Under the scorching sun that could peel off a layer of skin, Song Rumeng returned to her own courtyard.
Just as he hung the straw hat he had taken off his head on the outer wall, he heard cursing coming from the main room: "Where is everyone? Is there anyone alive who has come to see me?"
"Damn Song Yueying, you ungrateful wretch, a jinx, a jinx. Not only did you bring death to your father, but you also caused the death of your own man. You deserve to be a widow."
"Damn Zhao Dongxue, you deserve to be a madwoman, you old widow. I've been shouting here for ages, and no one's even come to check on you."
"Isn't it just because you're afraid I'll eat your chickens?"
"Who am I? I'm the older brother of your short-lived man. Instead of sending me half of the chicken you eat, you're worried I'll eat your chicken."
"You heartless ingrate! After your husband died, I took pity on you and your widow and children. We didn't even have enough food to eat ourselves, so I still sent you some."
"If it weren't for me sending you food, you would have starved to death long ago."
"You are ungrateful and it is against the law of heaven. You are an ingrate and you deserve to lose your husband. You have done too many bad things and you can't have a son. No one will take care of you in your old age and see you off when you die."
"Ouch, my leg hurts so much."
"Damn it, damn it, damn it, those two guys who carried me back were idiots too. They just left me in the main room and then ignored me. Stupid, idiots."
"Would it kill you to walk a few more steps and carry me into the house?!"
Standing in the shadows by the door of the main room, Song Rumeng listened to her father cursing Song Yueying and Zhao Dongxue. She felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction; they deserved it, who told Song Yueying to be disobedient?
As for her father scolding the people who kindly carried him back, she didn't think there was anything wrong with it. If it were her, she would have scolded them too.
Smelling the aroma of chicken soup wafting from the neighbor's yard, and feeling her stomach growling with hunger, Song Rumeng's face contorted for a moment.
Her father was right; Song Yueying was a heartless ingrate.
There's no need to be polite to a heartless ingrate; an idea took shape in Song Rumeng's mind.
Song Rumeng quickly took down the straw hat she had just hung on the wall and hugged it to her arms. She then strode out of the shadows and stood at the doorway of the main room. "Dad, I'm back."
"Are you starving? I'll cook for you right now."
"Cook? What kind of cooking? I'm starving." Uncle Song saw the straw hat in Song Rumeng's arms and knew she had just come back from the fields.
But now he was hungry, thirsty, and his wounds were aching, and all he wanted to do was curse, "You only came back now? Were you trying to starve and thirst me to death?"
"Because my calf is cut and I can't move, I can't hit you, so you dare to act tough in front of me."
"Dad, I didn't," Song Rumeng cried out, but in her heart she was thinking, "It would be strange if you weren't thirsty after scolding me for so long."
"You still dare to argue? I'll teach you to argue!" Uncle Song looked around for something handy to throw at people.
Unfortunately, besides a square table, four long benches, and two cabinets used for storing grain, the main room was not very handy, nor could it be used to hit someone.
“Dad, I’m not making excuses,” Song Rumeng said. “Mom and I have been working in the fields the whole time, as have the team leader, the squad leader, and the Party Secretary.”
"I just wanted to come back early to cook for you, but they wouldn't let me! I don't dare leave without their permission!"
Uncle Song cursed, "You good-for-nothing idiot! Didn't you know you were coming back to take care of me since I was injured?!"
“If you get injured, there will be one less laborer in the fields, and the team leader will be extremely displeased,” Song Rumeng retorted. “At this time, who would dare to provoke him?”
"Song Rumeng, have you grown bold?" Uncle Song glared at her angrily, his fierce eyes seeming to spit fire.
Song Rumeng stood at the doorway of the main room, her body trembling slightly, as if she had been quite frightened. She bit her lip, looking at her uncle with a face full of grievance and stubbornness.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she held them back.
Uncle Song's arrogance subsided somewhat. He said, "I'm your father. I'm injured now, in pain, thirsty, and hungry. I said a few words to you, and you still dare to talk back."
In Uncle Song's view, his daughter, whom he gave birth to and raised, should endure his beatings and scoldings without complaint.
"Dad, I'm just telling you the truth, not arguing with you." Song Rumeng looked aggrieved, as if she had been wronged, before changing the subject.
"By the way, Dad, didn't Mom say she'd have my cousin bring you water and food while she was in the fields? Didn't she bring them to you?"
"Send it here, send him a damn leg." Uncle Song's anger was reignited, but this time it wasn't directed at Song Rumeng, but at Song Yueying.
