Sang Ye, engrossed in listening, didn’t expect her little nephew to suddenly turn the question on her. Looking into her son’s pleading eyes, she smiled and said to her nephew, "You can take Huanhuan with you, but rember one thing, absolutely no playing in the river. Otherwise, watch out for both of your behinds."
Upon hearing this, Sang Xiaoshan quickly covered his behind and nodded hastily, "Auntie, Xiaoshan will never take Brother Huan into the water. If I do, you can spank my behind until it swells and Xiaoshan won’t even cry out."
Sang Ye laughed, pinching his round and dark little face, "You said it yourself, rember that!"
"Mmm-hmm, got it!" Sang Xiaoshan nodded vigorously, revealing two rows of neat and white teeth.
"Good boy~" Sang Ye praised her little nephew a few tis and stroked her son’s furrowed brows, "Later, Mommy has to take food to your grandparents. Just play nicely with your big brother, don’t go near the water, and don’t play under the sun for too long, okay?"
Since that incident, the child had changed his disposition, not liking to interact with others or go out to play, behaving much like an old man. How could this be okay?
Perhaps understanding his mother’s painstaking efforts, Huanhuan, despite not wanting to go out, couldn’t help but nod under his mother’s expectant gaze, murmuring, "Mommy, Huanhuan understands."
Sang Ye, her heart aching, touched her son’s face but didn’t say he didn’t have to go if he didn’t want to.
There was still a lot of work to be done around the house. After delivering breakfast to the workers in the fields, Sang Ye had to wash a whole family’s laundry, and after returning she would have to cut pigweed, make straw sandals, dig the vegetable patch... Despite not working in the fields, there was still an endless amount of chores each day.
In a hurry, Sang Ye stuffed the last piece of flatbread into her mouth, soaked the bowls and chopsticks in the basin, ladled the half-cooled porridge into an earthen jar, then packed the remaining dozen or so flatbread into a small basket and covered them with a clean cotton cloth. She placed the porridge jar and the small basket into a large basket and also filled up a full jar of water.
After finishing these tasks, Sang Ye gathered the family’s dirty clothes from the previous night into a full large tub, then, carrying the large basket in one hand and the large wooden tub in the other, she stepped out the door and headed towards the direction of the Mulberry Family’s Wheat Field.
It was the heart of May, the ti to hurry and harvest the wheat. mbers of the Mulberry Family had headed to the fields before dawn to save ti and harvest the wheat earlier, to prepare for planting the seedlings before the rainy season. The als and water were all delivered to them in the fields by Sang Ye.
The Mulberry Family’s Wheat Field was a good two li from ho. Along the way, Sang Ye encountered many of the villagers who were also rushing to harvest their wheat. Those who knew her greeted Sang Ye warmly,
"Yezi, delivering food so early? You really are a diligent girl!"
"You flatter , Aunt Guihua. I’m not as quick at fieldwork as you are, I can only stay at ho and cook and wash clothes," she replied.
"Ha-ha, who doesn’t know you’re a good hand at household chores? With you around, your father, mother, brother, and sister-in-law can all have a warm al even when they’re busy, which surely gives them more strength to work, right?"
Aunt Guihua bead with pride at the complint, thinking to herself that not only did this girl from the Mulberry Family have looks and grace, but she was also well-mannered, which was rare. It was just a pity that she was cursed with bad luck, becoming a widow at such a young age!
Catching a glimpse of the sympathetic look on Aunt Guihua’s face, Sang Ye understood and couldn’t help but feel helpless. As she was about to bid farewell, a snide voice interrupted from the side, "Pah, what’s there to praise about soone who is just a jinx to her husband, a piece of broken junk?"[End of Chapter Two - Grudges]
These harsh words were unpleasant to hear. Sang Ye turned towards the source of the voice, and when she recognized the familiar spiteful face, her delicate brows furrowed slightly. She hesitated, unsure whether to hit back harshly or to ignore the ill-intentioned woman as if she had heard nothing.
The source of the crude remarks was none other than Widow Li, who held a grudge against the Mulberry Family.
Speaking of Widow Li, she was a pitiable figure as well, having been widowed before she turned thirty. Enduring either the pity or the malevolence of the villagers’ gaze, she struggled single-handedly to raise her only son. The trials and hardships she had gone through could be partly inferred from her face, which, although she was not yet forty, sagged at the eyelids and was etched with wrinkles, making her look like a woman of sixty.
However, as the saying goes, pitiable people often have detestable traits. Originally, Widow Li’s husband, Li Dazhu had died during a hunting accident when he inadvertently encountered a black bear while setting traps up in the mountains. The bear struck him, causing his internal organs to rupture, which led to his death due to the lack of tily dical treatnt. Nevertheless, Widow Li stubbornly blad everything on Honest Mulberry, also known as Sang Ye’s father.
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