The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 560 - 558 Grinding

Chapter 560: Chapter 558 Grinding

Left with no choice, Second Uncle Sun had to ask his wife and daughter-in-law to buy some tofu, pluck radishes and cabbage from the Sun Family Garden, and barely managed to prepare a few dishes for the occasion—it was a makeshift effort.

Once the funeral was over and relatives and friends had gone, the people of the Sun family were all complaining incessantly, each clutching their backs as they returned to their rooms to lie down.

It was then that Mutou found the opportunity to ask Wang Yongzhen what exactly had happened to his father. Wasn’t he perfectly fine? How did falling over drunk lead to his death?

Full of bitterness and regret, Wang Yongzhen, upon hearing her younger son’s question, couldn’t help but speak. She still cared about keeping face, so she vaguely mentioned that the Wang Family had built a new house and everyone went to offer their congratulations. They drank too much on the way back home.

He had fallen over, and at that moment he passed out. She was startled, but Old Lady Sun insisted there was nothing wrong with him—no cuts, no bruises, so how could there be any issue?

Who would have thought that by the next day things would feel off? They invited the village doctor, who said his head was injured and that he should be taken to Doctor Ma in town.

But Old Lady Sun, unwilling to spend the money, ridiculously claimed that the life of a country person was cheap and that after lying down for a few days, he would be fine. Little did she know that he would be gone by the afternoon!

Having said it, Wang Yongzhen immediately regretted it. If she had known it would turn out like this, she wouldn’t have listened to Old Lady Sun and would have taken Sun Daming to the town. Maybe he could have been saved – but now...

Mutou was at a loss for words and could only console Wang Yongzhen.

Little did they know that Sun Laoer’s Wife had overheard this conversation and had turned around to go to Old Lady Sun’s room, where she exaggerated the story in her complaint.

That really angered Old Lady Sun.

Truth be told, she felt somewhat guilty about Sun Daming’s death; if she hadn’t pulled on him, he wouldn’t have hit his head on the rock.

Likewise, she was also the one who had been stingy with the money...

But despite feeling guilty, she couldn’t allow others to speak of it. If such words spread, claiming she had caused her son’s death, not to mention others, the Sun family clansmen wouldn’t let her off the hook.

At that moment, with a fierce look in her eyes, she sprang up and stormed into Wang Yongzhen’s room like a whirlwind, striking Wang Yongzhen with a slap and berating her as a treacherous and vile woman who sowed discord between her and her grandson behind their backs.

She cursed Wang Yongzhen for being a jinx, who had brought death to her own mother, grandparents at her maiden home, and after marrying into the Sun family had caused the demise of the head of the household and Sun Daming.

She even turned the tables, claiming she hadn’t yet sought out Wang Yongzhen to settle accounts, yet Wang Yongzhen dared to try to splash the dirty water on her.

Sun Laoer’s Wife fanned the flames nearby, and in just a few words, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conspired together to conclude that Sun Daming had indeed been cursed to death by Wang Yongzhen.

Mutou tried to speak up for Wang Yongzhen, but before he could even open his mouth, he was chastised by Old Lady Sun as undutiful and rebellious, forcing him to keep silent.

From that day on, Wang Yongzhen was completely marked by Old Lady Sun’s bitterness, who would think up ways to torment her daily, claiming she was aggravated and feeling ill while lying in bed.

In the dead of winter, she forced Wang Yongzhen to kneel on the cold, chilling ground at night to serve her drinks and assist with her toilet needs.

She would need to get up nearly every two hours throughout the night, which meant Wang Yongzhen couldn’t sleep at all. Yet, come morning, she still had to work and cook without a moment’s rest.

On the other hand, Old Granny Zhang, being of advanced age and typically needing less sleep, would stay up at night and make up for it by napping during the day.

In just a few days, Wang Yongzhen had been tormented until she was nothing but skin and bones, with dark circles under her eyes, looking like a gust of wind could blow her away.

Day and night, without rest, multiple times while cooking, she almost collapsed into the stove, burning half of her hair off. Had it not been for Sun Mutou paying attention and dragging her away, she probably would have scorched her face.

Sun Mutou couldn’t bear it any longer. He could help Wang Yongzhen during the day, but at night, he couldn’t take care of Old Lady Sun’s needs, such as when she had to get up to go to the toilet.

But he was young and his words carried little weight. The more he spoke, the more Old Lady Sun tormented Wang Yongzhen.

Helpless, he went to find Sun Shitou, as he could at least speak to Old Lady Sun. He couldn’t just watch his mother being tortured to death by his grandmother, right?

But Sun Shitou was worse, siding with his wife, initially using the excuse that one must not defy their elders. Later, when Sun Mutou’s entreaties became too persistent, they even rebuked him, accusing him of caring only for his mother and not for his father! They also said that Great Ming would not have died by Wang Yongzhen’s curse if it were not for her, because who dies from just a drunken stumble?

Upon hearing this, Sun Mutou was both angry and desperate. After much thought, he secretly approached Wang Yongzhen, asking if he should go to the Wang Family to send a message. Now, they could only hope that the Wang Family would stand up for her.

To his surprise, Wang Yongzhen outright refused and forbade Sun Mutou from sending any message to the Wang Family.

Sun Mutou became anxious too, no one else would step forward, and his own mother was being tormented to death. At this critical juncture of life and death, why wouldn’t she let him go back to her maternal home to send a message?

It was only when driven to desperation that Wang Yongzhen told Sun Mutou everything in detail, crying and saying she had sworn never to return to the Wang Family and to not let anyone from the Sun Family go there either.

Sun Mutou had never imagined that his family could have done such shameful things at his maternal grandfather’s home. No wonder his mother had no face to go back. Even he, having heard all this, had no face to go to the Wang Family anymore.

For a time, the mother and son cried bitterly together.

Yesterday, Wang Yongzhen was tormented to the point of complete collapse. She caught a cold and lacked rest, then suddenly became feverish and delirious, ignored by everyone.

Sun Mutou took care of her all night, and during that time, Wang Yongzhen regained consciousness once, simply holding onto Sun Mutou’s hand, saying she regretted, saying she had wronged her family and him.

She also entrusted Sun Mutou, estimating she wouldn’t last much longer, that this was her retribution, for all these years of living off her family’s blood to support the Sun Family.

This household was no longer a home. Sun Shitou’s heart had been corrupted by Old Lady Sun and Great Ming, and with such a disgraceful wife, that was how it would be for life.

The only thing she worried about now was Mutou. Trembling, she pulled out a silver note from the innermost part of her coat, handed it to Mutou, and told him to return to town to resume his apprenticeship after she died, and not to come back here. To save some money, marry a wife, and start his own family so that she could rest in peace.

After entrusting him with these matters, Wang Yongzhen became feverish again and fell into unconsciousness, murmuring for her parents.

And yet, Sun Laoer’s Wife was outside, claiming Wang Yongzhen was faking her illness to be lazy.

Sun Mutou secretly looked at the silver note and saw it was one for five taels. He wanted to use the money to hire a doctor for his mother, but looking at the state of their home, he feared that even a doctor couldn’t save her life.

Clutching his teeth, he secretly scaled the wall in the middle of the night and headed towards the Wang Family.

He had only visited the Wang Family once when he was young. Later, when the Wang Family and the Sun Family relations soured, his mother never took him and his brothers back to her home again.

With blurry memories and asking people along the way when day broke, he finally reached Qilidun. According to Wang Yongzhen, the biggest and newest house in Qilidun was the Wang Family’s. He saw it from afar upon entering the village and walked towards it along the road.