Chapter 8 Chapter 8 Encouraging the Separation of the Family
The Yu family and the Fu family are separated by half of the village, one in the east and the other in the west.
After Yu Li went out, he went towards Yu's house.
The sun has risen and the temperature is gradually becoming hotter. There are still many people working in the fields. Naked children are swimming in the river to cool off. Under the big banyan tree by the river, there are only three or two idle men squatting there chatting.
Along the way, Yu Li didn't meet many people.
Farmers rarely have free time. Even if it is not the busy farming season, villagers will take the opportunity to go to the county town to find some work, as it is good to earn a few more copper coins.
"Hey, isn't this Li Niang?"
When passing by a house, a thin-faced woman standing at the door called out to Yu Li.
Yu Li turned to look at her, searching his memory and discovered that the original owner did not have a deep impression of this woman. He probably did not interact with her very often. It seemed that everyone called her Aunt Guihua.
Aunt Guihua didn't wait for Yu Li to speak before asking, "Mother Li, where are you going? What's in the basket?"
As she spoke, she stretched her neck and looked straight into the basket.
Yu Li seldom interacts with others. As a genetic warrior, fighting and killing are their daily routine. Even with their companions, they have little to say. Being in such a dangerous world, no one can guarantee that they will stay alive, and the companions around them are constantly coming and going.
Therefore, most of the time, they are silent and will not communicate unless necessary.
Yu Li is not good at dealing with people. Most of the time, if others don’t ask her, she won’t take the initiative to speak. However, if others ask her, she will still answer. This is basic courtesy.
So Yu Li said, "Go back home."
Aunt Guihua was stunned for a moment, then pointed at the basket in her hand and said, "Is this the return gift your mother-in-law brought back for you?"
Yu Li nodded.
Aunt Guihua was curious about what Zhou had prepared for her, and reached out to lift the coarse cloth covering the basket, but Yu Li blocked her hand.
She said awkwardly, "What are you doing, kid? I'm just taking a look..."
Seeing that Yu Li had no intention of letting her see it, Aunt Guihua changed the subject and said, "Mother Li, I heard that the boy from the Fu family has woken up, is that true? Was it you who woke him up because of your wedding? Was there really a fortune teller who said that you are a lucky star? Why didn't your grandma tell you about this before..."
Aunt Guihua asked a lot of questions, all about the things that had been circulating in the village recently.
Yu Li had no idea about this and looked confused when he heard it.
Aunt Guihua snorted when she saw this. "I knew it was your grandma who was talking nonsense. If it was true, she would have spread the news to everyone. How could she only accept 20 taels of betrothal money? She would even accept 100 taels..."
Then he said to Yu Li, "Mother Li, you can't do this. Your Yu family accepted the twenty taels of betrothal money from the Fu family, which is like selling you out. They are sucking your blood! But you will also enjoy a good life in the Fu family in the future. Your mother-in-law looks soft-hearted. She shouldn't exploit you and not give you food like the Yu family does. It's just that your parents and sisters are pitiful. They have to stay in the Yu family and suffer. If the Yu family can be divided, your parents and sisters will probably live a better life..."
"Hey, what are you talking about with Li Niang, you old hag?"
An unhappy voice sounded, interrupting Aunt Guihua's endless chatter.
The two people in front of the door turned around and saw that it was Aunt Feng carrying a basket of pig grass. She was obviously displeased by what Aunt Guihua had just said.
Yu Li was familiar with Aunt Feng and took the initiative to call her "Aunt".
Aunt Feng smiled at her and continued to say to Aunt Guihua, "What nonsense are you talking about in front of Li Niang? Be careful that her grandmother will scold you if she finds out."
Aunt Guihua didn't expect to be heard by her. She felt a little uncomfortable, but she quickly recovered.
She put her hands on her waist and said confidently, "What did I say wrong? Li Niang was sold to a sickly boy by her grandmother for marriage. Looking at the girls in the second branch of the Yu family, I'm afraid they will also be sold for twenty taels in the future. It's better to take this opportunity to divide the family, which will also be good for them..."
"Bah!" Aunt Feng said angrily, "You are right to instigate Li Niang to split the family? She is a married woman, these things are not her business, don't talk nonsense in front of her."
As she spoke, Aunt Feng came over, grabbed Yu Li and took her away.
Yu Li obediently followed Aunt Feng away. Compared to the unfamiliar Aunt Guihua, Aunt Feng was a good person in the original owner's memory. She had helped her a lot and even gave her some food to keep her going when she was dizzy and hungry from working.
The original owner kept them all in mind.
Far away from Aunt Guihua's house, Aunt Feng said to Yu Li with lingering anger: "Don't take Guihua's words to heart. You are already married, and your parents' affairs are not your business. Just live your life well in the future."
Nowadays, the family will not be divided as long as the parents are alive. As long as the old man and his wife of the Yu family are still alive, it is impossible for the Yu family to be divided. If anyone wants to divide the family, it would be unfilial.
It was clear that Aunt Guihua and Yu Li had bad intentions when they said these things.
Yu Li looked at her and asked, "Aunt, if the family is divided, my three sisters won't have to work all day, and they can keep the money they earn to buy food instead of giving it to grandma?"
The anger on Aunt Feng's face stagnated slightly. She didn't know what to say, and finally said, "That's true, but..."
It is impossible for the Yu family to split up.
The Yu family has to support two scholars in the eldest branch, and they also hope that they can improve their family status, become a scholar in the future, and even get tax reductions. The whole family has to work together to support them, so how can they split up?
