The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 134: Defending the Shortcomings

Chapter 134: Chapter 134: Defending the Shortcomings

On the other side, Lady Lin came to her senses and realized that after today’s commotion, there was probably no good end in sight. She turned around and saw Jinguan cowering, her anger erupted as she slapped Jinguan’s back, "You little brat, what’s with the nonsense you talk? Why didn’t you explain things clearly? Now, see what you’ve done. Your grandma and your dad will definitely not let us off! Why don’t you understand? With your dad crippled, we will lose all respect in front of your grandparents, and we’ll have to live at the mercy of others. And look at you! For the sake of a piece of meat, you’ve managed to offend both your grandma and your aunt. Knowing your grandma’s temper, who knows how she’ll hold this against us. What are we going to do now, tell me—how are your mother and daughter supposed to live from now on——"

As she spoke, she felt simultaneously desperate as head of the household and worried about her future days in the Wang Family, fearing she would suffer for decades. The sorrow that came from her heart made her burst into tears as she hugged Jinguan and sobbed loudly.

Jinguan, both fearful and pained, started crying loudly as well after being embraced by Lady Lin.

Wang Yongfu lay in bed, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably, both out of despair and hatred for becoming a crippled man who could no longer protect his wife and child, and out of regret for not knowing what had gotten into him to have hurt his family and his dear mother.

His heart felt as if it was being fried in a pot of oil, agonizingly uncomfortable.

Wang Yongzhu, pulling Old Granny Zhang, left the Apricot Grove Clinic in one breath, still feeling fiercely resentful in her heart.

She hadn’t realized that her usually mild-mannered eldest brother harbored such grudges against their mother.

Though rationally she knew it was probably because her eldest brother, upon waking up and realizing he had become crippled, couldn’t accept it. Lady Lin, at his most vulnerable moment, had likely told him how the family didn’t care about him and left him to die in town.

And then there was Jinguan, the thoughtless one, who hadn’t gotten to eat a piece of meat and ran off to town to add fuel to the fire with her exaggerated words—all of which had now hit Wang Yongfu’s fragile and sensitive nerves.

So, when he saw Old Granny Zhang hit Jinguan, all those emotions that had nowhere to go just exploded.

But emotionally, she naturally sided with Old Granny Zhang, her own mother.

Even though Old Granny Zhang was biased on a normal day, when it came to life-saving moments, she hadn’t dragged her feet. Even if she had some selfish thoughts about keeping more silver for herself as a precaution, it was not really blameworthy.

There was only so much silver in the house, all spent on Wang Yongfu’s treatment—what about everyone else? They couldn’t all starve to death, could they?

Thinking of Old Granny Zhang’s reddening eyes and nearly fainting just before, Wang Yongzhu felt fearful and heartache. She had never seen her usually strong, domineering mother, who only caused others to faint, looking so fragile.

At this moment, looking at Old Granny Zhang, she seemed to have regained her usual demeanor, showing no signs of the frailty from before.

Yet Wang Yongzhu still spoke with care, "Mom, are you alright?"

Old Granny Zhang looked at Wang Yongzhu, her gaze exceptionally gentle and affectionate.

The way the eldest brother had just acted truly chilled her heart, but let it go, let it go—she would just pretend she had never raised that white-eyed wolf. After all, having one more or one fewer white-eyed wolf in the family made no difference.

Fortunately, she had a daughter. When it counted, her daughter was reliable, even speaking up for her own mother.

With this thought, Old Granny Zhang felt her heartache easing up somewhat.

In the future, she would rely on her daughter. As for the other sons, she didn’t care about any of them. For her daughter’s sake, she too had to pull herself together and tame those ungrateful wretches at home, not letting her daughter suffer any disadvantage!

Therefore, seeing her careful daughter, she smiled, "I’m fine! With my Zhuzhu here, nothing’s going to happen to me!"

Then, reaching out to straighten Wang Yongzhu’s hair, which had become disheveled after half a day and hung beside her face, she said, "Let’s go, let’s head back home."

