The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure-Chapter 96 Dull and Tasteless

Old Granny Zhang glanced at Lady Jiang, who was standing with her head lowered, then at her daughter, who was still waiting expectantly for praise, and considered her daughter’s words. They did seem to make some sense.

Old Granny Zhang was always interested in keeping up appearances; she loved to show off in front of the villagers at any opportunity, and regardless of the Wang Family’s daily diet, she would always boast about it when she went out.

Even more so today, since the pancakes had been sent to the neighboring Yangjiapu, she figured the people there would know that the Wang Family’s livelihood was good and prosperous.

This was indeed a matter of great pride.

Her own daughter truly had foresight!

Old Granny Zhang’s mood shifted from anger to joy, "My own girl is so smart! You’ve been worrying about this all day, you must be exhausted, right? Shall we have some noodles tonight, and I’ll add a couple of eggs for you?"

Wang Yongzhu naturally agreed, "I’m young and healthy, not tired at all. But mom must be tired today, and also heart-stricken. The eggs should nourish mom. As long as mom is healthy, I’m happy—"

Old Granny Zhang, flattered by the charm, softened and sweetened, and with an impatient wave of her hand said: "Alright, go to the kitchen and fetch a ladle to scoop some cornmeal. We’ll make noodles tonight to lighten my mood!"

Lady Jiang, hearing this, looked up to meet Wang Yongzhu’s somewhat apologetic eyes and felt warmth in her heart. Her sister-in-law was finding a way to extricate her from the situation.

She didn’t aspire for anything more; as long as her mother-in-law didn’t beat and scold her everyday, that was enough. As for everything else, she didn’t want to quibble one bit.

So, she shook her head to indicate that it didn’t matter to her.

She took the ladle into the inner room where Old Granny Zhang scooped a ladleful of cornmeal. Thinking it over, she scooped another, anticipating that someone would surely come back with news in the evening and she needed to be prepared to serve food.

After giving Lady Jiang a few instructions, Lady Jiang took the meal back to the kitchen to start kneading the dough.

Old Granny Zhang was still preoccupied with Eldest Brother’s life and death, pacing restlessly in the courtyard, disenchanted with everything she saw, and inept at whatever she tried to do.

Feeling frustrated and anxious, she scolded the kids from the third house several times, scaring Jindou and Jinpan so much that they dared not come out of the room.

Wang Yongzhu, seeing this behavior as inappropriate, understood her concern for Eldest Brother, but there was no need to take it out on the children of the third house.

Therefore, rallying her energy, she managed after much coaxing to get Old Granny Zhang into the house to pray before the yellowed picture of Guanyin Bodhisattva on the wall, hoping the bodhisattva would grant her blessings.

Only then did she manage to sneak out to the kitchen to apologize to Lady Jiang.

Lady Jiang was kneading the dough on the chopping board with Jinhua lending a hand, both wearing worried looks. When Wang Yongzhu entered, Jinhua quickly offered her a small stool.

"Eldest Sister-in-law, take a seat!"

Wang Yongzhu patted Jinhua’s head and smiled apologetically at Lady Jiang, "Third Sister-in-law, today’s mess is all my fault. I didn’t explain things clearly to mom, which led to you getting scolded. I really..."

Lady Jiang shook her head, "No worries! What’s there to fuss about among family? How is Eldest Brother’s injury? I didn’t dare to ask earlier, is it very serious?"

Wang Yongzhu sighed and nodded her head, "He was hit in the back and also broke two ribs. He has internal injuries as well. Doctor Liu said that if he can be taken to town before dark, there’s still hope—"

The rest went unsaid, as everyone understood.

Lady Jiang sighed and returned the keys Wang Yongzhu had given her earlier, then went back to kneading the dough.

Tears couldn’t help but fall from Jinhua’s eyes. Her own father was rarely at home year-round, and she couldn’t even remember what he looked like.

In this household, Grandpa valued Eldest Sister-in-law and his grandsons the most, paying little attention to his granddaughters.

