Village Belle Chapter 106
Translated by Digitalian (ko-fi)
Chapter 106: Brother Yuntang Was Partial To His Sister And Only Gave Her Food
Meanwhile, after Su Fu went to work, Lin Sanzhu closed the door from the inside and didn’t even go out to do the laundry.
She was smart. If she was caught by her mother-in-law, she would definitely be beaten today, and she would have to work after being beaten.
She wasn’t that stupid.
She had nothing to do at home, so she finished making Xie Yuntang's shoes and embroidered two peach blossoms on them. After a close look, she was quite satisfied.
It was still early when she finished, and she started worrying at the thought of her daughter's bald head. However, this worry only lasted for a short while.
Fortunately, her daughter was still young, otherwise no one would want her without hair.
She found some cloth to cut and make caps, planning to make two—one for Su Tao and one for Xie Yuntang.
When she looked up again, it was almost noon. She quickly put down her work and went to the kitchen to light the fire and cook. Not long after she entered the kitchen, Su Dou in the room woke up. "Waah..."
She quickly ran into the room and picked him up. She didn't coax him, but carried him on her back and went to cook.
Su Dou was probably used to it because he stopped crying after a while.
After a while, Su Zhi's voice rang out from outside the yard, followed by a knock on the door. "Mom! I'm back."
"I'm coming."
Lin Sanzhu hurried to open the door and saw that Su Zhi was alone. She looked behind him and didn't see anyone else. She said, "Why didn't your sister come with you?"
"Sister followed Brother Yuntang home for lunch." Su Zhi ran to the chicken coop as soon as he entered the door to see if the chicks had grown up.
Mother said that she would kill and eat them when they grew up.
Hearing this, Lin Sanzhu immediately closed the door again, and then asked, "Did you study hard today?"
"I did. The teacher hit me, and I managed to recite it." Su Zhi reached out and touched a chick's head.
He didn't say that it was his sister who said she would break his neck if he couldn't recite it.
He was afraid, so he recited it obediently.
"That's more like it. Listen, study hard. It's not easy for our family to support you to study. It costs one or two taels of silver a year. Your sister has a harder life than you. She works for another family."
When Lin Sanzhu said this, she felt that she owed Su Tao. Her daughter had to work since she was a child and was often beaten.
Thinking of this, she continued, "You should give in to your sister, okay? Don't talk back to your sister all the time! She’s doing this for your own good."
Su Zhi sniffled. After a cold winter, his runny nose still didn't go away. He said weakly, "Sister isn’t suffering. Brother Yuntang gives her a lot of food."
He always saw Brother Yuntang giving his sister a lot of food, as well as helping his sister to unscrew the bamboo tube lid and peel eggs.
Brother Yuntang didn't give him any food.
Brother Yuntang was partial.
"Why don't you see the work your sister does? The Xie family wouldn’t feed her for nothing."
Lin Sanzhu glared at him, then said, "Come in and light the fire for me."
"I didn't see Sister working. It was Brother Yuntang who helped her. Sister often bullied Brother Yuntang," Su Zhi complained about his sister aggrievedly.
As soon as he finished speaking, he was hit on the head. Lin Sanzhu warned fiercely, "Don't talk nonsense. How could your sister bully Yuntang? You rascal, listen, if you dare to spread a word of this, I’ll smack your mouth."
Their family was doing better now thanks to the Xie family. If they offended the Xie family, the whole family would have to live in a cave again.
She was afraid that Su Zhi wouldn’t learn his lesson, so she said, "If the Xie family is unhappy, you will never have meat to eat again."
……
Over at the other end, Su Tao and Xie Yuntang were already eating at the table. After the meal, Su Tao rolled up her sleeves and prepared to wash the dishes.
Mrs. Xie-Qin stopped her and said softly, "Taozi, wash them later. I have something to tell you."
Su Tao's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that they found out about Xie Yuntang being beaten?
She nodded guiltily.
