Hearing her mention Da Bao, Sun's heart tightened. She knew that Old Madam Chen was after Da Bao's wages, so she asked, feigning ignorance.
"Da Bao went to work early this morning, why are you looking for him?"
Grandma Chen tentatively said, "I want to take some money from Da Bao first to buy some grain, and then pay him back after the harvest when I sell the grain."
Sun shook her head and waved her hands repeatedly, refusing directly, "Dabao works hard to earn money, and he's not young anymore. He's long past the age of marriage. It's one thing for me, as his mother, not to help, but I can't shamelessly ask him for money."
"Look, you didn't understand what I meant. We're not asking for it, we're borrowing it. I'll pay him back when we have surplus grain after the autumn harvest."
Besides, he's not even fully grown yet, why the rush to arrange a marriage? Once his third uncle passes the imperial examination and becomes a scholar, our family will be a prominent and wealthy household.
Da Bao is the scholar's own nephew, so why should he worry about not being able to find a wife?
By then, we definitely can't accept girls from ordinary village families; it has to be a marriage between equals.
"She doesn't have to be an extremely wealthy heiress, but she should at least be a rich and powerful young lady, only then would she be worthy of our precious eldest son..."
Hearing her paint a rosy picture again, Madam Sun quickly interrupted.
"Okay, okay, stop talking. We can't even afford to eat, let alone be a good match."
I don't expect that vague title to help Da Bao find a spouse.
I won't ask Da Bao for money; you'd better think of another way!
Old Mrs. Chen was so anxious she was jumping up and down. "My good daughter-in-law, we're in a real crisis right now, why are you still being so stubborn with me? Think about it carefully, Zhanliang is still starving, and Erbao is at the age when he's growing. If he starves and doesn't grow tall, he'll grow up to be as thin as a rock. Do you want him to sell pancakes?"
After speaking, she glanced at Madam Sun, and seeing that her expression had softened, Old Madam Chen swallowed and continued.
“Cuiqin, my good daughter-in-law, Dabao has been sensible and grateful since he was little. Talk to him nicely, and he won’t refuse to lend you the money. I promise you, as long as we get through this difficult time, I will definitely pay Dabao back after the autumn harvest.”
Sun was secretly pleased. Even if Old Mrs. Chen hadn't said anything, she was still planning to ask Da Bao for some money to buy rice today. Although her in-laws had done wrong, they had been good to her over the years. As long as they didn't harm her children and husband, she wouldn't let them go hungry.
"Okay, I'll give it a try, but I'll have to pay Da Bao back the money I borrowed."
"Don't worry, I'll pay him back as soon as I have the money."
"Okay, I'll trust you this once, I'm going now!"
After leaving her home, Sun went straight to the Wu family's old residence.
She had long wanted to see how brown sugar was made, but it was delayed because Chen Zhanliang's leg injury had no one to take care of him.
As soon as I arrived at the gate, I saw several people already working in the yard, washing and dicing beets, then transporting them to the village entrance to extract the juice...
Mrs. Sun was incredibly envious. If it weren't for Old Mrs. Chen's interference, she might have been able to earn money too, and wouldn't have had to ask her son for money.
As Chen Qingqing came out of the house, she saw Sun Shi at the gate of the courtyard and hurried over to greet her, "Second Aunt, what brings you here?"
"Qingya, your second aunt came to thank you. Thank you for letting Dabao work here and for bringing Erbao delicious food every day."
"Second Aunt, you're too kind. Back when we first moved out of the old house, if it weren't for you bringing us cornbread, we probably wouldn't have made it through." Chen Qingqing smiled. "As the saying goes, a drop of kindness should be repaid with a spring of gratitude. It's only right that I help you out now."
Sun felt a lump in her throat as she listened. "Good, good child."
"Second Aunt, please come inside and sit down."
Sun glanced into the courtyard and said, "I won't go in. I want to talk to Da Bao about something. Could you ask him to come out for a moment?"
"Okay, I'll call him for you."
Before long, Chen Dabao rushed out of the yard, "Mom, you were looking for me?"
Sun glanced at Da Bao with a troubled expression. Although he was her son, she was still a little embarrassed to ask for money. Her lips moved but she didn't say anything.
Chen Dabao was anxious. "Mom, I'm busy with work. What do you want from me?"
"It's nothing serious. You're always out early and back late, I haven't had time to talk to you."
Da Bao was amused. "Mom, you came to me just to say that?"
"No, no, Mother wants to discuss something with you."
Chen Dabao looked anxious. "Mom, what's wrong? Tell me quickly, don't beat around the bush. I'm busy right now."
"Here's the thing, you haven't eaten at home for a long time. We've reached the point where we have no rice to cook. I didn't want to ask you for money, but your grandma said she'd pay you back when she had the money, and I couldn't bear to abandon her. That's why I came to you. Do you think you could..."
"Alright, Mother, stop talking."
Chen Dabao grew increasingly angry as he listened, and couldn't help but interrupt Sun Shi.
“Mother, you’re really confused. Who can you blame for the family’s current situation? They have no money to eat, that’s their own fault. Don’t worry about their mess, let them figure it out themselves.”
Sun nodded helplessly, "Dabao, you're right, but they're all so old, what can we do?"
“All the money in the family has been spent on my third uncle. Let them ask their precious son for it.” Chen Dabao felt aggrieved and spoke his mind. “Mother, please listen to your son’s advice. Go back and divide the family property. I will earn money to support you.”
Sun wanted to separate from the family and live independently, but her husband disagreed, leaving her with no other option.
“Dabao, although your grandparents are biased, they have never harmed or schemed against our second branch of the family. Based on this, your father will not separate the family. So don’t bring this up again.”
“Mother, although they have never harmed our family, they are not on our side either! They are biased and only care about the third branch of the family. In their eyes, the second branch of the family is nothing but cattle and horses, and we are just doing all the hard work for no reward.”
Once it comes to the third branch's schooling, they have no bottom line whatsoever. Who knows what terrible things they might do? We'll regret it then...
"Alright, Da Bao, go ahead and do your work. I won't trouble you any further." Seeing that her son disagreed with giving her the money, Madam Sun interrupted him and turned to leave.
"Mother, wait a moment,"
Seeing Lin's disappointed expression, Da Bao's eyes reddened. He didn't want to care about the fate of Old Man Chen and his wife, but seeing his mother in such a predicament, he couldn't bear it.
He took out thirty coins from his pocket and handed them to Madam Sun. “Mother, use this money to buy some grain. If it’s not enough, you can ask me for more.”
......
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