The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 165: Refuse to Admit Death

Chapter 165: Chapter 165: Refuse to Admit Death

Lady Lin’s face flushed red as she came out of the room and managed to squeeze out a smile to explain, "Mother, it’s not what you think. I was worried that Jinguan would go astray and pick up bad habits, so I disciplined him. I didn’t use much force. He’s just been coddled by me and started crying louder than a bell before I even touched him—"

Hearing what Lady Lin said, Jinguan rolled out from inside, darted to Wang Laozhu’s feet, and clutching them, burst into tears, "Grandpa, save me! My mom said she’s going to beat me to death! I clearly didn’t take any money from the house; Mom’s falsely accusing me! She whipped me with a big broom, and my arms and body are all swollen! Grandpa, I miss my dad! If my dad were home, I definitely wouldn’t be beaten!"

In just a few words, he had completely sold out Lady Lin.

Lady Lin’s face turned as purple as a pig’s liver.

Normally, others could take it, but seeing how pitiful Jinguan was with several swollen welts on his face and body, Wang Laozhu momentarily forgot about the anger he held towards Eldest Brother and felt sympathy for Jinguan.

He felt displeased within, the men of the Wang Family, himself, his old lady, and even Eldest Brother had never laid hands on the child like that, but Lady Lin seemed quite adept at it!

With a stern face, he asked, "What’s this money in the house that Jinguan is talking about, Eldest Brother’s wife? As soon as you returned, you started shouting about thieves; is it the money that’s gone missing?"

Lady Lin neither nodded nor shook her head, just hung her head silently.

Wang Laozhu sighed, waved his hand, and thought to himself, let it go, ever since Eldest Brother got into trouble, the house had been in constant turmoil; he really couldn’t stand it anymore.

He and Old Granny Zhang were well aware of Lady Lin and Eldest Brother hoarding secretive savings, and right now, he didn’t feel like arguing about it.

Old Granny Zhang couldn’t let it go, though. With such a perfect opportunity, why should she let it pass?

Stepping forward, she accused, "We haven’t even split the family yet, where did your main branch get the money from? Could it be you’ve been saving it secretly? Huh! We haven’t split up the family yet, and you’ve been hoarding money behind our backs, what kind of reasoning is that? After Eldest Brother’s accident, all the savings in our house were emptied, why didn’t you mention you had private savings? If it weren’t for Jinguan speaking up, would we still be kept in the dark?"

"Look at you, Lin Xinghua, your man was injured, and we used up all the silver in the house on him, and here you are, holding on to your own secretive savings without saying a word. Do you have no conscience? The family couldn’t even afford to eat a single dry meal because of your husband, and you didn’t even peep a word! Are you just trying to drain us dry?"

"I’m going to find someone to judge this; what family has an undivorced daughter-in-law hoarding secretive savings—" she rolled up her sleeves, ready to leave the house to seek judgment from others.

Cornered with no other choice, Lady Lin had to kneel down, "Father, Mother, it’s all my fault! I shouldn’t have hit Jinguan. I was just... just worried about the head of the household, so I couldn’t help myself. But we really didn’t hoard any secretive savings! By heaven and earth, our main branch has so little space; where could we hide any secretive savings? I initially discovered that a handful of peanuts that were placed in the cabinet went missing, so I called out. Later, hearing Jinguan say he took them to eat, I lost my temper and might have been a bit too harsh. I will be careful in the future!"

Lady Lin was also left with no other alternatives. She knew discussing secretive savings in public was off the table, so she had to own up to it! If this issue were pursued further, she’d likely be the first to be faulted, and then she might never retrieve the private savings.

She steeled her heart and simply refused to admit it!

As she spoke, Lady Lin’s heart bled. After so many years of stashing away like a mouse hoarding winter grain, she had finally saved up a bit, only to have it all exposed!

The hatred she felt!

Her previously hesitant heart now made up its mind.

