After Song Zhaodi finished speaking, she quickly distributed the fish meat without giving everyone time to react.
Ignoring the fish in the bowl, Zhao Lanzhi grabbed her hand and asked with concern, “How did you fall into the water?”
Song Yaodong’s face was also full of worry.
Now is the time to grab meat, it’s really not the right time to talk about anything else, so Song Zhaodi waved her hand and said, “Let’s talk after we finish eating.”
Sun Xiuhe was furious. She wanted to scold Song Zhaodi, but she couldn’t say it directly, lest she seem like she only cared about her own son and ruin her public image. She could only glare angrily at Song Dachuan.
Song Dachuan was also dissatisfied with Song Zhaodi. In his mind, girls were destined to marry into other families and were not as good as male offspring who would continue the family line.
“Zhao Di, you…”
“Grandpa, the fish I caught today is very big. I kept half of it specifically for my uncle. Don’t worry.”
They’ve kept it, but who will get to eat it is anyone’s guess.
This remark directly shut down Song Dachuan’s reprimand.
A grown man, especially an elder, can’t very well shamelessly compete with the younger generation for food.
It was still dirty with saliva and snot.
Although he was angry, he couldn’t afford to lose his temper, so he picked up a piece of shepherd’s purse with his chopsticks and glared at Sun Xiuhe.
It’s as if it’s saying: Look what you’ve done.
Noticing that his expression was off, Zhao Lanzhi quickly served Song Dachuan a bowl of river fish porridge and said, “Father, we’ve been eating for a while now and we’re fine, so you can eat as well.”
Song Dachuan was skeptical, but after taking a sip, he grunted and his eyes lit up. Then he picked up the bowl and sipped it slowly, turning it around in circles.
Despite her anger, Sun Xiuhe didn’t want to suffer from indigestion, especially since they didn’t seem to be poisoned.
I picked up my bowl, intending to get some river fish porridge, but when I peeked inside, there wasn’t a single grain of rice left in the pot.
She was so angry that she could only chew on the shepherd’s purse with resentment, too ashamed to eat the water celery.
Finally, the Song family of four ate their fill, and Song Dachuan was also half full. Only Sun Xiuhe had a piece of fish tail with little meat in it, and her stomach was filled with old shepherd’s purse.
Heartburn.
Sun Xiuhe was so angry during that meal that she felt full.
Seeing that Song Zhaodi and the others were busy with their tasks, she hurriedly went to Song Dachuan to sow discord.
“Honey, have you seen this? This eldest daughter is becoming more and more unruly these days.”
Song Dachuan was rolling tobacco leaves and said casually, “The eldest girl has always been well-behaved and obedient. I suppose she was frightened today.”
He who eats another’s food is bound to do so.
With the lingering aroma of the river fish porridge still in his mouth, Song Dachuan smacked his lips and said, “The eldest girl’s cooking is better than yours. That porridge was indeed quite good.”
Sun Xiuhe was so angry she was practically spitting fire. She snatched the tobacco leaves from Song Dachuan’s hand and spat, “You’re full, but I’m still starving! Is this how your Song family bullies an old woman like me?”
“How could I have married such a poor wretch like you? If it were anyone else, I would have run away long ago. My life is so miserable.”
When Song Zhaodi finished washing the dishes and came out, she heard Sun Xiuhe’s wailing and howling.
This was a bad sign. Song Dachuan was easily swayed and couldn’t resist Sun Xiuhe’s crying, tantrums, and threats of suicide.
Whenever Sun Xiuhe cries, Song Dachuan will definitely speak up for her, and Song Zhaodi and the others will always be the ones who suffer.
Thinking of this, Song Zhaodi quickly wiped her hands clean and went to find her parents.
Inside the room, Zhao Lanzhi was decocting medicine, and Song Yaodong sighed.
“Pour two more bowls of water.”
Zhao Lanzhi paused in her pouring of water, disagreeing, “The doctor said to boil three bowls of water down to one bowl. If you add too much water, the medicine will be less effective.”
Song Yaodong glanced at the leg that was fixed in place by a wooden board, waved his hand and said, “It’s not quite there yet. It takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone, and you have to rest during that time and can’t do any work.”
