The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 242: Resentment and Poison

Chapter 242: Chapter 242: Resentment and Poison

Li Jinzhi felt as if her very face had been torn off in public and trampled underfoot.

Although everyone knew that Li Jinzhi’s maternal family was the same Li Family that had caused the misfortune of the Wang Family’s Eldest Child,

after all, the neighbors saw each other frequently, and on top of that, there were those who were tempted by a bargain and still hoped to buy cheap goods from the He Family’s store.

The two older sisters of the He Family had married into the town for many years and had made a few acquaintances.

Out of respect for the faces of the two sisters and brothers-in-law of the He Family, people would at most grumble behind their backs but never said anything to their faces.

Li Jinzhi deceived herself into thinking that no one in the town spoke of her, perhaps because the village was far away, and the news hadn’t reached there yet.

If nobody knew her background, she wouldn’t have to feel humiliated or inferior.

But today’s uproar, with Wang Yongzhu exposing her secrets, left her feeling as if she were stripped bare, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

She felt an ever-increasing resentment toward Wang Yongzhu!

If only she hadn’t eavesdropped on the conversation between Li Jinzhi and her mother, how would there have been the Wang Family calling off the engagement? Without the broken engagement, would Jinlong dream of seeking revenge? Without revenge, would the Li Family have ended up in such a state?

Perhaps Jinlong might have even become a Scholar, and she would have been the sister of a Scholar, able to marry into the He Family in a respectable manner.

With Jinlong backing her, could the two old fools of the He Family look down on her? Would He Dawei dare to sneak around?

It all came down to Wang Yongzhu! Without her, Li Jinzhi wouldn’t have ended up in such a predicament! Li Jinzhi glared at Wang Yongzhu with poisonous eyes.

Was Wang Yongzhu afraid of her?

She sneered, waved her hand dismissively at Li Jinzhi, and pulled Song Chongjin along to leave.

Song Chongjin looked at Wang Yongzhu with mixed emotions, recalling how articulate and unflappable she had been just moments ago, not hopping mad or blushing with rage, and seemed particularly empathetic, which infuriated Li Jinzhi.

That resentful gaze sent shivers down his spine.

He hesitated for a moment, "Be careful of Li Jinzhi!"

Wang Yongzhu nodded, spotted someone selling freshly made white sugar cakes at the corner of the road, and happily went over to buy ten coins’ worth, wrapped in a dry lotus leaf and carried in her hand.

Seeing her carefree behavior, Song Chongjin massaged his temples and followed her.

When they were close to the village entrance, Wang Yongzhu stopped and took out a porcelain bottle from her bosom and handed it to Song Chongjin, "This is the medicine. Find a time to come to my house and give this to my big brother. It’s called Muscle and Bone Strengthening Water. One drop a day, and I guarantee he’ll be better in a month! However, there are two drawbacks to this medicine—my brother’s leg will still ache when it rains or when the weather changes, even if it heals, and, this medicine shortens lifespan! When the time comes, make sure to explain all this to him and let him choose whether to take it or not!"

Song Chongjin took the medicine and silently tucked it into his bosom.

"Alright, give it to me! We’re at the village entrance now. Let’s each go back to our own homes," Wang Yongzhu signaled for Song Chongjin to hand over the basket to her.

With a bounce, Song Chongjin adjusted the basket and bypassed Wang Yongzhu’s hand, walking ahead, "It’s just a few steps away."

The day turned dark late, so when they arrived at the Wang Family, the sun was just setting, casting the sky in a rosy glow with the sunset.

As they entered the courtyard, Jinpan immediately noticed, "Granny, Auntie’s back!"

Old Granny Zhang emerged from the kitchen, her face all smiles until she saw Song Chongjin following behind her daughter; the smile slowly faded away.

She nodded indifferently, but softened her expression when she looked at her daughter, "What good things did you buy from the town?"

"I brought some white sugar cakes for you, Mother. Try them!" she said, unfolding the lotus leaf. The sugar cakes were still warm, and she fed a piece directly into Old Granny Zhang’s mouth, a sweetness that reached her heart.

After eating a piece, Old Granny Zhang’s eyes grew softer as she looked at her daughter, "You must be tired. Go wash your face, and we’ll have dinner soon!"

