The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 740 - 739: Where the water is too clear, there are no fish.

Chapter 740: Chapter 739: Where the water is too clear, there are no fish.

This matter is settled then.

Once the serious discussion was over, Old Granny Zhang gestured for the gifts to be brought out and distributed.

Looking at the half-bed of gifts, everyone gathered around.

Wang Yongzhu was fair to everyone in the family, each receiving a set of clothing. Since they were all in mourning, the colors were plain, which was perfect for the spring weather.

For the sisters-in-law, each received a silver hairpin, and Jinhua was given a pair of silver earrings.

Each nephew received a toy from the city, and since Jinshao was the youngest, he got an extra one.

There were also boxes of pastries and some loose pastries, saved for entertaining guests on the day of Qingming.

Even Lady Lin smiled brightly upon receiving her gift, a set of clothing and a silver hairpin.

She was already pondering about buying two slabs of tofu the day after tomorrow, as she couldn’t afford to look too shabby.

Everyone happily took their gifts and returned to their rooms.

Song Chongjin said he would go tidy up the room on the other side.

Then, Wang Yongzhu and Old Granny Zhang were the only mother and daughter left in the room.

Old Granny Zhang snorted coldly, "Eldest Brother’s family is becoming more and more disgraceful! Eldest Brother himself lacks backbone, even worse than before. Now he can’t even control Lady Lin!"

Wang Yongzhu advised, "Mother, grandchildren will find their own blessings. Why should we interfere so much? Now that Jindou and Jinhoo are grown, and their period of mourning will soon end, they should be getting married. If we were to drive our eldest sister-in-law away, what would Jindou and Jinhoo do? We should respect the Buddha, if not the monk."

"I see Eldest Brother putting up with things now, also for Jindou and Jinhoo’s sake. I’m thinking once the daughters-in-law come, I’m afraid Eldest Brother’s house will be run by them!"

Old Granny Zhang replied, "You’re too naive! If a man wants to control a woman, isn’t there a myriad of ways to do it? Do you think your elder brother indulges the Eldest Brother’s wife because he doesn’t know she’s embarrassing? It’s just that since the family has split, he’s probably dissatisfied and using Lady Lin’s mouth to voice his own thoughts!"

"Could it be?" Wang Yongzhu was startled.

"How could it not be? Your elder brother could keep Lady Lin in line before. Now she’s got such a major leverage in her hands, how comes he has no way of controlling her? Don’t talk about doing it for Jindou and Jinhoo. When Laosi said those words earlier, I just held back. Do you think Eldest Brother really doesn’t know? With Jinguan, such a greedy child, would his father be unaware?"

"During the mourning period, the child’s not eating at home, running around outside, hasn’t he thought about it? He’s only thinking that if not Laosan, then Laosi will handle it, it’s just one child’s eating habits after all."

"Lady Lin refuses to reveal the silver, and he feels sorry for his youngest child, so he’d rather turn a blind eye and let Jinguan fill his stomach."

"The root of Jinguan’s spoiling lies with his father. Does he really think he’s so clever? Only Laosi, that blockhead, wouldn’t notice. Eldest Brother must know. Laosan, who’s as shrewd as they come, probably figured it out already and reminded Eldest Brother!"

"Zhuzhu, it’s good that the family has split now! When you were head of the family, when I was head of the family, what was it like? Now it’s their turn, I really want to see if they can handle it! Their vision only goes as far as what’s before their eyes!"

With that, she slapped the kang-bed frame bitterly.

It took a long while for Wang Yongzhu to comfort Old Granny Zhang and help her calm down and lie down to rest.

Only then did she leave the room, crossed the courtyard, and headed to Song Chongjin’s side of the compound.

Song Chongjin was busy loosening the soil in the yard and smiled upon seeing Wang Yongzhu arrive, "Your timing is just right. We’ll put up the grape trellis in the yard and plant some flowers. By next year, this courtyard will look beautiful."

