The second son's family had ever suffered the highest level of punishment from the Li family - deduction of two months' living expenses.
Yang Rongzhi jumped up and down, then sat on the ground and burst into tears. This made their already poor life even worse. Moreover, she had to go to the county town every month. Although she couldn't buy many things, this was a concrete manifestation of her belief that she was twice as noble as other women in Mantou Village. It was also a bargaining chip she used to gain status in front of her sister-in-law. Now that it was taken away from her, it was tantamount to taking her life.
She beat her man, blaming him for being greedy and wanting to pick up something else. Why did he pick up a chicken, and the chicken of the witch Tao Xiaoxi, as if she had not eaten the chicken herself.
She also blamed the children, blaming Da Mao and Er Mao for their outbursts, saying she would never let them eat meat again, which frightened the two children and made them burst into tears. They had just experienced the delicious taste of chicken, and in the blink of an eye, they were deprived of the right to eat meat. This was as devastating as depriving their mother of her once-a-month opportunity to go out on the street.
In short, everyone in the second son of the Li family learned a lesson this time and understood what it meant to have no response from heaven or earth.
There was one person among them who was secretly happy, but she could never share the pain and sorrow, and that was the eldest sister-in-law Zhou Lan.
Although she didn't show it on her face, judging from the nimbleness of her hands and feet and the frequency of morning sickness, the second brother's family did help her a lot this time. She vomited less and once she even touched the dried salted fish during a meal without feeling sick.
Seeing this, Mrs. Li relaxed her brows and said, "I think your pregnancy is finally stable."
"Mom, I got better after taking the pregnancy-maintaining medicine Xiaoxi gave me." The eldest sister-in-law said frankly.
But as soon as she said this, her mother-in-law frowned again and stopped talking.
Yang Rongzhi snorted at her, "Don't you know that our mother doesn't like that witch? Why are you bringing up something that is not relevant?" She seemed to be gloating.
The eldest sister-in-law was unwilling to accept this. She had finally earned a compliment from her mother-in-law and couldn't let the second child steal the credit. She quickly added, "Mom, Xiaoxi also said that it's men who decide whether to have a boy or a girl, and us women are useless at all."
"What do you mean?" Mrs. Li was completely disheartened now. She slapped her chopsticks and was about to pull them out.
"If you don't know how to speak, then don't speak and eat!" The eldest brother scolded. It was obviously the first time he heard such words and he strongly disagreed.
"No, let her say, you mean it's Nanlin's fault if you can't give birth to a son?" Mrs. Li said aggressively. Now he became the man-eating tiger.
"Mom, I didn't mean that. I just heard it." Zhou Lan said timidly.
"Then what do you mean?" Mrs. Li insisted.
"When you're full, hurry back to your room and don't go to Tao Xiaoxi's place anymore." Li Nanlin winked at her and then said, "Mom, I heard that Nanshan didn't send any money back this month?"
"That's right," Mrs. Li's expression finally softened when she heard about her youngest child, but she still rolled her eyes at the eldest daughter-in-law and continued, "I usually send money home in advance, but this time it's unprecedentedly late. And your sister sent another letter asking for tuition. Your father and I were so worried that we couldn't sleep all night."
"If it really doesn't work, we can just save some more money. No matter what, we still have to pay for my sister's tuition, and she's about to graduate." Li Nanlin said with a frown.
Yang Rongzhi couldn't hold it in any longer when she heard this and grumbled, "If you ask me, what's the point of a girl studying? Look at the whole Mantou Village, only our family is different. We sent a daughter to school and even made it to high school. The money is enough to buy a dowry."
Mrs. Li pretended not to hear what she was saying, neither refuting nor agreeing. But deep down, she was thinking the same thing, but she couldn't say it out loud. Her daughter was too strong-willed. Once, when they told her they couldn't read to her anymore, she threatened to jump into the river on the spot. This scared them so much that they never dared to say that again.
With her unbridled nature, even a conservative and strict person like Old Man Li couldn't do anything about her.
So Li Nanqiu doesn't go home often, and rarely comes back during holidays.
Because Yang Rongzhi said the wrong thing, she never had the chance to interrupt again. When she returned to the house, she was angry at herself for not being able to speak, and blamed herself for her bad luck. She wiped her tears for a long time alone.
Even though Tao Xiaoxi's clutch of eggs had to be replaced with a new hen, eight chicks hatched. Two of them died, but they weren't wasted; Tao Xiaoxi roasted them and ate them.
The smell was even better than meat. At first she hesitated whether to give it to Beibei, because she seemed to have heard that this kind of hairy egg was not good for children. But Beibei's saliva was flowing when he saw her eating it.
Standing on tiptoe with his face on the table, he eagerly asked, "Mom, what do you want to eat?"
"Hairy egg, do you dare to eat it?"
"dare!"
So Tao Xiaoxi gave her a taste, and after that, she didn't stop and ate the whole egg. Tao Xiaoxi was so scared that she wouldn't let her have the second one, because she wanted to eat it herself.
However, Mrs. Sun didn't get to eat a single bite. No one knew where she wandered off to, and Tao Xiaoxi didn't plan to give her any, as there wasn't enough to go around.
After the chicks hatched, Tao Xiaoxi realized how much food they consumed. She couldn't afford it.
Looking at them crying for food, and then looking at herself and Beibei who were also crying for food, she calculated the time. It was almost time. The results of those who had taken medicine from her should come out. She had to be patient.
But it was hard to endure the days of hunger. When she drank a bowl of porridge but her stomach was still growling with hunger, she decided to think of a way.
The last time she entered the county town, she seemed to see a medium-sized pharmacy, and Tao Xiaoxi decided to try her luck there.
That night, she went into her space and counted her belongings. She had a rough idea of what she was going to do and planned to go to the county town the next day. But who should she entrust Beibei to? That was another problem.
Zhou Lan, she’s the only one left.
The next day, Tao Xiaoxi took Beibei to Zhou Lan's place. Before she could say anything, Zhou Lan pushed her out as if she had seen a ghost, "Let's talk outside."
"What happened?" Tao Xiaoxi was confused.
"Let's keep some distance from each other recently. Don't you know that ever since you took a chicken from my house, the whole Li family has regarded you as a thorn in their side." The sister-in-law said it vividly. She couldn't help but express her feelings, but she was afraid of being seen, so her eyes kept glancing around.
Tao Xiaoxi thought, this is good, Beibei can't be arranged here anymore.
"Then I'm leaving." He raised his foot to leave.
The eldest sister-in-law held her back and asked, "What do you want from me?"
"It's okay." Tao Xiaoxi smiled, "Have you felt better from your morning sickness recently?"
"Much better. Your medicine is really effective."
"I told you it's nothing, so just focus on your pregnancy. I was just passing by to see you."
"Really? If you have something to say, just tell me."
"It's really okay, let's go." Tao Xiaoxi took Beibei and left.
The eldest sister-in-law looked at the backs of her mother and daughter, and wondered, "Why do I always feel like something is wrong?"
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