The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 284: Greatly Alarmed

Chapter 284: Chapter 284: Greatly Alarmed

Who doesn’t know that when Wang Yongzhen comes to visit, it must be for a reason. You can’t just let her come without giving her a chance to speak to her own father.

Wang Yongfu and Jindou swiftly invited Sun Daming to sit in the eldest brother’s room.

Before Sun Daming entered, he made a throat-slitting gesture to Wang Yongzhen for quite some time, but Wang Yongzhen just kept her head down and said nothing.

Upon seeing his son-in-law enter Eldest Brother’s room, Wang Laozhu was naturally clear about the situation. He hardened his face towards Wang Yongzhen and said, "Come in with me!"

With that, he entered the room.

Wang Yongzhen followed with her head lowered.

Once inside, she saw Wang Laozhu sitting on the kang with a dark expression. Wang Yongzhen didn’t say a word and immediately knelt down before Wang Laozhu.

Half of the pent-up anger in Wang Laozhu dissipated, but he still endured it and said sternly, "Speak, why have you come back to your parent’s home? When you left, you made your father so angry that he had a stroke and spat blood. You didn’t even look back. Are you here to see how this old man hasn’t died yet?"

Tears immediately came down Wang Yongzhen’s face as she sobbed, apologizing to Wang Laozhu while speaking and simultaneously slapping her own face.

Her face swelled up after just a few slaps.

Wang Laozhu couldn’t bear to watch and had to tell her to stop.

Wang Yongzhen truly regretted it. After all, he was her own father. At that time, she hadn’t thought much and just felt that her father was being so foolish, that he was charmed by Zhang Chuntao, the vixen spirit, into selling even the house and land.

Fueled by her mother-in-law’s instigation, she lost control at the clinic, driven by anxiety for the Wang Family and her father.

How could she have expected that a few words from her would enrage her father to the point of spitting blood?

She was dumbfounded in that moment, her limbs weak, her mind blank, not even knowing how she got home.

When she came to her senses, she was already home, and her mother-in-law was still cursing outside. It was only after covertly asking her husband that she learned her father had fainted from spitting blood and that they had hurriedly run back fearing that the Wang Family might accuse them of something.

Even though Wang Yongzhen was married off, she had not ceased to receive kindness from the Wang Family over the years. Why was that? Wasn’t it because her father, Wang Laozhu, was considering her?

The last time her younger brother Wang Yongfu was injured, he was said to be crippled. She wanted to come back to see him, but her mother-in-law held a grudge over that year’s birthday banquet, where her younger brother had smashed the birthday gifts. She adamantly refused to let her visit, saying that unless someone from the Wang Family died, she was not allowed to go.

No matter how much she missed her natal home, in the end, she needed to prioritize her husband’s family, obeying her husband and mother-in-law.

Especially missing her father, yet being closely watched by her mother-in-law and husband, she also truly feared that if her father was really harmed by her words, and she went there, wouldn’t she be beaten to death by her brothers and nephews?

After several days of anxiety at home, she finally heard that her father hadn’t died but had been so enraged that he had a stroke, and the fate of her younger brother was unknown. Laosi and her younger sister were heading to the county to find the second brother, and there were rumors that the Wang Family was ruined.

Unable to bear the torment, she secretly gathered half a year’s worth of saved-up grain and all her private money, departed in the middle of the night, and hurried to the Wang Family, tossing it over the compound wall from the outside.

Fearing her siblings and nephews from the Wang Family might see her and demand restitution, she ran off after throwing the items over.

When she returned, she was discovered by her mother-in-law and was punished by being made to kneel for a whole day.

As it turned out, who would have known that the Wang Family would turn their fortunes around so quickly? The mother-in-law and the menfolk back at home heard that the Wangs had connected with a big boss and were going to do business, to make large coins.

They urged her to return to her parental home, to get a little closer to them.

She originally had no face to return to her parental home, but she still missed her father, and wasn’t sure how his health was, so she reluctantly agreed to come.

Once inside, seeing how her family looked down on her, Wang Yongzhen felt terribly bitter. She felt she really caught it from both sides, with nowhere to turn.

Angering her father was not her intention, and not being allowed by her mother-in-law to visit her parental home wasn’t something she could help!

Now that her father was not pleased with her, and her brothers wouldn’t even glimpse at her, this truly brought sorrow from the depths of her heart. Kneeling and crawling a couple of steps, she clung to Wang Laozhu’s legs, and once she cried, it only drew out the injustices of the past years.

While crying, she kept calling out for her mother.

That single call rekindled Wang Laozhu’s affection for his deceased wife, Lady Jin.

Initially, Wang Laozhu and Lady Jin, Wang Yongzhen’s mother, were childhood sweethearts, thoroughly familiar with each other.

It was just that Lady Jin was not fortunate enough. After giving birth to Wang Yongzhen, her health deteriorated, and then her depression turned to illness, and she passed away not long after.

Lady Jin was a gentle soul, viewing her husband as her sky and never going against Old Lady Lin’s wishes. Back then, the Wang Family Days were harmonious and arguments were rare.

Wang Laozhu, recalling Lady Jin, also realized that his eldest daughter had always been the most compliant and was tightly controlled by her in-laws. He figured that she had no other option back then, unable to stand up to Old Lady Sun, which was why she had not visited her parental home.

With this thought, the bit of anger he had towards Wang Yongzhen almost dissipated.

After Wang Yongzhen had finished crying, Wang Laozhu let her get up and asked her whether she brought Sun Daming with her because there was an issue.

Wang Yongzhen was too embarrassed to speak up, she too had a sense of shame.

She merely said that she heard the parental home had redeemed their land and were going to engage in big business. She felt happy and was thinking about Wang Laozhu, her father, and her few brothers, so she took this opportunity to come and visit.

Fearing further inquiries from Wang Laozhu, she preemptively asked him about the original land sale, and how they had managed to redeem it.

Seeing that it was Wang Yongzhen asking, Wang Laozhu did not hide the truth and selectively shared some of the recent events in their household.

He vaguely mentioned that the silver coins now were all earned by Wang Yongzhu, and that the household had her in charge. Now, everyone in the family, young and old, has to listen to Wang Yongzhu.

Upon hearing this, Wang Yongzhen lost all color and exclaimed, "Father! How can this be reasonable? Since when does an unmarried daughter manage the household? If this gets out, wouldn’t it be laughable for the Wang Family? Besides, the money earned by an unmarried girl naturally should go to the family to help with expenses. A girl only needs a dowry when she gets married; where would she need so much silver?"

"That silver coin would be so good for Laosi to take a wife. Moreover, Jindou and Jinhoo are of age to start looking for matches too. There are so many uses for silver coins in our household, how can we let the youngest sister take charge? She’s just a young girl who hasn’t seen much of the world, what does she know? Even if by some fluke she made some silver, it shouldn’t mean following her every whim?"

"If this gets out, how will Laosi ever take a wife? Which girl would want to marry into a family where the younger sister is in charge? Father, you can’t listen to everything mother says, she always spoils the youngest sister. It’s fine for trivial matters, but for something as crucial as household management, how can we just go along with them?"

Wang Laozhu felt that these words went straight to his heart. Now that he was healthier, the prospect of letting his eldest daughter take over the family, making him listen to her, indeed felt wrong, uncomfortable in his heart.

Even though the old lady still managed the money, with the youngest daughter making money now, decisions about the house’s major and minor expenses were no longer discussed with him, as the mother and daughter duo would handle it all.