She put down the stone plunger in her hand, looked around in all directions, then stuffed the money and tickets back into Shen ng’s hands again.
"Zhenping’s wife, what are you doing? I don’t want this money and tickets, you take them back. And these candies, such a rare treat, take them back for Ming Kai’s kids to enjoy. You’ve brought stuff over, Aunt knows you are sensible and reasonable. I am indeed upset, but not with you. We are all villagers here; no need for such formalities. I’m angry at your Uncle Guai, that damned fool. He went to help you and forgot to go to the county to pick soone up, nearly losing his job driving the ox cart. How could I not be angry?"
Shen ng was montarily stunned upon hearing this. She had been asleep at ho until now and had no idea what had happened at Uncle Guai’s house; she felt even more embarrassed now.
In the village, there are quite a few who do shoddy work, all eyeing Uncle Guai’s job. To travel back and forth between the commune and the county and to Lu Family Village’s production team, you could earn ten work points a day without much effort. Who wouldn’t want such an easy job?
"I’m really sorry, Aunt. I, I wasn’t aware of this matter. Because of this, you should keep the money and tickets. If Uncle Guai really lost his job driving the ox cart because of , I would be guilty indeed. Aunt, how about you have Uncle Guai hand over one yuan to the production team? That should stop the village officials from saying too much. If there is any more trouble, I’ll go talk to so people."
Zhu Juying paused in her refusal. Although her husband wasn’t scolded this ti, with this precedent set, she feared that people might gossip about him in the future.
"Fine, Zhenping’s wife, Aunt will swallow her pride and take the money you’ve given. But you take back the tickets; I cannot accept them. And the extra 50 cents is not ours to keep; we cannot take more than our due."
"Aunt, I’m not a sucker here to play big shot. I brought the cotton tickets because Uncle Guai ntioned it—Xiangxiang is getting married next year. A girl who is getting married needs to have a decent quilt, doesn’t she? The tickets I give you, you and Uncle Guai will still have to spend money regardless. Zhenping sends over so sort of tickets every month; I can’t use them all. You take them; consider it our family’s contribution to Xiangxiang’s dowry."
Seeing the smiling and gentle Shen ng, Zhu Juying, regardless of her reluctance, no longer had the heart to hand back the cotton tickets. Her daughter was nineteen and had been betrothed to a decent family. She had inquired repeatedly, ensuring that it was a good household, before agreeing to the engagent.
Although her old man drove the ox cart for the production team, they were still peasants at heart, with no savings. The cotton quilt saved for her daughter had been taken away two years ago by her new daughter-in-law.
Back then, Xiangxiang had comforted her, saying it didn’t matter, that she could wait a few more years, not wanting to make things difficult for her. This had been weighing on her mind for several years, making her heartache every ti she looked at her child.
Now, the cotton tickets handed over by Zhenping’s wife were not just simple tickets; they represented her daughter’s dignity!
"Good, good girl, Aunt thanks you. When Xiangxiang gets married, be sure to co over for a celebratory drink!"
"Sure, I’ll definitely co. Now, Aunt, please keep these things safe, don’t let outsiders see. It’s getting late; I should be heading back."
"Alright! Go on then!"
Zhu Juying checked the money and tickets, hastily tucked them away safely, swept out the ground sesa seeds from the mortar into a porcelain bowl, and took it back to the house.
In the evening after work, Lu Xiangxiang carried her hoe ho and was pulled indoors by her mother. Huang Maochun, Zhu Juying’s younger daughter-in-law, seeing this, spun her eyes round and round, dropped her hoe, and dashed over to eavesdrop by the corner of the wall.
"What are you doing? It’s ti to cook," Lu Xingchang shouted at her.
"Mind your own business," she snapped softly before running over.
Lu Xiangxiang’s elder sister-in-law Yao Jinzhu cleared her throat and called out: "Mao Chun, what are you up to? It’s your turn to cook tonight; hurry up, or else the children will get hungry."
Hearing the noise inside, Zhu Juying swung open the door with a "snap".
"What are you doing? Go about your business; don’t spend all day looking for trouble. Xingchang, you should control your wife—what kind of behavior is this?"
Lu Xingchang opened his mouth but faced Huang Maochun’s angry stare and didn’t dare let out a peep.