“Given our family’s current situation, how can we afford the medicine cost of thirty coins a day?”
When they went to see the doctor today, after deducting the cost of the consultation, the couple only had enough money left to buy three days’ worth of medicine.
The money for the medicine three days from now is still nowhere to be found.
Zhao Lanzhi couldn’t bear to see her husband sick and unable to afford treatment. After hesitating for a moment, she steeled herself and put the lid on the medicine pot without adding any more water.
“I’m going back to my parents’ home in a couple of days to pick up Yadi. I’ll borrow some money from my brothers then.”
“The doctor said that when you fell, you hit your head and there was still blood stasis inside. If the medicine is less effective, your body will recover more slowly, which will only delay things further.”
Song Yaodong knew this made sense, but he had borrowed a lot of money from his wife’s family over the years, and he truly felt humiliated.
He and Zhao Lanzhi were betrothed as children, but after his mother died, his family began to decline.
When Song Dachuan remarried Sun Xiuhe, he spent most of his family’s savings.
Not two years later, Sun Xiuhe’s eldest son, Li Youcai, got married again, spending almost all of the remaining half of their savings.
When Song Yaodong was about to get married, he couldn’t even afford a few taels of silver as a bride price, but Zhao Lanzhi still resolutely married him.
“It’s my fault for being incompetent, making you suffer and toil with me…”
Song Yaodong felt genuinely guilty, but ever since losing his mother, he had been working tirelessly.
During the busy farming season, he would go to the fields before dawn, and during the off-season, he would go to town to work.
Aside from eating and sleeping, there was no rest. He thought he could provide a good life for his wife, but unexpectedly, the family became poorer and poorer.
Facing the loess soil with their backs to the sky, they rise earlier than the roosters and sleep later than the oxen.
Song Yaodong’s diligence is undeniable, but he couldn’t escape the presence of termites in his home.
“Squeak~”
When Song Zhaodi pushed open the door, the couple immediately concealed their emotions and put on smiles. “Zhaodi, come and rest. You must be tired after a long day.”
Song Zhaodi shook her head, clutching the money pouch hidden at her waist, and walked over.
Upon seeing the loving faces of the couple, the slight hesitation in my heart vanished.
They were the original owner’s parents, who loved her dearly. Now that she had taken their body, they were family.
She took out the money pouch from her bosom. “Father, Mother, don’t worry, I still have 185 coins here.”
Upon hearing this, the couple felt as if they were dreaming.
Upon seeing the real copper coin, he was both surprised and delighted. He learned that he had gotten it from selling turtles and exclaimed that he had struck it lucky.
“Now your father’s medicine money can last for a few more days.”
Song Zhaodi nodded and said, “There’s plenty of water celery in that river. Let’s go get more tomorrow and sell it in town.”
Upon hearing this, the couple’s dim eyes brightened considerably, as if they had seen a glimmer of hope.
Zhao Lanzhi couldn’t wait any longer and rolled up her sleeves to sharpen her sickle. “Let’s get up early tomorrow morning and go to the market.”
Song Yaodong laughed and said, “You don’t know how to sharpen knives. Why don’t you bring the sickle and whetstone into the room and I’ll sharpen them for you?”
Although life at home was hard, as long as Song Yaodong was around, Zhao Lanzhi didn’t have to do any of the more strenuous work.
Soon, Song Yaodong had sharpened the two sickles until they were gleaming.
With the money issue resolved, Song Zhaodi didn’t forget the fussy old lady next door.
She estimated that Song Dachuan would make trouble soon, so she needed to prepare her parents in advance.
“Speaking of water, Zhao Di almost didn’t see her parents today,” she said.
The couple’s excitement froze instantly at those words, and they asked in unison, “When we were eating, what did you say happened when you fell into the water?”
After listening to Song Zhaodi’s account, I felt both scared and angry.
“Mother, why are you like this?” Zhao Lanzhi exclaimed angrily, then quickly pulled Song Zhaodi over to examine her closely. “Luckily, my son is alive.”
Song Yaodong also looked serious, his brows furrowed, his chest heaving. “I’ll go ask her and get justice for Zhao Di!”