The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 736 - 735 Ashamed

Chapter 736: Chapter 735 Ashamed

Lady Lin now somewhat understood why her mother-in-law had been so stingy and harsh in the past.

If it were her in charge, to prevent the whole family from starving, she would probably have to be strict.

Now that it was her turn, Lady Lin wished she could split a single coin into three to spend.

Originally, she had thought the expense of Jindou and Jinhoo’s marriages would be covered by Old Granny Zhang and their folks, and she and the head of the household just needed to save some money and covertly supplement Jindou and Jinhoo.

But now, with the family splitting up, they would have to foot the bills for Jindou and Jinhoo’s marriages themselves, which gave Lady Lin a headache just thinking about it.

There was Jinguan to consider after that, and with three sons, it sounded nice to say, but when it came to the time for marriage arrangements, she knew how big of a headache it was going to be.

At least the house was one less worry, she didn’t need to concern herself with that any longer.

However, on a daily basis, they could no longer afford to be extravagant.

With three sons yet to be married, and needing to leave some inheritance and retirement money for themselves, along with some private savings just in case, the numbers just never added up.

Lady Lin only had the bit of silver from when they divided the family’s assets, and the capital for starting the business, which was handled by Wang Yongfu and never passed through Lady Lin’s hands.

Though Lady Lin had control over a dozen or so taels of silver, just thinking about the funeral expenses they still owed her sister-in-law, plus the cost of marrying off three sons, made her feel like there was no bottom.

Therefore, she secretly praised Jinguan for going to the third and fourth branches to eat every day.

Jinguan was still a child with little understanding of the family division, and with Lady Lin, his own mother, praising him for doing the right thing and saving food for the household, he became even more encouraged.

When mealtime came, he would eat a little at home and then drop his chopsticks and run off to the third and fourth branches.

Wang Yongfu, Jindou, and Jinhoo were initially busy with field work, and now after the division, they had to rely on themselves for all farming matters.

But because they provided the labor, neither Lady Lin nor Jinguan had to work the fields, and for a while, they didn’t even notice.

Lately, they were occupied with collecting mountain goods, and even meals were prepared early in the morning by Lady Lin for them to take away, or they would eat something simple along the way with cold water, with no knowledge of what was happening at home.

With several children in the third branch, Lady Jiang was gentle and treating all kids well. When Jinguan came to eat, as uncles and aunts, could they really quibble with a child?

Even Wang Yonggui just teased Jinguan a couple of times for having the nose of a dog smelling the food next door, without ever forbidding him from eating.

However, after receiving Lady Lin’s praises, Jinguan initially showed some restraint, but later on he lost all sense of propriety; if there were eggs or tofu, he could silently scoop half of them into his bowl first, then upon finishing, he would throw down his chopsticks, wipe his mouth, not even utter a word of thanks, and just scamper off.

Such occurrences every few days could wear on anyone’s patience.

Before his own children could get a couple of bites, his nephew already had his fill.

Unable to bear it any longer, Wang Yonggui found an opportunity to mention it to Wang Yongfu.

Only then did Wang Yongfu realize that Lady Lin, while they were preoccupied with work, had gone and done something so shameful.

Putting everything else aside, though the Wang family had divided, each branch was still well-off. They didn’t eat meat or fish, and how much could a daily consumption of eggs and tofu really cost?

Lady Lin was frugal, and the quality of food at home had declined; they ate it every day, so how could they not be aware? They simply sympathized with Lady Lin as she was new to running a household and probably insecure, so they had said nothing.

They thought that once the spring goods season was over and they had earned some silver, Lady Lin would feel more secure, and things would improve.

But who would have expected that Jinguan would be such a disappointment, and that Lady Lin, at her age, lacked even this basic sense of propriety?

To actually encourage Jinguan to compete with his brothers and sisters for food was unthinkable!

She was after all the eldest sister-in-law! How could she face her younger siblings after committing such acts, and where was her sense of shame?

At that moment, Wang Yongfu was so embarrassed that his face could have been buried in his pants, unable to lift his head, both ashamed and regretful!

