The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 304: Pretending to Be Deaf and Dumb

Chapter 304: Chapter 304: Pretending to Be Deaf and Dumb

"Aiyo, how come she’s gotten so thin in just a few days? She was so plump and fair when she was with the Wang Family, and now, in a matter of days, she’s turned into a shadow of her former self. Tsk tsk, it’s really karma."

"Isn’t it just karma? She was so heartless back in the day, you’d never see a woman as cruel as that. When trouble hit home, she ran faster than a rabbit, even more so than people from five different families. It’s beyond me how she has the face to come back. If it were me, I’d have doused her with foot-washing water."

"What can you do when she’s got such good fortune, having borne three sons for the Wang Family? Considering those children, the Wangs couldn’t just treat her badly."

"She’s shameless, a disgrace to us women. Ptooey—"

...

A bunch of women surrounded Lady Lin, hurling every nasty thing they could think of at her. If it had been before, Lady Lin wouldn’t have been able to hold back; she would’ve either shouted back or gone straight to slapping them in the face.

But the Lady Lin of today lacked confidence and was haunted by guilt.

All she could do was grit her teeth and endure, pretending she hadn’t heard.

Seeing Lady Lin playing deaf and dumb only made the old grannies more infuriated. One of them, hot-tempered, tripped Lady Lin as she struggled with a bundle of straw, not watching where she was going; Lady Lin fell to the ground with the straw in her arms.

The grannies, watching Lady Lin face-plant into the mud, clapped their hands in delight, and one even pretended to help Lady Lin up, only to pinch her a few times more.

When Lady Lin fell, she landed right on a bluestone step, felt a dizzying blow to the head, and having been pinched several times, couldn’t make out who did it.

It took a great effort for her to finally sit up, and the surrounding grannies instantly fell silent. Lady Lin’s forehead had swelled with a large bump, oozing blood, which looked frightful.

They exchanged glances, dusted off their clothes, laughed awkwardly, and dispersed.

Lady Lin sat there for a long while before she regained her composure. She touched the bump on her forehead, hissed in pain, but didn’t tend to it, instead dragging the straw to the bottom of the firewood pile to lay it out. She then collapsed onto the straw, motionless for a long time.

The gate of the Wang Family Courtyard was shut. Old Wang Laozhu had to go out to the fields every day, but today, because of Lady Lin’s commotion, he decided not to leave.

The rest of the family stayed in their rooms, not daring to come out.

Only Jinguan, upon hearing the commotion outside, peeped through the crack of the door to see Lady Lin moving the straw and being mocked by the grannies; she watched until Lady Lin tripped and grew a large lump on her head.

Jinguan was so frightened that she immediately went back to get her father and brothers.

Wang Yongfu and Jindou, along with Jinhu, listened silently, then exchanged looks but said nothing.

After a long while, Wang Yongfu finally spoke, "I won’t step in to help her, but she is your birth mother, after all. If something really bad happened to her, I’m afraid people would accuse you of being unfilial, which might affect your chances with marriage proposals—"

Jindou stayed quiet, but Jinhu scoffed coldly, "Having such a mother, our reputations couldn’t get much worse. Besides, now that life is getting better, there’s always someone trying to arrange a marriage for us. People would probably be glad if we kicked her out, making room for a stepmother."

Wang Yongfu was taken aback. "Nonsense! I’ve long since given up on the thought of finding another wife. Who said anything about getting you guys a stepmother?"

Even Lady Lin, his childhood sweetheart with whom he’d grown up, had betrayed him in the toughest of times. Wang Yongfu felt that apart from his mother and younger sister, he couldn’t and wouldn’t trust any other woman.

Still, Lady Lin was the mother of his children. If he were too heartless, he feared he might be criticized.

However, Jinhu’s words prompted him to quickly clarify his position, lest his children misunderstand him.

Wang Yongfu had reached a point where he had no further ambitions or expectations; he was content simply being able to stand up and not be counted as a useless person.

In the days that remained, he wanted to honor his parents, support his younger sister, and make the Wang Family’s days prosperous.

To find wives for his three children was all he could hope for in this life; then, he would have done right by his children.

When Wang Yongfu declared he had no intentions of finding a stepmother for his brothers, Jindou and Jinhoo couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Half-grown lads who had been through so much were now wiser and more cautious.

The matchmaker who came by their house daily and the hints dropped by their grandmother suggested they would first find a wife for their fourth uncle, and then look for matches for the two of them; after everything was settled, they assumed there might even be plans to find another wife for their birth father.

Jindou and Jinhu knew that if a stepmother was brought in for their brothers, not to mention their household, the days of the main house would likely not be so smooth anymore.

Setting aside everything else, even though their father was still good to the three brothers, once they had a stepmother, and should she bear younger brothers or sisters, their father’s attention would likely be divided between the stepmother and the new siblings.

Jindou and Jinhoo were better off; they were both older, and after the upcoming matchmaking, it would not be long before they married. But Jinjuan was still young and would probably have to rely on a stepmother for survival.

Especially since Lady Lin was probably loathed to the bones by her birth father; if a formidable woman was brought in, not to mention Jinjuan, even their own lives would likely be difficult.

But as sons, they couldn’t prevent their father from taking a wife, could they?

Therefore, in recent days, Jindou and Jinhoo were also restless at heart.

Only upon hearing Wang Yongfu’s stance did they finally set their minds at ease.

Jindou, still worried about Lady Lin, followed Jinjuan to the door, peeking through the crack to see Lady Lin lying motionless on a pile of straw, almost causing one to wonder if she were dead.

Ultimately unable to contain himself, he opened the door and approached Lady Lin. Seeing the bruised and blood-streaked swelling on her forehead, Jindou hesitated briefly before crouching down, first checking if Lady Lin was breathing; she was.

The breath Jindou had been holding was finally released, and he was about to leave with a stern face.

But Lady Lin grabbed his trouser leg, "Jindou, my Jindou! You still care about your mother, right?"

Jindou shook off Lady Lin’s hand with a flick of his leg and said coldly, "I just came to see if you were dead. Since you’re not, stay away from me; we don’t want to see you!"

With that, he turned and entered the Wang Family Courtyard without looking back, slamming the door shut.

Lady Lin sighed, struggled to get up from the straw pile, and slowly walked away.

Inside the door, Jindou watched Lady Lin’s retreating figure, unsure whether to feel relieved or suffocated.

Jinhu talked tough but in reality couldn’t bear to actually watch Lady Lin die; he peeked through the crack in the door until he saw Lady Lin was far away, a complex expression on his face.

It’s good she’s gone! With her gone, everyone can have peace.

Old Granny Zhang, watching inside Wang Yongzhu’s room, saw everything and muttered while watching her daughter sketch something on paper, "I always said it, these ungrateful whelps, no matter how they’re eating from our bowl and our food now, their hearts are still with their birth mother. They say they won’t forgive, they want to drive that cheap woman Lady Lin away, but there they are, squatting by the door and peering through the crack, worried something might happen to Lady Lin. That’s why I say, daughter, you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. No matter how well you treat them on regular days, it’s all in vain. Lady Lin has done such a heartless deed, but she has those three sons; no matter how tough they act, behind the scenes they’ll still give her food and drink, rather going hungry themselves than let that cheap woman starve."