W Chapter 58

Chapter 58: The Zhao Family

On the way to set up the stall, Ling Xing told Shen Hui about teaching Shen Lai to identify medicinal herbs.

Shen Hui readily agreed, “Alright, I need to go up the mountain to collect banana leaves today anyway, I’ll gather some of the medicinal herbs we’ve used before while I’m at it.”

“I’ll go with you.”

Ling Xing couldn’t draw, so he couldn’t illustrate the herbs he knew for Shen Hui to find. Considering that it was starting to get cold and there weren’t as many insects and snakes, and they had snake repellent powder, he figured they wouldn’t encounter any wild beasts if they didn’t go too deep into the mountains, so he might as well go together.

This time, Shen Hui didn’t immediately agree, but after a moment of silence, he nodded, “Okay.”

Today, Shen Gui and Xu Youfang went up the mountain to the Zhao family and didn’t come out to sell pickled vegetables.

The pickled vegetables at home were almost sold out. The remaining ones weren’t going to be sold, but kept for the family to eat and to give some to Xie Qingya.

This time, Xu Youfang didn’t bring much with her to the mountain, only picking ten eggs and a little pickled vegetables.

After the weather turned cold, the mountain became much more desolate.

The temperature was also lower than at the foot of the mountain. The mother and son didn’t dare to stop, afraid of catching a cold from the mountain wind.

The mountain road was difficult to travel. It was almost noon when the mother and son finally reached the entrance of Xiao Liucun.

Smoke curled from every household as they cooked their meals.

People rarely came to the mountain village, but if someone came twice, the villagers could remember who they were.

Xu Youfang had just been there a few months ago, and she had brought a lot of things with her at that time, a full back basket, which left a deep impression.

Therefore, many people greeted her along the way, saying that the Zhao family’s in-laws had come.

They also looked at Shen Gui, praised Shen Gui’s good looks, and asked if he was married.

Xu Youfang and Shen Gui endured their fatigue and quickened their pace while responding to the villagers.

“He’s married, he even has two children.”

The villagers saw that Shen Gui was so young, with a fair and tender complexion, and some didn’t believe it.

However, since he had said so, whether it was true or false, it wasn’t good to ask further.

The Zhao family was further up the mountain, and the villagers below were unwilling to climb up, so they didn’t continue to follow, allowing Xu Youfang and Shen Gui to breathe a sigh of relief.

The villagers in Xiao Liucun rarely interacted with outsiders. When a stranger came, they wanted to chat a little more, which was understandable.

When they arrived at the Zhao family’s fenced yard, Xu Youfang and Shen Gui were gasping for breath, exhausted.

Every time they came to the mountain, it took half their life.

The mountain road was difficult to walk. It was difficult for those below to come up, and it was difficult for those above to go down. Many girls who married into the mountains rarely saw their families.

No family would be like the Shen family, occasionally going into the mountains to see their married daughter.

Before Xu Youfang and Shen Gui could take a few breaths to recover, they heard a burst of sharp crying and roaring from inside the Zhao family’s house.

“I can’t take it anymore! I can’t take it anymore! This life is unbearable! Mother, you can’t be so biased! Shen Yan is your daughter-in-law, am I not? Shen Yan has children, don’t I? Zhao Yuanqing is your grandson, isn’t Zhao Yuanbao?”

Hearing the familiar name, Xu Youfang and Shen Gui exchanged glances.

Something was wrong.

Liu Qihua’s dark, thin face was covered with tears, and she was holding a wailing child in her arms, her body trembling uncontrollably.

“Why is my life so miserable! Son! Mother can’t live anymore! I can’t live anymore!”

The child in her arms cried even harder upon hearing this, tightly hugging Liu Qihua and sobbing, “Mother, don’t die, waaaah—”

Old Mrs. Zhao was in her fifties and her hair was already completely white.

She was extremely thin, with prominent cheekbones and sunken eyes. At this moment, she had a sad expression and was blaming her third daughter-in-law for being unclear and ignorant.

“I have always been fair, and I have never said who gets what when giving things to the younger generation. Qihua, you are making a fuss with me today just because I stuffed that wild chicken egg to Yan’er. But when you ate the eggs, steamed buns, and white rice that Yan’er’s parents sent, why didn’t you cry and shout, and say that I was being biased towards you?”

Old Mrs. Zhao slapped the table, her expression becoming more serious and her tone even stricter.

“Those are all things from Yan’er’s family, and the subsidies are also for Yan’er and Yuanqing. It was Yan’er who remembered you in her heart and took them out to share, and I shamelessly accepted them and distributed a little to all of you, so you could eat good things! What is bias? This is bias, bias towards you all!”

Thinking of how happy everyone was a few months ago when she distributed the white rice, calling her “good mother” and Yan’er “good”, how long had it been now? And they were already resenting them!

The men didn’t dare to say anything and were all listening on the sidelines.

Shen Yan sniffed, her eyes about to swell from crying.

