The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 133 Resentment

Chapter 133: Chapter 133 Resentment

Wang Yongzhu didn’t have time to think; she decisively stepped forward, inserting herself between Old Granny Zhang and Wang Yongfu. She firmly grasped Old Granny Zhang’s hand while looking very dissatisfied at Wang Yongfu. "Eldest brother, sister-in-law, it’s really inappropriate for you to wrong our mother and us like this. You can’t just blame us without any clear distinction, simply based on a few unclear words from a child like Jinguan, can you? Jinguan is still a child; he doesn’t understand much, having heard just bits and pieces, and now his babbling has led to your misunderstanding."

"Mom is an elder and it’s not proper for her to argue with you, but I, as the youngest sister, can’t stand by and watch without defending Dad, Mom, and Fourth Brother. Eldest Brother, how did you get hurt? Wasn’t it because you and sister-in-law, despite Dad’s forbidding to go to the mountain, went secretly to dig yams in hopes of saving up some private money, and then were ambushed by Li Jinlong? Li Jinlong’s intentions were malicious; what does that have to do with Fourth Brother? Besides, when you were hurt, didn’t Fourth Brother and Song Chongjin carry you to Doctor Liu in the neighboring village without stopping to rest? Your injuries were so severe, Doctor Liu said he couldn’t save you, but Dad, Mom, and all of us didn’t give up and pleaded with Old Doctor Liu, who then directed us to take you to Doctor Ma in town."

"Dad, at his old age, followed the rugged mountain roads for dozens of miles, and together with Fourth Brother, took care of you without rest for an entire night. And what about sister-in-law? She was so scared that she only knew how to cry by the side! If it wasn’t for Dad and Fourth Brother, do you think you could have woken up? Do you know how much silver it costs to stay at Doctor Ma’s each day? Five taels of silver a day! Dad and Mom didn’t complain, they just said as long as you could be saved, no matter the cost, they would spend all they had, even if it meant bankrupting themselves! Now you’ve been in bed for three days, and the fifteen shiny taels of silver were all given out by Mom!"

"Do you know where that silver came from? It was from the compensation silver when Fourth Brother broke off his engagement, plus the money I made from selling yellow pine mushrooms! Just now, Mom paid another two days’ worth of medical bills, another ten taels! Did you think this silver fell from the sky? Are you not aware of how much our family has? This is Mom and Dad taking out their own burial savings for you, and you’re still not satisfied? What more do you want us to do? Mom and Dad have not wronged you and sister-in-law in the slightest! Yet, because of a few childish words from Jinguan, you harbor resentment toward us. Even if we are family, this is too disheartening! If you don’t believe it, these matters can be inquired about outside; you can ask Doctor Ma and see if I’ve said even half a lie?"

Upon these words, Wang Yongfu’s expression softened, showing a hint of hesitation and guilt.

Lady Lin, standing by, couldn’t help but defend Jinguan: "But you still shouldn’t bully Jinguan just because I and your eldest brother weren’t at home. How come kids from the other room get meat to eat, whereas our Jinguan doesn’t even get meat, let alone a meal? Your eldest brother and I can only settle for two pancakes a day in town and since he’s injured, he can only drink some rice soup. How come you are feasting on fat meat and eggs at home, even hosting guests with alcohol? Where is the justice in that? Even if I, as a daughter-in-law, am considered an outsider, your eldest brother is still one of your own and a patient at that. I’ve never heard of you sending any delicacies for him. After all, it’s just because you despise him for being useless now!"

Even with Wang Yongzhu’s best self-restraint, she couldn’t bear it anymore. She glared at Jinguan, who still didn’t realize the trouble he almost caused, and sneered. "Sister-in-law had better ask Jinguan carefully about what happened. Why were we eating fat meat, eggs, and entertaining guests with drinks at home? It was because we had to thank the Clan Leader for supporting our family; otherwise, how would we settle accounts with the Li Family? The Clan Leader and our clan members have greatly helped our family; how could we not even offer them a meal? I wasn’t aware, sister-in-law, that you didn’t even know such basic social manners and etiquette."

"Besides, who said Jinguan didn’t get to eat meat? Didn’t he go up to the table and ask Second Brother for some meat? It’s just that he wasn’t satisfied with one piece and then went to Fourth Brother, who didn’t give him any and said he wanted to give the meat to me for finding the real culprit behind your injury. Seeing that Jinguan had already eaten, and that Third Sister-in-law had been managing household chores diligently and without complaint these past few days, and the kids were running around helping out, so I gave the piece of meat to Jinhua and her two siblings to share. Has this been twisted into Jinguan not getting any meat to eat? Is it that in sister-in-law’s heart, only your Jinguan is worthy of eating meat?"

"With Eldest Brother’s incident, our entire family had no other concerns; everyone, young and old, was busy dealing with Eldest Brother’s matter, and even Second Brother from the county rushed back overnight to stand up for Eldest Brother. After all our hustle these days, just because of a piece of meat, such resentment is directed at us! If that’s the case, we won’t stay here and be disliked anymore! Mom, let’s go! We’ll take these pancakes with us too; I suppose Eldest Brother and sister-in-law would look down upon them anyway, to avoid further complaints."

Having said that, she abruptly pulled Old Granny Zhang and started to leave.

Wang Yongfu was both anxious and ashamed, wanting to get off the kang to stop them, but unfortunately, his body was immobile. He wanted to say something to retain them, but the more anxious he became, the more awkward his speech, with tears rolling down his cheeks, dampening his hair. He stretched out his hands, wanting to hold them back, but his arms wouldn’t respond, no matter how hard he tried, his face flushing redder with urgency.

Lady Lin was rendered speechless by Wang Yongzhu’s barrage of scathing words. Ever since her younger sister-in-law had awoken from falling into the pond, presumably because of the annulled engagement, and considering the fact that girls were sensitive and knew such matters were humiliating, it would be difficult for her to find a match in the future. Knowing that even if she got married, she would still have to rely on her elder brother and sister-in-law, she had since been acting more obediently. She no longer nitpicked with excess pride in her eyes towards her sister-in-law, instead behaving quite politely.

She had even taken secret pleasure in the thought that no matter how much her mother-in-law spoiled her younger sister-in-law, regardless of how much the latter looked down upon her as the elder sister-in-law, she would still have to seek support from her brother and sister-in-law after getting married. The one who had hardly spared her a glance in the past would eventually have to come begging, humbly seeking favors.

She had also laughed at Old Granny Zhang, such a shrewd and formidable person, giving birth to a sister-in-law who used to be thoughtless and obstinately arrogant. After the engagement was broken off, she had actually managed to restrain her temper, knowing that she would have to rely on others in the future, learning to read people’s faces.

Therefore, although she still dared not openly conflict with Old Granny Zhang, deep inside she had frequently mocked her a few times.

At this moment, seeing her younger sister-in-law no longer remaining silent, and instead exploding in anger, she was somewhat taken aback. Observing her mother-in-law and younger sister-in-law storm out the door, she was uncertain whether to stop them or not.

Only then did Jinguan come to a bewildered realization that her moment of discontent, which had led her to tattle to her parents, might have, might have angered both her grandmother and her aunt?

It was only after Wang Yongzhu and Old Granny Zhang had left like a whirlwind that Wang Yongfu, with tears streaming down his face, weakly moved his hands and resignedly closed his eyes.

He knew that this time, he had truly broken his mother’s heart.