The slap she had expected landed instead on her shoulder.
“Eldest daughter-in-law, well done. From now on, use this much rice when cooking porridge!”
Wang Guiqin opened her eyes to find her mother-in-law’s brows soft and gentle, a faint smile resting at the corners of her lips.
It was the first time she had ever been praised by name. Wang Guiqin’s heart leapt with joy.
She scratched her head and gave an embarrassed grin. “Hehe, I’ll listen to you, Mother.”
Wu Yulan walked into the main hall and opened the bundle given by Steward Liu, discovering it was filled with pastries and snacks.
At the sight of the expensive pastries, Wang Guiqin didn’t even dare lift her head, afraid her mother-in-law might think she wanted to eat some—though she truly did want a taste.
Slurp—
Wu Yulan turned around and caught sight of Wang Guiqin’s flushed face.
“Mother, I… I didn’t want to eat any.”
“Open your mouth!”
Wang Guiqin froze, then obediently opened her mouth. When a piece of pastry was stuffed inside, she still felt as if she were dreaming.
Her mother-in-law had actually fed her a piece of pastry!
She had seen those pastries once at the village chief’s house. She had heard that even the cheapest ones cost several wen apiece, while the more expensive ones could cost dozens or even hundreds of wen!
And now Mother had given such a valuable pastry to her!
Did this mean that Mother treated her the best?
“What are you standing there for? Go call the others over. You think you’re going to hog it all for yourself?”
Seeing Wang Guiqin standing there in a daze, Wu Yulan even lifted her leg and gave her a light, teasing kick.
This eldest daughter-in-law was easy to order around—just a bit simple-minded.
Snapping out of it, Wang Guiqin hurried out and called the entire family into the main hall.
Wu Yulan divided the pastries according to the number of people. Even the newborn baby girl received a share.
“One portion each. Take it and eat it yourselves. Whether you eat it now or save it is up to you.
“But don’t let it go bad. If you waste food, see how I deal with you!”
The children held their pastries carefully, sniffing them with delight. The sweet fragrance tickled their noses, and their brows lifted in quiet excitement.
After distributing the pastries, Wu Yulan took out the money from selling the fish.
“Today, Dalang and Erlang went fishing by the river and sold some for money. You’ve all worked hard these days, so I’m dividing this money among you.”
As she spoke, Wu Yulan poured the 230 wen onto the table.
She first set aside thirty wen, planning to give each of the six children five wen.
Of the remaining two hundred wen, each of the three households received sixty-six wen. The remaining two wen she kept for herself.
“Each of your three families gets sixty-six wen. The little ones each get five wen as pocket money.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than a whole group dropped to their knees with loud thuds.
“Mother, we can’t divide the family!”
“If we’ve done something wrong, just tell us. This family must not be split apart.” Song Zhiyong straightened his back, his eyes firm.
Wang Guiqin was a little confused. Just a moment ago, her mother-in-law had fed her pastry—why was she suddenly talking about dividing the family?
The second daughter-in-law, Zhao Lijuan, also pleaded, “Mother, if we’ve done anything poorly, please tell us. I will definitely correct it.”
Wu Yulan sighed and sat down wearily on a stool.
Song Erlang’s eyes rolled, and he moved behind Wu Yulan, gently massaging her shoulders.
“Grandma, please calm down.”
Wu Yulan pressed a hand to her forehead. “Who said I was dividing the family?”
“I just thought you’ve all suffered these past years. It’s inconvenient not having a few coins on hand, so I’m letting each family keep a little.”
Zhao Lijuan and Wang Guiqin exchanged a glance, each seeing astonishment in the other’s eyes.
All these years, their mother-in-law had scraped together even the smallest copper coin. And now she was actually giving them money to keep for themselves?
This…
Was this real?
Wang Guiqin pinched herself hard and yelped in pain.
“Mother, you mean it? You’re really giving us these coins?”
Zhao Lijuan tugged at Wang Guiqin’s sleeve. Based on her understanding of her mother-in-law over the years, these coins were probably just a test. If they truly accepted them, they might end up losing a layer of skin for it!
“If I say I’m giving them to you, then I am.” Wu Yulan pushed the money toward them.
Zhao Lijuan desperately shot looks at Wang Guiqin, but the moment Wang Guiqin saw the copper coins, her eyes crinkled with delight. Grinning foolishly, she reached out and took them.
