The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 384: Calculate this Account

Chapter 384: Chapter 384: Calculate this Account

Lady Lin’s hands and feet were quick, and she found the silver note in Lady Sun’s belt, hastily handing it over to Old Granny Zhang.

Upon receiving the silver note, Wang Yonggui couldn’t restrain himself from drawing near, his eyes not moving an inch.

Old Granny Zhang glanced at Wang Yonggui and swiftly tucked the silver note into her bosom.

Only after the search was finished did Wang Yongzhu address Song Chongjin, who had been standing by silently the whole time, "Then I must trouble Brother Song to accompany me and these two to see the official."

Song Chongjin shook his head, "It’s not proper for a young lady to deal with such matters—" he said, giving a meaningful look at Wang Laozhu.

Wang Laozhu knocked his tobacco pipe on the ground twice before standing up, "Chongjin is right, it’s not convenient for a young lady to handle this! It’s more fitting for me to take charge! I’ll accompany Chongjin on this trip!"

Wang Yongzhu naturally wouldn’t say much. After whispering a few words to Old Granny Zhang, Zhang extracted a few notes from the silver note and handed them to Wang Laozhu, "You’ll need silver to see the official, take this!"

Not only did Wang Yonggui feel heartache watching this, even Lady Lin did as well. The silver note hadn’t even had time to warm before it was to be spent again.

Seeing an official was such a hassle; it was easier to just sell to the mountains.

However, both dared not speak, only watching as Song Chongjin dragged the man outside, leaving Lady Sun behind.

As they turned their gaze, they went up and grabbed Lady Sun’s hair, dragging her outside; when they touched something hard, they looked down and saw that Lady Sun still had a copper hairpin stuck in her hair.

Lady Lin reached out to pull out the hairpin, "You wretch, you think you deserve to wear this?"

A flash of desperation crossed Lady Sun’s eyes. She reached out to grab it, but then let her hand drop halfway through.

Wang Yongzhu casually intervened, "Let it be, leave her the copper hairpin. Otherwise, with her hair all disheveled, she’ll look a sight. People might think we mistreated her."

Lady Lin, reluctant, reinserted the hairpin, but pressed down hard enough to scrape Lady Sun’s scalp.

Instead of pain, joy surged in Lady Sun’s heart, and she struggled to maintain composure, keeping her head down without making a sound.

The carriage had already been prepared by Jinhoo and the others and brought to the doorstep.

Lady Sun and the man had been tied together with a rope and thrown onto the carriage, which now looked bare, its compartment dismantled.

Due to the urgency of time, there was no chance to reinstall it.

Wang Laozhu sat at the front of the carriage while Wang Yongzhu came out to give Song Chongjin a few soft words of instruction.

Song Chongjin smiled, "Don’t worry!"

With that, he mounted the carriage, raised the whip, and the carriage entered the darkness.

The Wang family returned to the courtyard with mixed emotions, looking at each other, still somewhat in shock.

It was Jinpan who first asked, "Does this mean that that concubine won’t be a part of our household anymore?"

Wang Yongzhu smiled and patted Jinpan’s head, "That’s right, that concubine will not come to our house anymore! From now on, if anyone in our family shouts about taking a concubine, or if someone is eager to become our family’s concubine, remember Jinpan, just chop them straight out!"

Jinpan looked cautiously at Wang Yonggui, "But what if my father still wants to take another concubine?"

Wang Yongzhu looked Wang Yonggui up and down, a smile making Wang Yonggui’s legs go weak, "Then chop your father out too, and let your mother find you a new father!"

Jinguan couldn’t help but snort with laughter.

Jinpan, Jinshao, and Jinhua also broke into laughter.

Wang Yonggui, with a bitter face, looked at his own sister, knowing that this was her way of warning him.

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Hanging his head low, Wang Yonggui rubbed the back of his skull before he remembered to sidle up to Old Granny Zhang, "Mom, look at my injury. I’m dizzy, my eyes are blurry, my legs are cramping, and I have no strength in my body. I definitely won’t be able to get out of bed tomorrow. With the autumn harvest due tomorrow, can I perhaps..."

Old Granny Zhang scoffed, "About you bringing back that curse, Lady Sun, I’m surely too annoyed to sleep now anyway. Come, let me settle this account with you properly..."

As she spoke, she grabbed Wang Yonggui’s ear and dragged him toward the main house.

Soon after, Wang Yonggui’s pleas for mercy could be heard from the main house, "Mom, I was wrong, spare me! I’ll get up early tomorrow and work in the fields, won’t that be fine?"

...

After the incident with Lady Sun, how could anyone in the Wang Family sleep?

They all slept fitfully for a short while before dawn was upon them.

Since Lady Sun left, Lady Jiang felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her chest, and she seemed more lively.

Since she couldn’t sleep anyway, she simply got up early to start preparing breakfast in the kitchen, considering it a way to repay her sister-in-law for driving Lady Sun away.

After breakfast, the whole family was ready to go back to work in the fields.

Despite the absence of Wang Laozhu and Song Chongjin, the Wang Family’s rice was almost completely harvested, with just over five acres of Wang Yongzhu’s land left uncut.

Old Granny Zhang estimated that they could finish harvesting the Wang Family’s land by noon and then move on to Wang Yongzhu’s fields in the afternoon. By working hard the next day, they hoped to be almost done.

Setting other matters aside, the Wang Family’s luck this year seemed odd.

With several key laborers in the family either sick or injured, there was much private debate that the Wang Family might face a famine come harvest time due to the shortage of hands. It was feared they might lag behind everyone else, and once others had finished, they would have to spend money to hire others to do the cutting.

But unexpectedly, since they acquired a horse-drawn cart, they saved half the effort. And although Laosi was injured, Laosan had returned, hadn’t he? Plus, there was that young man from the Song Family who nearly lived in the Wang house from day to night.

While the majority of the families had only harvested half of their fields, the Wangs were nearing the end of their own.

The neighbors who saw this couldn’t help but feel envious.

Not to mention anything else, they were simply jealous of the Wang Family’s fortune.

Especially the woman who previously wanted to take advantage of using the Wang Family’s cart for free was the one who talked the most.

Seeing that the Wang Family was about to finish, with people cutting the rice up front, others bundling it towards the back, and several children in a row picking up any missed grains of rice,

this whole efficient process left the Wang fields clean and tidy.

Looking back at her own fields, she felt a fierce frustration.

It wasn’t that her own family didn’t know how to organize; actually, she took the opportunity to head towards the Song Family during the time to prepare lunch, coincidentally seeing Mother Song holding a basket, looking hurried as if she was about to leave.

She quickened her pace to catch up with her, "Oh my, isn’t that Aunt Chun Hua? Where are you heading to this midday?"

Mother Song, feeling embarrassed, gave the woman a forced smile while hiding the basket behind her, "Oh, it’s Hong Hua’s mom, are you going back to cook?"

She dodged the woman’s question.

The woman became even more curious and, while making idle chatter, took advantage of Mother Song’s momentary distraction to step forward, uncovered the white cloth on top of the basket, and revealed a basket full of bread buns and a large bowl of smoked meat that was so fragrant it made one’s mouth water.

The woman knew full well that Mother Song must be planning to take it to her maternal family, but she pretended not to know and deliberately asked, "Oh my, such a large basket of bread buns! Aunt Chun Hua, who are you taking this to? This must’ve cost quite a bit of grain, right? There are only you and Brother Chongjin in your family, how can you eat so much?"

Mother Song’s face turned awkward, and she seemed a bit embarrassed, only managing to give a sheepish smile without saying a word.

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