She opened her mouth to say something when she heard a voice from the yard, “What’s wrong, Mother Zhao? Why are you so angry? Calm down, or you’ll hurt your body.”

Shen Yan turned her head and was stunned when she saw Xu Youfang and Shen Gui. Then she rushed out and threw herself into Xu Youfang’s arms.

“Mother!”

This “Mother” was mixed with countless grievances and sadness, followed by uncontrollable crying.

Xu Youfang felt heartache seeing her daughter so distressed and patted her back, “Don’t cry, Yan’er, Mother is here.”

Shen Gui didn’t know what had happened, but he knew that his third sister had been wronged.

He stood in front of his family, looking at the Zhao family with a serious expression.

The Zhao family was momentarily stunned when they saw the Shen family, not knowing when they had arrived or how much they had heard.

But no matter what, today’s events would definitely make the Shen family have a negative view of their family.

Zhao Changming’s heart skipped a beat when he saw Xu Youfang and Shen Gui, scared.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he looked back and found that Shen Hui hadn’t come.

However, Shen Gui’s expression was very serious at this time, glaring at him fiercely, making it difficult for him to speak.

Old Mrs. Zhao reacted the quickest and quickly came out to greet them.

“Oh, the in-laws have come.”

Her daughter had married into their family as a wife, so she had to give them face no matter what. Plus, Old Mrs. Zhao had been helping her daughter earlier, so Xu Youfang didn’t pull a long face and nodded in response.

Liu Qihua hugged Zhao Yuanbao in the house and didn’t come out. Even after Xu Youfang and the others went in, she didn’t say hello.

Zhao Changyuan, the third son of the Zhao family, secretly poked her, telling her to stop arguing, but Liu Qihua glared at him.

Just as Xu Youfang looked over, he couldn’t make any more small movements, so he had to withdraw his hand.

Xu Youfang took Shen Yan’s hand and gestured for Shen Gui to put down the back basket containing the food they brought for the Zhao family.

With Shen Gui’s actions, the Zhao family’s gazes were attracted.

Liu Qihua couldn’t help but glance over, and she couldn’t help but think of the soft steamed buns she used to eat, as well as the eggs and rice from a few months ago.

She couldn’t help but swallow, thinking about it a lot in her heart.

A piece of torn cloth covered the top of the back basket, providing a layer of protection for the things inside. The Zhao family didn’t know what was inside.

But based on the things the Shen family had given them before, they knew it wouldn’t be bad.

Xu Youfang took in the Zhao family’s daughters-in-law’s peeking, expectant gazes, smiled, and said to Old Mrs. Zhao, “I brought some eggs and pickled vegetables for the family to eat together.”

Eggs and pickled vegetables were both good things, and Old Mrs. Zhao knew this in her heart, so her face turned red with shame, a burning pain.

Her family was bullying someone else’s daughter here, and they were still thinking of her family, bringing things to them.

“In-law, quickly take them back, how can I take them?”

The Zhao family’s daughters-in-law became anxious when they heard this, wanting to speak but were glared at by Old Mrs. Zhao, and they forced themselves to hold back.

Old Mrs. Zhao then turned to Xu Youfang and said, “If you leave them, I promise the in-laws that Yan’er and Yuanqing will eat everything.”

As soon as the words fell, Xu Youfang felt that the Zhao family’s other daughters-in-law’s gazes were about to burn her daughter.

She knew in her heart that Old Mrs. Zhao said this to appease her, so that she wouldn’t have a negative view of the Zhao family because of today’s events.

But those daughters-in-law didn’t understand.

In their eyes and hearts, there was only a mouthful of food.

For this mouthful of food, they could do anything.

Old Mrs. Zhao obviously noticed her daughters-in-law’s gazes and saw that Xu Youfang didn’t take up her offer, but looked at her daughters-in-law with a non-smiling expression, and sighed helplessly.

She hunched her back, her face full of sorrow.

“In-law, I’m not afraid of you laughing, the reason our family made such a scene today was because of an egg.”

Old Mr. Zhao went into the mountain to dig up herbs, and luckily encountered a wild chicken that was laying eggs.

The Zhao family was very happy after catching the wild chicken home.

Wild chickens were affected by the weather when laying eggs, and they wouldn’t lay eggs after it got cold. Taking advantage of the fact that they could lay eggs, they didn’t think about killing them for meat, but raised them, thinking that they could lay some eggs for the children to eat and nourish their bodies.

It was originally a good thing, but the problem was that there was only one wild chicken, and it didn’t lay many eggs.

It took several days to accumulate enough for each child to have an egg.

But then, the eggs were of different sizes.

Mothers naturally wanted their own children to eat the bigger ones, so they could eat one more bite.

Every time the eggs were distributed, it was also the time when the family was most turbulent.

Old Mr. Zhao didn’t interfere in these family matters. He was an old man who could control his sons, but not his daughters-in-law.

Old Mrs. Zhao had a scale in her heart, thinking that the Shen family had sent food several times, and they were all precious, good things.

These things were all enjoyed together by the whole family.

