The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure-Chapter 67 - What Woman Could Endure That
67: Chapter 67: What Woman Could Endure That?
67 -67: What Woman Could Endure That?
Struggling to control her expression and make it less ferocious, she rolled up her sleeves, and her hands crackled as she clenched them: “Wang Jinhua, if you blabber once more, do you believe that today I could beat you until you look like a pig’s head?”
Jinhua’s voice abruptly stopped.
She looked at Wang Yongzhu with horror, then turned to glance at Lady Jiang.
Lady Jiang’s heart also skipped a beat, as she recalled the scenes when her sister-in-law got angry and threw tantrums in the past.
In the past, her sister-in-law rarely lost her temper, not because she was mild-mannered, but because everyone catered to her.
At most, she would show some minor displeasure, slam a door, or kick a stool, and that was that.
The valuable items were all kept by the mother-in-law, the sister-in-law seldom entered the sooty kitchen, and the kitchenware was thus spared, so the family simply treated it as the young girl’s temper and didn’t take it seriously.
But the last time, when Song Chongjin rejected her and she threatened to call off the engagement, the sister-in-law came back home crying and wailing.
That uproar was still fresh in memory.
The house looked as if it had been robbed.
Except for the bed she couldn’t move, there wasn’t a single piece of furniture in her room that had escaped destruction.
Otherwise, considering the degree to which Wang Yongzhu was pampered at home and the fact that Wang Laozhu was a carpenter, why would the legs of her own daughter’s cabinet be lame and leaning against the wall?
It was because the sister-in-law had pushed them over in a fit of temper, smashing quite a few things, threatening to kill herself, and blaming this and that at home, claiming that her family had held her back.
It angered the grandfather enough to lose his temper and he strictly ordered the grandmother not to replace the sister-in-law’s furniture.
Anything that was completely damaged was thrown into the woodshed to be used as firewood, and the rest were only haphazardly repaired.
Considering the possibility of another outburst from the sister-in-law, Lady Jiang looked around, wondering if she should grab her sewing basket and take it back to her own room first.
That was her tool to earn money!
Yet she was afraid that not acting might be fine, but any action on her part would remind the sister-in-law, and what if she started smashing with the sewing basket first?
Lady Jiang was in a dilemma.
Then she saw Wang Yongzhu glare at Jinhua with a huff, reached out to pinch the trembling Jinhua’s face, and then pushed her toward Zhu Ye, “Today I’m making it clear, from now on, if I hear anyone saying I’m fat, anything related to being fat, don’t blame me for being rude!
Scram, scram, scram! freёnovelkiss.com
Don’t obstruct my sight at home, go out and play with Zhu Ye!
Don’t get in the way of my sewing!”
With that, she sat down with a plop, and continued the miserable task of threading the needle.
She hated spoiled children the most!
Really hated them, like being stabbed in the heart with a knife!
She had decided, the silk flower she had picked up after Fourth Brother gave it to Jinzhi and she refused it, she wouldn’t give to Jinhua, the little brat!
She would not show a good face to this little nuisance for the whole month, hmph!
She was just that petty!
Wang Yongzhu happily made her decision.
Suddenly, she felt that being Wang Yongzhu wasn’t so bad after all, at least when she was in a bad mood, she didn’t have to hide her feelings, she could lash out if she wanted to, and others would be trembling with fear.
The feeling was exhilarating!
Jinhua, who had narrowly escaped death, was still shaken, and with another push from Lady Jiang and a tongue-sticking gesture from Zhu Ye, she was pulled out.
The two hid outside the courtyard wall, and from inside they could hear Lady Jiang’s voice, “Sister-in-law, I’m really sorry, please don’t be mad at Jinhua.
She’s just a child and doesn’t know any better, always talking nonsense.
When she comes back, I will teach her a good lesson!
I’ll make her apologize to you!”
What else could Wang Yongzhu do?
After all, she was a civilized person and couldn’t beat up a spoiled child.
But with Wang Yongzhu’s former personality, it was already good enough that she didn’t beat Jinhua, could she still manage a good face?
