The moment the girl and the bird finished their exchange in the Divine Sense, Ling Xi heard Su Shanren ask, “Why would a wild boar come running out beyond the North Mountain?”
Huai Mountain, known to the villagers as the North Mountain, was the shared hunting and foraging ground for the surrounding villages. Its outer perimeter had long been cleared by the village men, so it was nearly impossible for large game to appear there.
Hearing the village chief say this, everyone found it suspicious.
Ling Xi rolled her eyes inwardly. It was all the fault of the female lead aura!
But on the surface, she put on a fake, honey-coated air of delight, “They said Second Sister could catch lots of game, and sure enough, she did! It was just a little scary…”
Combined with what Wang Tieniu had said earlier, these words made Su Shanren quietly wary. He had long heard that the Su family’s second daughter was blessed with good fortune, always coming back from the mountain with game. But if every trip up the mountain brought down a wild boar, wasn’t that asking for disaster?
They said superstition shouldn’t be believed, but what if it was true?
To be safe, it seemed this child should go up the mountain less often in the future.
Completely unaware that she wouldn’t be picking up any game for a long time to come, Su Xinghui was still steeped in resentment toward Ling Xi. As soon as she came down the mountain, she pulled Wang Guiqiu into a room to whisper, claiming she had good news.
When Ling Xi returned to the Su household and found that Wang Guiqiu wasn’t waiting in the courtyard to sneer at her, and Old Mrs. Su hadn’t come out to scold her either, she knew they must be scheming something.
Sure enough, Yu Lian had only just carried her into the house—before she even had time to change clothes—when Old Mrs. Su led a whole crowd inside. Of the third branch’s family, everyone was there except Su Changping and Su Xingchen, who studied in town.
Under her little grandson’s expectant gaze, Old Mrs. Su stated her purpose without a shred of shame: “I heard you brought back a leg of pork today? Perfect. Xingyu hasn’t had meat in days. Stew him a couple of taels tonight, and pickle the rest for New Year.”
Su Xingyu was only five and already spoiled rotten. He lunged straight for the back basket on the floor, “Meat! Where is it? I want meat!”
The pheasant eggs, already half-crushed on the mountain, were all shaken out by his rummaging and smashed to pieces, one after another.
Su Changhe’s face darkened at once, and Yu Lian was seething with anger too.
If the body Ling Xi now occupied had allowed it, she would have kicked this brat out long ago. Luckily, she had hidden the pork leg in the stove pit the moment she entered the house, or it would have been ruined by that wretched child.
“Mother, Xiaoxi was frightened. She needs good food to recover.” As a daughter-in-law, Yu Lian couldn’t speak too bluntly.
“What’s the point of feeding a girl so well? She’s just losing goods who’ll marry out anyway. Better to raise Xingyu properly—at least he’ll look after you in your old age!”
What Old Mrs. Su really wanted to say was that Ling Xi might have the luck to get the meat but not the luck to live to eat it, but knowing she couldn’t offend the second branch too thoroughly, she didn’t say something quite so hateful.
“That’s right, Second Sister-in-law. Being good to Xingyu is being good to yourselves. In the future, we’ll all be counting on the two boys of the third branch!” Wang Guiqiu smiled like a trumpet flower, “The day Xingyu has meat to eat, Second Brother’s boy and you two will never be left out!”
The Su family hadn’t divided the household. The eldest branch, Su Changjiang, had married into a family in the county town, and his children didn’t even bear the Su name. The youngest, Su Changping, had always been the doted one, and with his wife Wang Guiqiu having borne two boys, Old Mrs. Su favored them greatly.
Only the second branch had no money, no power, and no sons, and they heard this sort of talk all too often.
Su Changhe shot Wang Guiqiu a cold glance. “I wouldn’t dare hope for that.”
He turned to Old Mrs. Su. “Mother, if this meat had been hunted by me and Lian’er, of course we’d share some with you and the third branch. But this was given to Xiao Xi by the soldier. Third sister-in-law, do you really have the nerve to eat a child’s food?”