Since Lady Lin adamantly denied having secretive savings and claimed only a handful of peanuts had disappeared, Old Granny Zhang naturally could not press the matter further.

Yet, she had achieved her goal!

As long as Lady Lin denied the existence of secretive savings today, she wouldn’t even think about mentioning any lost money in the future.

The money was now securely in her own purse.

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But when she thought about how those copper coins had already been taken to the town today to pay for the medicine, Old Granny Zhang’s originally triumphant mood evaporated, and she stormed off with a huff, retreating back into her room.

Seeing that all the adults had dispersed, and noticing Lady Lin’s face dark as the bottom of a pot, Jinguan made a decided beeline for Wang Yongping’s room.

Lady Lin, feeling it improper to enter her younger brother-in-law’s room, and not daring to call out loudly for Jinguan to come out, stewed in her frustration for a while before going back into her room.

Lady Jiang only felt a chilling sensation on her back, her entire back soaked with cold sweat.

Although she did not know exactly how much private savings the main house had amassed, she was sure it wasn’t a small amount. To lose it all like this and still have to grit her teeth and admit she hadn’t saved any money, nor lost any, was unbearable.

She wondered how Lady Lin was dealing with her anger in her room at this very moment.

While reminding herself to hide those few large coins even more carefully, she took the initiative to head upstairs to get the provisions for cooking dinner from her mother-in-law.

As for Lady Lin, after returning to her room, she pounded her clenched fists onto the earthen bed, cursing the old wretch silently. All her hard work over the years had been for nothing, gifted to that woman!

She couldn’t stand to live like this any longer!

Lady Lin remembered the words of persuasion from her brother and sister-in-law in the town.

That day, the eldest uncle of the Lin Family had sent away the three brothers, noticing that Wang Yongfu could barely stay conscious and soon dozed off.

He then signaled with a look to Second Aunt Lin.

Second Aunt Lin then began wiping her tears, "Oh, my poor sister, why is your life so hard! You’re about to welcome a daughter-in-law and enjoy the blessings she brings, yet you have to face this ordeal. What are you going to do in the future?"

As soon as Lady Lin heard this, it triggered her sorrows, and she couldn’t help but start crying too.

Then Second Aunt Lin stepped forward, embracing Lady Lin and wiping her tears: "Sister, I’m not criticizing you, but look, your husband is like this now, practically a living dead. With decades still ahead, are you really going to spend your life with such a man? To attend to his every need, working the fields by day, and coming back to no one who cares to feel your pain, let alone taking care of him, life will be too bitter. And there’s no end in sight... It pains my heart as your brother and sister-in-law to think of you living like this!"

Lady Lin thought about it indeed, if it were just a year or two, there would be something to look forward to, but for decades, lying in bed without hope, how could she endure such days?

Yet, she did have feelings for Wang Yongfu after all, so she hesitated for a moment before saying, "There’s nothing I can do about it; who can I blame for having bad luck? Fortunately, Jindou and Jinhu are growing up and can help out! The days ahead will just have to be lived like this; what else can I do?"

Indeed, in the society of those days, once a woman got married, she became part of her husband’s family for life, working like an ox or a horse.

Even if they suffered from a terrible husband, they still had no choice but to make do for a lifetime.

Take Laosan’s household, for example. Faced with Laosan’s uselessness, what could they do? Bite the bullet, raise three kids on her own, watch as Laosan squandered the dowry, and still just endure.

In her case, she was lucky; though her husband honored his parents, he allowed her to have her own little schemes regarding the main house on the sly, which, in Lady Lin’s eyes, was quite good.

So, even though she knew that Wang Yongfu would be an invalid in the future, it was only the sense of heartache that she felt, not entertaining any other thoughts.

Now, prompted by what her sisters-in-law had said, thinking about at least twenty years ahead, living with a man unable to know warmth or cold, needing care constantly, the prospect weighed heavily on her.

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