Seeing her son acting dead, Zhu Juying felt a surge of disgust—before they got married, it was all sweet-sounding Aunt here, Aunt there, a whole basket of kind words. They thought they were getting a decent and honest girl, but who knew they had invited a family of servant ghosts, turning her son into a completely different person.
She couldn’t be bothered to say anything more to them. It was useless anyway. A daughter-in-law had been brought into the family, and a grandson had been born; what more could be done? Life would just have to muddle on sohow!
Huang Maochun, who had missed the conversation, suddenly beca agitated.
"That senile old fool treats like an outsider, hiding things from and speaking behind my back. And you, Yao Jinzhu, are you a whole brood of reincarnated starving servant ghosts? Ordering around to cook—I’m not doing it today. Let’s see if the whole lot of you sit around waiting to starve to death."
"Stop talking like that, Mao Chun. I’ll go and cook. Yesterday it was the younger sister who cooked, the day before that the elder sister-in-law did, and today it’s our turn."
"Just shut up, will you? If you go and cook, who’s going to do the laundry? Who’ll soothe the children? I’m not bothered with all that. I’ve labored the whole day and am dead tired. All I want now is to eat a al that’s ready to serve."
She snorted coldly and turned to enter the room. Lu Xingchang saw Yao Jinzhu with her eyes red with fury, sighed, and said, "I’m sorry, elder sister-in-law. She’s just like that. Please don’t take it to heart. I’ll go back to my room now. When Xiao Dan gets back, he’ll head right to his mother to sleep, otherwise he’ll get a beating."
Yao Jinzhu was so angry that her chest hurt. She could never have imagined that her obedient, straightforward brother-in-law would beco such a pushover.
"What kind of people are these!"
Her parents-in-law, her man, her kids, her second brother-in-law’s family—they were all still hungry. She wiped her eyes and turned to enter the kitchen.
Inside, Zhu Juying repeated the situation to Lu Xiangxiang and handed her the cotton tickets to look at.
Lu Xiangxiang felt happy inside but still reluctantly pushed them back.
"Mom, I can’t take advantage of Sister-in-law ng’s family just because I’m getting married. I’ve heard from Brother Changhong that the army doesn’t issue many of these tickets or subsidies, and so soldiers even use their own allowances to support the families of fallen comrades. The soldiers are protecting the country and enduring hardships. What do we have to be afraid of? I don’t want this. They didn’t give much for the dowry, and I won’t take much for my trousseau. It’s only fair. When it gets cold, Sister-in-law ng will still need to make winter clothes for Mingyang’s children. These cotton tickets might have been saved by Brother Zhenping. Mom, we cannot take this."
"What an understanding daughter you are. It’s a stroke of bad luck that you were born into our poor family. Your father and I have let you down," Zhu Juying said with a heart-wrenching pain.
"Mom, don’t say things like that. Many families don’t even treat their daughters as humans. I haven’t suffered a bit since I was a child. I’m content. Really, mom, even without a trousseau, I can make a good life." Lu Xiangxiang reached out and hugged Zhu Juying.
anwhile, Shen ng was heating pig trotter soup. It was a light soup that didn’t give off much sll. By the ti Lu Mingyang and the children got out of school, she had already packed the cornbread and soup into the basket.
"Mingyang, I wrapped the cornbread with a steaming cloth, and I filled two lunch boxes with pig trotter soup. When you take your brother and sister out, walk slowly and go around the crowd so nobody sees you. Mom will be waiting at ho for you guys!"
"Alright, mom, don’t worry. We’ve delivered food to Brother Ah Man many tis without anyone knowing."
As they were going out, they ran into Xie Jinghao, who ca with Xiao Gang. Seeing that it was getting dark and Mingyang was still carrying a basket, with Ming Liang and Ming Fang following, Jinghao realized they were going out.
"Where are you going at this ti of night? Don’t just wander around!"
"Auntie, we’re going to collect the pig feed we’ve cut after school. We know where we left it."
Shen ng waved at her. Just as she had served the pig trotter soup to Jinghao, she heard her say, "These kids are so sensible, earning work points on their way back too!"
Shen ng: "..."
Bear a child for three years and beco a fool; you’d believe any nonsense you hear!!!
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