novelden Chapter 11 Sister-in-law, don't be afraid, wait for me tonight.
Chapter 11 Sister-in-law, don't be afraid, wait for me tonight.
After preparing the rabbit meat, Meng Fuqing asked Meng Ranran to go into the kitchen to start a fire. She went to the vegetable garden and picked two wilted scallions, then added some dried ginger slices and cardamom that had been sitting for who knows how long, and slowly stewed them.
Before long, the aroma of meat filled the entire courtyard.
The neighbors, smelling the aroma of meat, all swallowed hard.
In these times, no one is having an easy time; even filling one's stomach is a struggle, let alone eating meat.
So many people peeked in the direction the aroma was coming from, and soon the sound of a child crying could be heard.
Yao Shanyun and her eldest daughter-in-law were sitting under the eaves doing needlework, while her eldest grandson was playing with insects under the apricot tree in the yard.
He was having a great time when the smell of meat made his stomach rumble. He pouted and ran to his mother with a pitiful expression.
"Mother, Grandma, I'm hungry, I'm hungry—"
Yao Shanyun was also puzzled, "Who would be stewing meat at midday?"
The eldest daughter-in-law, with her sharp eyes, immediately spotted wisps of smoke rising from Meng Fuqing's chimney. She exclaimed in surprise, "Is that Qing's house?!"
"Qing's house?" Yao Shanyun looked up as well. "It really is!"
She scoffed, "Meng Shaoyuan even said your aunt was a spendthrift. How dare he say that? Look, as soon as he left, we're eating meat at home. Who's a spendthrift now?"
Yao Shanyun's husband died young, and she didn't even know what her future husband looked like before she got married. After getting married, she slowly discovered that her husband didn't like her fiery temper, and the couple always had a small argument every three days and a big argument every two days.
Later, her husband died in an accident while climbing the mountain. The children in the family were still young, and her mother-in-law complained that there were too many mouths to feed but not enough people to do the work, so she proposed to separate the family.
After the family separated, she did not remarry and raised her child on her own, enduring a lot of hardship. At that time, Shan Qiyu's family had not yet encountered trouble, and the two families were neighbors, so Shan Qiyu would always help her.
It's common to add flowers to brocade, but rare to offer charcoal in the snow.
She will never forget this kindness.
The eldest daughter-in-law, Cui, had a rather complicated expression. She didn't know what her mother-in-law was thinking. She lent out so much grain, but the other party ended up eating meat, and she was actually happy about it.
She coaxed her son for a while before saying, "...That man just left, and they're already eating meat?"
That's so inconsiderate.
“You should only eat when the man is gone, because you won’t be able to eat anymore.” Yao Shanyun glanced at her daughter-in-law. “Every time someone dies, there are still some scraps of meat at the feast, and I haven’t seen you eat any less.”
"..."
Unable to refute, Cui could only lower her head and continue to coax her son. But she was still resentful inside.
With such a small harvest each year, giving some away means less for the family to eat. The children are constantly crying that they're hungry, but the mother-in-law seems oblivious. What kind of grandmother is that?
Moreover, that family is now an orphan and a widow; they're lucky to survive the famine, let alone return the grain.
It's like throwing a meat bun to a dog—it's gone and will never come back!
Look, they have meat to eat but don't even bother to send some to his family. What an ingrate!
Yao Shanyun could tell what her daughter-in-law was thinking just by looking at her expression.
She shook her head inwardly, regretting once again that she had been inexperienced and had listened to the matchmaker, finding her eldest son a petty-minded wife.
"Keep your mouth shut!" Yao Shanyun glared at her eldest daughter-in-law and muttered, "Do you think we have such a peaceful life now? We were helped by others before you even married into the family!"
Cui replied in a muffled voice, "I understand, Mother."
***
The house was filled with the aroma of meat, but Shan Qiyu, who was working in the field, was tripped up by someone.
"Sister-in-law, are you busy?"
