With the household already large and now including Mrs. Xia and her daughter, Xia Dani and Xia Erni could no longer eat at the table. Old Madam Xia filled two large earthen bowls halfway with brown rice, added some Napa cabbage, dried tofu, cucumber, and Chinese cabbage noodles, then scooped some stewed soybeans over the top—this constituted Dani and Erni’s meal.
As she scooped, Old Madam Xia remarked, “Only the girls in our family are so precious, with food piled up like small hills. Count your blessings. Girls in other families don’t even get enough to eat, all of them skinny and sallow from hunger.”
Xia Dani and Xia Erni took their bowls and very consciously went to sit on small stools to eat.
Xia Li deeply despised the old woman’s favoritism toward boys over girls.
Those two young girls, though not old, worked as full laborers. Especially Erni, who worked even more than Little Mrs. Yang, yet didn’t get even a bit of meat or pork cracklings.
Then, the old woman began distributing the pork trotters, muttering as she did, “I cut this pork trotter into nineteen pieces. With nine people, each gets two pieces, and the old man gets one extra…”
After scooping three pieces for Old Man Xia, Old Madam Xia then gave two pieces each to herself, her two sons, Mrs. Xia and Xia Li, and her three grandsons. Xia Li noticed that the two pieces in her and Mrs. Xia’s bowls were rather small.
Old Man Xia picked up a piece of pork trotter from his own bowl and gave it to Xia Li, saying, “This pork trotter is to nourish Li Girl. Li Girl should eat more.”
Among the Xia family, only Old Man Xia dared to give meat from his own bowl to others. If anyone else did it, Old Madam Xia would scold them—not only the one giving the meat but also the one receiving it, and there might be further punishment.
Xia Li quickly returned the meat to Old Man Xia, smiling, “Grandpa, I have enough.”
Old Man Xia gave it to her again, “If it’s given to you, eat it. Get your health back sooner.”
Mrs. Xia also gave a piece from her bowl to Xia Li, saying softly, “Your grandfather is right. Eat more and recover your health sooner.”
Old Madam Xia shot several sharp glances at Xia Li, opened her mouth as if to speak, but ultimately didn’t dare say much.
The original young host had been treated well in the Xia family and accepted it without qualms. Xia Li found Old Man Xia’s chopsticks somewhat hard to accept, but seeing his insistence, she closed her eyes and ate it.
Actually, she really wanted to share some with the two young girls sitting off to the side, but she knew that if they dared accept it, Old Madam Xia wouldn’t just scold them—she’d find opportunities to starve them later.
Little Mrs. Yang glanced enviously at the heaping meat in Xia Li’s bowl, then glared at Xia Li before rummaging through the soybean soup with her chopsticks. She actually found a small piece of pork skin and ate it herself. Meanwhile, Li picked up several pork cracklings and got up to give them all to Xia Dani.
Little Mrs. Yang quickly snatched a piece of fried fatty pork, but Old Madam Xia hit her chopsticks and scolded her several times.
Xia Li didn’t take any fatty pork herself, but Old Man Xia gave her two slices. In her previous life, she hadn’t liked fatty meat, finding it greasy, but now after eating so much meat, she didn’t feel greasy at all.
The meal was lively and noisy, but Xia Li inwardly complained endlessly. Being a woman in ancient times wasn’t easy—it wasn’t just daughters-in-law who were exploited and oppressed. The journey from young girl to daughter-in-law, and then from daughter-in-law to mother-in-law, was far too long!
Once again, she felt grateful that Mrs. Xia was such a good mother—a gentle woman who remained steadfast for her daughter’s sake. It was a pity that her own daughter had already passed away, her fragrance faded too soon.
After the meal, Li and her daughter cleared the dishes and went to the kitchen to wash them, while the others stayed in the room chatting. Old Madam Xia brought up again how Xia Li had been pushed into the river by a malicious man and nearly drowned, lamenting how pitiable the orphan and widow were, and insisting that a household without a man simply couldn’t manage. The old woman spoke with such vivid emotion, the wrinkles on her face deepening, that she seemed genuinely heartbroken for her daughter and granddaughter.
