The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 362 - 363 Took a Tumble

Chapter 362: Chapter 363 Took a Tumble

Wang Yongzhu’s heart tensed, worried that Old Granny Zhang might take it the wrong way. She quickly stepped forward to comfort her, "Mother, don’t overthink it. If Dad says so, he must have some use for the money. Besides, it’s good for Dad to have some money on hand at his age. If he suddenly wants to buy something, he certainly would feel embarrassed to ask you for it. Having some money on his own makes things more convenient..."

Old Granny Zhang came back to her senses, and seeing her daughter’s worried and anxious face, felt a warmth in her heart. She patted Wang Yongzhu’s hand and methodically picked fifty large coins to place in her small chest for daily expenses while saying, "I’ve been with your father for more than half our lives, don’t you think I know him?

"Isn’t he just trying to save some money to give to his beloved son? As if I covet his pathetic sum of money. Don’t worry, girl. With your mother here, you won’t miss out on your share. Look, doesn’t this big head still come to your mother? I’m saving it for you." Old Granny Zhang was actually worried that Wang Yongzhu’s feelings would be hurt and ended up comforting her in return.

Would Wang Yongzhu be upset about this? Of course not.

Her current generosity was simply because she did not care about these things. The Wang Family would only have something if she wanted to give it.

When she didn’t want to give, the Wang Family wouldn’t get a single coin from her.

Now she was thinking about gaining a good reputation, wasn’t she?

At least everyone outside knew that the Wang Family made their own way up.

With a good reputation, the path ahead would be smoother.

So, seeing Old Granny Zhang comforting her, she immediately cooperated, embracing her, "I knew Mother loved me the most! With Mother here, I’m completely at ease."

Old Granny Zhang hugged her daughter closely and then asked, "Are you really going to buy that horse carriage?"

Wang Yongzhu nodded, "For our future mountain goods, a horse carriage would be both convenient and fast, saving us a lot of trouble. I’m thinking of going in the next few days. If I find a suitable one, I’ll buy it right away. Then it can also help during the autumn harvest and winter."

It would be used to transport the grains from the fields back home. In the past, it was all carried back by human labor. Even the strong laborers would end up with red and swollen shoulders after the rush of the autumn harvest, taking a good while to recover.

With a horse carriage, everything would be much easier.

Thinking this way, Old Granny Zhang was no longer conflicted. Every year, the autumn harvest took a toll on people, but with a carriage, everyone could have it a bit easier.

Moreover, she could then have something to shut others up, and her daughter could rest at home.

Otherwise, she couldn’t bear the thought of her daughter, with her delicate skin, working in those conditions.

In the past, she at least had her daughter work in the fields as a formality, carrying out light tasks like picking up rice grains with the children. This year, she would let her daughter stay home and see who would dare to speak up.

After discussing the purchase of the horse carriage, Old Granny Zhang then asked, "How much longer will that shameless Widow Sun stay? I’ve been seeing her getting more and more impatient these last few days. Sneaky as a rat, she takes every chance to try and sneak into the house. It’s a good thing I have Jinhua and Jinshao keep an eye on her all the time."

"But there’s no way to guard against a thief forever. Laosan, that fool, still fancies the widow’s belongings. What a spineless wretch, thinking only of relying on a woman!" she said, getting angry.

Wang Yongzhu pondered for a moment, then leaned into Old Granny Zhang’s ear and whispered a few words. Old Granny Zhang’s eyes lit up, "You are indeed my daughter, sounds like a plan to me!"

After a thought, she felt a bit reluctant, "By what you say, Widow Sun won’t be bouncing around for long. I’ve gotten quite used to ordering her around every day. Seeing her begrudge in her heart yet having to swallow it down makes me feel joyful. I better make haste to order her around more while I can, as I won’t be able to do that in the future."

Saying this, she patted her clothes, walked out of the house, and shouted, "Sun, where have you gone to laze about this time? It’s already getting late. Have you fed the pigs, swept the courtyard, and put the chickens into the coop?"

Lady Sun in the small room heard Old Granny Zhang’s voice and could not help but feel her scalp tingle. Just a few days under this old woman’s torment had almost driven her mad.

Her fair skin, ordered by Old Granny Zhang to till the back garden under the midday sun, had peeled and darkened considerably.

No amount of Snow Cream could help.

Her delicate and fair hands had also become rough, exhausted to death every day, and still not allowed to eat her fill.

In such hot weather, she was only allowed to wipe herself with a basin of water, and she felt like she was about to rot.

In the morning, she looked at herself in the basin of water, her hair haphazardly tied up, her skin both yellow and black, her face covered in oil, with a few red blisters filled with pus on her forehead and chin.

Where was there any trace of Widow Sun’s charm that once dazzled the few streets of Jing County?

If she continued to stay here, not even a month would pass before she got the reward, securing a carefree life for her latter years, but her face would truly be ruined.

Lady Sun steeled her heart, she couldn’t wait any longer, she had to act quickly.

With her resolve set, she meekly crawled out of the little room, "Old Granny, I understand, I’ll go right away."

While going to feed the pigs, she discreetly observed the environment in the courtyard.

In the past few days, she had basically memorized the layout of the Wang Family Courtyard and knew that Old Granny Zhang had the children from the third house watching her.

She pondered in her heart, how to take action? Count on Wang Yonggui?

At the thought of this, Lady Sun almost turned green with regret. Although she had no good intentions, she considered herself quite charming. She had thrown herself at him, shouldn’t a country bumpkin be bewitched to the point of forgetting his own parents?

Unexpectedly, she who deemed herself experienced in judging people had taken a fall with Wang Yonggui.

This man, he indeed had a sweet mouth, and on several occasions, Lady Sun was nearly coaxed by Wang Yonggui into considering, once she got the silver, to cajole him and elope to another place, becoming a couple of young spouses.

But who would have thought, once back at the Wang family, well, how to put it? His true colors showed, that’s it.

His mouth was still sweet, but what’s the use? It couldn’t get her a full meal or reduce her workload. He just knew how to say he was distressed for her, to ask her to endure and so on, all crap!

Lady Sun was nearly driven mad in the end, would she have sought such suffering at the Wang Family if not for the future? Endure? Endure my ass!

Since then, Lady Sun had seen right through Wang Yonggui, he was all talk, useless.

Now Lady Sun had figured it out— if she didn’t act soon, was she really going to end up as a concubine for the Wang family for a lifetime?

Wang Yongzhu followed Old Granny Zhang out of the house, couldn’t help but glance at Lady Sun, and was instantly stunned.

Was this Lady Sun?

In just a few days, a young widow, who had once confidently outshone Lady Jiang.

And now she had been handled by Old Granny Zhang to the point where there was hardly any difference between her and Lady Jiang when they stood together.

One would think, at this moment, Lady Sun’s heart must be shattering?

Wang Yonggui was unaware of Lady Sun’s thoughts; at that moment, he was pestering Lady Jiang, ceaselessly sweet-talking her, just thinking about coaxing the monthly money she had just received from her hands.

Lady Jiang clenched her teeth, refusing to give in, no matter how much Wang Yonggui tried to coax her with promises of taking her to town to buy flowers to wear or buying treats for the children, she would not agree.