Walking on the mountain path back home, Wang Yongzhu hesitated for a long time before finally speaking up, "Mother, since Eldest Brother and the others hold grudges in their hearts, and Second Brother rarely comes back, while Third Brother keeps away from home, you and father have worried yourselves sick over the family, but they are ungrateful. Why don’t we split up the family?"

She had thought it through, if they could split up the household, she would propose to take care of Old Wang Laozhu and Old Granny Zhang. With the System, if she just worked a bit harder, even by selling only Yellow Pine Mushrooms, she would be able to support the elders.

It would also prevent the two of them from having to worry about their children at such an old age.

Furthermore, when a tree grows big it sprouts branches, when a family grows large it’s time to divide. With three or four Wang Family Brothers, those who were married would surely all have their own concerns. Rather than reluctantly living together, it would be better to split up completely—conflicts would likely be fewer that way.

In the past, she never brought it up because Old Wang Laozhu and Old Granny Zhang could still keep things under control, keeping conflicts within manageable limits.

During these days, she had also realized that Second Brother Wang Yongan had long since drifted apart from the family, and whether Third Brother Wang Yonggui was there or not made no difference, as he was hardly ever at home. Fourth Brother, with his honest and straightforward nature, lacked the cunning to shoulder the responsibility of the Wang Family.

As for Eldest Brother Wang Yongfu, in the past she thought he was hardworking, dutiful, and filial. With him keeping Lady Lin in check, the household seemed to be living in relative peace.

But with Wang Yongfu’s injury, that peace was likely to be shattered.

From his attitude towards Old Granny Zhang today, she guessed that the strife between mother and son might have started long ago, only it had been suppressed; probably hints of it emerged in front of Lady Lin from time to time. Otherwise, how would Lady Lin have uttered those words.

Today, Lady Lin’s words had torn away the façade of tender maternal love and filial piety between mother and son. Knowing Old Granny Zhang as she did, Zhang would definitely not let the matter with the main branch of the family rest so easily.

And given the current state of the main branch, Wang Yongfu was certain to place more trust in his own wife and child, who were biased towards him. With Lady Lin in the mix, it was highly unlikely that the relationship between mother and son would mend.

The differences and alienation within the family would probably only grow, so rather than have an outright confrontation later on, it made sense to take this opportunity to divide the household now.

If this was the past, she would have wanted everyone to get along peacefully. Having seen too many dramas (both on TV and on various forums) about mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflicts, she was aware of the difficulties faced by daughters-in-law. Therefore, in her words and actions, she always tried to put herself in the other person’s shoes and to step back whenever possible.

Now, she saw that her concessions seemed to have only emboldened Lady Lin, who gradually became more presumptuous by the day. Due to her so-called empathy and the desire to make a good impression, she had softened her stance, which seemed to give Lady Lin the opportunity to test boundaries, and now she dared to speak ill of Old Granny Zhang!

She herself didn’t care, but she couldn’t accept Old Granny Zhang, who loved her dearly, being subjected to such treatment!

Not to mention anything else, Wang Yongzhu might lack other qualities, but she was certainly protective of her own!

Old Granny Zhang was the mother she acknowledged. Before, she had never suffered any grievances from her daughters-in-law, and now she certainly couldn’t let her suffer because of Lady Lin.

She didn’t know how to scheme and cause trouble like Wang Yongzhu used to—that would be stooping too low for her own standards. To deal with someone like Lady Lin, as long as you are stronger than her, wealthier than her, and living a better life than her, she will be tortured by her own jealousy and frustration.

So, it’s just as well that they split up!’

After the family split, she would take Old Granny Zhang and Old Wang Laozhu with her, and at the most, bring along Wang Yongping. The four of them striving to prosper would surely be simpler than carrying along the entire third branch of the family.

As for the main and third branches, if the children turned out to be decent, she might lend them a hand in the future. But as for her brothers and sisters-in-law, she felt it was best not to hold out too much hope.