The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 138: Injustice

Chapter 138: Chapter 138: Injustice

Left standing by themselves, Lady Jiang, along with her three little beans and Wang Yongzhu, looked at each other in confusion for quite a while.

Jinhua, Jinpan, and Jinshao quietly expressed their astonishment as they rushed to the stone bench, "Wow, Auntie, you’re really strong!"

"Auntie, can you teach me how to knock over a stone bench?"

Seeing Wang Yongping standing dumbly on the side, Jinhua deliberately asked, "Uncle Four, can you knock over a stone bench?"

Becoming an unintended target, Wang Yongping silently went off to find a shovel, deciding to pretend he’d heard nothing and focusing on planting the trees properly.

Having come to her senses, Lady Jiang heard her children, still unrestrainedly praising their young aunt for her incredible strength, and was so agitated she almost lunged over to cover their mouths.

Good gracious, could such things be said carelessly? Nowadays, the requirement for a maiden was to be chaste and skilled in domestic duties, proficient in needlework. Only peasant families wanted a daughter-in-law with great strength, someone who could work in the fields alongside men.

But not the kind of strength that could flip over a stone bench with a single kick, right?

Given the mother-in-law’s temperament, would she ever allow her pampered young daughter-in-law to marry off and do fieldwork?

The very thought was unthinkable! This young auntie had hidden her enormous strength for so many years. Surely, the mother-in-law must have been suppressing it, not letting her show off. Haven’t you seen that after the auntie’s reveal, the first thing she did was threaten them not to tell the mother-in-law?

Yet her own obtuse kids were still lavishly praising her, unaware of the change in their grandfather’s expression. Could it be that they had even kept the secret from their grandfather?

Lady Jiang didn’t dare think any further, grabbed her three troublemaking beans, put on a strained smile, and went back inside.

In the blink of an eye, only Wang Yongzhu was left in the courtyard.

Looking at the stone bench that was tipped over, and feeling somewhat guilty, she touched her nose and went back inside.

※※※

Wang Laozhu pushed open the door to see Old Granny Zhang lying on the kang with her back to him, not moving an inch even though she heard him enter.

If it were a normal day, he would have certainly scolded her for being a lazy wife, but today, Wang Laozhu had received quite a shock and hadn’t yet recovered from it.

He really couldn’t accept that his previously lazy and gluttonous daughter had been secretly extraordinarily strong all along.

Could her previous gluttony have been because of her strength?

Wang Laozhu couldn’t help but think that if this were true, then everyone who thought his daughter was greedy might have wronged her.

Only his wife had faith in their daughter and remained unwavering in her support, all thanks to his wife.

After all these years, his wife was still stubborn yet tenderhearted!

Reminiscing, Wang Laozhu felt a touch of moisture in his eyes, and he looked at Old Granny Zhang with a rare softness he hadn’t shown in many years.

Because his wife was someone he had married later, his own mother always had a bias against her. Even though she had given birth to several sons and had been entrusted with the household’s management, his mother still couldn’t warm up to her.

Even using filial piety and various excuses, he immediately took his grandsons to his side as soon as they were weaned, hardly allowing his sons to have contact with their own mothers.

Ever since his eldest daughter was born, because his own mother did not like granddaughters, she wasn’t taken away. The eldest daughter thus became the only child whom the old woman had raised and fed by hand.

He had noticed that, after the birth of the daughter, all of the old woman’s attention and affection were placed on the eldest daughter.

Of course, when the eldest daughter was young, she was fair and beautiful—the entire village couldn’t find a child more lovely than his own. She was like a doll on a New Year picture, adored by anyone who saw her.

Yet his own mother didn’t like this little granddaughter very much, always scolding her as a loss-maker, someone who came to settle debts, even saying several times in front of the old woman that the eldest daughter was pretty and if raised carefully, could be married off to a wealthy family. Demand a hefty dowry so as to provide for her sons. That would also count as the eldest daughter’s good fortune.

Since then, it seemed as though the old woman had given all her affection to just the eldest daughter, guarding her like the apple of her eye.

She became much colder towards her sons, and because of the marriage of the eldest son caused a conflict with his own mother, she was firmly against it while he had stood on his own mother’s side, along with the eldest son siding with his grandmother.

In the entire family, only the old woman was against it. In the end, having no other choice, the old woman stepped back but only after making the eldest swear before the wedding. He had to promise never to forget his mother after marrying, to be filial to his parents and take care of his sister for his whole life—then she agreed.

After Lady Lin entered the house, he felt that the old woman’s heart had completely turned cold.

Later on, when his own mother passed away, the old woman started to take over the sons, and he didn’t know what she was thinking. She kept saying every day that the sons had to be filial to their parents and protect their sister.

If anyone in the family said a word against the eldest daughter, they would either get a severe scolding or a beating, or even be starved for a meal.

Over the years, the sons had grown used to pleasing the eldest daughter, whether genuinely or pretentiously, in everything.

Especially before Laosan and the second son got married, they were forced by Old Granny Zhang to swear to be filial to their parents and look after their sister for life, otherwise they would suffer this or that consequence.

He knew in his heart that he had wronged the old woman somewhat, so he thought no matter what, after all, she was his daughter. Spoiling her at home until she got married would be fine, and once she married, things would be resolved.

By then, if the sons were still good to him and the old woman, eventually their cold hearts would warm up again and the entire family could have good days ahead.

However, he had still misread the old woman. To say she wasn’t a heartless woman—otherwise, how could she tolerate the eldest maid and find her such a good marriage?

It was all a misunderstanding of hers! The old woman only seemed cold-hearted, but when the eldest was really in trouble, it became apparent that she had always had a mother’s tenderness for her sons.

He hadn’t expected that the eldest’s family would be so foolish, especially Lady Lin, that troublemaker. It was a mistake to have listened to his own mother and let the eldest marry such a daughter-in-law.

Without her inciting and instigating, the eldest would not have developed so much resentment towards the old woman and other family members, truly hurting the old woman’s heart.

Children are debts, indeed! Having weathered the storms with the old woman for so many years, he owed her.

This is what Wang Laozhu thought as he sat down on the edge of the kang: "Old woman, you’ve been wronged! But as parents, we can’t lower ourselves to the children’s level, right? Let’s be a little more patient! The eldest is just easily swayed, manipulated by his wife. Don’t worry, once the eldest gets better and comes home, I’ll make sure he takes control of his wife. We are nearing our fifties now, what can’t we let go of?"

Old Granny Zhang lay on the kang without saying a word, as if she didn’t hear, but her slightly trembling shoulders made Wang Laozhu feel even more sorry and pained.

His voice became even gentler as he patted Old Granny Zhang’s shoulder: "I know you’ve suffered a lot of grievances and haven’t had many carefree days throughout these years. Don’t worry—"

After a long silence, he spoke again: "The compensation silver from the Li Family, you keep it safe. As for the eldest’s situation, it is already fortunate that his life was saved. We, as his parents, have done right by him. If the worst comes to worst, we still have the second son. He won’t really abandon us to starve to death, right? Besides, I think Zhuzhu has improved now. She can earn money and embroider. When she finds a good family to marry into, your good days are still to come—"