“Second Brother, what kind of talk is that? Xiao Xi is Xingyu’s older sister. What’s wrong with a sister giving her little brother meat?” Wang Guiqiu looked at Ling Xi. “Xiao Xi, tell us yourself—shouldn’t this meat go to your little brother?”
Ling Xi blinked blankly, counting on her little chicken-claw-like fingers. “Xingyu had eggs yesterday, chicken soup the day before, fatty pork the day before that… Xingyu gets lots and lots of good food every day. Xiao Xi was sick and didn’t get anything…”
Her voice trailed off, growing pitifully quiet.
“You wretched girl! Xingyu is a boy—what makes you think you can compare with him?!” Old Mrs. Su glared and shouted.
Ling Xi flinched at the scolding and burst into loud wails. “Second Sister has some, Fourth Ya has some, only Xiao Xi has nothing! I’m going to ask Grandpa Village Chief—why doesn’t Xiao Xi get any?!”
She cried at the top of her lungs, and while wailing, she even tried to climb off the kang, startling everyone.
In the past, whenever Su Sanya was bullied, she only dared to cry in secret, let alone complain to outsiders. This was practically earth-shattering—her wailing was nearly deafening.
Su Xingyu couldn’t understand what the adults were saying, but he wanted the meat, and the crying annoyed him. He reached out and swung at Ling Xi. “Stop howling! You half-dead jinx! Hand over the meat right now!”
Su Changhe seized his hand, his face dark. “Who taught you to talk like that? Xiao Xi is your older sister!”
That look frightened even Old Mrs. Su, let alone Su Xingyu. His legs went weak and he plopped down on the floor, bawling.
“Aiyo, what sin did I commit in a past life!” Old Mrs. Su wailed to high heaven. “Su Changhe, do you have any conscience? You won’t even let your nephew eat meat—do you still have any regard for me as your mother?!”
Su Changhe stared straight at Old Mrs. Su. “Mother, if you put it that way, then your son will just have to take Xiao Xi out and ask around. The third branch gets everything and Xiao Xi gets nothing, yet the meat Xiao Xi traded her life for has to be shared with the third branch—what kind of logic is that?”
Though she knew he was exaggerating, Ling Xi played along, coughing as if she were about to cough up a lung, looking like she could stop breathing at any moment.
The sight made the old woman step back, thinking to herself—if Sanya really died over this, wouldn’t people point fingers at her behind her back?
Starving her own granddaughter to death by stealing her food—stuck with that reputation, her late years would be ruined!
Seeing the hesitation in her eyes, Su Xinghui seized the opening. “Second Uncle, how can you say that? Our Su family hasn’t divided the household yet, so the pig leg is communal property. If you do this, people will laugh at our Su family.”
“That’s right! This pork should be handed over to Grandma!” Fourth Ya, Su Miaomiao, chimed in.
Hearing this, Old Mrs. Su thought it made perfect sense—the leg should be hers to distribute!
After the incident last time, she had rare moments of finding Su Xinghui more agreeable. She turned her head and looked down her nose at Su Changhe. “Changhe, don’t forget what your father said before he passed. Our Su family will never divide the household!”
“Second Sister picked up so many pheasants and wild rabbits a couple of days ago, and I didn’t see those turned over to the communal pot,” Ling Xi said, having stopped crying at some point, her mouth pursed.
Wang Guiqiu shot back without missing a beat, “How is that the same? Huihui belongs to the third branch now!”
If Yu Lian didn’t dare talk back to her mother-in-law, did that mean she couldn’t talk back to her?
She suddenly raised her voice and cursed loudly, “Wang Guiqiu, what’s the meaning of this? Drawing such a sharp line between the second and third branches—you’re trying to drive us to our deaths! Su Changhe, I can’t go on like this with you. The family hasn’t even been divided yet, and we’re already being treated like this. I’m going back to my parents’ house to let them set things straight!”