The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure-Chapter 817 - 816: Stealing Oil

Lady Lin huffed angrily, finally calming down after much effort. She scooped a ladle full of water and gulped it down, barely suppressing her hunger.

She rummaged around the room, eyeing the half sack of flour and the half sack of sorghum flour. After some hesitation, she grabbed two sweet potatoes, took a couple of bites but couldn’t swallow them.

The sweet potatoes gave her heartburn. With a heavy heart, she scooped out a small bowlful of flour. After a moment, she pushed some back and mixed in half with sorghum flour and water.

When she entered the kitchen, she saw that Mutou and Wang Yongzhen were still in mourning, with no meat in the kitchen. However, there was still half a jug of oil.

Lady Lin rummaged around for a while and found an egg and a couple of green onions. She made a bowl of noodle soup, cracked the egg into it, sprinkled chopped green onions on top, and poured half the jug of oil into the soup, creating a thick, oily layer on the surface.

She quietly snuck the noodle soup back to her room. The hot soup made her break into a sweat, her whole body feeling comfortably refreshed.

Lady Lin threw her bowl and chopsticks into the kitchen pot, feeling sore all over, and went back to her room to lie down.

Usually, Mutou does the cooking while Wang Yongzhen washes the dishes.

After eating, Mutou would head out to tend to the crops, and even as muddle-headed as she was, Wang Yongzhen knew she could only rely on Mutou. Their family’s livelihood depended on those few acres of crops.

When Mutou left, Wang Yongzhen tidied up the dishes. As soon as she entered the kitchen, she felt something was off. She smelled the scent of oil and thought it had spilled, rushing to hold the jug.

Upon touching it, she immediately noticed the jug was much lighter.

As a peasant woman who cooked every day, she didn’t need to weigh the supplies; she could tell at a glance if anything was missing.

When she opened the jug, only a small amount of oil was left. She immediately panicked.

To peasant families, oil was precious. Though it didn’t look like much, the remaining half jug was the most valuable item in the kitchen, enough for Wang Yongzhen and Mutou to use for several months.

Normally, Wang Yongzhen was sparing with the oil, usually just wiping the pan with an oil-soaked cloth before cooking.

Seeing half of it suddenly gone pained her heart.

Just as she was about to yell that a thief had been in the house, she turned and saw the bowl and chopsticks left in the pot, the rim of the bowl still thickly coated with oil!

Wang Yongzhen immediately understood what had happened, her face turning pale with anger.

She pushed the bowl and chopsticks into the pot, grabbed the bowl Lady Lin had left, and angrily stormed towards Lady Lin’s room.

Lady Lin had taken a lot of things when she was forced to leave the Wang family. Food, clothing, and private belongings filled her room, and she kept her door locked to keep everything safe.

Wang Yongzhen couldn’t open the door, so she sat on the ground and began to wail: "Lin Xinghua, you shameless black-hearted wretch, you deserve to be thrown out of the Wang family! I’ve never seen such a shameless thief, stealing my oil! Your heart is pitch black! I had a whole jug of oil, and now it’s practically empty because of you! How can you be so despicable? Why don’t you chop off your dirty hands?"

Lady Lin, having eaten and drunk to her fill, felt cozy and was just about to lie down and rest.

She hadn’t even lain down for a few minutes when she heard Wang Yongzhen cursing her, calling her an oil thief. She felt a pang of guilt but quickly justified herself.

This room was lent to Wang Yongzhen and her son, and they had been living in it without paying a penny. What was the big deal about taking half a jug of oil?

Determined not to rest, now well-fed and energized, she decided to confront Wang Yongzhen.

In the past, Lady Lin had put up with a lot because she was the younger sister-in-law. Now that the Wang family was also tired of this sister-in-law, she was ready to settle the old scores once and for all.

Stepping into her shoes and opening the door, she was greeted by a bowl of greasy water thrown straight at her face.

She shrieked and jumped away, "Wang Yongzhen, what are you doing?"

Taking advantage of Lady Lin’s surprise, Wang Yongzhen stepped forward and slapped her twice: "What am I doing? I’m beating you, you heartless animal. It’s a good thing you were thrown out by my brother, or you would have ruined the Wang family’s reputation. And those sons of yours, Jindou and Jinguan, how will they ever find wives with a mother like you?"

"I’m telling you, you better watch yourself!"

Lady Lin was not one to back down. Suddenly energized, she quickly broke free from Wang Yongzhen’s grasp, countering with a strong slap that sent Wang Yongzhen reeling, her head spinning, falling to the ground with a thud.

Realizing she was no match for Lady Lin, Wang Yongzhen decided to flee, scrambling up from the ground and running out.

Lady Lin wanted to give chase but was worried about her things in the house. She locked the door before running after Wang Yongzhen.

Wang Yongzhen ran straight to the Wang Family Courtyard, avoiding other places.

There were two or three mountain goods traders at the Wang family gate. Seeing a disheveled woman rushing at them, they were startled and quickly stepped aside.

The Three Wang Brothers took a closer look and recognized Wang Yongzhen, their expressions turning curious.

This eldest sister had stayed home since the five-seven incident. Why was she suddenly in such a battered state?

Wang Yonggui, always quick-witted, immediately thought of Lady Lin and glanced at Wang Yongfu.

Wang Yongfu’s heart sank as he stood up: "Big sister, what happened to you?"

Wang Yongzhen wailed, "Brother, you have to stand up for your sister! That woman, Lin Xinghua, whom you threw out, has beaten me nearly to death!"

The Three Wang Brothers exchanged puzzled looks, trying to make sense of it.

Wang Yongfu patiently asked, "What exactly happened? Why did Lady Lin hit you?"

He knew Lady Lin and Wang Yongzhen didn’t get along, but they had only been living together for a day before fighting broke out?

Wang Yongzhen tearfully recounted, "That woman woke up this morning and had a big fight with me, then ran to the kitchen and used up almost all of our oil! That was meant to last me and Mutou for months! What are we supposed to do now?"

"When I went to confront her, she slapped me right across the face! Just look at my swollen cheek, not to mention my loosened teeth! If I hadn’t run away, she might have killed me!"

Wang Yongfu saw that half of Wang Yongzhen’s face was indeed swollen, looking quite pitiful.

On hearing Wang Yongzhu complain about Lady Lin stealing their oil, even though they had thrown her out, he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.

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