Therefore, upon hearing Lady Jiang’s words, she didn’t say much, simply snorted to express her displeasure, and buried her head back into her needlework.
Lady Jiang sat awkwardly to one side, uncertain whether to stand or sit, wanting to say a few words of consolation, to soothe her sister-in-law.
The more anxious she got, however, the more awkward and tongue-tied she became.
Wang Yongzhu, though she had shown her displeasure to Lady Jiang, only felt worse the more she thought about it.
In the past, though not a stunning beauty, she was certainly pretty, and now she was ridiculed for having a washbasin face, a bucket waist, bangle-sized arms, slitted eyes, and a triple chin.
Which woman could endure such insults?
Channeling her anger into strength, Wang Yongzhu fell silent.
She was too hurt herself to care about the feelings of others.
Burying herself in her embroidery, her fingers seemed to become more nimble, perhaps due to her rage or maybe because she had found the knack.
After four or five attempts, she could usually thread the needle.
Outside the courtyard, Jinhua and Zhu Ye looked at each other.
It was Zhu Ye who pulled Jinhua away, and only when they were a safe distance did she stick out her tongue and ask, “Jinhua, did I say something wrong today and offend your aunt?”
Jinhua paled, her mind filled with worry.
Her aunt’s expression clearly showed she was angry.
What if she complained to Grandma?
What would Jinhua do then?
Considering the consequences, Jinhua felt even more distressed than Zhu Ye and said with concern, “What are you afraid of?
You can just go home.
But what am I going to do?
Sigh, why did I just go along with what you said?
Now I’ve really done it, aunt will hold a grudge, and I probably won’t have anything to eat for the next few days!”
Her voice was full of regret!
Going hungry was the least of her worries, but she was really afraid of getting whipped by Grandma!
With soles of shoes, feather dusters, willow branches, Grandma had a variety of tools for whipping and would use anything at hand.
After all, she was skilled and could deliver punishment effectively with any tool.
Jinhua felt like crying!
Zhu Ye, feeling guilty, tugged at Jinhua’s hand, “It’s all my fault.
I shouldn’t have spoken out of turn.
If you go hungry at home, I’ll save some food for you.
You can sneak over to my place and eat.”
Despite being young, Jinhua was smart and knew that Old Granny Zhang would explode at the mere mention of the Li family.
She didn’t dare to take the risk.
Go to the Li family’s home?
She feared that if she set foot in the Li house, her legs would be broken by the time she left.
She shook her head, afraid to agree.
The little girl was both scared and regretful at that moment.
Zhu Ye felt embarrassed and, seeing Jinhua’s hesitation to go home and fear of what awaited there, thought hard before coming up with an idea, “What if you go back and say it was my idea?
You could ask your aunt if she still wants the gardenia tree.
The tree is full of buds now, and it’s getting late to transplant it.
Our gardenia is famous far and wide.
Tell her the tree is my apology for speaking out of turn, to stop her from being mad at us.”
Having no better option, Jinhua hesitated for a moment, then nodded, and the two little sisters parted ways, each heading home.
As she watched Jinhua walk away, Zhu Ye sighed.
As generous as she had sounded, she was really unsure.
A few days ago, when she had taken it upon herself to promise the Wang family a gardenia tree, her own mother had been somewhat reluctant.
But because of the impending marriage connection between the two families, she didn’t say much.
However, since the match between the Li and Wang families had fallen through and relations had soured, her mother had wanted to renege.
She was afraid of idle gossip and of Li Dagui causing trouble.
Their family was not afraid, but they saw no need to create unnecessary conflict over this.
That’s why Zhu Ye had actually come to the Wang family today, to feel out their intentions.
If they didn’t mention it, she would act as if nothing had happened and let the gardenia tree go unmentioned, allowing everyone to tacitly turn the page on this matter.
But she hadn’t expected her tongue to slip so quickly, offending Wang Yongzhu in the process.
Now the gardenia tree would have to be given as compensation whether she liked it or not!
If she suggested this solution at home, she expected her mother’s broom would find its way to her behind.
Li Zhuye went home full of worries.
