There was a violent storm at night, but the sun was still shining brightly during the day. In the evening, the sky was covered with dark clouds and dusk fell. Heavy rain was hitting the window frames. Mrs. Ding got up, bolted and locked the window again, and then went to bed to sleep with her daughter.
Mi Niang had slept too much during the day and couldn't fall asleep at this moment. She opened her eyes and looked around. The room was very simple. Apart from the books, there was a bed and a few old mahogany boxes.
In fact, their family was not like this before, especially during the time of her great grandfather. Although he was born as a concubine, his family was still quite well-off. His great grandfather was even appointed as a tribute supervisor and later served as the magistrate of a county under the jurisdiction of Daming Prefecture. In addition to the ancestral house here, the family also had forests, sandy land and fertile fields. My grandmother mentioned that when she married into the family, there were fifty or sixty servants.
But later on, my grandfather failed to study and became addicted to gambling and playing cards, so the family business was almost completely ruined.
As for my great uncle and father's generation, after my great uncle passed the county examination, he failed the provincial examination three times and also fell seriously ill. The family was unable to support him, so he turned to business and did some small business in Jiangling County, and was away from home most of the year.
Compared with her uncle, her father, Ruan Jiading, could be considered a scholar. He passed the county and prefectural examinations at the age of fifteen and became a student. However, because of his father's burden, he had to redeem the 100 mu of land given to him by his grandfather and sell the land back to the ancestral home. His family was extremely poor and could not afford to support a scholar, so he gave up his studies and went to teach children in the community school.
Of course, it was in that place that my father met my mother. I heard that both her parents had died, and that she lived with her uncle and aunt, who often beat and scolded her. She lived in someone else's house, worked in the fields and weaved day and night, and her life was very difficult.
Even the only good marriage arranged by her parents during their lifetime was taken by her cousin. Her mother was an orphan with no dowry, no family background, and no brothers or sisters, so she was deeply pitied by the villagers.
My mother was a good cook, so the school's security guard immediately asked her to go to the school to cook for the children.
One was down and out, the other was beautiful and lonely, and the two of them came together like this.
Ruan Jiading didn't care whether his mother Lu had a dowry or not. He just thought she was kind-hearted, wise in housekeeping, gentle in nature, and very beautiful. Lu admired Ruan Jiading's character and talent.
However, it is obvious that as a scholar, Ruan Jiading rejected the invitation of the wealthy businessman and married the orphan Lu. Studying costs money, and Lu did not have any dowry, so the two of them lived a tight life.
Especially after Ruan Jiading went to the academy, he lost the income from the community school, and the family relied entirely on his second wife Ding to embroider to make money, and the family became even poorer.
"Mother, when will father come back?"
When Mrs. Ding Er heard the children's voices beside her, she also missed her husband who was far away in the academy. She showed a rare smile on her face: "Your father will be back during the New Year. What's wrong, do you miss your father?"
Before Mi Niang said anything, she heard Second Mistress Ding laugh, "You must be thinking of your father bringing you some candied haws, right?"
"Mom." Damn it, was she so greedy when she was little? Why did every word she said was about how delicious she was?
However, soon, Second Mistress Ding said again: "Tomorrow, mother will go out for a while. Your father doesn't need to come back. Mother can buy you candied haws. My little honey mother should always be so sweet and carefree."
Mi Niang finally came back to life, and she really didn't want to leave her mother for even a moment. She said without thinking, "No, my daughter wants to follow me. Wherever my mother goes, my daughter will go."
"Okay, okay." Mrs. Ding agreed verbally, but in fact she was thinking in her heart that the little fat pig would be so sleepy that she wouldn't be able to wake up tomorrow morning, so she just said it perfunctorily and actually had no intention of taking her daughter out.
But I didn't expect that as soon as I moved in the morning, the little fat girl sat up from the bed, pulled me and wouldn't let go, and deliberately acted coquettishly: "Mom, my good mother, please take me there."
Being entangled and unable to do anything, Ding Er Niang Niang had to agree: "Okay, mother will take you there, but you can't make a noise."
Mi Niang quickly assured: "I will be a good boy and I won't run away."
The mother and daughter dressed and quietly went out. At this time, only the good mother-in-law was guarding the door. Seeing that it was the mother and daughter, she hurried over and whispered, "Second Madam, the old man and the old lady were playing cards until midnight yesterday and didn't get up this morning. But you still have to go and come back quickly."
Mrs. Ding thanked him quietly and said, "I'll have something good for you when I get back."
"Then I would like to thank you very much, Second Madam." The good mother-in-law smiled.
The old lady in the family has money in her hands but never takes it out. The old man is used to begging for money. From time to time, he goes to the clan or to the homes of people with whom the old man had a good relationship in the past to get money. Both of them are stingy and never give a penny.
The three servants who stayed in the Ruan family were all homeless and only wanted to have food to eat so that they could support themselves in their old age. As for the monthly salary, they had never received any. Of course, if it were not for this, these people would have run away long ago.
