Originally, Lu Jinghuai hadn’t believed that Lin Xiyue could cure him. But at this moment, he seemed to believe a little.
“What did you give me to drink?”
Lin Xiyue placed the water pouch on the table and said calmly, “It’s water boiled with a hundred-year-old ginseng. It helps nourish the body. Drink one bowl from what’s left every day and your body will gradually improve. But if you want to fully recover, you’ll still need bone-setting and treatment.”
Lin Xiyue casually made up a lie to cover things up.
Before Lu Jinghuai could ask anything else, she had already left.
There were many people in the house today, and it wasn’t suitable for treating him yet, so there was no need for her to say more.
In the courtyard, people had already begun exchanging goods for meat. Villagers stood in line, holding things from their homes, waiting to trade for pork.
Usually each person brought two items so that Liu Ruyun would find at least one useful, ensuring they wouldn’t come in vain. Sometimes she kept both items—it depended on whether what they brought was good or useful.
“Sister-in-law Xiufen, I’ll trade two jin of meat for this basket,” Liu Ruyun said after looking at the bamboo basket. Their own basket needed replacing anyway.
Wu Xiufen quickly waved her hands. “Two jin is too much! One jin is enough. This basket isn’t worth that much.”
Liu Ruyun smiled. “We’re all neighbors. There’s no need to be so particular. Go get your meat over there.”
“Still, you always think of us,” Wu Xiufen said gratefully.
Just then Li Cuilan walked in carrying more than a dozen large cabbages.
“I planted a lot of cabbages this year and can’t finish them. Sister-in-law, I’ll trade them with you. Just give me however much meat you think is fair—let these cabbages taste some meat flavor too.”
Liu Ruyun immediately accepted them when she saw the pile.
“You brought these cabbages at just the right time. Now I won’t have to envy yours anymore. I’ll cut you two jin of meat for them. Don’t think it’s too little.”
Of course it wasn’t little, so Li Cuilan was delighted.
“That’s plenty. I’ll take it—thank you, sister-in-law,” she said before going to collect her meat.
The villagers had brought all kinds of things this time.
Some brought grain to exchange, but more brought farming tools, or handmade stools and tables.
Liu Ruyun kept whatever was useful. As for food, she almost accepted everything edible.
Just as the courtyard was bustling with activity, Old Madam Lu suddenly arrived with Lu Changgui and Lu Changxing.
“Old eldest daughter-in-law, you’re slaughtering a pig and didn’t even notify the family? Instead you’re giving meat to all these outsiders first!”
When Old Madam Lu was young she had never been an easy person. Having given birth to four sons made her even more domineering, and her daughters-in-law had all suffered under her.
As the eldest daughter-in-law, Liu Ruyun had endured the most hardship.
If the family hadn’t split off to live separately later, she might have been worn down to death by now.
“Mother, why did you come?” Liu Ruyun asked politely. “I was just planning to send the third one over with some meat later. I’ve been so busy I didn’t have time yet.”
Although the old lady was sharp-tongued and harsh, Liu Ruyun still remembered the favor of those two taels of silver and kept some gratitude.
Hearing this, Old Madam Lu nodded in satisfaction.
“Good. At least you remember. Otherwise it would’ve been a waste for your father and I to empty our savings to gather those two taels of silver so you could marry a wife for the boys.”
Even now, thinking about that silver made her heart ache.
If her husband hadn’t insisted on lending it, she would never have agreed—especially since that money was actually the eldest son’s compensation for dying in battle.
“That silver was clearly obtained because my mother begged until her head bled,” Lu Yanqiu muttered angrily under his breath. “And it was Father’s compensation money in the first place.”
Lin Xiyue, standing beside him, heard every word clearly.
So the two taels of silver the Lu family had given her original family had actually been borrowed from the old house.
No wonder the old lady acted so arrogantly.
“Mother,” Lin Xiyue suddenly said loudly, “didn’t you say that silver was borrowed from Grandmother and would need to be repaid later? But Grandmother just said it was gathered to help her three grandsons marry wives. How could you misunderstand her kindness?”
“Besides, that silver was originally my father-in-law’s compensation money. Using it to marry wives for his sons is only natural. Why would you say it needs to be repaid?”
Her sudden words instantly attracted everyone’s attention.
Her voice wasn’t small either—the entire courtyard heard it.
Old Madam Lu had never met Lin Xiyue before, but hearing her call Liu Ruyun “mother,” she knew this must be the new daughter-in-law.
“What compensation money? What nonsense are you talking about?” the old lady snapped. “That silver was lent to your mother-in-law! She said it herself—borrow two taels, repay three. Are you trying to cheat us now?”
Lin Xiyue sneered.
“My father-in-law died earning that money. You kept all of it, and now you lend it back to my mother-in-law just to earn extra? Those who know you would say you’re his mother. Those who don’t might think my father-in-law was someone you picked up off the street.”
“You even dare take a dead man’s money. Aren’t you afraid his ghost will come back and settle the score with you?”
Lin Xiyue despised this type of vicious old woman the most—someone who relied on age to bully others.
“You wretched girl!” Old Madam Lu shouted angrily. “Have you gone mad? I’m your elder! How dare you talk to me like this? Liu Ruyun, is this the good wife you bought for two taels of silver?”
The old lady’s voice was booming and powerful, showing no sign of weakness despite her age.
“Mother,” Liu Ruyun said quietly, “what Xiaoyue said isn’t wrong. The silver you lent me was originally Changming’s compensation money. When we divided the family, you took all of it and left us nothing.”
“Now the children are grown and need to marry wives, but you wouldn’t even give two taels. If I hadn’t promised to repay three taels, you probably wouldn’t have lent it to me at all.”
She gave a bitter smile, her eyes reddening.
“That was my son’s compensation money,” Old Madam Lu retorted. “I’m his mother—that money belongs to our family. Back then it was you who insisted on splitting the family and raising those two—”
She suddenly stopped speaking.
Perhaps she realized that continuing would not benefit her, so she cut herself off.
After all, if Liu Ruyun was willing to raise those two children, it was still advantageous for the Lu family.
If Lu Wenyuan later passed the imperial exam and became a scholar, they could reveal the truth then and bring him back to the old house.
Liu Ruyun had no idea what they were scheming and had no interest in arguing further.
At that moment, Lu Changxing—clever and smooth-tongued, and the most favored son of the old couple—stepped forward.
“Sister-in-law, you were the one who insisted on splitting the family back then. Now that the three boys can’t afford wives, you blame our parents?”
“As for the silver—you promised to repay three taels, so not a single coin less.”
“And about today’s meat, we won’t ask for much. Give twenty jin each for our parents, our second household, and the fourth household. As for the third household, that’s none of our business.”
When they had come to ask for pork earlier, the third brother hadn’t wanted to come along.
So now they didn’t care about him.
Lu Changxing had always been the most eloquent son and the favorite of the old couple.
The third brother and his wife, on the other hand, were honest and simple.
Worse, his wife had given birth to two daughters in a row, and the old lady had constantly scolded her for being “useless.”