The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure-Chapter 22 - Fighting with the Old Lady
22: Chapter 22: Fighting with the Old Lady?
Too Tender!
22 -22: Fighting with the Old Lady?
Too Tender!
Old Granny Zhang really couldn’t stand her son, who was so honest that not even a beating could get a fart out of him—she felt like he was iron unwilling to become steel.
Why did she make such a fuss tonight?
First, it was for her eldest daughter; she was forcing everyone to show their stance.
Even if the elder daughter had her engagement broken off, she was still the treasure of the Wang Family.
Everyone had to hold her in high regard and treat her like a precious gem.
Secondly, it was to give Eldest Brother’s household a warning.
Experienced and cunning from decades of living in the village, she knew all too well about the strife between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law.
Eldest Brother’s household was recently getting cocky, thinking they could stand taller now that their son had grown up and taken over the heavy labor.
They even dared to think of crossing her.
That was absolutely not permissible!
Only Eldest Brother, that fool, still thought his wife was simply fighting for more food for the children.
With a few sweet words, Lady Lin almost made him forget his own parents.
That was why she didn’t like her sons—they were all bastards who forgot their old mother once they took a wife!
Only a daughter was truly thoughtful.
As Old Granny Zhang, who had ruled the Wang Family without question for decades, she could sense the danger whenever anyone aimed to overthrow her rule and threaten her position.
She was just looking for the right moment to erupt, and today, with her eldest daughter’s broken engagement, was a perfect opportunity to put Lady Lin in her place and show her that Old Granny Zhang was still the one calling the shots in this family.
If they wanted to be in charge, they could wait until she was dead!
“So, what do you think about your younger sister being jilted?” Old Granny Zhang asked.
Wang Yongfu was a bit confused. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
His sister had been jilted; what else was there to think?
It had happened, hadn’t it?
Lady Lin beside him immediately caught onto her mother-in-law’s intentions.
Beset with panic, she could only give Wang Yongfu meaningful looks.
In front of her in-laws, she couldn’t say anything outright and started to kick Wang Yongfu frantically under the table, fearing that in a moment of impulse, he’d agree to something.
She was no woman without backing from the third branch, who could barely scrape by with her in-laws’ pity and had no prospects.
She had given birth to three sons, who were all nearly grown.
With sons to back her, she had confidence!
She certainly didn’t want her husband and sons’ hard-earned money to be favored by the biased old lady and given to her sister-in-law.
In her rush, Lady Lin kicked too hard and ended up kicking the Jindou next to Wang Yongfu, which let out a mournful howl, “Who kicked me?”
Old Granny Zhang’s gaze promptly shot over like lightning.
Lady Lin felt guilty and dared not make any more sly moves, lowering her head instead.
Wang Yongfu still didn’t understand the cutthroat nature of his mother-in-law’s and wife’s relationship and felt the atmosphere was very strange and oppressive.
Even an honest man could sense danger.
After pondering his mother’s words, he seemed to grasp something and made his stance, “If my sister’s engagement is off, then it’s off.
Mother can just find her another good match.
She’s still young; there’s no need for mother to rush.
It’s nice for her to stay a few more years and keep mother company.”
Upon hearing this, Lady Lin was so furious her eyes reddened.
Old Granny Zhang gave Lady Lin a sharp look, hmph, the young one still dared to challenge her?
Way too green!
The very one she had borne herself, she could still handle them.
It was a silent battle between Old Granny Zhang and Lady Lin, and Old Granny Zhang declared victory.
Feeling better, she didn’t hold a grudge but instead turned to Wang Laozhu to share another piece of good news, “Head of the household, today Zhuzhu and the others went up the mountain and found some Yellow Pine Mushrooms.
I reckon there’s about half a pound.
The day after tomorrow is the big market day; I’ll take them there to sell.
I should get at least a few Silvers for them.”
Wang Laozhu was elated at the news.
For a mountain family, a few Silvers was half a year’s income.
How could he not be happy?
“Really?
That’s wonderful news!”
Even Lady Lin felt her gloomy mood lift somewhat upon hearing this.
After all, it was an additional source of income for the family.
Old Granny Zhang knew her husband was biased against their eldest daughter.
Now that the daughter had been rejected for marriage, she feared her husband might harbor unkind thoughts towards her, so she went out of her way to boost the daughter’s reputation.
“Indeed!
I’ve been thinking, when we sell the mushrooms and get the money, we can’t spend it.
We should save it for Zhuzhu.
Firstly, she gathered the mushrooms, it’s the money she earned.
Secondly, since she’s been rejected for marriage, she might face more difficulties in the future.
If we save more for her dowry, she’ll have some confidence.
Old Wang, don’t you think that makes sense?”
Wang Laozhu nodded.
Although he sometimes disapproved of his eldest daughter, she was still his own flesh and blood.
How could he not feel heartache for her?
His wife’s reasoning was sound, and he had no objections.
Lady Lin, while somewhat sad, thought that since the silver wasn’t going to end up in her hands anyway, and having it would mean spending less of the family’s money in the future, it seemed fair enough.
With that in mind, she felt more at ease.
Only then did Old Granny Zhang say, “But Zhuzhu is so filial.
She said, once we sell the mushrooms, she wants to buy two pounds of meat to nourish us, to show her filial piety.
She’s also worried about you two working so hard in the fields and ruining your health!
I’m not boasting, but our Zhuzhu is truly filial.
It’s her first time earning money, and she’s already thinking of the whole family.
No wonder I favor her!”
Upon hearing this, Wang Laozhu felt all the previous dissatisfaction with his eldest daughter evaporate as his first earnings went to buying meat to show filial piety.
His usual dissatisfaction vanished like smoke, and he looked at Ming Zhu with an especially affectionate gaze.
The rest of the family were also in high spirits.
Jindou and Jinhu and the others started cheering and slapping the table: “We’re going to have meat!”
Even Wang Yongfu and Lady Lin couldn’t help looking forward to it.
Amidst the anticipation of the fragrant meat, even the usually disagreeable younger sister-in-law (little sister) seemed to be quite nice upon closer inspection!
Dinner was a joyful event, ending on a perfect note.
Ming Zhu returned to her room, reflecting on Old Granny Zhang’s wiles while feeling a surge of tenderness.
As a child from an elite family, she could clearly see through Old Granny Zhang’s cunning and schemes and understood that Old Granny Zhang’s love for her eldest daughter was genuine, without a trace of falsehood.
She was utterly devoted to her eldest daughter.
However, Ming Zhu suddenly got a shock, recalling her own actions over the past few days.
She broke out in a cold sweat, realizing that in her efforts to cultivate goodwill and complete her mission, her behavior had been quite different from that of Wang Yongzhu’s usual character.
Fortunately, the falling into water incident, coupled with the broken engagement, provided a reasonable explanation for a change of heart.
But in the future, she couldn’t afford to be so careless.
Otherwise, once Old Granny Zhang came to her senses and began to doubt, it would be terrible.
After all, in ancient times, a drastic change of personality following a near-drowning was often suspected to be the result of possession.
There were many accounts in books where, in such cases, the individuals ended up being burned to death or drowned in a pig cage.
Ming Zhu felt her survival instincts were very strong; she didn’t want to die so soon.
From now on, she absolutely couldn’t break character.
Even if she wanted to change, it had to be gradual—subtle and imperceptible!
Besides Old Granny Zhang, she had also gotten a good grasp of other family members’ characters and morals in the past two days.
Originally being a family from the mountains, they were honest and upright.
Only Lady Lin was somewhat scheming, and even her schemes were firmly in Old Granny Zhang’s grasp.