Mi Niang went out with Ding Ernai together. The mother and daughter walked to the ferry. The place was already full of small vendors carrying baskets on their shoulders, and there were also many pedestrians who wanted to cross the river. This made Mi Niang very surprised.
"Mom, that's fish." She pointed to the fish basket of the vendor in front.
This fish basket is full of fish. They must be taken to the city to sell. They are still alive and kicking.
Second Madam Ding smiled and said, "When your father comes back, I'll ask him to catch some fish for you."
"Daddy, can you still catch fish?" Mi Niang was puzzled.
In her impression, her father was a typical scholar who believed in the saying "a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen" and he could even do something like fishing.
Second Madam Ding said proudly: "Forget about catching fish. Even the Dragon King can't catch your father."
After saying this, the second wife of Ding saw the ferry coming and quickly picked up her daughter to grab a seat. Because they did not bring any goods, the boatman charged them two cents. Mi Niang did not know what her mother was going to the city for. Was she going to the embroidery shop? But there were still some embroidery pieces to be embroidered at home! Her mother usually spun cloth. After all, embroidery was not something that ordinary people could do, especially since the major embroidery shops had many embroiderers in their own factories. How could they always use people from other places?
As the boatman rowed, Mi Niang, who had gotten up too early and was drowsy, did not realize she had arrived at Jiangling County until she woke up.
In the bustling county town, Second Mistress Ding adjusted her hair and said reluctantly, "Mi Niang, I'll carry you now and hug you when we come back, okay?"
Mi Niang was very embarrassed. She had never thought that her mother was so concerned about whether to hold her or not. She was a little fat white girl, and usually the second grandmother must have loved her. Even though she was so thin, she still wanted to hold her daughter.
"Mom, Mi Niang just wants to walk. Mi Niang is a big child now, don't hold her."
Aunt Ding Er touched her daughter's bun and said lovingly, "Come back, let mother hold you."
I saw Second Madam Ding walked to the back door of a wine shop with ease and knocked on the door. The man who came was a middle-aged man. When he saw Second Madam Ding, he curled his lips and said, "Are you looking for our young lady again?"
"Yes, thank you. Just tell her that her fellow villager Guihua wants to see her."
Osmanthus? Mi Niang was curious. Why did her mother say her name was Osmanthus? Her mother's name was obviously Lu Shujun. It was said that her late grandfather was a scholar, but he passed away too early, so her grandmother returned to her parents' home. Later, she heard that she either remarried or died.
The male servant closed the door after hearing this. Second Lady Ding took her to a small alley, where there was a pile of firewood, so she said, "Mi Niang, let me play hide-and-seek with you, okay? Someone will come to look for us later, Mi Niang, so don't make any noise, okay?"
If the still young Mi Niang really thought that her mother was playing a game with her, but now she knew clearly what her mother wanted to say to the young lady of the winery.
She pretended to be ignorant and agreed, hiding quietly behind the firewood.
From time to time, the back door of the wine shop opened, and a young woman in a thin cotton coat walked out. She even had bound feet, a mole on the tip of her nose, and a high cheekbone. When she saw Mrs. Ding, she asked, "Why are you here? What are you doing here?"
Mrs. Ding smiled and said, "Big sister, I have no choice but to come here. Sister Mi's father went to study in the academy. Mi Niang and I can't make ends meet anymore. We are counting on you to help us."
Big sister?
Mi Niang looked at the young woman and thought to herself, so she was the one who stole her mother's job.
Looking at the fine cotton cloth she is wearing and her delicate skin and tender flesh, it seems that she lives a life of luxury and does not do much.
Madam Wu sneered, "You, you, you were asked to be the concubine of Landlord Yu, but you refused. Otherwise, you would have been living a luxurious life by now. You are still asking me for money, but I don't have any money. I came from the countryside to marry in the city, and I have to endure the torture of that old hag every day. I am really suffering for you."
Mi Niang thought this person was so shameless. It was clearly she who stole my mother's marriage, but now she was turning the tables on me. My mother was so pitiful.
Unexpectedly, her mother changed her cowardly expression at this moment, and suddenly grabbed Madam Wu's neck, saying in a hateful voice: "I don't have time to talk nonsense with you. My mother left me a golden hairpin and 20 acres of land, and my aunt gave them all to you as a dowry. If you snatched this marriage away, it would be fine, but you are not afraid of me. I will go to find Master Wu later. He is a man of his word. If he knew that you were a fake, do you think you can stay in the Wu family?"
Madam Wu seemed frightened, her lips trembling: "Sister, I'll go back and get it for you."
"No, right now, who would know if you are the golden cicada that has escaped from its shell?" Second Madam Ding was not as gentle as usual. Instead, there was a fierce look on her face, as if she really wanted to kill her.
"Here, I'll give it to you." Madam Wu tremblingly searched out a few coins from her purse.
Mrs. Ding sneered twice, reached into her underwear, found a piece of silver, and snorted.
Mrs. Wu stamped her feet in anger, but then she heard someone talking at the back door and ran away quickly.
At this time, Second Madam Ding took Mi Niang out from the pile of firewood and said happily, "Mother, take our little Mi Niang to eat steamed buns today, okay?"
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