The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure-Chapter 83: The Mouth Doubts, but the Body is Honest

Under the supervision and guidance of Lady Jiang, Wang Yongzhu improved rapidly, particularly with her chubby hands, which she exercised daily to increase their dexterity. Now, she had become an agile-fingered plumper.

Her progress was evident in her clothing repairs. Initially, stitches were visible, or there were practical flaws.

Gradually, the clothes Wang Yongzhu mended had patches that were almost indistinguishable from the outside, and the patches she added were not only firm but also matched the original colors of the clothes closely, avoiding an overly colorful palette. At first glance, one would hardly notice them when worn.

Wang Yongping was very supportive, and didn’t dare not to be.

Every day, dressed in clothes mended by Wang Yongzhu, the Li Family Brothers and Song Chongjin were the first to witness her rapidly improving skills.

Moreover, with Wang Yongping progressing from evading questions to proudly showing off his sister’s workmanship at every meeting, and Old Granny Zhang tirelessly promoting her own daughter each day, the mother-son duo’s efforts were seen by everyone. And in just a few days, the community’s impression of Wang Yongzhu had improved slightly.

It seemed that Second Young Miss Wang was not entirely useless; at the very least, she had some sewing skills to show.

With Wang Yongzhu making time every day to walk outside her home, working to slim down, and with curious neighbor ladies frequently finding reasons to check on her, she was beginning to resemble the kind of daughter-in-law that was particularly favored by the rural families.

For a while, some families that were poor and unable to secure wives didn’t care about Wang Yongzhu’s tainted reputation and even considered proposing marriage.

Mother Song, who usually did not interact much with the villagers, also heard these rumors faintly.

In the past few days, seeing her son seemingly over his anger and worried that he might truly despair and decide against marriage, she was also annoyed that he just wouldn’t trust her own family.

After hearing these rumors, she eagerly said to Song Chongjin, "Recently, I heard that the Wang Family Young Lady, after breaking the engagement with our family, has changed like a completely different person. She’s lost weight and learned to sew. And they say she’s lucky, able to find Yellow Pine Mushrooms in the mountains and selling them for a good price that’s worth a peasant’s year of harvest. Such a good daughter-in-law, your aunt introduced her to you with good intentions, and you thought she was harming you, insisting on canceling the marriage! Look now, where else can you find such a good family’s daughter? Your aunt is still mad about it. Do you want to save some game, whether it’s rabbit or pheasant, to apologize to your aunt, so she can help you find someone else?"

Song Chongjin’s face darkened, finding the words extremely grating.

He naturally heard these rumors. On one hand, he was relieved and felt at ease that Wang Yongzhu was again considered for marriage, which meant he wouldn’t feel as guilty for ruining her reputation.

Yet, on the other hand, he peculiarly noticed that those interested in marrying into the Wang Family seemed unsuitable, whether it was due to poor family circumstances or having too many complicated siblings.

None seemed right.

Meanwhile, Wang Yongping was cheerful every day, convinced of his sister’s merits, now recognized by others as well. Indeed, the Wang Family doorstep had been lively these past few days, with busybodies coming over under various pretexts but actually there to examine his younger sister.

This almost made Song Chongjin regret acknowledging him as a brother. What kind of brother was this? He only knew to be happy, not bothering to investigate the suitors’ backgrounds?

To those unaware, it seemed as if Wang Yongping, as her brother, was very eager to marry off his sister.

Already feeling an inexplicable anxiety and aggravation, Song Chongjin’s mood was further inflamed by Mother Song, leading him to toss her several days’ worth of food and lock the door behind him as he took his bow and arrows and headed into the mountains.

※※※

Wang Yongzhu was just minding her own business, sewing at home, when disaster struck from out of the blue.

Every day, some busybodies, either out of curiosity or just to fan the flames, came to the Wang Family.

They looked at her as if they were picking cabbages at the market, being very picky.

No matter how calm Wang Yongzhu was, she could not sit still anymore, mainly because these people didn’t just look; they seemed to want to touch her as well, leaving her unable to guard against them.

Old Granny Zhang saw her daughter was unhappy and felt sympathy for her, but the gossipy women who came knocking at their door all had thick skins and could not be driven away.

Moreover, the Wang Family’s reputation could not withstand any more turmoil, so they had to endure it for a couple of days.

She then advised Wang Yongzhu to also take a couple of days off to rest her eyes, and not to stay at home all the time.

Wang Yongzhu readily agreed and remembered the task of cooking for the family, which she had almost forgotten about.

Since she couldn’t find peace at home, why not go to the mountain to look for some delicious ingredients to bring back and cook a meal, using the "System"’s scanning function?

No sooner said than done, off she went!

Wang Yongzhu’s figure had improved slightly, but it was still somewhat difficult for her to climb mountains and hills; however, nowadays, with just a call from her, the little "Little Beans" at home were always ready to respond.

Even her two eldest nephews, Jindou and Jinhu, shamelessly joined in the search.

They had heard from their brother Jinguan about the Yellow Pine Mushrooms, which their aunt had asked them to pick last time, mentioning how amazing she was and that wherever she pointed, they would find something.

The two teenage boys didn’t believe it verbally, but their bodies involuntarily wanted to experience it for themselves.

Wang Yongzhu, leading a group of nephews, set off for the mountain in high spirits.

The System proved to be reliable; under its scan, Wang Yongzhu directed the children to dig up over ten kilograms of wild "Iron Stick Yams" under thorny bushes in a depression on the hillside, which were best to eat in spring.

And on the shady side, on a log that had decayed over the years, they found a bunch of black fungus.

Although the shepherd’s purse was already old at this time of year, there was still some fresh and tender shepherd’s purse hidden in the cooler areas behind the mountain.

They also pretended to accidentally stumble upon an empty mouse burrow and dug out several kilograms of big pine nuts and chestnuts.

The baskets on the children’s backs were all filled to the brim.

Jindou and Jinhu were so excited, they almost jumped for joy. It seemed Jinguan was right; their aunt was indeed fortunate. Following her, they really could find something to eat wherever they went.

At a time when the two boys were growing so fast they were practically eating their father out of house and home, the Wang Family, though better off than most in the village, still couldn’t afford to feed such big boys to their fill without worry.

Their daily meals barely managed to fill them halfway; the rest of the time, they would just gulp down water to fill their stomachs or sneak away to the mountains to forage for food.

All the children in the village lived like this; leaning on the big mountain, as long as they were brave and hard-working, it was rare for anyone to starve to death.

One way or another, they could always find something in the mountain to fill their stomachs.

When Jindou and Jinhu used to go up the mountain, after half a day’s hard work and with good luck, they might come back full from wild fruits or sour vines, or some such thing.

If they weren’t lucky, after a day in the mountains, they would only come back with a few wild vegetables.

Because the places known for ripe wild fruits or edibles were mostly picked clean already. People anxious for food would go up the mountain and take everything they could find well before the right time.

For those who were slow to act, they would nearly always come back empty-handed.

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