The second son looked at his mother, resentment churning nonstop in his mind.
He had no idea what had gotten into the old woman today. When his father died, she had only been a little over thirty, yet she claimed she was already old and weak and refused to work in the fields.
How could someone in their thirties possibly be too old to do farm work?
But filial piety outweighed everything. If a mother said she wouldn’t work the fields, how could her children dare force her?
Now she suddenly wanted to go work in the fields again—wasn’t that cutting off his path to running his own business?
Ye Wen noticed that both the eldest and second sons were staring at her nervously.
The eldest was nervous because he felt guilty—he had clearly said he was going to teach Lian-niang a lesson, so why had Mother become even angrier instead?
As for why the second son was nervous… there was probably something else going on there.
Ye Wen’s curiosity was instantly piqued. The second son was so unwilling to let her go work in the fields—what secret was he hiding?
She had to get to the bottom of it!
“This matter is settled,” she said decisively. “After your father passed away, I was afraid of wearing out my body, so I stayed out of the fields all these years. But all the hard work ended up falling on you. As your mother, I really couldn’t bear it. Since we’re going to change things, we might as well start today. Don’t worry—I know my limits. I’ll do what I can and won’t push myself.”
“If I do a bit more, you’ll have it a bit easier. You’re all flesh of my flesh—I can’t bear to see you suffering.”
Hearing herself say this made Ye Wen feel nauseated.
The eldest son, however, was so moved that tears streamed down his face as he wiped his eyes over and over. To him, his mother seemed especially different today. In the past, she always complained that he was useless and wouldn’t even bother talking to him. Today, not only had she spoken so many considerate words, she was even worried about him tiring himself out.
Ye Wen watched helplessly as the number above Wen Xiangdong’s head jumped from 82 to 85, and the corner of her mouth twitched.
The eldest son was way too easy to placate—just a few nice words and he was this touched?
Looking at the second son again, there was no reaction at all.
Not only did the second son disagree, but as soon as Tian Chunhua heard that she would have to cook from now on, her face immediately darkened.
She had been holding in her anger all night, and now she couldn’t suppress it any longer.
“Mother, I still have to look after Yaozu. How would I have time to cook? What if the child starts crying? What then?”
All the cooking for such a big family would fall on her—wouldn’t that wear her to the ground?
Besides, this work had always been the eldest sister-in-law’s responsibility. Why should it be pushed onto her now?
Ye Wen hadn’t expected the first person to speak up against her to be the second daughter-in-law. Her expression immediately turned cold.
She had always been decisive and forceful at work. Once she hardened her face, the atmosphere in the room instantly grew heavy.
“What I said was that you and Xiaonan will do it together. Besides, when I have time, I’ll come back to help. Are three people really unable to make one meal? Didn’t the eldest daughter-in-law manage like this before?”
“If you think cooking is too easy, then go work in the fields with the eldest and second sons. I’ll cook, and the child can stay at home. I don’t believe it—if I managed to raise all four of them, could I really not take care of one grandson?”
As soon as these words came out, Tian Chunhua’s face looked as ugly as if she had swallowed a fly.
How did talking more only land her with heavier work?
Anger burned in Tian Chunhua’s chest, but she no longer dared to argue back.
Ye Wen didn’t even spare her a glance and continued, “I’ll say it again. From now on, this household will operate on labor-based distribution. Anyone who slacks off will go hungry. Right now, you’re only getting half a flatbread because you’re nursing the child. Once the child is weaned…”
She snorted coldly.
“I’m afraid you won’t even get this half a flatbread. Don’t believe me? You can try.”
After being scolded so harshly, no matter how dissatisfied Tian Chunhua felt inside, she didn’t dare show it on her face. She knew her mother-in-law’s temperament all too well—if she really angered her, there would be endless hardship ahead.
On the contrary, Wen Xiangnan agreed quite a bit with Ye Wen’s words.
She firmly believed in the saying “to capture a man’s heart, you must first capture his stomach.” She was already planning to hone her cooking skills in the years before marriage, so she was especially enthusiastic about learning to cook alongside her mother.
Ye Wen glanced over and saw the number above the second daughter-in-law’s head drop from 10 to 9. She rolled her eyes inwardly.
Great—making her do a bit of work and she already held a grudge.
Still, when it came to dealing with the second household, Ye Wen had plenty of ways to keep them in line.
“Don’t all feel wronged,” Ye Wen changed her tone, softening it slightly. “I’ve arranged things this way so our family can live better and better. At the end of each month, I’ll give everyone some compensation based on how much they contribute. I won’t let any of you work for nothing.”
Dangling rewards like this was a classic way to motivate subordinates in the workplace. As a former mid-level manager, she was well-versed in it.
Sure enough, as soon as she said this, everyone’s eyes lit up. Even Tian Chunhua, who had been pouting just moments ago, eagerly asked, “Mother, what kind of compensation? Is it… eggs? Could it be…” She swallowed hard. “Meat?”
If working more really meant getting to eat meat, she’d be willing even if it broke her back!
“As long as you’re willing to work hard, what’s eating meat?” Ye Wen pressed on while the iron was hot. “Even dividing up silver based on the harvest isn’t impossible.”
Unexpectedly, those words were like a bucket of cold water, dousing most of the enthusiasm that had just flared up.
The second son, Wen Xiangxi, curled his lip, dissatisfaction in his voice. “Mother, whenever you have even a bit of silver, you save it all for Third Brother. How could something this good ever reach us? Don’t use these words to make us happy.”
“That’s right, Mother,” Wen Xiangnan echoed. “If you said we’d get meat today, we might believe you. But splitting money? That doesn’t sound very reliable.”
The eldest son couldn’t help but interject, “Mother, didn’t you say just the other day that Third Brother’s tuition still hasn’t been settled…”
Halfway through, his gaze dimmed, and he swallowed the rest of his words.
Ye Wen knew exactly what he wanted to say.
The original owner of this body had been so extreme that, just days ago, she had actually thought about selling Xiaocao to scrape together Third Brother’s tuition. It just so happened that Xiaocao was sick at the time and thin and frail—so frail that even the human traffickers worried she wouldn’t survive and refused to take her. Only then had the idea been dropped.
Looking at the suspicious expressions on her children’s faces, Ye Wen felt genuinely helpless.
It wasn’t that they wouldn’t buy what she was selling—the family itself was simply too absurd. The original owner had kept all the money firmly in her own hands, and aside from Third Brother, no one was allowed to take even a single coin from her.
She chose her words carefully and said, “It’s my fault for not explaining clearly. What I mean is that from now on, whenever the family has any income, I’ll distribute some rewards as appropriate. If we earn grain, we’ll share rice. If we buy meat, we’ll share meat. If there’s money, we’ll split money. Is that clear now?”
“As for Third Brother’s tuition…” She paused. “There’s still some time. Mother will always find a way.”
“As long as our family is united, with our hearts and strength working as one, we’ll definitely make our lives prosperous. Only then can your father rest easy in the afterlife. Otherwise…”
She deliberately lowered her voice.
“If he keeps coming to me in dreams, that’s one thing. But if he really can’t stand seeing us live like this and gets angry enough to take all of us with him, what then?”
As soon as she said this, the children all sucked in a sharp breath.
After all, they were people of ancient times, deeply reverent of ghosts and spirits. Thinking of their father’s strong-willed nature when he was alive—how they’d be harshly scolded whenever they failed to meet expectations as children—if he really saw them living like this, he just might actually do such a thing.