"Song Yueying's family is stewing chicken soup. I smelled it and called out for ages, but no one came to even glance at me."
Not to mention delivering water and food.
"How could my cousin do this?" Song Rumeng frowned, feigning ignorance. "Even if my cousin didn't bring you water or food, what about your second aunt? Did your second aunt do the same?"
"Second Aunt? What Second Aunt?" Uncle Song cursed, "That crazy woman Zhao Dongxue is just like the daughter she raised, a heartless ingrate."
"Those two ungrateful widows are cursed to bring misfortune to their husbands. Not only did they kill their own men, but now they're coming back to curse me too. The reason I'm injured like this today is all because of them."
"You two jinxes, you ingrates, just wait, once my injuries heal, I'll make sure you and your mother pay."
"You're only just getting back to cook? What are you going to cook? By the time you finish cooking, I'll be starving." Uncle Song said, "Go and get the chicken cake from the house for me to eat."
"I'll eat some steamed egg custard first to fill my stomach, then I'll wait for you to cook."
Song Rumeng said, "Dad, our family hasn't bought sponge cake in a long time. Not to mention sponge cake, we don't even have cookies or fruit candies."
“My cousin has gone to the county several times without me taking her along, and she hasn’t shared any of the things she bought with her.”
"No?" Uncle Song exclaimed, ignoring all excuses and thinking about how he would continue to go hungry. He then directed his anger at Song Rumeng.
"You heartless ingrates, you're all ingrates. You and your daughter are ingrates too, you're all ingrates, you all deserve to die, you just wait."
"Once my leg heals, I'll make you all pay."
Song Rumeng said aggrievedly, "My mother and I have been working in the fields all the time and have not been able to take care of things at home. The brigade leader does not allow us to come back, and we dare not come back."
"With the double harvest season so busy, my mom and I have been working in the fields the whole time, and we dare not slack off for even a moment."
"Dad, you know that Mom and I aren't as lucky as my cousin and second aunt."
"My cousin knows medicine and can treat people's illnesses and injuries, so the brigade leader doesn't let her work in the fields. My second aunt also doesn't have to work in the fields. They're just lucky."
"My mom and I are destined to work hard. We don't complain. We'll just work hard."
"It's fine what other people say about Mom and me, but Dad, how could you say such things about us?"
Faced with Song Rumeng's questioning, Uncle Song's eyes darted away.
But he quickly regained his composure, arguing that Song Yueying could heal illnesses and injuries, so naturally she didn't need to do farm work. Zhao Dongxue didn't have to work because of Song Yueying.
This is the fate of that mother and daughter.
Wang Muxiang can't do anything, and neither can Song Rumeng. Neither of them can benefit from the other's success, so they deserve to have to work in the fields.
It has nothing to do with him.
Uncle Song doesn't believe that he's incompetent for not being able to provide a good life for his wife and daughter.
Seeing her father's expression, Song Rumeng knew that her words had not aroused the slightest remorse in him. Her father had always been a selfish and self-serving person.
Song Rumeng suggested, "How about I go to my cousin's house and get you some chicken soup to eat first, so you can have something to eat."
Uncle Song's eyes lit up, and his expression softened considerably. Thinking of the aroma of the chicken soup he smelled, he felt he could eat the whole pot.
“Dad, don’t get your hopes up too high.” Song Rumeng hesitated for a moment, then said, “I’ll go talk to my cousin, even though they’re not very easy to talk to right now…”
These words were like a bucket of ice water poured over Uncle Song's head, instantly extinguishing any hope in his heart.
Just as he was about to get angry, Song Rumeng quickly added, "But I will try my best to talk to my cousin and ask her again. She should be able to bring you some chicken soup back."
"What do you mean, 'a little'? How can a little be enough to eat?" Uncle Song corrected her, displeased. "Bring all their pots back to me. Go, hurry up and go."
Uncle Song urged.
"Okay, okay, I'll go right now, I'll go get the pot right now, just wait a little longer." With that, Song Rumeng put the straw hat she was holding on the ground, turned around and ran.
In truth, she knew very well that Song Yueying wouldn't give her any motivational speeches. But she still wanted to try, clinging to a tiny bit of hope.
As she walked, thinking about what to say, Song Rumeng arrived at the gate of the neighboring courtyard and knocked on the door.
After waiting a while and seeing that no one came to open the door, she suppressed the anger that was about to erupt from her heart and started pounding on the door with her palm, using a lot of force.
