Title: Chapter 3 – A Filial Son of the Highest Order
“I’m unfilial? You’re trying to sell my child and I’m not even allowed to argue back? What kind of filial piety is that supposed to be? People always say that when a mother is kind, the children will be filial. But that requires the mother to be kind first before the children can be filial. You usually ignore whether we—this widow and these children—live or die, and that’s already bad enough. But now, just for a bit of food, you want to sell the child. And when I try to stop you, suddenly I’m the unfilial one?”
“Selling your own granddaughter for food—is that something a human would do? Even animals know how to cherish their young. Even a tiger won’t eat its own cubs. Yet you wear human skin but don’t behave like a human. Since you say I’m unfilial, why don’t we go speak to the village chief and let the villagers judge? I’d really like to see which ‘filial son of the highest order’ would sell his own child just to feed his mother.”
Pei Luo’s words nearly made Old Madam Lu faint from anger. Her face turned pale.
Although some people in Dashi Village did sell their daughters, it was only when life truly became unbearable. Even then, it was done secretly, because it was shameful and would bring criticism from others. That was exactly why Old Madam Lu had secretly brought Granny Zhang alone—it wasn’t something honorable.
When Pei Luo suggested taking the matter to the village chief, not only did Old Madam Lu hesitate, but even Granny Zhang began to waver. For the sake of one little girl, getting the village chief involved would certainly not benefit her.
“Forget it, forget it. Looks like this old woman is just unlucky to deal with sellers like you,” Granny Zhang said impatiently. “Old Madam Lu, hurry and return my money. I’m not doing this business anymore.”
As she spoke, Granny Zhang grabbed the money pouch directly from Old Madam Lu’s arms, snorted coldly, and left with her helpers.
“Hey, Granny Zhang! Don’t go!” Old Madam Lu called after her.
But Granny Zhang walked even faster, as if a plague god were chasing her.
Once Granny Zhang left, Old Madam Lu immediately lost her arrogance. Facing such a fierce daughter-in-law, she could only leave angrily. Still, she had to leave behind a threat to save face.
“My son marrying a shrew like you is truly the misfortune of our family. When my son returns, I will definitely have him divorce you!”
“Then you’d better have your son come back soon,” Pei Luo replied coldly. “Don’t delay this old lady from remarrying.”
Her words nearly made Old Madam Lu cough up blood from anger.
The former Pei woman had been fierce, but she was just an uneducated village woman who could only curse with crude language and repeat the same insults. The current Pei Luo, however, didn’t speak vulgar words, yet every sentence struck directly at the heart, leaving Old Madam Lu unable to respond.
Old Madam Lu was already famous in Dashi Village for being sharp and mean. After giving birth to three sons, she walked proudly through the village with her head held high. Having many sons meant strength and confidence. In the village, people with many sons had more say, because sons meant strong laborers. Such families often received more farmland and had more people to work the fields. As long as they were hardworking, they wouldn’t starve. With many men in the household, others also didn’t dare bully them.
On the other hand, families without sons were often ridiculed wherever they went.
Old Madam Lu’s eldest son, Lu Shan, was actually honest and hardworking and knew some carpentry skills. Unfortunately, he married a very sharp-tongued wife. The eldest daughter-in-law often quarreled with Old Madam Lu, but since she had given birth to two grandsons and one granddaughter for the Lu family, she naturally had some authority in the household.
The second son, Lu Ming, was the most favored child in the family. When he was young, he had studied with an old scholar for several years, making him the only literate member of the family. Old Madam Lu had spent quite a bit of silver trying to raise him into a scholar. Unfortunately, Lu Ming lacked talent. After spending so much money, he still failed to achieve anything and didn’t even pass the lowest examination.
The second daughter-in-law had a better temperament than the eldest one, but since she had only given birth to one daughter after many years of marriage, she always felt inferior before Old Madam Lu and was often mistreated by her.
Fortunately, Lu Yuan’s house was extremely small. When they first married, the family of four had to squeeze onto one bed, making everything inconvenient. As a result, before the original owner and Lu Yuan could even have any marital relations, he had already been taken away as a conscript.
“Mother…”
Pei Luo was lost in thought when someone suddenly tugged at her skirt. Looking down, she saw the little girl gazing up at her timidly. That single word—mother—softened her heart completely.
Getting such an adorable pair of children for free… thinking about it, it wasn’t such a bad deal.
Pei Luo crouched down and helped the two children to their feet. Together they weighed less than fifty jin, thin to the point of being skin and bones. Bruises could be seen on the parts of their arms not covered by their sleeves—clear signs of beatings.
They were such small children, yet the original owner had still been able to strike them. It was truly heartless.
“Be good. Take your brother inside first. Mother will cook for you.”
Pei Luo gently rubbed the little girl’s head. The child’s body stiffened in fear, yet she didn’t dare avoid the touch. She never knew when her stepmother’s hand might suddenly turn into a slap.
In the past, she had cried and resisted. But after being beaten so many times, she no longer dared to. She still had to protect her younger brother. If her stepmother wasn’t satisfied after beating her, she would beat her brother as well. So every time she was beaten, she would stand still obediently. Even if she fell, she would get up and continue enduring the blows.
But today, her stepmother seemed different.
Although she used to beat her, today she had protected both her and her brother. The little girl was still young, but she understood one thing: compared to being sold to traffickers, getting beaten was already much better. So even if her stepmother beat her again in the future, she wouldn’t blame her.
At least she wouldn’t sell them.
“Mother… Xiao Man can cook. Xiao Man can make the food.”
The little girl wanted to behave well so that her stepmother might give her and her brother something to eat. Otherwise, they might truly starve to death.
Looking at the obedient child, Pei Luo felt her heart ache. Because she had inherited the original owner’s memories, she understood exactly why the girl behaved this way. And precisely because she knew, it made her heart ache even more.
“Xiao Man, before… Mother was wrong. Mother shouldn’t have hit you. I was angry because your father had just married me and then left, so I took my anger out on you.”
“But I promise that from now on, I will never hit you again. And as long as Mother has even one bite of food, I will never let the two of you go hungry.”
“Do you believe Mother?”