The only two male relatives who were kind to her and her siblings were her uncle and Laosi.

Laosi, with his straightforward manner, had blurted out the question right in front of Grandma and got brushed off in a few words, from then on ignoring the household affairs.

Only her uncle, though not talkative, treated her and her siblings the same as his own sons when bringing back fruits from the mountains — everyone got a share.

During work, whenever he saw her, he would help her complete tasks without a word.

He also secretly, behind his wife’s back, gave her the leftover buns; if it weren’t for the uncle’s aid with those buns, how could her mother have made it until today?

In her heart, she thought this must be how a father feels about his own child, right?

Now, hearing that her uncle’s life hung in the balance, Jinhua felt both fear and sorrow.

Lady Jiang, being an adult, thought more profoundly about the consequences if Wang Yongfu were to really be met with misfortune. freewēbnoveℓ.com

Currently, the Wang Family seemed to be prospering, their descendants thriving, but the in-laws were old, hardly able to work in the fields anymore.

The family’s lands all depended on the eldest brother, his wife, and Laosi.

She couldn’t count on her own husband, and her second brother, the Scholar, had married a city girl who, of course, would not come back to help.

The three sons from the main branch looked able to work the fields, but they weren’t really up to the task yet.

If the eldest brother were to fall, she feared the family would fall apart.

Could Old Granny Zhang fail to think of what Lady Jiang had considered?

At this moment, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law unexpectedly found themselves sharing the same thoughts.

Old Granny Zhang had knelt before the Bodhisattva for a long time, praying for Old Eldest to be safe and for any misfortune to be averted.

Suddenly she considered, what if the Bodhisattva was too busy and hadn’t heard her prayers, and if Old Eldest really couldn’t make it, the family would definitely be thrown into chaos, what then?

She was so worried she didn’t know what to do.

Wang Yongzhu and the others watched as the sky darkened, calculating the time, surely by now Wang Yongfu should have been delivered to the town, right?

Had they found Doctor Ma? Was there hope for salvation?

With everyone’s thoughts preoccupied, even the noodles they had for dinner tasted bland.

After eating, they didn’t dare to sleep, all sitting in the main room, waiting for news.

The sky had turned completely dark, and sitting inside the pitch-black house, they could see nothing.

It was Wang Yongzhu who went into the room and brought out the oil lamp to light it, the whole family gathering around its meager flame, silent, eyes fixed on the outside door.

Time passed, and the quiet of the village was suddenly interrupted by the intermittent barking of dogs, followed by the sound of footsteps just outside the courtyard wall.

Then the courtyard door was knocked: "Granny, open the door, it’s Jindou, we’re back!"

Jinpan moved the fastest, darting out to open the door at the sound.

Jindou and Jinhu, the two brothers, came in, and under the dim light in the main room, it was hard to discern their expressions, but listening to their voices, Wang Yongzhu felt things must have gone smoothly.

Indeed, before Old Granny Zhang could even ask, Jindou spilled the beans and explained everything clearly.

It turned out that their journey had been quite smooth; everyone moved as fast as they could while maintaining a steady pace, taking turns whenever someone felt tired.

With Doctor Liu keeping an eye on them, even though he was advanced in age his steps were still light, and when he couldn’t walk any further, Wang Yongping would carry him for a while, avoiding any delay.

Rushing along, a group of men with their clothes soaked in sweat, which could have been wrung out, they finally reached the town before sunset.

Luckily, Doctor Ma was in his clinic that day, and upon seeing Wang Yongfu, he didn’t hesitate to use silver needles to stabilize his internal breathing.

He also cleaned the wound, reset the bones, and said because of the severe blood loss and the gravity of the injury, expensive medicines would be needed to save his life.

At that moment, for Wang Laozhu, nothing mattered more than saving his eldest son’s life, and he was willing to part with anything.

Besides, the heavy purse that Old Granny Zhang had given him felt reassuring when he handled it, possibly containing more than a dozen silver taels.

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