The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 402 Song Chunhua’s Calculations

Chapter 402: Chapter 402 Song Chunhua’s Calculations

By the time Song Chongjin was almost one year old, there was still no news from the Noble Patron. Song Chunhua was anxious, fearing that the Noble Patron had forgotten about her and her child.

She inquired in many places, and while she knew nothing of the Noble Patron’s whereabouts, she was able to glean some information about the initial family she had served.

In the beginning, the family had relayed messages, asking her to patiently wait a little longer, promising to come for her after some time.

But she waited and waited, until Song Chongjin could walk and speak, and still, no one came to fetch them.

When she inquired about the family again, there was no news whatsoever.

Song Chunhua realized that there was no hope left. Members of the Song Family also started to nag at her, pointing out her predicament, the Noble Patron was no longer to be relied upon, and she was left with such a burden.

Because of the Noble Patron’s standing, she didn’t dare to remarry. Without the child, given Song Chunhua’s looks, it would have been quite easy for her to find a new husband.

Every day at home, she had to listen to idle gossip and the clatter of pots and pans, added to the mockery from outsiders. The Song Family had once boasted of their connection to the Noble Patron.

But now, with the Noble Patron gone and the money nearly spent, they were left with a child to feed and drink, and a girl who had given birth out of wedlock, tarnishing the family’s reputation.

The Song Family’s treatment of Song Chunhua grew even worse.

Song Chunhua herself was filled with regret. If she had known that the Noble Patron was unreliable, she wouldn’t have bothered rescuing the wild child as a son, would she?

Otherwise, at this point, she would still have something to her name and could have easily married into another family.

Instead, because of some unknown man’s bastard child, her situation was neither here nor there.

With this, the way Song Chunhua looked at Song Chongjin changed. He was no longer seen as a help for her to become a Concubine but rather as the very burden preventing her from getting married.

Her attitude towards him gradually became colder.

The people of the Song Family were already impatient with Song Chunhua, and while at first they hesitated to mistreat Song Chongjin, they later saw that even Song Chunhua, his own mother, didn’t care for him.

Children took this as a sign to start bullying Song Chongjin. Being small, Song Chongjin would be shoved to the ground, crying out loudly.

In the past, Song Chunhua would have surely protected him, but now she acted as if she neither heard nor saw anything.

The Song Family understood the situation and began to bully and mistreat Song Chongjin even more.

Especially the children, who had previously been told to give way to Song Chongjin and let him have the best of everything. No one felt good about that.

Now that they could bully him, Song Chongjin, being so young, was covered in bruises all the time.

At first, Song Chunhua felt some distress, but later, when everyone tormented Song Chongjin and left her alone, she allowed it to happen.

Song Chongjin was a naturally clever child. At first, when he got hurt, he went to Song Chunhua for help. After realizing that she had no intention of helping him, he no longer went to her, no matter how seriously he got hurt.

Enduring the scorn of both adults and children of the Song Family, he silently bore it all. Later, when the Song Family drove him out, he alone shouldered the responsibility of providing for the household.

After she was driven out of the Song Family, for a while, she stayed indoors to avoid gossip. Additionally, having served a Noble Patron and seen a more sophisticated life, she looked down on the village folks and stayed mostly indoors, stifling in her home.

Song Chongjin didn’t talk much, so her only solace and conversation were from visiting her parents’ home. At first, she was always scolded when she went there.

When Song Chongjin learned to hunt and could support the family, Song Chunhua took the game that Song Chongjin had caught to her parents’ house, noticing that her family’s attitude had improved and was as friendly as when she had the Noble Patron’s support.

Only then did Song Chunhua realize, this son of hers was not so bad after all. At least he made her life bearable at her parents’ house.

Seeing how her family fawned over her, she felt as if she had reclaimed that past sensation, so she wasn’t only acting out of filial piety to her parents but also wanted to show them that, although Song Chunhua had not married or attached herself to a Noble Patron, she was still the most promising one in the household.

Song Chunhua indulged in this feeling and was nicer to Song Chongjin for a while, but then she saw her nephews demanding things from their parents and being spoiled, while she and Song Chongjin barely interacted with each other.

Song Chongjin wouldn’t initiate conversation with her, and could go a whole day without saying a word, always with a stern face and not a single kind remark.

How different from her nieces and nephews, who had such sweet tongues and knew how to speak pleasantly, making her feel joyful.

She then thought to herself that since he was not her own flesh and blood, it was no wonder he was not close to her heart.

Moreover, as Song Chongjin grew older, his gaze and demeanor unsettled her each time she looked at him.

Although she considered herself quite attractive in the village, and the Noble Patron seemed very handsome to her, this child, Song Chongjin, did not resemble her or the Noble Patron in any way.

Each glance at him made her feel increasingly uncomfortable.

And as for this son, who never seemed in a hurry and barely spoke at home, he was nowhere near as affectionate and companionable as her nieces and nephews, and so her heart leaned towards her maternal nephew.

She thought that since the boy was not of her blood, if one day his real parents came looking for him, he would belong to someone else’s family, and she could not count on him to care for her in her old age.

But since she couldn’t marry, the only ones she could rely on were her maternal nephews.

With this thought in mind, she increasingly moved things from her home into her natal family’s, reasoning that if she helped improve her natal family’s circumstances, then her nephews would have an easier future.

And that would be to her benefit when it came time for her to be cared for.

The Song Family were the kind who would crowd around at the whiff of blood. Seeing Chunhua favoring her maternal family, they flattered and brainwashed her every day until she was thoroughly convinced that her decision was the right one.

After all, this son had no blood relation to her; he belonged to someone else’s family, so she felt no heartache. If she was to feel heartache, she’d reserve it for her own nephew, who at least shared the same bloodline.

Therefore, for the sake of her nephew, Chongjin was just a tool for her to earn money and support the household. Even selling Chongjin would be profitable for her natal family...

Hearing this, let alone others’ feelings, Wang Yongzhu could no longer bear it.

Looking at Song Chongjin, standing there expressionless, anyone could see he was in discomfort, looking lonely and pitiable.

There were emotional young ladies already crying so hard that they had soaked through several handkerchiefs.

Even the men, who were tough-hearted, couldn’t help but shake their heads and sigh when they thought about the hardships Chongjin had endured in the past.

Wang Yongzhu silently stood next to Song Chongjin and reached out to hold his hand.

His hand was ice cold, and as Wang Yongzhu involuntarily retracted her hand, Chongjin grasped it firmly.

Song Chongjin’s grip was strong, with a barely noticeable tremor.

Wang Yongzhu sighed in her heart and squeezed back.

On the other side, Old Granny Zhang leaped up in outrage, "You, Song Chunhua, you seem so quiet normally, but inside you’re rotten! Pretending to be a victim all the time, crying at every turn, shouting and screaming—I’ve always known you were sly under that simple facade, with a belly full of malice! Even if my son-in-law is not your own child, you took him in when he was so young, so what’s the difference from your own flesh and blood?"

"Not to mention how honest and filial my son-in-law is! He may not be talkative, but the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the money for medicines, aren’t they all earned by Chongjin? He was just a little over ten years old when he started hunting in the mountains, risking his life just to provide for you. How can you be so heartless? How can you bear to take the game and money he risked his life for and give it to those shameless Song Family members?

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