The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 107: Avenge the Eldest Brother!

Chapter 107: Chapter 107: Avenge the Eldest Brother!

Just then, Wang Laozhu stepped forward and grabbed her, and she leaned against him, her tears starting to fall, "My poor son, my Eldest Brother! Mother has wronged you, I married you off to such a bad omen, causing you harm! You’ve had such a hard life, never enjoyed any blessings, and just as your son was growing up, about to enjoy life, he was ruined by that wretched woman Lin Xinghua! This vile woman, worth less than dogs, how could she bear it? Your Lin Family was so poor, wearing the same pair of pants out, and when you married into our Wang Family, other than a trunk full of tattered clothes you couldn’t wear, everything on you was provided by our Wang Family, even worse than a purchased bride."

"In our Wang Family, we didn’t starve you, we let you eat your fill, we kept you warm, you fell into a nest of good fortune! Yet, you were never content, stirring up trouble every day at home, influencing our Eldest Brother to be unfilial to us, his parents. We could have tolerated that since children are a parent’s debt, as long as you were good to our Eldest Brother, we would have accepted you! But you shouldn’t have, you really shouldn’t have harmed your own husband! The Wang Family supported you all these years, yet you are so thin-skinned, threatening to kill yourself over a few scolding words, tempting your husband to disrespect his parents. I really should go to the Lin Family and ask if they harbor a grudge against our Wang Family, to send us such a harmful creature, intent on bringing down my entire Wang Family—"

She continued to sob, "My Eldest Brother, what a sin! How can your mother go on living with you like this? It breaks my heart to think of you, my poor son, with you like this, what are the Jindou brothers going to do? They’re still children, yet they have to support this family now, what kind of sin have we committed—"

Her crying was indeed heart-wrenching.

Those who heard the commotion and came to watch couldn’t help but wipe their own tears.

Wang Laozhu felt even more affected by these words, thinking back to if it hadn’t been for his own mother insisting, pressing his wife with filial piety, he wouldn’t have married Lady Lin, this harmful creature.

At that time, he had even quarreled fiercely with his wife over this, and gave her the cold shoulder for a month until she tearfully agreed to the marriage.

After marrying, although Lady Lin could be a bit scheming, once she had regained her health, she turned out to be quite skilled in handling chores, and as his Eldest Brother was honest and dependable, having such a wife seemed good enough to keep the family stable.

But to his dismay, she had harmed his son!

Jindou, Jinhu, and Jinguan, the three brothers, felt sorrow for their father still unconscious in the house and couldn’t bear to see Lady Lin actually beaten by Old Granny Zhang. Upon hearing Old Granny Zhang’s wailing, especially the last two sentences expressing concern for them, it struck fear and panic deep in their hearts.

Jindou and Jinhu were just red-eyed, but when Jinguan thought about his father becoming disabled, he could not hold back and burst into tears.

The whole family, the old and the young, started crying together, a scene that was heart-breaking to all witnesses and stirred compassion in all listeners.

The entire Apricot Grove Hall was filled with noise, even the neighbors from the surrounding streets came to see what the fuss was about.

Everyone heard Old Granny Zhang’s cries and curses, and soon everyone knew that this was about a daughter-in-law who instigated her husband to gather mountain products to save up some private money and ended up getting him injured by a rock, leaving him disabled.

No wonder his mother felt like cursing, if she had been fiercer, she would even have felt like killing.

And looking at the family, the elderly and the young, with their swollen, red eyes, they truly looked pitiable.

By the time Wang Yongzhu arrived in Shiqiao Town, everyone in the town knew of a daughter-in-law in the neighboring village who had goaded her husband into saving some secret cash, resulting in him getting his waist broken by a falling stone and becoming disabled.

As soon as Wang Yongzhu heard this, how could he not understand? This surely was his own mother’s doing.

Without even pausing to catch his breath, he hurried straight to the pharmacy.

Barely reaching the exterior of the pharmacy, he could hear Old Granny Zhang’s vigorous scolding.

