Li Xiuyun glared at Wu Yulan, her eyes so red they seemed about to bleed.
“Mother, stop pretending. Chun Ni already told us—you personally said you were going to sell her.”
Hearing this, Wu Yulan rubbed her forehead in exasperation.
She looked at Chun Ni. “Chun Ni, it’s true that Grandma said I would sell you. But do you remember who I said I would sell you to?”
As for being sold, Chun Ni naturally remembered it clearly. “Grandma, you said you were going to sell me to Wu Yulan.”
Wang Guiqin blinked and tugged at her husband’s sleeve. “Wu Yulan? Isn’t that… Mother’s name?”
Song Zhiyong caught on that something else was going on.
He looked at his mother. “That’s right. Wu Yulan—that is indeed Mother’s name.”
Li Xiuyun froze, then realized she might truly have misunderstood her mother-in-law.
“Mother, you… you weren’t planning to sell Chun Ni?”
Wu Yulan didn’t answer. Instead, gripping the stick in her hand, she strode toward Granny Wang. “Granny Wang, I never said I was selling my granddaughter. So who exactly took your silver?”
Granny Wang also sensed something was off. She pulled out the contract of sale. “It’s written clearly in black and white. Your youngest son took the silver too!”
“Song Zhishu!”
Wu Yulan was truly furious now. She knew the original host had spoiled the youngest son rotten, but she hadn’t expected him to be this rotten—
Rotten to the core.
Hiding not far away, Song Zhishu realized the truth had come out. He quickly scrambled up from the bushes where he had been crouching and ran off.
“Whoever took your silver, go find them. My granddaughter is absolutely not for sale!”
Granny Wang sneered disdainfully. “Hah. You’ve already sold two granddaughters—what are you pretending for now?”
She knew Wu Yulan was not easy to deal with. Since the money hadn’t gone into her hands, it would be hard to get it back from her. She planned to leave with her hired thugs and find Song Zhishu to demand repayment.
“Hold it!”
Wu Yulan stood at the doorway, the wooden stick in her hand itching for action. “You hit my daughter-in-law and think you can just walk away?”
Granny Wang had brought two burly thugs with her. She wasn’t afraid of Wu Yulan at all and crossed her arms.
“I hit her. So what? You think you can hit me back?”
Seeing this, Li Xiuyun hurried over and grabbed Wu Yulan. “Mother, I’m fine.”
Granny Wang had two strong adult men with her, while their own family consisted mostly of the elderly, women, and children. If a fight broke out, they would certainly come out worse.
She didn’t want her family to get hurt because of her.
Wu Yulan shot Wang Guiqin a look. Understanding immediately, Wang Guiqin quickly trotted over and pulled Li Xiuyun away.
“Xiuyun, Mother knows what she’s doing. Step aside—don’t let yourself get hurt.”
Li Xiuyun hesitated but moved aside, still looking worried.
Wu Yulan didn’t waste words. She swung the stick and struck Granny Wang squarely across the face.
Granny Wang hadn’t expected Wu Yulan to truly dare to hit her. Knocked to the ground by the blow, she clutched her head and wailed.
“Ow—!”
“You old hag! You really dare to hit me?!”
Li Xiuyun hadn’t expected her mother-in-law to actually strike Granny Wang for her sake.
That feeling of being protected made her eyes burn with tears.
Seeing her two thugs still standing there, Granny Wang spat as she shouted, “What are you standing around for? Beat this old hag to death!”
Song Zhiyong, leaning on his crutch, walked forward with a cold expression and stood in front of his mother.
“If you want to touch my mother, you’ll have to beat me to death first!”
The others followed suit, stepping forward to shield Wu Yulan.
“If you want to touch Mother—Grandma—you’ll have to beat us to death first!”
The loudest shouts came from Song Dalang and Song Erlang.
Seeing her entire family rush forward to stand protectively in front of her, Wu Yulan felt deeply gratified.
She straightened her back even more. “Wang Pozi, of all people you shouldn’t have touched, you chose to lay hands on my third daughter-in-law. She just gave birth—if anything happens to her, I’ll go straight to the authorities and have you thrown into jail!”
Hearing this, Li Xiuyun’s eyes shifted slightly. Suddenly, she clutched her head and pretended to faint to the ground.
“Oh! Xiuyun—Xiuyun, what’s wrong with you?” Wang Guiqin cried out anxiously.
When she couldn’t rouse her, she reached out to feel for Li Xiuyun’s breath.
Then she collapsed onto the ground. “This is terrible! Xiuyun… Xiuyun isn’t breathing!”
Chun Ni burst into tears at once.
“Mother, what’s wrong, Mother~!”
Seeing this, Wang Pozi grew a little flustered.
“It… it has nothing to do with me! I only gave her a push!”
Afraid of getting into real trouble, Wang Pozi acted as though her feet were on fire and fled out of the courtyard, clutching her head.
Wang Guiqin, unaware that Li Xiuyun was pretending, continued wailing. “Mother, Xiuyun’s not breathing! Hurry and call a doctor!”
Li Xiuyun slowly “came to.” “Sister-in-law, I’m fine.”
Seeing Chun Ni still crying, she quickly pulled her into an embrace and soothed her.
“If anything like this happens again in the future, just drive them out.”
After saying this, Wu Yulan stepped out into the courtyard and pushed the cart back in.
Now Li Xiuyun truly believed that her mother-in-law had no intention of selling her daughter. She held Chun Ni close, gently stroking her forehead again and again.
“Chun Ni, don’t be afraid. Grandma won’t sell you anymore.”
Song Zhiyong recalled what had just happened, his heart filled with shock.
Mother really had changed!
“What are you all standing there for? Hurry and come help!”
At Wu Yulan’s urging, Wang Guiqin was the first to react, jogging over to push the cart.
“Mother, why did you buy so many things?”
Wu Yulan pushed the cart to the kitchen entrance.
“I sold those two buckets of fish today. Bought some rice and flour, a bit of salt. We were out of oil, so I bought some pork fat to render lard.”
As she spoke, she unloaded the items one by one.
“I also bought some big pork bones for soup, and two jin of pork belly. We’ll have braised pork tonight.”
At the sight of the meat in the bucket, longing flashed across Wang Guiqin’s eyes. Clutching the rim of the bucket, she asked hesitantly, “Mother… can we eat the meat too?”
“Yes. Everyone can eat. From now on, whatever I eat, you will eat.”
Wang Guiqin’s emotions were written all over her face. Hearing this, she couldn’t help but grin widely.
“Children’s father, did you hear that? Mother said we’re having meat tonight!”
Even one piece each would be enough to satisfy them.
Song Zhiyong looked at the glistening pork fat, warmth rising in his chest.
“Grandma, Grandma even bought us candied hawthorn!”
Song Erlang took the candied hawthorn out of the bucket—ten whole skewers, bright red and glossy!
Wang Guiqin instinctively glanced at Wu Yulan.
“Go ahead and eat. Just right—one skewer each.”
“Erlang, hand them out to everyone.”
Following her instructions, Song Erlang distributed the candied hawthorn—one skewer per person, with one left over.
“Grandma, is this last one for Uncle?”