The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure-Chapter 842 - 841: Sincerity All Fed to the Dogs

Only Granny Zhang and her husband finally felt relieved and stayed in the town with the little girl for a few more days. They confirmed that the girl did not remember anything and did not hear of anyone looking for a lost child, so they brought her home.

That’s why Lady Zhao said, "Who knows which family’s child was sold and resold multiple times? How can someone with such an unclear family background be suitable for our son?"

"Well, if the son doesn’t want her, let her work hard at home. In the future, we can earn more money to marry a wife for the Eldest Brother. With four or five children at home, there’s a lot of expenses."

"When she has arranged marriages for all of her younger siblings, we can sell her to someone willing to pay, and this money will be kept for our old age."

When Zhang Dabao heard this, he thought it was a good idea and immediately agreed.

He also instructed Lady Zhao to burn the bundle that Granny Zhang first brought home to prevent her from finding her parents with it in the future.

Lady Zhao agreed, and the two of them reached an understanding and went to sleep.

Little did they know that Granny Zhang, who got up in the middle of the night, had overheard their conversation.

If Granny Zhang hadn’t heard this, she might have just endured it silently, believing she was bought to be a child bride. There were several families in the village who bought child brides, and as long as she endured, things would get better.

She never expected to hear that she was not bought but stolen!

She suddenly felt that her affection for the Zhang Family had been in vain!

Granny Zhang had learned to endure all these years as a child bride.

She didn’t show any emotions and only secretly kept an eye on Lady Zhao.

Lady Zhao and her husband never took Granny Zhang seriously, so they naturally didn’t guard against her.

One day, when Lady Zhao went out and there was no one at home, Granny Zhang rummaged through the chest and found a bundle that looked very old and contained a few small clothes.

Granny Zhang had seen these small clothes on her youngest sister, Qiu Ju, and wondered where her parents got such fine material.

She asked once and was scolded severely by Lady Zhao, who said she was shallow-minded and still focusing on children’s clothes at her age.

Granny Zhang watched as Lady Zhao felt the fabric of the clothes repeatedly, unable to bring herself to burn them, and sneaked them into hiding.

The bundle cloth had turned yellow with age, and Lady Zhao, impatient, accidentally tore a piece, revealing some colorful paper inside.

Lady Zhao couldn’t read, so she pulled out a piece to look at and, feeling guilty, threw it into the stove, burning it entirely. freewёbnoνel.com

From then on, Granny Zhang knew she couldn’t rely on the Zhang Family, but she also knew that as a lonely woman, leaving the Zhang Family could result in an even worse fate.

Her heart grew cold, especially when the younger siblings she had raised, after playing outside with Zhang Xiahe for a few days, no longer called her "Big Sister" but referred to her as "Maid" and "Purchased with money".

The second sister, Zhang Dongmei, and the youngest sister, Qiu Ju, even despised her, saying she was a bought maid and not worthy of sleeping in the same room. They drove her to the woodshed.

With nothing left to hold on to, Granny Zhang spent her days working and going up the mountain.

Before, when she found something delicious on the mountain, she couldn’t bear to eat it herself and would bring it back for her siblings.

Since then, Granny Zhang, already clever and capable, would eat her fill secretly whenever she found food on the mountain, hiding the rest. She no longer foolishly brought everything home.

Of course, she wasn’t foolish enough to bring back nothing at all; she picked up some cheap, worthless things to bring back.

She hid the valuable items and sold them at the market, placing them at the bottom of her basket and selling them secretly.

Because she was always careful and the Zhang Family had no guard against her, she managed to save several hundred large coins.

When Zhang Xiahe grew older and it was time to talk about marriage, there were no willing brides, not just because the Zhang Family was poor, but also because of their lack of integrity. Few families would marry their daughters to such people.

With no other option, Zhang Dongmei also reached marriageable age. For girls, as long as they are willing to marry, there is always a suitor.

Furthermore, Zhang Dongmei was reasonably good-looking. Since Granny Zhang did most of the work at home, her siblings were spared the labor and looked fair and clean.

Fair skin covers up three faults, and although the Zhang Family was poor and couldn’t eat well, Zhang Dongmei, taking after her mother Lady Zhao, had a well-rounded figure, which the villagers saw as a sign of being able to bear sons.

As a result, quite a few young men approached with marriage proposals.

Zhang Dabao and Lady Zhao considered for a long time before choosing a groom from a village dozens of miles away, an only son in the family.

The son immediately took a liking to Zhang Dongmei, and his mother also approved of her for being capable of bearing many children. They gave a considerable bride price and married her off.

With the bride price and the combined savings of Zhang Dabao and Granny Zhang over the years, they managed to buy a wife for Zhang Xiahe.

The girl from the mountains was sold to help her brother marry, and Zhang Dabao was unwilling to spend money, thinking first of exchanging Granny Zhang for the girl’s brother as a wife in exchange.

But the brother disliked Granny Zhang for being too old, and Granny Zhang, aware of the plan, deliberately made herself look unattractive, appearing old and haggard. The idea was dropped.

Zhang Xiahe’s marriage nearly bankrupted the Zhang Family.

The two younger brothers felt aggrieved; the family’s resources had been almost depleted to marry off their elder brother, while they were also nearing marriageable age with no money or prospects.

Unable to remain bachelors, they caused a daily uproar at home.

Though Zhang Dabao favored his eldest son, the other two were also his flesh and blood. The palm and back of his hand may differ, but he had two along the back.

The Zhang household was in chaos!

By then, Granny Zhang had saved a few hundred large coins and was planning to find an honest and reliable family to join once the children were all married. She believed that, despite their poverty, she could support herself with hard work.

However, in the midst of the chaos, Granny Zhang’s hidden stash was discovered by Zhang Qiu Ju, the youngest daughter.

Of course, she told her parents!

This was like kicking a hornet’s nest. Granny Zhang was severely beaten by Zhang Dabao and his sons, almost losing her life.

Her hidden savings were all confiscated, and had her fate not been resilient, she might not have survived.

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