Yang Cui then told An Dafu that she had bought many jars and that she was doing business under his name.
An Dafu immediately understood what his niece meant. He knew that it was already difficult for his niece, a woman, to raise two children alone. If people found out that she was also doing business, wouldn't she be devoured by those wolves and tigers?
When Yang Cui returned home, night had already fallen.
Er Ya, San Ya, and Da Ya were chatting at the door when they saw Yang Cui return. Da Ya sweetly called out, "Auntie."
"Oh, what brings you here? Aren't you afraid your grandma will be angry?"
"Mom, my eldest sister said we bought a lot of pretty jars, is that true?" Sanya asked.
Daya's face paled. She hadn't expected Sanya to be so direct. Would her aunt find out that she had actually come to gather information?
Yang Cui glanced meaningfully at Daya and said with a light smile, "Yes, we bought a lot."
Daya asked with a smile, "Auntie, why did you buy so many jars?"
"Use it!"
"Pickled vegetables?"
Yang Cui didn't answer her, but instead said, "Er Ya and San Ya, go to the vegetable garden to pick vegetables and come back to prepare stir-fries. We'll have long beans (cowpeas) for dinner."
"You're having dinner tonight?" Da Ya was shocked.
Er Ya: "There are lots of vegetables in the vegetable garden. Mom said it would be a waste not to eat them, so we cook some vegetables to eat every night."
The original owner was a diligent person. Back then, because there were many people in the family, she planted a lot of vegetables. Now it is the season for vegetables to ripen. The family lacks everything, but not vegetables.
Upon hearing this, Daya felt a surge of superiority. Although she only ate two meals a day, she now ate eggs and meat every day.
"What's so good about long beans? Meat and eggs are much better!" Daya boasted proudly. "I eat eggs every day now, and I even had a chicken leg for lunch today! It was stewed so fragrant and delicious!"
Er Ya and San Ya swallowed hard upon hearing this.
Yang Cui got angry and scolded Daya, "Lin Daya, if you want to show off, go back to your place and show off!"
Da Ya looked bewildered.
Yang Cui continued, "Lin Daya, if you came here just to show off how well you're doing, then don't come again. You're so young and you're so vain. Following Lin Shikang and Fan Shi, you've learned all their flaws thoroughly."
Yang Cui's words were rather harsh. In the book, Daya is a vain, selfish, cold-hearted, and ruthless person who harms her sisters. In the original story, Erya was harmed by her, and Sanya, after accidentally finding out, was tied up and secretly sold to a widower in the deep mountains, where she suffered all kinds of humiliation and torture, and died before she was twenty years old.
Therefore, Yang Cui didn't like her and was wary of her. However, considering that Daya was still a child under twelve years old, she couldn't help but criticize her when they met, hoping that she could listen to her.
But Daya clearly wouldn't listen; instead, she felt a growing aversion to Yang Cui.
After being scolded by Yang Cui, Daya went back to the Lin family in tears.
"Da Ya, why are you crying?" Madam Fan asked.
"My aunt scolded me, and I told her I ate chicken legs and eggs. She said I was vain, that I loved to show off, and that I had learned all of your and Dad's bad habits. Waaah..."
Wasn't this insulting herself as well? Madam Fan was furious! But after thinking about it carefully, she smiled again.
"Don't cry, she's just jealous of us! She lost her money and won't be able to make ends meet. Hearing you say we're eating chicken legs and eggs makes her unhappy, of course." Madam Fan laughed smugly. "You should talk to them about it more often and make them green with envy!"
"Okay, Grandma."
Madam Fan then asked, "Have you found out what they're going to do with all those jars?"
Daya shook her head: "Erya and Sanya don't know, Auntie didn't say."
"Then you need to keep trying to get information out of Er Ya and San Ya tomorrow, and make sure you find out everything, understand?"
Daya nodded emphatically.
*
Yang Cui asked her two adopted daughters, "Do you envy her life where she has meat and eggs to eat?"
Sanya nodded obediently.
Er Ya, however, said against her will, "I'm not envious."
Yang Cui asked, "Why aren't you envious?"
Er Ya didn't know how to answer.
"There's nothing wrong with envying others; I envy her too."
Er Ya looked at Yang Cui with some surprise.
Yang Cui then said, "I admire her, but I'm not jealous of her. We don't have the same conditions as her, so our lives aren't as good as hers."
However, we can temporarily consider having meat and eggs to eat as a small goal to strive for. If we don't even have this desire, where will we get the motivation to work hard and make money?
So, Er Ya and San Ya, we can admire others, but we can't be jealous of them, nor can we maliciously smear them just because they are richer or live better than us. As long as we work hard, we can also live a life where we eat white rice, meat, and eggs every day. Can our family of three work together towards that goal?
Er Ya and San Ya nodded emphatically: "Okay, we'll work hard with Mother!"
Yang Cui was very worried that she would not be able to teach her child well. After all, she had never been a mother or raised a child before. She did not know if she was teaching the child the right way. She was afraid that her child would feel inferior, that her child would become a jealous person and only know how to criticize others, and that her child would be short-sighted, overly selfish and vain.
"Although we don't have meat to eat, we have tofu and sugar today." Yang Cui took out rice, salt, and sugar from the jar.
"Wow! So many beautiful jars!" Er Ya and San Ya were so surprised their jaws almost dropped.
Er Ya was overjoyed: "There's so much food! I don't have to worry about going hungry."
While they were talking, Yang Cui immediately took out some rock candy and put one in each of their mouths.
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