The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 305: Try Something New

Chapter 305: Chapter 305: Try Something New

"Mother, about the matter you mentioned last time, what are your final thoughts? Do you really intend to give them money to spend every month? Won’t that just spoil them?"

Wang Yongzhu smiled, "If Jindou and the others could be so heartless towards their own mother, then I would be worried! No matter what Lady Lin has done wrong, aside from divorcing and abandoning them, she has been a loving mother to those children. Just for that, to ignore whether Lady Lin lives or dies, I would fear that these children are too cold-hearted. If they can be heartless towards their own mother, then if we ever do something that is not in their favor, they might be even more ruthless in the future. Right now, it’s good the way it is; even if they are too soft-hearted, not letting Lady Lin in the door is already fortunate!"

"As for the matter you mentioned, once our business really gets going and the household becomes more comfortable, handing out some hard-earned money to everyone is to show there’s something to look forward to, right? Otherwise, no matter how prosperous the business is, if people don’t see any tangible benefits in their hands, they might have complaints over time. After all, the money earned is ours, and it’s being spent on our own family, not benefiting strangers!"

After the last rewarding incident, Wang Yongzhu discussed with Old Granny Zhang that once the business was up and running and there was income, every person in the family who had worked would receive some spending money.

Truth be told, she knew Old Granny Zhang’s heart and eyes held only her daughter, and her sons were only there to claim debts. She also knew that in those times, before a family divided its assets, it was not allowed for sons and daughters-in-law to have private funds.

Yet looking at the whole family, now with so many children, and still not having any private savings was really unreasonable.

Even if the family could provide everything, who didn’t have moments of difficulty or the desire to buy some useful things? In the past, when the family had no money, it was one thing.

But from now on, when the business starts and the family has money, to continue that way would be unacceptable.

Anyway, Big Head was in charge of the major finances, and it was no problem for each room and each person to earn some money from their work and spend it for themselves, right?

In reality, Old Granny Zhang was still reluctant to part with the money, at the root of it all, she felt it all belonged to her daughter. But she knew her daughter made sensible decisions and wouldn’t suffer losses, so seeing her daughter insist, she didn’t say much more.

However, Wang Yongzhu’s words about Jindou and the grandchildren touched her, suggesting that if the children were really that heartless, wouldn’t they be worse than animals?

Still, she felt uneasy inside, "Though that’s what you say, are we just going to let that cheap woman Lady Lin strut in front of our eyes every day? Now it seems as if the Wang Family is scared of her, forcing us into shutting our doors and coop up inside."

Wang Yongzhu reviewed the newly revised prescription in her hand before comforting, "Mother, what do you fear from her? You can open the door with peace of mind, Lady Lin wouldn’t dare to come in! And if she does, I’ll have her thrown out! Just do what you need to do as if she doesn’t exist. How long do you think she can hold out?"

Old Granny Zhang slapped her thigh, "Daughter, you’re right. I won’t just open the door, but I’ll also invite matchmakers to come to the courtyard and, right in front of Lady Lin, find a wife for Eldest Brother! That’ll infuriate that cheap woman Lady Lin to death!"

As she spoke, she was about to get off the kang to find someone.

Wang Yongzhu quickly stopped her, "Mother, aren’t you afraid of getting sunburned in this scorching heat? There’s nothing urgent, you can still go tomorrow, can’t you?"

Reluctantly settling her mind, Old Granny Zhang couldn’t sit still and went to instruct Wang Yongping to open the door. She moved a lounge chair under the jujube tree, faced the doorway, and waved her palm fan, waiting to see what trouble Lady Lin would stir up next.

Sure enough, Lady Lin didn’t dare to enter the gate. Previously, after resting for a while, when she got thirsty, and knowing the Wang Family would not give her water, she took a bowl and went to the river when there were few people at midday.

After a simple washup, she climbed up Qili Slope and picked a few unripe wild fruits, stuffing them into her bosom before leisurely descending the mountain.

Returning to the Wang Family, Lady Lin was delighted to see the courtyard gate open. She hurriedly took a few steps towards it, but upon meeting Old Granny Zhang’s gaze, her spirits immediately deflated.

Without waiting for Old Granny Zhang to speak, she retreated two steps and lowered her head to sit back down on the straw pile, eagerly watching the Wang Family Courtyard gate.

Old Granny Zhang got up suspiciously and went to the gate to take a look. Seeing Lady Lin had spread straw under their own woodpile, suggesting an intention to stay long term, she immediately became enraged.

Her fury ignited.

She planted her waist, one foot on the threshold and the other inside, and began to curse loudly, "Lin Xinghua, who allowed you, this lowly wench, to sleep on the firewood of my house? Can’t you understand human speech, or are you deliberately taking advantage of the Wang family’s good nature and trying to stick around? Jindou, Jinhoo, are you all dead? Just watching this lowlife sleep at our doorstep? Do you want to get lost along with Lin Xinghua, you scoundrels? Why aren’t you coming out to drive her away for me? Who are you trying to disgust, who are you trying to nauseate?"

Old Granny Zhang wasn’t foolish; at this time, she certainly wouldn’t lay a hand on Lady Lin. Trouble brought about by the head family should naturally be resolved by its members.

Hearing the call, Jindou and Jinhu immediately ran out from the main room to the gate and saw Lady Lin holding a bowl of water, munching on a green wild fruit. Seeing her two sons, she quickly gulped down the water and proceeded to wipe the remaining few wild fruits repeatedly on her body before placing them in the bowl, offering it to Jindou and Jinhu: "I... I just picked some wild fruits from the mountain, they’re still edible, I... I brought them for you to try..."

Jindou’s throat choked up as he turned his head away.

Jinhu’s gaze also became vacant for a moment. In the past, Lady Lin did the same – when she returned home after work, she would secretly go up the mountain to pick a few wild fruits, hiding them in her bosom and then at night, sneakily share them with the family in the room.

Recalling these moments felt as if they had just happened yesterday.

Seeing Lady Lin in such a humble and pitiful state made it impossible for Jindou and Jinhu to even utter words of reprimand.

Grinding their teeth, Jindou turned back inside and knelt down to Old Granny Zhang: "Granny, I beg you, for the sake of the grandchildren, please allow her to hide outside for a few days. We won’t feed her, we won’t give her anything to drink, and she likely won’t last many days. Seeing her like this now, we really can’t bring ourselves to turn her away..."

Old Granny Zhang looked at Jindou and Jinhu and then at Lady Lin outside the door, and after a long while, she scoffed coldly: "Fine then! I’ll watch and see how you all will make a spectacle of yourselves!"

Having said that, she flung her arm and went inside the house.

Jindou and Jinhu exchanged a glance, looked at Lady Lin outside the door, not daring to say another word, and they turned their heads and also went back inside.

Lady Lin, holding the bowl of green fruits, stood at the entrance of the Wang Family Courtyard, her head bowed, her face expressionless, her thoughts inscrutable.

It wasn’t until the Wang Family Courtyard gate was shut for the evening and all the lights inside had been put out, and all sounds had ceased.

Only then did Lady Lin start to shuffle back to the straw pile, almost numb legs taking her slowly, step by step...