“Th-then… I’ll take them.”
When Zhao Lijuan saw Wang Guiqin really tuck the string of copper coins into her bosom, her heart leapt into her throat.
Afraid that her mother-in-law would start beating Wang Guiqin and that the sight would be too cruel to watch, she closed her eyes, unable to bear it.
Yet after waiting for quite a while, instead of hearing Wang Guiqin’s cries of pain, she heard the children’s cheerful laughter.
Not only had Wang Guiqin taken the coins, the children had each received some as well. And the mother-in-law, who should have flown into a rage, seemed not to care at all and simply went about her own business.
“See, sister-in-law? I told you—Mother really has changed!”
Wang Guiqin beamed so widely her teeth barely showed as she clutched the silver.
Seeing that Zhao Lijuan still didn’t dare accept the coins, Wang Guiqin picked them up and stuffed them into her hand. “If Mother gave them, we’ll keep them. We’ll listen to her.”
Zhao Lijuan touched the cool copper coins, still unable to believe it.
Her mother-in-law had really given them money!
Not only had the adults received some—even the newborn little girl got five copper coins!
The children were already chirping excitedly, discussing how to spend their coins.
Wu Yulan stood at the doorway. She had assumed the children would rush off to buy candied hawthorns or other treats, but instead they were planning…
“Let’s save the coins. When we’ve saved enough, we’ll redeem Sister Jinhua and Sister Tonghua.”
It was Song Dalang who spoke.
As soon as he said it, the other children eagerly agreed.
Song Erlang nodded. “That’s a good idea. We’ll save up and bring them back!”
Wang Guiqin felt warmth surge through her heart.
“Yes, we’ll save, we’ll save—and bring Jinhua and Tonghua home!”
Zhao Lijuan said nothing, tightening her grip on the copper coins in her hand.
Before, when they hadn’t even a single coin to their name, redeeming her daughters had been nothing but a fantasy. But now…
When Li Xiuyun heard this, she had Chun Ni bring over her share of the silver and divided it into two portions for Wang Guiqin and Zhao Lijuan to save toward redeeming the girls.
The two women refused to take it, telling Li Xiuyun to keep it for now and let them ask for it when they had nearly saved enough.
Watching this, Wu Yulan inwardly cursed the original host again. Selling off her own granddaughters—she truly wasn’t human!
Could it be that these sons and grandchildren weren’t her biological family at all, and only the fourth son, Song Zhishu, was truly her own?
It was possible.
Speaking of Song Zhishu, she hadn’t seen him for several days.
Forget it. Why bother worrying about such an unfilial son—dead or alive?
Wu Yulan rolled up her sleeves and went to cook.
Steward Liu had packed up a roast chicken for her. Wu Yulan directed the younger ones to cut a large handful of chives and pull up a head of cabbage.
For dinner, she made chive omelets and stir-fried cabbage. One drumstick and one wing were left whole, and the rest of the chicken was chopped into small pieces.
“Dinner’s ready!”
Wu Yulan called out, then carried a portion she had prepared for Li Xiuyun and knocked before entering her room.
“Mother.”
When Li Xiuyun saw her, she hurriedly set aside the shoe sole she had been working on.
“Eat first.”
“There’s some mugwort water simmering in the pot. I’ll have your sister-in-law bring it over later so you can wash your hair.”
Li Xiuyun touched her dry, brittle hair, her nose stinging.
“Thank you, Mother.”
“Rest well. Don’t busy yourself with nonsense. Your health is what matters,” Wu Yulan instructed before going to eat herself.
After a long day, Wu Yulan lay down on the bed, exhausted.
She sorted through what needed to be done tomorrow: first, visit Madam Liu at Steward Liu’s house; second, find out where her two granddaughters had been taken and redeem them.
After reviewing everything in her mind and counting her current “assets,” she drifted into a deep sleep.
Early the next morning, when Wu Yulan woke, Wang Guiqin had already followed her instructions and cooked vegetable porridge.
With a bit of pickled vegetables on the side, even a simple meal tasted satisfying.
The family was drinking porridge when shouting suddenly came from the courtyard gate.
“Who is it? So early in the morning!” Wang Guiqin muttered in confusion as she walked outside.