Upon entering, he was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

Old Granny Zhang had found a stone to sit on from somewhere. She was facing a side room, spewing curses while clutching a bamboo tube, taking gulp after gulp to moisten her throat, and then resuming her tirade.

The door of the side room was open, and no one inside spoke a word.

Wang Yongping squatted in the corner, Wang Laozhu sat nearby, chain-smoking bag after bag.

Jindou and his brothers sat at the door, covered in dust and dirt.

"Dad, Mom—" Wang Yongzhu hurriedly called out.

Old Granny Zhang’s scolding stopped abruptly as she turned to see Wang Yongzhu. She quickly scrambled up from the stone, grabbed Wang Yongzhu’s arm, and pretended to pat it twice, "My ancestor, how did you get here? This is dozens of miles of mountain road; do you have no regard for your life? What is Lady Jiang thinking, not stopping you? Oh, my dear, are your legs sore? Are you thirsty? Hungry?" She pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve to wipe the sweat from Wang Yongzhu’s face.

Apart from her own precious daughter, Old Granny Zhang saw no one else.

Meanwhile, Wang Yongping’s eyes lit up when he saw Song Chongjin, hurried forward to greet him, "Brother Song, what brings you here?"

Song Chongjin nodded, "I had some business in town and ran into the Wang Family girl. It was on the way, so we came together to see if Brother Yongfu was doing any better?"

Being straightforward, Wang Yongping couldn’t think too much about it and felt this brother was truly loyal. He had helped carry Eldest Brother down from the mountain yesterday, and today he had specifically made his way to town to visit.

Wang Yongping was so moved that if the place and timing had been right, he would have sworn a blood brotherhood with Song Chongjin there and then.

But Wang Laozhu, sage from old age, knew better. Hadn’t the Song Family Boy avoided their family’s daughter like she was a scorpion? Why was he coming to town with her today?

The more he considered it, the more he felt something was off.

No matter what, his daughter was already disengaged from him, and they better not get tangled up again.

He knocked on his tobacco pipe, "Chongjin, you came to town for business, right? Thank you for visiting my Eldest Brother, but he’s still unconscious, and the air inside is bad, so it’s better you don’t go in. Thanks a lot, if you have other matters, you should go ahead, don’t delay your important business!"

Best to get rid of the boy first.

Only then did Song Chongjin realize that aside from Wang Yongping, it seemed the Wang Family wasn’t too warm towards him?

If Wang Yongzhu knew what he was thinking, she would definitely sneer: Did he not know who he was or what he had done?

Quietly, Old Granny Zhang also asked, "Zhuzhu, how did you end up mixed up with the Song Family Boy again? Weren’t you supposed to search the mountain for clues? Why did you come to town? Did you find any clues?"

When Wang Yongzhu heard Old Granny Zhang say this and saw that both Wang Laozhu and Wang Yongping didn’t ask about the situation on the mountain upon her and Song Chongjin’s arrival, she guessed that Old Granny Zhang probably forgot to tell Wang Laozhu that Eldest Brother had been harmed by someone.

She also asked in a low voice, "Mom, did you forget to tell Dad?"

Old Granny Zhang was suddenly struck, slapping her thigh, "Oh my, as soon as I got here, Doctor Ma said your brother would be disabled for life, and I was so angry that I completely forgot—"

Wang Yongzhu was speechless.

She quickly called over Wang Laozhu and Wang Yongping, "Dad, Fourth Brother, Brother Song and I have come with something very important to discuss with you—let’s go inside—"

Seeing the seriousness in Wang Yongzhu’s face, Wang Laozhu and Wang Yongping looked at Song Chongjin, who nodded expressionlessly.

Wang Laozhu’s heart skipped a beat. Could it be that his daughter was set on going back to a former love, hell-bent on hanging herself on the crooked neck tree of the Song Family?

With trepidation, they entered the house, closing the door behind them.

They left the three Jindou brothers to stand guard outside.

The brothers exchanged glances, crept up to the door to eavesdrop, but the voices inside were too soft to hear clearly. After a short while, they heard their uncle bellow, "Bastards! Those scoundrels! I’ll kill their whole family to avenge my Eldest Brother!"