Worried that she might have such thoughts, Aunt Feng quickly said, "Leaving mother, whether to divide the family depends on the opinion of the elders. As a younger generation, you must not take the initiative to bring it up. If you do, people will say you are unfilial, and it will not be good for you, your parents, and your sisters."
Although Yu Li is already married, she is afraid that her husband's family will have objections if her reputation is ruined, and she will have a hard time in the Fu family in the future.
Aunt Feng felt pity for Yu Li. This child was down-to-earth and capable, and very worry-free. If she had such a capable child, she would love him so much.
It's just that the Yu family has a large population, and they only have eyes for those with boys, and don't treat their daughters and granddaughters as human beings.
Until they arrived at the Yu family, Aunt Feng kept reminding her not to be influenced by Aunt Guihua's words.
Aunt Guihua and Old Lady Yu don't get along. I heard that when Aunt Guihua married into Qingshi Village, Old Lady Yu disliked her for being lazy and greedy, and she gossiped about her in public in the village. Aunt Guihua has always held a grudge against her, and this is how the grudge was formed.
Aunt Guihua had called Yu Li back earlier, naturally with bad intentions, as she wanted to encourage Yu Li to split up the family.
Yu Li did not respond and just listened in silence, but she was always like this in the past, so Aunt Feng did not think much about it and thought that the child had heard it.
"Okay, go in."
Aunt Feng knew that she was returning home today and must be in a hurry to go home to see her parents and sisters, so she didn't try to talk to her for long. She waved to her and walked towards her home.
**
The gate of Yu's courtyard was open, and a girl about eight years old was sweeping the floor.
She was wearing ill-fitting clothes, with the sleeves and trouser legs being too short, and covered in patches and sewn again and again. It was obvious that she had picked up her older sisters' clothes.
But it's summer now and the weather is hot, so it doesn't matter if the clothes don't fit. But it won't be the case in winter.
When Yu Li came in, the girl saw her, a look of surprise appeared on her face, and she rushed towards her: "Big sister!"
When the girl threw herself into his arms, Yu Li felt a little uncomfortable, but he still hugged her.
At this time, another girl in her early teens came out of a mud house in the west room, also with a look of surprise on her face, "Big sister, you're back." Then she shouted to the backyard, "Second sister, big sister is back."
When Yu Jin, who was feeding pigs in the backyard, heard this, he hurried out.
Yu Li looked at the girl who was running from the backyard. She was about thirteen or fourteen years old and was also skinny.
In other words, these three girls are as skinny as Yu Li, without a single piece of meat on their bodies. They are thinner than many girls from poor families in the village.
These are the three girls from the second branch of the Yu family, Yu Li’s sisters.
The fourteen-year-old is called Yujin, the twelve-year-old is called Yuyin, and the eight-year-old is called Yuzhu, which means gold, silver and jewelry.
As for why Yu Li's name is different from her sisters, it is because she is the first child born. Although she is a girl, Yu Laoer and his wife were very happy at that time. When he was returning home, Yu Laoer heard someone reciting a poem "The grass is lush and green on the plain" on the roadside. He thought the word "Li" sounded good, so he named his newborn daughter Yu Li.
Except for Yu Li, the names of Yu Jin, Yu Yin and Yu Zhu were just randomly chosen by Old Lady Yu.
According to Old Madam Yu, she hoped that the girls would bring countless gold, silver and jewelry to their parents' home when they got married in the future, so she named the girls in the second room according to these four words.
The three sisters were originally working, and now they were so surprised to see their married eldest sister coming back that they had no time to care about anything else.
These past few days, they were all very worried about their eldest sister, fearing that the youngest son of the Fu family was really dead, and the wedding plan would fail. If their eldest sister was sent back, she might be labeled as a woman who brought bad luck to her husband.
They finally breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that Fu Wenxiao had woken up.
Yu Jin was impatient and asked hurriedly, "Sister, how have you been these days? Is your brother-in-law okay? Has anyone bullied you? Can you eat enough? Are you not hungry?"
By the end, she was worried.
Yu Jin was most afraid of being hungry, and she was also afraid that her elder sister would still be hungry after getting married.
Everyone in the second house was very thin, but the thinnest were Liu and Yu Li.
There is no need to talk about Liu, who had a weak back because she had no son and lived a cautious life in the Yu family. It was never her turn to eat. Yu Li, as the eldest sister, had to take care of her younger sisters. Every time her younger sisters cried with hunger, she would save some of her own rations and give them to them, which resulted in her eating even less.
Yu Li showed a faint smile on his face, "Don't worry, I'm fine, I'm not hungry."
"real?"
Yu Li nodded vigorously. She didn’t dare to say anything else, but she was really not hungry.
Carrying the basket in her hand, she took her three sisters back to the west room where the second room lived. There were only two mud houses, one was the room of Yu Laoer and his wife, and the other was where the four sisters lived.
Yu Li put the basket on the table. The three Yu Jin sisters noticed the basket and asked, "What is this?"
"My mother-in-law asked me to bring this back as a gift."
Yu Jin opened it curiously, and her eyes widened when she saw a small cloth bag of fine grains, a dozen eggs, and even a palm-sized piece of bacon in the basket.
In the eyes of the country people, food is their lifeline. It is normal for a married woman to bring food as a gift when she returns to her parents' home after her wedding. The basket that Zhou specially packed was very rich.
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