Everyone sighed in sympathy.
Xia Li knew that with such an elaborate setup, the old lady was about to bring up the matter of adoption again.
Little Mrs. Yang also understood the old woman’s intention and was inwardly delighted. She nudged San Bao and said, “Our San Bao is such a good boy—he’s Eldest Aunt’s own nephew and Li Girl’s own cousin. If he becomes Eldest Aunt’s son and Li Girl’s younger brother, those wretched men won’t dare to bother Eldest Aunt anymore…”
The last remark was offensive, and Mrs. Xia’s face darkened with grief and indignation. “Sister-in-law, how can you tarnish my reputation like this? We may be a widow and an orphan, but if we need to rely on anyone, it would be my parents and brothers. We’ve never had to beg you for anything. I haven’t even started freeloading off my parents’ family yet, and already you speak of me so harshly. If we ever truly fall into destitution, wouldn’t you and your kind bully us to death?”
By the end, she was sobbing aloud.
Xia Li added fuel to the fire, “Second Maternal Uncle’s Wife has a vicious heart! She can’t even wait for us to fall into ruin—she wants to anger us to death first, so San Bao won’t even need to be adopted, and they can just take our family property directly!”
Old Man Xia and Old Madam Xia were furious and began scolding vehemently. Xia Zhu glared fiercely at Little Mrs. Yang, and Xia Tie even slapped her.
Xia Li thought to herself, Little Mrs. Yang was nothing but a liability. Old Madam Xia had laid so much groundwork, only to have it derailed by her careless final remark. Mrs. Xia’s outburst had infuriated Old Man Xia and his sons, making it impossible for Old Madam Xia to use Xia Li’s near-drowning as a pretext to push for San Bao’s adoption.
Old Man Xia scanned the room and declared solemnly, “Lan Niang has suffered greatly for this family and is a filial, good daughter. We owe much of our current well-being to her contributions. Remember her kindness and stop coveting the little they have—it’s their means of survival. In the future, when we find a son-in-law for Li Girl, Lan Niang and her daughter will have support, and their property will remain theirs, not flow to outsiders.”
Xia Zhu and Xia Tie quickly assured him they would treat their sister well. Even Xia Erhu pledged to stand by Eldest Aunt and Sister Li.
The old woman added, “If we’re finding a son-in-law, it should be Daxiong. We can’t let all that property go to an outsider…”
Old Man Xia scowled and said, “What’s wrong with you, old woman? Didn’t I make myself clear just now? Stop scheming for their property. Whoever Li Girl marries will be decided by Lan Niang—she won’t harm her own daughter. Don’t interfere.”
Xia Daxiong flushed bright red with embarrassment and ran off.
Old Madam Xia didn’t dare say another word.
Xia Li snorted inwardly—her family’s affairs had been completely arranged by them!
Old Madam Xia and Little Mrs. Yang wanted to seize her family’s property for their grandson (son), while Old Man Xia, though supportive of them, had his limits: the property must remain with the mother and daughter, not be handed to outsiders. The implication was clear—Mrs. Xia could not remarry, and Xia Li could only take in a live-in son-in-law.
Is it really worth making such a fuss over just a courtyard and a well? Who knows how they’d act if we ever earned more money in the future.
Mrs. Xia and Xia Li didn’t respond to the elderly couple’s remarks. They stood up and took their leave.
After returning home, Mrs. Xia said to Xia Li, “Your grandfather genuinely has our best interests at heart. We shouldn’t openly oppose him—if even he stops helping us, our lives will become even harder. Let them say what they want; we’ll carry on as we always have. Later, when you find a good match, we can sell this courtyard and, with the money we’ve saved over time, put together a proper dowry. The silver at home will be your Dowry Silver—don’t breathe a word of it to anyone…”