Fuming, he returned home and first went to the rooms of the third and fourth families to apologize to his two younger siblings.

Lady Jiang and Liu Xiaoqiao both said that Wang Yongfu was too much of an outsider, considering they were all one family. Even if they had divided the household, as an uncle and aunt, could they not spare a meal for their nephew? It was the period of mourning, and the house had no delicacies, so what did it matter if the child had something to eat?

These words only highlighted Lady Lin’s ulterior motives all the more.

As the eldest uncle, Wang Yongfu felt utterly ashamed.

He returned home and had a huge argument with Lady Lin, which even came to blows.

Jinguan was also beaten up by Jindou and Jinhu so badly that he couldn’t get out of bed for three days.

Jinhu was so frustrated that he felt like iron that hadn’t been turned into steel. He brainwashed Jinguan every day when he got home and took the opportunity to straightforwardly tell Wang Yongfu to instruct Lady Lin not to interfere in Jinguan’s affairs in the future.

She was only to be responsible for laundry and cooking. She wasn’t allowed to meddle in anything else or to talk too much, lest she corrupt Jinguan who had finally been straightened out.

If Lady Lin had her way, a man would grow up fixated on petty gains and trivial matters, lacking vision.

Wang Yongfu also realized that Lady Lin’s nature was irreversible and had given up hope.

At least Jindou and Jinhu had their grandfather, and he was there to watch over them. Old Granny Zhang also cared for them for a while. With fewer opportunities for Lady Lin to interfere, they hadn’t grown twisted.

After Jinguan was born, Old Granny Zhang let go, and with Lady Lin caring for him more, Jinguan’s nature turned somewhat crooked.

Now the child was still young and could be taught. If he wasn’t corrected now, he would be ruined!

Therefore, he directly asked Lady Lin to hand over the household management so that from then on, he would give her money each month to take care of the family’s food and other needs.

Beyond that, she had nothing!

She was also absolutely forbidden from interfering in the affairs of the three children, or else he would divorce her!

Lady Lin cried and pleaded, threw tantrums, and absolutely refused to hand over the household silver, but she did agree not to discipline the children anymore.

That had to suffice.

Ever since then, there has always been a rift between the families.

Wang Yongfu always noticed his brothers looking embarrassed whenever he saw them.

Wang Yonggui felt a bit ashamed every time he saw Wang Yongfu, not realizing that a mere complaint could have led to such an uproar.

Wang Yongping, being the youngest brother, tried to mediate the relationship between his two older brothers, but unfortunately, as soon as he opened his mouth and brought up the matter, both brothers would immediately turn sour.

He went back and complained to Liu Xiaoqiao, who scolded him roundly, telling him that he wasn’t mediating but was poking his nose into things and stirring up trouble. He’d better keep quiet in the future, she said. It was lucky they were his own brothers, or he would have been beaten.

Upon hearing this, Wang Yongzhu knew that Wang Yongping must have been too direct, which might sound fine to him but would be grating to others.

When Old Granny Zhang heard this, she finally couldn’t hold back, "What did you say?"

Wang Yongping sulked, feeling very wronged, "I didn’t say much! I just said we’re all one family, so why must we harbor hard feelings over such a trivial matter?"

Old Granny Zhang and Wang Yongzhu were both taken aback. What was wrong with that statement?

"I just told Eldest Brother not to blame Third Brother, who has a heavy burden with several kids to support. If he needed to eat, he could come to our fourth family’s place. Xiao Qiao and I can manage just fine! I also urged Third Brother not to be upset with Eldest Brother for having a row with Eldest Sister after listening to his words..."

At this point, Old Granny Zhang and Wang Yongzhu exchanged glances. What more was there to say? With comments like that, if he wasn’t beaten black and blue, then they truly were brothers!

"Just shut your mouth! If you don’t know what to say, don’t say anything at all! You’re lucky that Eldest Brother and Laosan are reasonable enough to know that you’re just tactless, not malicious. Otherwise, anyone would think you’re stirring up trouble!" Old Granny Zhang covered her face, not wanting to admit that this blockhead was her own son.