Song Dazhi was a little fired up: “I say, Hu Cuihua, do you even have a conscience?”
“That’s my brother! My own mother’s son!”
“Don’t you forget—when the village head said every household had to send someone, it was Dahe who volunteered to go instead of me. Otherwise, it would’ve been me going.”
“If he had died, you’d be left a widow!”
Everyone in the village knew about this. Back then, people praised Dahe’s loyalty, though some thought he was foolish.
Hu Cuihua didn’t seem to care.
“Of course you couldn’t go!”
“We have two sons and a daughter. If you went and something happened, what would happen to the family?”
“The second branch only has one daughter anyway…”
Song Dazhi thought his wife was being unreasonable, but he was used to it.
After a moment, he warned her: “Don’t ever bring up splitting the family again!”
“Dahe just died. If we talk about splitting now, what would the villagers think of me?”
“They’d be laughing at us behind our backs!”
Hu Cuihua nodded: “I know that.”
“Not to mention Dahe’s death—doesn’t mother probably still have some silver?”
“Today she paid for the second branch’s medical visit, and the prenatal medicine alone cost three hundred coins—she didn’t even hesitate!”
“Hmph. Who knows what kind of precious child she’s carrying inside her? Worth spending that much money?”
“I reckon she has at least five taels of silver on hand.”
“How much?” Song Dazhi suddenly sat up in bed, raising his voice: “Five taels of silver?”
Hu Cuihua jumped: “Hey! Calm down! Why shout so loud?”
“I’m just guessing.”
“Think about it. Father was a hunter, one of the best in the village. Our family is small, and whatever we didn’t eat, we sold.”
“So she should have quite a bit of silver saved.”
“These years, besides the money spent on your and your brother’s weddings, the rest should still be with mother, right?”
Song Dazhi nodded thoughtfully.
He started calculating bit by bit.
“Your dowry was high—five taels—but the second daughter-in-law’s family only asked for two taels.”
“Besides, when my little sister married, mother also took two taels from the Feng family. That balances out.”
“By this calculation, mother must have quite a bit of silver saved.”
In the dark, Hu Cuihua shot him a glance: “What do you mean ‘our dowry was high’?”
“That’s because I came from the town! Marrying into the village is a step down!”
“Besides, don’t I look just as good as that Shen Juye woman?”
“Ha! You’ve had three kids, yet your face is still so thick-skinned!”
The couple teased each other a bit, then came to an agreement: the household cannot be split!
At least, not for now.
They would wait until they got their hands on the silver first.
…
On her first day back from the dead, Lu Minggui felt exhausted yet excited.
She thought she wouldn’t be able to sleep that night, but as soon as her head touched the pillow, she dozed off.
The night passed without incident.
At dawn, Lu Minggui was up.
She first went to the chicken coop in the corner of the yard and collected the three fresh eggs, then brought them inside.
Just as she was about to head to the kitchen, Shen Juye pushed the door open, her large belly showing, ready to make breakfast.
“Eh? Weren’t you supposed to lie down more? Why are you up so early?”
“Mother, lying around all day isn’t right either. Cooking breakfast is light work; it won’t tire me.”
Lu Minggui’s face darkened: “I told you to lie down, so lie down! Why do you have to get up and cook?”
“Do you think the household will starve without you?”
She spoke harshly, but her hands were gentle, pushing Shen Juye back to bed.
Then, without waiting for a reply, she went to knock on Song Dazhi’s door.
“Get up! What time is this? The sun’s already high in the sky!”
“If you don’t get up to cook or work in the field, you’ll just lie in bed like corpses!”
“You lazybones, born as a pair! The crops in the field are dying of drought, yet you still lie there?”
The more she knocked, the more satisfied she felt. The eldest branch’s discomfort made her heart lighten, so she pounded even louder.
The banging soon woke Song Dazhi and Hu Cuihua.
Rubbing her eyes and frowning, Hu Cuihua muttered: “Is that old lady crazy? It’s barely sunrise!”
“Just came over to shout at us!”
“All right, enough,” Song Dazhi struggled to get up. “You cook. I’ll eat something and then head to the field.”
Hu Cuihua grumbled: “Cook? Why should I cook for her and the others?”
“This old lady is really pushing us too far!”
Song Dazhi quickly put on his jacket: “Didn’t I tell you to not talk back? Remember last night? We can’t split the household, so just go along with her a bit.”
“Don’t you want the silver?”
“Besides, you’ve been living like a town madam ever since you married into the Song family. She’s been serving you all these years—can’t you just make breakfast?”
“All right, all right. Don’t let her nag. Go!”
Hu Cuihua was unhappy but remembered the private conversation the couple had the previous night, so she opened the door.
Putting on a smile, she said: “Mother, we’re up. Stop yelling. I’ll make breakfast now.”
“Juye, you go back to bed,” she added with a fake smile. “Mother treasures you now.”
“Lie down and give the Song family a big, healthy boy. This one is my golden grandchild!”
Shen Juye felt flustered. Already self-conscious about only having a daughter, now she couldn’t even lift her head.
In truth, she hoped it would be a son—at least so Dahe’s legacy could continue.
If one day they found Dahe’s body, someone would give him a proper burial.
Lu Minggui snorted: “I love my grandchildren equally. All are good children of the Song family.”
“If they grow up to be schemers or evil at heart, what good is having a whole brood? Just a bunch of useless little pigs!”
“You’ve got time to gossip, but why aren’t you in the kitchen cooking?”
Hu Cuihua, scolded by her mother-in-law, swallowed her anger and headed straight to the kitchen.