The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 330 Life-saving Grace

Chapter 330: Chapter 330 Life-saving Grace

Wang Yonggui truly didn’t dare to dodge; every stroke of the broom hit him directly, causing excruciating pain!

The brand-new robe he had just put on was also whipped into a sorry state. Old Granny Zhang was so furious that she couldn’t even think about her own son, let alone care for a robe?

Wang Yonggui was in a terribly awkward situation. Seeing that he could not only not rely on his mother but that she might beat him to death, he had no choice but to beg Wang Laozhu for mercy, "Dad, dad, please speak some fair words for me. For a man to have three wives and four concubines is also very normal, as long as the family can afford it. What’s wrong with keeping a few concubines? Besides, Ahfu is with me willingly. She doesn’t cost our family a penny, and in the future, we’ll have one more person to take care of you and mom. Isn’t that good? Ahfu is truly with me. She even sold her house in the county and can’t go back. If our family doesn’t take her in, she will have nowhere to go..."

Wang Laozhu didn’t speak a word, his hand shaking the tobacco pipe slightly.

In his expression, there was full disapproval.

Having three wives and four concubines indeed is every man’s dream, but for peasant families, just having enough to eat and wear, and finding a woman to continue the family line is already good. Where would they have the extra money to buy concubines?

In Qilidun, even families better off than the Wang Family hadn’t taken any concubines. The Old Wang Family didn’t have this tradition either. Even Wang Yongan, who had become the Scholar, hadn’t taken a concubine despite the fact Lady Qian had not borne him a son.

This out-of-tune second-rate Laosan even wanted to take a concubine? He was about to ruin the Wang Family’s reputation!

As soon as Old Granny Zhang heard about three wives and four concubines, she lashed out fiercely again, "You country bumpkin, dreaming of three wives and four concubines, pah!! This widow obviously is a reincarnated vixen spirit. It’s very likely her previous husband was sucked dry of his life force by her. You must have been bewitched by her, right? Let me tell you, our Old Wang Family doesn’t have the rule of taking concubines. You’d better send this vixen spirit away. If not, don’t bother coming back. Go live a reckless life out there with this vixen spirit."

Lady Jiang had been greatly shaken upon seeing Sun Ahfu, nearly fainting on the spot.

Supported by her two children and hearing her mother-in-law’s stormy tirade, coupled with her father-in-law’s disapproval, her spirits slowly stabilized.

That’s right, with her in-laws here, it was impossible for Wang Laosan to bring a woman back home.

The Wang Family had no precedent of taking concubines, unless she was dead.

Thinking this, Lady Jiang’s gaze involuntarily shifted towards Sun Ahfu... That slender figure, her fair, soft face, her tender hands, all of them stung her own eyes and heart.

Lady Jiang was also 24 this year. She married Wang Laosan at 15 and had Jinhua at 16.

However, she had always worked at home and looked after the children as they grew up; her hands, despite the nourishment secrets handed down by her own mother, were still delicate but the skin had turned sallow.

And Widow Sun’s hands... they were white and tender.

Subconsciously, Lady Jiang retracted her hands into her sleeves, her lips turned pale, and she intentionally puffed out her chest, striving not to show the slightest hint of weakness in front of Sun Ahfu.

No matter how Wang Yonggui pleaded or what promises he made, Old Granny Zhang had only one response: to beat him, beat him, beat him to death...

Firmly refusing to let Lady Sun through the door.

The commotion in the courtyard was not small and had already spread outside. Wang Yongfu had been outside gathering mountain goods, and although some neighbors hadn’t left yet, they were itching to push open the gate and peer inside, if not for the presence of Wang Yonggui.

At this moment, each of them crowded around the crack of the door, all ears straining to listen.

Lady Sun’s eyes brimmed with tears, her slender body trembling slightly as if the words of Old Granny Zhang and the others had wounded her heart. She pulled out a handkerchief to cover her face, looking utterly heartbroken.

Seeing Wang Yonggui being whipped by Old Granny Zhang to the point of nearly collapsing, she bit her red lips and threw herself onto the battered Wang Laosan.

"Mother, if you must beat someone, beat me, but please don’t hit my husband anymore. He still has injuries that haven’t fully healed, worried about the elders and family, he hurried back home..."

Old Granny Zhang’s broom paused mid-air, unable to continue.

It wasn’t a problem to beat her own troublesome son, but this shameless young widow who had come from outside? She felt that hitting her would dirty her own hands.

With a darkened face, she spat out, "Pah, what are you? Are you even fit to call me mother? My own son, who crawled out of my belly, if I wish to beat him, what’s it to you? Shut your damn mouth. And you keep calling him ’husband’—what kind of husband is he to you? If you’re looking for a husband, go outside the Wang Family’s gates and find one in the village. If you can’t find one, this old lady can introduce you to a few old bachelors who haven’t married, guaranteed to make you a legitimate wife and have them as your proper husbands. How about that? Do you fancy it?"

Wang Yongzhu stifled a laugh, not looking at Sun Ahfu’s expression, which must have been quite spectacular.

Lady Sun, originally looking pitiful and delicate, widened her eyes in disbelief, as if she couldn’t bear Old Granny Zhang’s words.

Her tears spun in her eyes, "Dad, Mom, I know you despise me because I am a widow and am no longer pure, but my feelings for Yonggui are genuine. I am now his woman, and if he doesn’t want me anymore, I’ll have nowhere to go. I don’t ask for anything else, and I know my place. I don’t seek a status, just a place by Yonggui’s side, even if as a maid or a servant, to serve Yonggui and my sister-in-law, and you... you can treat me as a servant if you like, just so long as you take me in. I am willing to serve the elders and toil for the Wang Family, all I ask for is a place to stay!"

As she spoke, she kowtowed toward Wang Laozhu and Old Granny Zhang.

Wang Yonggui, moved by what Lady Sun said, grabbed her hand in the presence of everyone and kowtowed to his parents as well, "Mother, please agree to take Ahfu in. She has shown me nothing but true affection and kindness and even saved my life. One must not be ungrateful. Without her, I would have no life to live, and she doesn’t seek a formal status. For the sake of my face, please allow her to stay."

Old Granny Zhang chuckled coldly, "Save a life? Just a few coins for steamed buns and some ointment and you talk about saving a life? And true affection and kindness? What about your wife, who married you in her teenage years, bore you three children, never enjoyed a single day of happiness with you, her dowry squandered by you, this worthless man, and had to serve me and your father at home and raise your three children? Her gratitude must be higher than the heavens, right?"

"How is it I don’t see you appreciating your wife a bit? Instead, you bring home this flirtatious vixen of a widow to sully the eyes of your father and your wife? Even if you kneel to death in front of me today, I will not agree! Get that out of your system! And don’t talk to me about saving a life; if I hadn’t given birth to you, would you even have a life to be seduced by a vixen spirit?"

"If you want to repay a life-saving debt, first give your life back to me. Take your soul and repay that shameless widow!"

She sprayed Wang Laosan and Lady Sun with a face full of spit.

Lady Jiang felt a pang in her heart, overwhelmed with boundless gratitude toward Old Granny Zhang.

On normal days, her mother-in-law treated her so poorly, using her like a beast of burden, constantly berating her. But at this crucial moment, unexpectedly, it was her mother-in-law who stepped forward to protect her.

And that was worth a lot.