Wang Yongzhu also wanted to help, but Song Chongjin stopped her, "You just watch; don’t dirty your clothes."

He then asked, "Has Mother gone to rest?"

Wang Yongzhu nodded, "Mother has such a temperament, she can’t tolerate even a grain of sand in her eyes, and she got quite angry when she came back and saw something displeasing!"

Song Chongjin naturally knew she was referring to the main branch of the family, and as her brother-in-law, it wasn’t right for him to speak openly, so he just smiled and said, "Eldest brother is getting mellower by the day, it must be because of ’youthful spouses, lifelong companions’, eh!"

Wang Yongzhu understood all too well!

Everyone has their selfish desires! When they lived together before, he had been hurt and had his own dominance to suppress anything unsavory.

Now that they had separated households, all sorts of selfish motivations emerged.

Not to mention Wang Yongfu, didn’t Wang Yonggui also have his little schemes?

A river too pure has no fish! As the youngest sister, it was best to turn a blind eye.

Meanwhile, Lady Lin, holding clothes and a silver hairpin, returned to her room. She was beaming with joy as she tried on the hairpin in front of the mirror, placing and replacing it on her head.

Wang Yongfu was stern-faced, but she didn’t even notice.

Lady Lin had also figured it out; now, putting aside everything else, considering she bore him three sons, at most, Wang Yongfu would just scold her, or at worst, give her a beating.

So what if she had to endure some physical pain? Was it really that bad?

She had suppressed her feelings for over a dozen years. Now that she was in charge, why shouldn’t she enjoy herself? As long as she had thick skin, life was much easier than before!

Seeing that Lady Lin was still so insensitively cheerful, Wang Yongfu could no longer restrain himself, "What exactly do you want? When mother and younger sister came back, all the sisters-in-law were bustling about, except for you. You’re the eldest sister-in-law, if not ’elder sister like a mother’, but look at you, sitting on your hands, just waiting to eat!"

"When have I, Wang Yongfu, ever wronged you? Is it the household silver I haven’t given you? Or the power to make decisions I haven’t allowed? You treat yourself poorly, but can’t you pay a little attention at mealtimes? You may not want face, but I need it!"

Lady Lin acted as though she hadn’t heard.

Seeing Lady Lin’s indifferent, "dead pig not afraid of boiling water" attitude, Wang Yongfu instantly felt rage surge from within and snatched the silver hairpin from her hand to throw it on the ground, "What are you primping for? Do you even deserve to wear that?"

Lady Lin, seeing that Wang Yongfu was genuinely angry, picked up the hairpin with a grumbling mutter, and then said, "Isn’t it just that we’re inviting mother and younger sister’s family for a meal the day after tomorrow? I’ve already planned it all out, I’ll go talk to the tofu vendor at the entrance of the village tomorrow, reserve two slabs of tofu, wouldn’t that be enough?"

Wang Yongfu was flabbergasted, "Lin Xinghua! Very well! Since you’re so shameless, don’t blame me for not showing you any respect!"

With that, he strode towards the door to leave.

Fear crept into Lady Lin’s heart. In the past, when Wang Yongfu got this irritated, a beating would follow, but then it was over. Besides, considering the children, he wouldn’t beat her too severely and no marks would be left on her face.

But now that he was so angry he wasn’t hitting her, she started to feel uneasy.

"Head of the family, head of the family, I was just speaking off the cuff, how about I add a couple of eggs?"

...

"Then, how about I cook another pot of noodles?"

...

Wang Yongfu pushed Lady Lin aside and called Jindou and Jinhoo into the room to discuss the matter.

"I’ve just asked your mother, and we can’t count on her the day after tomorrow, so let’s, the three of us, talk it over and see what to do?"

Jinhoo clenched her teeth, "I’ll go to the mountains tomorrow to see if there are any Yellow Pine Mushrooms. If there are, we’ll prepare a dish with them. That would be a gesture of goodwill! And it’ll be an opportunity for grandma and younger aunt, along with uncle-in-law, to try something fresh!"