“Mother——”
Fu Jingwen wanted to say something else, but silenced by Lady Guan’s stern look, she could only bite her lip and rush into her mother’s room, aggrieved.
Qin Xiaoruo knew that Fu Jingwen was actually worried about her, and didn’t take it to heart.
As she unloaded the carrying basket, she said, “Auntie, I’ve gathered some bamboo shoots.
We still have pickled vegetables at home, don’t we?
Let’s cook pickled vegetable and bamboo shoot slices with porridge tonight.”
“Xiao Ruo, where did you get the bamboo shoots?” Lady Guan was shocked by the sight of the three plump and tender bamboo shoots, then her face changed as something occurred to her, “Did you go to the bamboo groves in Zhenxi Village?”
Qin Xiaoruo replied with a calm smile, “Yes, that’s the only place nearby where you can find bamboo shoots to gather.”
“How reckless!” Lady Guan’s face darkened as she scolded, “There are poisonous snakes in that bamboo forest.
How could you, a young lady, go to such a place?”
Upon Lady Guan’s words, the smile froze on Qin Xiaoruo’s lips, and a chill rose from the soles of her feet, “There…
there are poisonous snakes?”
If she had known that the bamboo forest was home to poisonous snakes, she would have never gone, no matter what.
The things she feared the most were those cold, boneless creatures that moved.
Seeing Qin Xiaoruo’s pale face from fright, Lady Guan felt a pang of compassion and soothed her with a gentler tone, “It’s good that you came back safely.
But you must never go there again.”
Qin Xiaoruo numbly nodded her head.
Lady Guan wanted to comfort Qin Xiaoruo a bit more, but she was interrupted by the sound of her daughter sobbing inside the house.
With a helpless sigh, she went in to comfort her daughter.
Qin Xiaoruo took out a bamboo shoot, sliced it and soaked it in clean water, then cleaned a handful of salted vegetable leaves taken from a jar in the kitchen.
She put both the soaked bamboo shoot slices and the salted leaves into the pot to cook, while another stove simmered a half-pot of coarse rice porridge.
Qin Xiaoruo tended the fire while listening to Lady Guan’s earnest voice from inside the house, “Jingwen, how many times have I told you?
If it wasn’t for Xiao Ruo’s parents, our whole family would have starved to death by the roadside.
It was Xiao Ruo’s parents who brought us to Houling Village and begged the village chief to give us a place to live.
We must remember their kindness for a lifetime!
Even if Xiao Ruo really did something wrong, you can’t treat her like that.
What’s more, Xiao Ruo hasn’t done anything wrong.
Today, she even risked getting bitten by poisonous snakes to bring us a few bamboo shoots.
Who do you think she did that for?
The things you said earlier were too hurtful…”
“Mother, I haven’t forgotten their kindness!” Fu Jingwen interrupted Lady Guan, feeling indignant, “But she…
anyway, I just feel she’s not good enough for Big Brother!”
If it wasn’t for her seeing Qin Qingsheng looking at Qin Xiaoruo from afar the day before, she would not have been so angry today.
Who knows whether Qin Xiaoruo was actually meeting Qingsheng secretly today?
Maybe these bamboo shoots were just a cover!
But she could only keep these thoughts to herself; she couldn’t tell her mother, as it would worry her.
“Shut up!” Lady Guan, not understanding, trembled with rage, “Your big brother’s marriage was arranged by me and Xiao Ruo’s parents together.
How is she not good enough for your big brother?
Do you think that because life is easier now, you can grow a big heart?
Fu Jingwen, I warn you, if you dare to have such thoughts, I will no longer acknowledge you as my daughter!”
Lady Guan was not ungrateful, nor would she allow her children to harbor such thoughts.
“I haven’t!” Fu Jingwen cried out in grief and disbelief, “My heart hasn’t grown big!”
She never expected her mother to say such harsh words to her for the sake of Qin Xiaoruo; tears of injustice welled up in her eyes once again.