The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 374 - 375 Heartache

Chapter 374: Chapter 375 Heartache

The children saw that the adults were all getting up to work, so they sensibly ran back to their homes.

"Jinhua, was it your auntie who helped move the rice up there?" Old Granny Zhang asked.

Jinhua nodded, "It was auntie and Uncle Song from the Song family who moved it together."

Old Granny Zhang turned and saw that Song Chongjin had silently gone off to busy himself in the fields again.

She felt even more satisfied with Song Chongjin in her heart.

Her face didn’t show it, but she urged Wang Yongfu to quickly drag the rice back home.

Watching Wang Yongfu drive the horse-drawn cart leisurely towards home made all the other families around envious. Those with a quick wit came over to butter him up: "Old uncle, old uncle, when your family’s cart is not in use, could you lend it to our family to use for a bit, so that we can share some of your family’s fortune?"

Wang Laozhu didn’t particularly care. He valued reputation and face above all else in his life. Hearing other people praising him to the skies, he thought that if his own work was done, lending the mules to others wouldn’t be a big deal, and it might even earn him a good reputation.

He was about to agree verbally.

Old Granny Zhang got anxious and stepped forward, hands on hips: "If you want to use our family’s cart, sure, after we finish harvesting our grain, let our eldest brother handle it. But let me say upfront, the use of the cart for one day, apart from the mule’s fodder and our eldest brother’s three meals, will cost twenty large coins a day."

The person who wanted to borrow the cart for free was the wife from the family in the village that loved to take advantage of others the most. Hearing that they’d have to provide for the mule’s fodder, Wang Family’s eldest child’s meals, and pay twenty large coins for a day, her face drooped down immediately.

"Aunt Zhang, do you have to be so stingy? We’re all from the same town, borrowing your mule and you still have the nerve to ask for money? And twenty large coins a day, why don’t you just go rob someone?"

"Pah! Whether I’m stingy or not is none of your damn business! I’ve never seen anyone as shameless as you, looking to take advantage of my family! Why shouldn’t I have the nerve to ask for money? You have no relation to my Wang family, why would we lend you our mules for free? Because you have a big face? Or is it because your skin is thick?" Old Granny Zhang’s eyes nearly rolled back in her head as she argued with the woman, not forgetting to give Wang Laozhu a kick in the process.

This old man, he was becoming more and more senile with age, still acting as if he was in charge! Fooled by a few sweet words into lending such a good mule for others to use for free?

When Wang Laozhu saw that the two old ladies were arguing, he felt his head swell and didn’t dare linger long. He quickly distanced himself with the momentum from Old Granny Zhang’s kick.

Seeing that Wang Laozhu, who was easiest to talk to, had left, the woman who loved to take advantage knew she was no match for Old Granny Zhang. She huffed and unwillingly returned to her own field.

Back home, she received a round of complaints from the men folk: "Wife, what were you thinking? The old uncle just bought that mule, his family hasn’t even used it yet, and you had the cheek to ask to borrow it? Look, now you’ve come back with egg on your face, right?"

The woman hardened her heart and didn’t let up with her words: "What’s wrong? I just can’t stand it, all of them are only rising up thanks to their daughters earning money, and they try to act like big shots in front of me?"

As she spoke, she irritably smacked her own daughters a couple of times: "Look at other people’s daughters, they can make money and even help their natal family! Why did I give birth to a bunch of Debt-Collecting Ghosts like you? Now hurry up and work! No work, no dinner tonight..."

This was just a minor episode, and no one took it to heart.

Everyone was only busy with their own fields; they could only relax once their crops were safely stored at home. Who had time to care about others? It wasn’t as if they were idle to the point of aching muscles, was it?

Wang Yongzhu returned home and found Wang Yongping still waiting for her; both bowls of noodles had almost gone cold, and she hadn’t eaten.

The two siblings quickly finished their noodles, cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks, and then heard Wang Yongfu’s voice from outside, "Laosi, come out and watch."

When she stepped outside, Wang Yongfu had already driven the cart to the front of the house and was unloading bundles of straw.

Wang Yongzhu hurried over to help. With her assistance, those heavy bundles of grain became manageable and obedient, neatly stacked together.

Even though they knew their sister was incredibly strong, the sight of Wang Yongzhu handling it with such ease made Wang Yongfu and his brothers feel somewhat inferior; compared to their sister, all the men in the Wang Family seemed feeble!

After unloading the grain, Wang Yongfu hurriedly drove off with the cart.

Wang Yongzhu continued to the kitchen to prepare dinner, while Wang Yongping squatted by the front door, keeping an eye on the pile of grain, wary of opportunistic thieves.

From morning until evening, the whole family was mobilized. By the time darkness fell, the Wang Family finally finished their work and returned home, exhausted.

Except for the exceptionally hardworking ones, typically everyone would finish around this time. For those families without anyone to cook, the women had to rush back home to prepare the meal in the dark, to ensure their hungry family members had full stomachs, and were ready for the next day’s work.

This was the norm for the Wang Family in previous years, but this year, with Wang Yongzhu cooking, especially for Old Granny Zhang and her daughters-in-law, life felt much easier.

Though they were so tired they could barely walk, thinking about Wang Yongzhu’s lunch made everyone’s pace quicken involuntarily.

Upon pushing open the gate of the Wang Family’s yard, a delicious smell of meat immediately wafted over.

In the center of the courtyard, a table had already been set, with a large pot of stewed rabbit, a large pot of grass carp with tofu, accompanied by several cold dishes and dry rice, and served with cool mung bean water, which seemed to sweep away all the fatigue of the day.

Everyone put down their sickles to wash their hands and faces, while the children had already surrounded the table, saliva dripping as they eyed the delicious food.

The Wang Family was strict with discipline, and without the adults’ permission, the children, no matter how greedy, only watched and not one dared to reach out for the food.

After eating their fill, the children showered Wang Yongzhu with praise.

Wang Yongzhu accepted the compliments with a smile and announced to the whole family, "Tomorrow, I’ll make extra breakfast. If there’s any left over, everyone can take it to tide themselves over at noon. I’m going to the town early in the morning to buy some meat and other things. Eldest Brother, leave the cart at home. It’ll be faster with the cart, and I can help move the tied up bundles of grain when I come back. It won’t hold anything up."

Upon hearing this, Old Granny Zhang’s first thought was of expenditure, "Today, we already had pheasant, rabbit, and fish. The family is doing well now, but we can’t be so wasteful, right? Just a little bit of meat is nice; why do we need to buy pork from the town? What’s wrong with what we have? We didn’t even have this much in previous years, and we still got by. We’re all peasants destined to poverty. If we eat big fish and meat every day, it’ll shorten our lives!"

As soon as everyone heard that Wang Yongzhu was going to buy meat, they were all happy, but when Old Granny Zhang opposed the idea, everyone’s faces fell.

"Mom, these few days are the most critical of the whole year. Our family’s food for the year depends on them. If we don’t eat well, how will we manage to hold up? I’m also worried about Dad and you. At your age, you’re still working hard in the fields, and your bodies can’t endure much more. Besides, with our family’s current conditions, we can afford to have meat for every meal. There’s no point in ruining our health just to save a bit of money. Visiting the doctor and getting medicine costs much more than meat!"