The other daughters-in-law’s families had never sent anything. When the situation was unstable in previous years and there was no food at the foot of the mountain, the Zhao family had sent out a lot instead.

Since they had benefited from Shen Yan’s family, then there had to be some expression.

Therefore, Old Mrs. Zhao would always pick the biggest egg and specially add a little lard to stew it for Zhao Yuanqing to eat.

The other children had boiled eggs.

She also explained the reason when she did this. The Zhao family’s daughters-in-law had all eaten the things sent by the Shen family, so naturally they wouldn’t say anything.

In the end, they had taken a great advantage.

But knowing the truth was one thing, emotions were another.

They were also mothers.

Looking at their own children, every time they stared eagerly at Zhao Yuanqing, a little dumpling, eating the stewed egg with lard, they looked so greedy that their mouths were watering, and they felt uncomfortable in their hearts.

They also wanted their own children to be able to eat.

But there was limited lard in the house, and even Zhao Yuanqing’s stewed egg only had the size of a little fingernail added.

There was no way, they could only endure it.

The more they endured, the more angry and unbalanced they felt in their hearts.

The reason why Liu Qihua erupted today was because Shen Yan had a headache and was feeling uncomfortable due to the change of seasons. Coincidentally, there was one more egg, so Old Mrs. Zhao secretly poured it with boiling water and called Shen Yan to drink it.

It just so happened that Liu Qihua saw it. She thought that she didn’t even have an egg soup to drink when she had a fever, and her children couldn’t get a big egg every time. She couldn’t bear it on the spot and started making a fuss.

While listening, Xu Youfang held Shen Yan’s hand, and when she heard that Shen Yan was feeling unwell, she quickly asked, “Are you feeling better now?”

Shen Yan didn’t want to make her mother worry, so she only nodded and said she was much better.

Looking at her daughter’s pale lips, Xu Youfang said to Old Mrs. Zhao, “In-law, Yan’er is sick and feeling unwell. I think there’s nothing to eat in the mountains, so I’ll take her down the mountain to stay for a few days, so I can also ask a doctor to take a look.”

“Yuanqing is still young, can’t leave his mother, and needs to eat more to nourish his body so that he can grow up safely, so I’ll take him away too.”

Xu Youfang’s voice didn’t show any joy or anger, but whether it was Old Mr. Zhao or Old Mrs. Zhao, who had been silent all along, they knew that she was informing them, not asking.

If the Shen family hadn’t sent things to their family before, or if the Shen family wasn’t easy to get along with, Old Mrs. Zhao would definitely object at this moment.

The family couldn’t afford to feed their daughter-in-law and grandson, and they had to go to their in-law’s house to fill their stomachs, wouldn’t that be poking at their backs.

But now Old Mrs. Zhao couldn’t say no.

Shen Yan was indeed feeling unwell, and Zhao Yuanqing was still young. If they stayed in the mountains this winter, they might not be able to survive.

After a long silence, Old Mr. Zhao’s voice was dry, “Thank you, in-law, after the family takes care of things, I’ll have Changming go down the mountain to pick them up.”

The Zhao family had more people and less food, and it would be even more difficult after winter. They had to rely on snatching food, otherwise they would have less to eat.

Xu Youfang also knew that the Zhao family’s daughters-in-law weren’t targeting her Yan’er, nor were they eating for themselves.

It was all for the children.

In the end, it was all caused by poverty.

But she was biased towards her own children, she was biased towards her Yan’er.

She didn’t want to care about any reason, she just wanted to support her daughter.

Shen Yan had few things, so she packed up quickly.

All the things in the back basket were left in the Zhao family, which was also a signal that she wasn’t really angry, but she also wanted the Zhao family elders to balance the relationship at home.

Zhao Changming followed them down the mountain, being careful all the way, not daring to breathe loudly, afraid of being scolded by his mother-in-law for being useless and unable to protect his wife.

He also received white eyes from his brother-in-law all the way, but didn’t dare to say anything and could only endure it.

It wasn’t until they reached the foot of the mountain that Xu Youfang spoke to Zhao Changming.

This matter couldn’t be blamed on the third son-in-law. In fact, the Zhao family couldn’t be blamed either. It was all human nature.

“Third son-in-law, if you care about Yan’er, I’ll give you something to do. Observe these two days and see which sister-in-law hates Yan’er the most. Three days later, bring the sister-in-law and her husband who don’t hate Yan’er down the mountain. I have work for them to do at home.”

It wasn’t that she was being temperamental, she was also a mother and couldn’t let people who hated her daughter still earn money from her family.

At least not now.

This was also human nature.

As for what happens after that, we’ll see.

Zhao Changming was stunned for a moment, and after realizing what she meant, he nodded solemnly.

He also didn’t like the sisters-in-law who scolded his wife, but he couldn’t say it.

“Mother, don’t worry, I will definitely do it well.”

Xu Youfang was satisfied to see him serious and nodded.

“You come too then.”

Zhao Changming breathed a sigh of relief and grinned, revealing a row of white teeth, “Okay, Mother!”