"Well, I’m going back to my parents' home for a few days in the afternoon, and Uncle Xie is going too. Yuntang doesn't want to go, so I asked him to stay at your house for a few days." Mrs. Xie-Qin had asked Xie Yuntang, and Xie Yuntang really didn't want to go.
In addition, the people in the Qin family weren’t as easy to talk to as those in the Xie family. Even though her parents loved her, she had no say in the Qin family.
Yuntang had finally become a little more active, and it would be troublesome if he went back to his original state again.
She could have taken Su Tao along, but considering that Su Tao had hit her head, she decided against it.
It turned out to be this matter. Su Tao secretly heaved a sigh of relief and nodded quickly. She smiled and promised, "Auntie Xie, you guys go. I’ll take good care of Brother Yuntang. There’s a bed in my room. I’ll let Brother Yuntang sleep there."
Mrs. Xie-Qin smiled and instructed, "Taozi, help me take good care of Yuntang. He’s afraid of the dark at night, so try to accompany him."
"Okay, I’ll sleep with Brother Yuntang." Su Tao nodded obediently.
After Mrs. Xie-Qin got her assurance, she took them to the Su family’s house. When Lin Sanzhu learned about it, she agreed to it immediately. She hurriedly made the bed in Su Tao’s room.
It was a new quilt bought this year.
"Yuntang, this is a new quilt. It’ll definitely be soft for you to sleep on."
"Thank you, Auntie Su," Xie Yuntang said obediently.
"Don’t mention it. Make yourself at home. Don’t stand on ceremony." Lin Sanzhu was so friendly that the wrinkles on her face were all smiling.
Seeing this, Mrs. Xie-Qin felt relieved and took out the two taels of silver she had prepared and gave them to Lin Sanzhu. "Sister Su, these are for Yuntang's food expenses here. Please put some effort into the cooking."
Lin Sanzhu was dumbfounded. Two taels of silver for just a few days?
The Xie family was really foolishly rich...
Pfft, pfft, pfft...
She waved her hand quickly. "Mrs. Xie, it's not necessary. Don't worry, I’ll definitely feed Yuntang well, and he won’t have a lack of meat to eat."
"Just take them. It's not easy for you guys as well."
Mrs. Xie-Qin stuffed the money in Lin Sanzhu’s hand. After talking for a while, she led Xie Yuntang to the edge of the yard to talk. She asked worriedly, "Are you really not going with me?"
It would be a lie to say that she wasn’t worried when this was the first time she didn't take him with her.
Xie Qing said that he wanted to take the opportunity to see if Xie Yuntang's condition could be stabilized. If it could be stabilized, there would be no big problem.
Xie Yuntang nodded obediently and said softly, "Mom, don't worry about me. I'm fine, and Sister Taozi is around."
As long as Sister Taozi was around, he wasn’t afraid.
He liked being at Sister Taozi's house very much. Auntie and Uncle Su were very nice to him.
He knew it was because of his parents, but Uncle and Auntie Su were just as kind-hearted as Sister Taozi.
Mrs. Xie-Qin didn't say anything else after he said that. Remembering something, she passed him a key. "There are all kinds of food at home. If you want to eat, just bring it over and eat together."
"Okay." Xie Yuntang nodded obediently.
Xie Qing didn't say anything, and just touched his head.
After watching the two leave, Su Tao looked at Xie Yuntang next to her. His eyes were slightly red. He must still be reluctant to leave his parents.
She patted his back and comforted him, "Don't be afraid, Milksop. My home is your home. No one will bully you."
Then she turned to Lin Sanzhu behind her. "Mom, speak softly these days. Don't scare him."
Lin Sanzhu was rendered speechless. "..."
This wretched girl had some nerve to be telling her what to do.
"Wretched girl..."
Realizing that her voice was too loud, she lowered her voice quickly, "How could you say that? I'm not crazy, why would I shout?"
"Yuntang, don't be afraid. I sometimes talk loudly, but I’m not fierce at all."