It was as if the camera wasn't filming the door, but rather Song Yueying's face.
The gate to the courtyard diagonally opposite opened, and Aunt Xu poked her head out, looking at Song Rumeng with a knowing expression.
That expression seemed to say, "I knew it was you, I knew you were eyeing the neighbor's pheasant meat, I knew you would knock on their door and ask for it."
Song Rumeng's breath hitched, and a story came to mind: "Aunt Xu, I was knocking on the door too loudly and disturbed you. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
Aunt Xu's blunt expression made Song Rumeng feel very embarrassed.
But she still wanted to salvage her image, so she put on a helpless and embarrassed expression. She stammered as she explained, "My dad cut his leg and is crying in pain at home."
"Seeing my dad sweating profusely from the pain, I felt bad, so I came to my cousin to get some painkillers for him."
“I know painkillers won’t make my dad’s injury heal faster, but at least they can reduce his pain.”
Song Rumeng spoke with heartfelt sincerity, portraying herself as a dutiful daughter who couldn't bear to see her father suffer.
If Aunt Xu hadn't witnessed Song Rumeng's change of expression that day, she would have believed her story. Unfortunately, after seeing her change of expression, Aunt Xu didn't believe a single word she said.
But she didn't expose Song Rumeng. She nodded, turned around, and closed the courtyard gate.
Watching Aunt Xu close the courtyard gate, Song Rumeng secretly breathed a sigh of relief. As for whether Aunt Xu would spread her heartfelt words, she no longer cared.
In the courtyard.
The atmosphere in the main room was warm and cozy. Song Yueying and her mother sat around the square table, neither of them speaking, each busy with their own tasks.
While Song's mother nimbly threaded a needle and made clothes, Song Yueying was busy handling the herbs the children had brought back for her from the mountains.
The knocking on the door grew louder and showed no signs of stopping. Ultimately, Song's mother couldn't keep up with her daughter's composure. She stopped her needlework and looked up at her daughter.
"Are you really not going to open the door?" They heard Song Rumeng knocking, but no one paid any attention.
“She’s here for pheasant soup. If we open the door, she might take the whole pot.” As she spoke, Song Yueying’s hands didn’t stop moving.
"I knew their family was shameless, but I never imagined they'd become even more shameless," sighed Song's mother.
Song Yueying looked up at her mother and said, "Mom, it's their business if others are shameless. It has nothing to do with us. We just need to live our own lives."
“But…” Song’s mother wanted to say something, but Song Yueying interrupted her, “No buts. You don’t need to think too much. Live each day however you want. Leave everything else to me.”
"Okay." Song's mother was comforted and immediately smiled. "My daughter is the best and the most capable. I won't worry about anything from now on. I'll just enjoy life with my daughter."
“That’s the right way to think!” Song Yueying smiled, then put the herbs in her hand on the table, clapped her hands, and stood up. “I’m going out to take a look.”
"Didn't you say you wouldn't open the door for her?" Song's mother also put down her needlework and stood up.
Song Yueying said helplessly, "I didn't want to open the door for her or pay any attention to her, but she kept making a scene at the entrance of our yard, which wasn't going to work."
“I’ll go with you,” Song’s mother said firmly.
“Okay!” Song Yueying did not refuse, but instead joked, “If Song Rumeng knows what’s good for her and leaves, we won’t pursue the matter further.”
"If you don't leave, then let's settle the score properly."
"What kind of overall account?" Song's mother asked curiously.
“Mom, think about it carefully. She has taken so much from us in the past. Today, she has to give it all back to me.” With that, Song Yueying walked out of the main room.
Stepping out from under the eaves, the scorching sun overhead instantly darkened her expression.
“Since Little Shadow wants to settle accounts, she naturally has to help.” Song’s mother hurriedly followed.
When the aroma of stewing chicken soup wafted from the kitchen, she knew the people in the next yard wouldn't be able to sit still. Sure enough, soon after, Uncle Song's cursing voice came from the next yard.
The more she cursed, the uglier and more unbearable it became. Not wanting Xiao Yingzi to hear it in the kitchen, she put a little firewood in the stove and slowly stewed the pheasant over a low flame.
She then returned to the main room to continue making clothes for Little Shadow.
The little shadow came out of the house, said nothing, and sat down opposite her to pound herbs.
She hadn't noticed before, thinking the little shadow was just messing with the herbs. Now that she thought about it, it seemed like the little shadow was waiting for something. Was it waiting for Song Rumeng to cause trouble?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com