Song Chongjin quietly placed the basket by the wall, received a nod from Old Granny Zhang, and greeted, "Auntie, I’m leaving now!"

Old Granny Zhang waved her hand: "Off you go, ah—"

It was only after Song Chongjin left the courtyard gate that Old Granny Zhang snapped back to reality, "Was the Song Family’s youngster really speaking to me?"

Wang Yongzhu burst into laughter: "Mom, of course he was talking to you, calling you ’Big Mom’! If he was talking to me, he would surely call me ’Miss’—"

"Always so glib!" Old Granny Zhang swatted her, then reflected with emotion: "That’s the first time that youngster has spoken to me since the betrothal was called off!"

No sooner had she said this than she felt it might have been inappropriate and looked anxiously at her daughter, afraid that she might be upset.

Wang Yongzhu had long stopped caring about that, and just as Jinhua brought her some warm water, she hurriedly washed her face and mumbled vaguely: "Maybe the fellow has come to his senses!"

Old Granny Zhang was taken aback, indeed! Judging by the Song young man’s demeanor, could it be that after her daughter had saved his life and now that she had slimmed down and become prettier, he was taking an interest in her again?

In the past, he likely avoided the Wang Family and her daughter at all costs, but now he was taking the initiative to visit and even carry things for her daughter.

Old Granny Zhang picked up the carrying basket, feeling its hefty weight.

Her impression of Song Chongjin improved slightly.

Glancing at her own daughter, whose carefree demeanor differed so much from the times when she used to not be able to take her eyes off the Song lad, Old Granny Zhang resolved to wait and see.

With this in mind, she rummaged through the basket and found a bolt of cloth and a bag of lime.

Remembering her daughter’s words about dyeing fabric, Old Granny Zhang shivered with excitement and hurriedly moved these items to her daughter’s room.

As she came out, she saw her daughter sharing the white sugar cake with several children and quickly stepped forward to snatch away the lotus leaf-wrapped package: "This precious thing, aren’t they wasting it by eating it? Hasn’t each had a piece already, and they’re still not satisfied?"

The children scattered in all directions.

Only then did Old Granny Zhang feed a piece to Wang Yongzhu, but before she could speak, Wang Yongzhu leaned over lazily: "Mom, I’ve made a deal with Shopkeeper Wu, our family’s dried meat is going to be sold to him."

Old Granny Zhang immediately forgot what she was going to ask, "Really?"

These past few days, Old Granny Zhang had also been worrying, what to do with all this dried meat?

Eat it all? So much meat, if eaten, would shorten one’s life!

Give it away? Wishful thinking!

Sell it? But to whom?

Today, nearly all the meat had been smoked dry, and she roughly estimated that there must be forty or fifty pounds of it. She was thinking of discussing it with her daughter when she got back.

After all, at home these days, there were only herself and her daughter as the ones with sense, the rest were either ingrates or fools!

Who would have thought that before she could even speak, her daughter had already surprised her. Indeed, just like her own flesh and blood, she was on the same wavelength as herself.

"Shopkeeper Wu wants it all? How much per pound?" Old Granny Zhang’s voice became excited and fluttery.

"Shopkeeper Wu said he’ll take whatever we have, a pound for half a silver piece! Mom, how much dried meat do we have?" Wang Yongzhu asked as she bit into a white sugar cake.

"I reckon there’s about forty or fifty pounds. Let’s weigh it when Laosi comes back! Goodness gracious, just like that, we could sell it for over twenty silver pieces!" Old Granny Zhang did the math in her head, almost too thrilled for words.

"Hmm, but that’s still not enough! Once I have dyed the fabric and sold it, and we have money, don’t worry, Mom; I’ll make sure we buy back our land!" Wang Yongzhu rubbed Old Granny Zhang’s arm.

Old Granny Zhang felt both heartache and joy: "Hmm! Don’t worry, Mom! With you around, I have nothing to worry about! Just don’t overexert yourself! As for the dyeing, do it if you can, but it’s no big deal if you can’t! Once our family’s mountain goods business picks up, we can buy back the land in no time! This family has me to help you!"