs around her, trying her best to promote her two simple-minded sons, wanting them to marry Wan Jie'er and Yin Jie'er.
Zhou Shi, mindful of the kindness Aunt Hua had shown her with the initial bushel of coarse rice, didn't dare to openly break ties with her.
Aunt Hua came over again a moment later, and immediately started speaking in a loud voice, "Hey, Tian Kuang's mother, are your Da Ya and Er Ya washing clothes by the river?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou's heart skipped a beat. "Aunt Hua, what's wrong?"
The villagers weren't used to calling her "Big Girl" or "Second Girl," so they just called her "Da Ya" or "Er Ya," which left her feeling helpless.
Aunt Hua clicked her tongue twice. "When I came over just now, I took a look. Hey, your Da Ya and Er Ya are good-looking, but when it comes to washing clothes, they act like they're afraid of pain. What, how can washing clothes be ruined by rubbing and scrubbing? I don't think these two have much strength in their hands. How can they possibly wash clothes clean?"
Zhou's eyes darkened. "Each of us manages our own clothes. We can wash them however we want. Whether they're clean or not, we're all wearing them anyway."
“Hey, it’s not that I’m saying anything bad about them. You’re not like you used to be. Before, you were high and mighty daughters of noble families, with servants attending to you wherever you went. Now you’re stuck in these remote mountain villages, like a fallen phoenix, worse than a chicken. You have to work the land yourself everywhere. What can you grow on those hills? You might be able to get by for the next ten days or so. But what about next month? What about next year? Are you going to rely on these three hills that can’t grow anything? My Erdan and Sandan are both very strong. If you agree, you can marry your Daya and Erya over here. Then I’ll have my Erdan and Sandan help you harvest the crops and grow grain. That way, you’ll have hope for the future, won’t you?”
Zhou didn't want to pay attention to her, so she didn't interrupt her. However, Guo, who was inside, heard her long speech.
She burst out like a firecracker, yelling, "You old geezer, with your two stupid sons, you think you can marry my eldest and second daughters? You must be dreaming! No matter how low my daughters fall from grace, they're still phoenixes. How dare you filthy mud-footed people even think about them? What kind of trash are you!"
"..."
When Guo heard that this simple-minded country bumpkin wanted to marry her third wife, Yin'er, she immediately started cursing and chased after Aunt Hua for half a street.
Zhou: ...
She watched helplessly as Guo cursed and drove the people away. This third sister-in-law's fiery temper seemed to suit the countryside very well.
When Guo returned to the old house, she was still furious. Seeing her sister-in-law picking vegetables, she plopped down and started picking vegetables with her. "We should curse these filthy women out immediately. Who gave her the right to spew such foul language for so long? She's just polluting our ears!"
Li was carrying a basket of sliced dried radish out to dry when she heard this and laughed, "Third sister-in-law, you're so quick-witted! You're the one who can handle this!"
Guo spat towards the door, "Those snobbish bastards always think that just because we've been demoted to commoners, we're inferior to them. What a bunch of scoundrels! I'd say these down-and-outs just wait and see. Just wait until our Kuang-ge'er and Yi-ge'er pass the imperial examinations and return to the capital! Then they'll know what it means for a fallen phoenix to still be a phoenix!"
Madam Li agreed, "Right now, let's focus on making ends meet. Once we have some spare money, we'll quickly send our sons to school or academy."
Zhou sighed deeply, "I don't know when I'll be able to save up some spare money."
After these words were spoken, none of the others spoke.
Guo spoke up again, "Just now I cursed for half the street, and when I got to the west end of the village, that Wang Dazhu said he was going to marry his eldest daughter to Butcher Mao in town."
Li was startled. "Wang Dazhu, was his family also swept away by the flood when they lived at the east end of the village? Now all five of them are staying at my brother's house?"
"That's right! He and his brother separated from the family years ago and weren't well-off. I heard they were out of food. So his sister-in-law got in touch with that butcher Mao."
"Oh dear, I just heard firecrackers. Could it be that the butcher has come to propose marriage?"
Guo felt a pang of sympathy. “If it were a good family, it would be fine. I heard that this butcher’s two wives died before him. They both wanted to have sons. As soon as they got pregnant, they would have someone check their pulse. If it wasn’t a son, they would have an abortion. They were tortured to death.”
Everyone gasped in shock.
Guo added fuel to the fire, saying, "When I passed by just now, I glanced at him and saw that butcher Mao looked to be almost forty."
Li's heart skipped a beat. "Wang Dazhu's eldest daughter isn't of marriageable age yet, is she?"
"Indeed! She's only thirteen years old. Sigh, if it weren't for this year of famine, which family would be willing to sell their child?"
These words left everyone feeling incredibly heavy-hearted.
Just then, Madam Yu came in carrying a wild rabbit, breaking the dull atmosphere. "Sister-in-law, we'll have meat for dinner tonight!"
Little Youran skipped in, exclaiming, “My fourth aunt is amazing! She caught two big, fat rabbits as soon as she came up the mountain!”
Yu put down the wild rabbit in her hand, wishing she could hug and kiss Xiao Youran several times.
She gave Xiao Youran a thumbs up, "I went up the mountain the other day and didn't see a single rabbit. Today I took Xiao Youran with me, and we caught two fat rabbits in no time. Next time I'll definitely ask Xiao Youran to come up the mountain with me!"
Jiang Youchen touched his nose beside him: ...
Anyway, although he and his sister were inseparable, everyone always saw only his sister and not him, and he was used to it.
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