A familiar male voice rang out from very close to Shan Qiyu, startling her so much that she nearly tripped over a clod of dirt at her feet.
Upon seeing this, the man quickly stepped forward to help her up. Shan Qiyu caught a glimpse of this out of the corner of her eye, steadied herself, turned around and took a few steps back, watching the newcomer warily.
The visitor was none other than Sun Dacheng, who used to frequently come to our house to freeload.
Sun Dacheng was of medium height, with small eyes, thick lips, and a slightly crooked nose; his appearance was rather offensive to others.
Staring at him with those small eyes, Shan Qiyu broke out in a cold sweat.
She was preoccupied with something and didn't notice when this person approached her.
"busy?"
Sun Dacheng touched the back of his neck with one hand and said as if embarrassed, "Oh! I'm so sorry about what happened before. I was just thinking about how Brother Meng left so suddenly. I didn't expect that a casual remark would cause you trouble. I'm really sorry."
As he spoke, Sun Dacheng's small eyes darted around, constantly glancing at Shan Qiyu's face and body.
When he used to associate with Meng Shaoyuan, he noticed that his sister-in-law was really good-looking. Every time he saw Meng Shaoyuan beat and scold his sister-in-law at will, he felt very sorry for her.
Because of Meng Shaoyuan's presence, his sister-in-law always avoided him. It was one thing for her to avoid him, but this woman was not well-behaved. She always used her eyes to seduce him, making him furious. However, he was unable to do it because of his brotherly affection.
Now that he finally had a chance, Sun Dacheng was quite excited.
It was midday, and the autumn sun wasn't too hot; many people were still busy in the fields.
Shan Qiyu felt uncomfortable with the other person's gaze. She wasn't afraid of what Sun Dacheng might do in broad daylight, but she was more worried about being seen and the rumors that would spread.
She tried to slowly back away, creating distance between herself and Sun Dacheng.
"It's nothing, as long as I figured it out," Shan Qiyu said with a forced smile. "Well, I have something to do at home, so I'll head back now."
Looking at her smile, Sun Dacheng became even more excited, and his breathing became heavier.
He said that this woman was not a peaceful person, otherwise why would Brother Meng beat her every day?
Look at her, she's even smiling at him. What else could it be but seducing him?
Thinking this, he felt even more regretful that he hadn't pinned Meng Shaoyuan's death on her. It wasn't that he wanted to send her to jail, but at least to tarnish her reputation, which would make things easier later.
He stared intently at the person in front of him, took a step forward as if to reach out, but Shan Qiyu was so frightened that she retreated repeatedly and said sharply, "Sun Dacheng, what are you doing?"
A sharp shout startled the villagers not far away, who all stood up and looked in their direction.
A woman called out to Shan Qiyu, "Sister-in-law, what's wrong?"
Sun Dacheng then realized that now was not a good time to make a move, and he grinned what he thought was a simple and honest smile.
He shouted loudly, "Sister-in-law, don't be afraid. I just want to say that Brother Meng is like my own brother. If your family ever has any difficulties in the future, just tell me. As long as it's within my power, I, Sun Dacheng, will do my best to help!"
As he spoke, he patted his chest with an air of importance.
Some villagers heard this and their eyes darted back and forth between the two men.
I've never heard of Sun Dacheng having such a kind heart before.
Shan Qiyu never had a good attitude towards Sun Dacheng. In the past, whenever she saw him at home, she would glare at him. Later, when Meng Shaoyuan hit her for this, she simply pretended that he didn't exist.
She never expected that this scoundrel still harbored such feelings for her.
Dan Qiyu's face darkened, and without saying anything more, she picked up the basket on the ground and was about to leave.
"Hey—" Seeing that the person was about to leave, Sun Dacheng raised his leg to stop him, and whispered as he did so, "Sister-in-law, I know it's hard for you to raise three children on your own. Wait for me tonight, I still have some money on me..."