The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 404: Soul Chicken Soup

Chapter 404: Chapter 404: Soul Chicken Soup

Song Chongjin fell silent for a long while before he finally spoke, "In fact, I’ve had my doubts for a long time."

It was just a sentence, yet Wang Yongzhu understood. She nodded without saying a word.

After another moment of silence, Song Chongjin said with a hint of frustration, "Don’t you have anything to say to me?"

At a time like this, shouldn’t Yongzhu be comforting me? After all, aren’t I officially her fiancé now?

Wang Yongzhu opened her mouth. As for comforting people, that was indeed something she couldn’t take too lightly or too seriously.

After a long while, she managed to squeeze out two words, "Congratulations!"

Song Chongjin was startled, then he burst into laughter, "Indeed, congratulations are in order, congratulations on my escape from the bitter sea!"

Wasn’t it an escape from the bitter sea, a complete liberation?

Wang Yongzhu’s smile was dry.

This posture from Song Chongjin, was he seeking a heart-to-heart?

Going all out, wasn’t it just about feeding Song Chongjin a couple more bowls of soul-soothing chicken soup?

When she used to surf the internet, hadn’t she seen plenty of those chicken soup stories?

Bowl after bowl, bring it on.

All the unfairness and torment he had received in the past were the cornerstones that honed his life. It was these hardships that had forged the Song Chongjin of today.

The "Heavenly task is about to be assigned, it must first torment one’s will, work one’s muscles and bones, starve one’s body and skin..."

The "Being alive is the greatest happiness, to let go of the burden, open your heart..."

Bowl after bowl, he was quickly drenched in the deluge of these pep talks.

These words, some might sound like platitudes at first listen, but upon closer reflection, they indeed held their own truths.

Not to mention that "Heavenly task" quote; it made Song Chongjin’s eyes light up, completely transforming his aura.

"Yongzhu, I’m lucky to have you by my side..." Song Chongjin, holding Wang Yongzhu’s hand, said with heartfelt sincerity.

Wang Yongzhu: Let go of me, don’t think I don’t know you just want to take advantage of the situation.

After quarreling for a while, both of them felt much better.

It was then that Song Chongjin said, "Now, in my mind, I keep feeling that something is not right. If Song Chunhua is not my biological mother, then what about those people who were responsible for teaching me, sent by so-called ’my’ father, and those sent by my supposed birth mother to kill me? Could they have all targeted the wrong person?"

Wang Yongzhu thought for a moment and asked, "Didn’t you ever ask that so-called father’s people if they might have made a mistake?"

Song Chongjin nodded, "Of course I asked. I even refused their help by saying they had the wrong person. Without any token of identification and without confirming with Song Chunhua, they just wanted to recognize me in such a muddle. I found it suspicious."

"But later on, they said they had confirmed with my so-called real father, and I really was his son. Especially after I started doubting whether Song Chunhua was my biological mother, I had someone send a message to ask."

"What was the response?" asked Wang Yongzhu.

"They replied that Song Chunhua was indeed my mother!" Song Chongjin sighed. Why else would he care for her, regardless of how unreasonable she was?

Now, with Song Chunhua revealing the truth, was that so-called father aware or not?

As an outsider, Wang Yongzhu could see things more clearly, "What’s so difficult about that? Wait a couple of days, and then ask those people sent by your so-called father. Lay it all out and tell them that Song Chunhua has personally admitted you are not her son. Tell him to find his real son."

"Also, it’s perfect, since you are not his real son, that so-called birth mother of yours should have no ground to target you, right?"

Song Chongjin nodded, his mind flashing with numerous thoughts and images, yet he suppressed them all.

Wang Yongzhu felt that Song Chongjin seemed to still have things on his mind, but it wasn’t appropriate to pry further.

Seeing that he had been made to drink a lot at noon, and his face was now flushed with fever, his entire being slow to respond, she simply urged him to return to his room to rest for a while.

Song Chongjin really wanted to stay, but with the alcohol going to his head, he knew that if he truly rested in Wang Yongzhu’s room, it wouldn’t be good for her reputation.

Therefore, he nodded and stumbled back to his room to lie down.

As Wang Yongzhu left the room, Old Granny Zhang pulled her aside in the courtyard, "Is Chongjin alright?"

Wang Yongzhu shook her head, "What could be wrong with him? He’s perfectly fine, and a long-held wish of his has been fulfilled, hasn’t it?"

"Good to hear. Tell the boy not to overthink. If he doesn’t have his biological mother Song Chunhua anymore, doesn’t he still have me, his mother-in-law? After all, both are mothers!" Old Granny Zhang consoled.

Wang Yongzhu could only respond with a wry smile and a nod.

On the other side, Wang Yongfu half-jokingly, half-seriously complained, "Mom, you care more about your son-in-law than your own son!"

Old Granny Zhang’s eyes rolled, "My son-in-law is filial. If only you were half as devoted to Song Chunhua as him, I would treat you nicely too. But look at you, you don’t do anything productive all day, you gallivant around, and you’ve even brought home a wicked woman!"

"If you weren’t my own flesh and blood, I’d have chopped you up with a knife long ago. And you still have the nerve to criticize me today?"

Wang Yongfu immediately kept silent.

After tidying up tables, chairs, and dinnerware, peasant families in those days didn’t have money to buy multiple sets of dinnerware; they borrowed from each other.

This time, Wang Yongfu, Jindou, Jinhoo, and Lady Lin went to return the chairs, while Laosan, who was trying to be lazy, was also sent out to return the dinnerware and such.

After finally sending everyone away, Old Granny Zhang pulled Wang Yongzhu into the main room.

Wang Laozhu followed them in as well.

He took out a red paper ledger from his bosom, on which were densely written entries of who from which family had come and what they had contributed.

Life was tough for peasant families; making ends meet was good enough. So, the rural exchanges usually involved a few eggs or large coins—things of inconsequential value.

But even these had to be carefully recorded, for when the day came for one of those families to host a banquet, they’d need to refer to the ledger to repay the debts of social obligation.

Looking from top to bottom, aside from the Lizheng and Wang Family Patriarch, who had donated five hundred large coins, the rest weren’t worth mentioning.

The last page was specifically for recording the congratulatory gifts brought by Shopkeeper Wu and his group.

Shopkeeper Wu had given a few bolts of cloth and five taels of silver. He had thought of giving more, but this was just an engagement, and after today’s commotion, he considered Wang Yongzhu’s situation, fearing that if the silver were too much, those who recorded it might spread the word and make his great-niece’s life difficult.

After some consideration, he ended up giving just five taels.

Benefactor Wu and Wu Zhongbao, naturally, wouldn’t outdo Shopkeeper Wu.

The rest, Steward Lu and Guan Yifei, each gave two taels of silver.

This added up to fourteen taels of silver.

With the villagers’ small, fragmented social contributions, it altogether amounted to about sixteen or seventeen taels of silver.

This truly astounded everyone.

Old Granny Zhang tossed the ledger to Wang Yongzhu and began to rummage through the chest for silver, picking out fourteen taels and pushing them towards Wang Yongzhu, "Take it."

Wang Yongzhu was taken aback. Why was she being given the silver?